It was summer of 1991, and it was inevitable– my family was moving from Fairfield, CT, to GA. I was pissed! I mean, I was being raised in a Yankee town and heading south. Makes way for a pissed off kid! I had the pleasure to come down that summer to see the house we were going to move into. I do remember this– the neighborhood was huge! There is at least 300 houses(I forgot the exact number) in the neighborhood, and they were still expanding! It was one of the bigger neighborhoods around. It was simple back then. And then it grew. And it kept up with the times. This is the neighborhood I called home from 1991 – 2013. A lot of memories here! Let’s begin with the basics– it was created in 1987 by Jim Cowart(I always used to think he was a pimp, since I always saw his name on signs). There is a clubhouse, complete with 6 tennis courts, an L-shaped pool, and a playground. They do have tennis teams, and a large swim team(those swim and tennis meets used to be the jam!) varying of all ages. You could always tell when a meet was at home– with all of the cars parked for what seemed to be miles! The neighborhood itself has one main road(Tuxford Dr), with many side streets upon it. It is somewhat windy, with 5 – 6 hills. It keeps the landscaping unique. They installed stop signs finally, after the neighborhood was finally incorporated into the City of Alpharetta(back in the day, we were unincorporated Fulton County!). I still find it hard to believe that with all of the kids in the neighborhood, people still find it difficult to stop. More on that momentarily. Also, a few years ago, the HOA implemented mandatory fees be paid. I remember them with certain backlash from some residents but now as an outsider who comes to visit, I can tell the fees have been put to use well. The grounds are kept up well, as is the clubhouse area/pool/courts/playground. Also, every year, they have a Christmas light contest, as long as many parades throughout the year. It seems that they try to maintain traditions here, which is pretty cool. Back in the day, I was all over that lighting contest. Another thing I miss was when I was a lifeguard here(my first job!), and enjoyed all of the hot moms. This was 15 years ago, maybe if they still live here, they have reached cougar status! Again, good times. But there is one thing that has always kind of bummed me about the neighborhood– there are only sidewalks in the area around the clubhouse. Other than that, no sidewalks along the main strip. Which sucks, since people still don’t know how to stop at stop signs– so you have to be really careful. But at the end of the day, I was proud to call this place home for the majority of my life.
