Sprawling Hickory Springs

During Thanksgiving weekend I saw a whole different area outside Atlanta. We were still in season over the weekend, so we had to stay here over the break. Most families came out to be with us and a team mate lives about 45 minutes away from here, so we all went to have Thanksgiving dinner at her house located in Hickory Springs in Kenessaw, Georgia. When i heard the words Kennesaw, Georgia, the first thing that came to mind was an area that was country and totally different from the other neighborhoods I have been exposed to the last couple months. I was completely wrong, Hickory Springs was actually closer to sprawl than any neighborhood I have seen here in Georgia.

When we first started making the drive out that way, it was through fields and open land, seeming as if it was in the middle of nowhere. We passed several "battle field memorials" and it was a quiet southern area. Then we pull into her neighborhood and it has a completely different atmosphere than the surrounding area.

The first thing i noticed was that houses were almost identical in size, color, and layout. It had cookie- cutter written all over it. This meant that there was only a small range of economic diversity residing in Hickory Springs. The houses were all similar in size, so they all must have cost about the same amount, which is within a certain economic level's price range. The houses all had similar colors, which made them all look very much alike. There was no sense of individuality to the houses. Also, all the yards were about the same size which put all the houses fairly close together. The houses had driveways and garages on the front of the house, which was exposed to the street. As mentioned in "Suburban Nation" this is a huge characteristic of sprawl.

Another thing I noticed right away was the huge amount of cul-de-sacs. They were everywhere. Almost every side street that was turned off of ended in a cul-de-sac which made it really difficult to find our way around and back out of the neighborhood. Cul-de-sacs meant that we had to travel more distance, which sometimes required a vehicle.

There was no public transportation offered anywhere near this neighborhood. As we drove in I did not notice any strip malls, plazas, or grocery stores near. This means that people would have to use their own vehicles to get to places that were necessary on a regular basis. This defines sprawl because it is not economic friendly. The distance to the most basic stores is great enough that a bicycle could not be ridden there, it would have to be an actual vehicle.

This neighborhood has characteristics that define sprawl. Cookie- cutter, non diverse neighborhood, far from any type of store, no public transportation, and cul-de-sacs are all characteristics that contribute to this sprawling neighborhood of Hickory Forest.