THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509210296
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LOUKIA LOUKA, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
You have to wonder about a community that was carved from Suffolk farmland more than 30 years ago and still has cotton fields, nurseries, and creeks as neighbors. It makes you think about how long it can last, how long before strident change stomps the dirt and plants.
Growth is good, but that's not necessarily where it's at, at least not for residents of Arbor Meadows.
``What's nice about these nurseries and the fields of cotton is they make nice neighbors because they don't make any noise in the middle of the night,'' said Marian ``Bea'' Rogers, a resident of Arbor Meadows and a Suffolk councilwoman.
Arbor Meadows, a community of mostly ranch homes just north of U.S. 17 and Shoulders Hill Road, appeals to residents for those reasons and others. And if you find yourself driving around streets with names like Vineyard, Concord, and Scuppernong, getting bacchic visions of wine - that's fine, too.
``It's peaceful, quiet, very serene out here,'' said Jessie Goodwin, who has lived in Arbor Meadows with her husband Ray since 1977 and describes the community as a place where ``neighbors look out for neighbors.''
Residents pull together if there is an issue that concerns them, but currently, they don't have an organized community civic league.
``You know how community leagues sometimes work. People solve the problem and it disbands. The neighborhood seems to get together if there's a really big issue to get together about,'' Rogers said.
J.C. Matthews Jr. said the land that is Arbor Meadows used to be owned by his father and was used for farming. Matthews' father sold it to Charlie Russell, who subdivided the property. Records show the community was platted in 1964. ``I know quite a few of them over there. It's a nice community,'' Matthews said. While the city still has a rural feeling, Matthews is aware that Suffolk is changing.
``It's not country anymore. It used to be. It's not country like I was raised in,'' Matthews said.
Indeed, there is a ``big city'' controversy going on about four miles from Arbor Meadows, at the intersection of Nansemond Parkway and Shoulders Hill Road. Talk lately has been of a proposed racetrack and industrial park on 684 acres. Though there are other residents who live closer to the proposed track and industrial park, Arbor Meadows residents also had opinions, Rogers said.
There were ``some pro and some con . . . most of the discussions were against it,'' Rogers said. It remains to be seen whether noise from the racetrack could be heard up to Arbor Meadows, or if traffic would be a problem.
For now, Arbor Meadows continues as a community of young, working couples and retirees.
``I wouldn't go somewhere else and the reason for that is we like country living. You can see greenery all around us, yet we are five minutes from anything we need in the city,'' Ray Goodwin said.
Many retired couples live in the subdivision, but a few young couples have come along ``to keep things livened up out here . . . to teach some of us old dogs new tricks,'' Jessie Goodwin said. ``The younger people come in of course, most of them are moving up . . . the older people who have settled here just seem to stick.''
One tricky thing about Arbor Meadows is finding For Sale signs. About two weeks ago, there wasn't one sign posted, which may be a testimony to how people feel about living there. Ray Goodwin said there are a few homes sold now and then but, overall, turnover is low.
A number of homes have additions, more evidence that as families grow and change, they are unwilling to leave Arbor Meadows. Exteriors are brick, in shades of tan and darker hues. Many of the homes are ranch-style, but a few two-story and split level homes that dot the subdivision.
Lots are large, grassy and barbered. Verandas are nice spots to enjoy a variety of trees, including oak, magnolia, pine and weeping willow. A number of residents have well-tended vegetable gardens. A random survey of 12 homes in Arbor Meadows showed an average assessment of $96,050. The values were taken from current assessments listed with the real estate assessor's office.
The only visual distraction are power lines and the huge towers supporting them. Street lights in Arbor Meadows are abundant, but several residents who live on Concord Drive would like to have city water and sewage.
The Goodwins distill their water, but still hope for something better, as do others. ``We want city water and city sewage and with the taxes we pay, we should have it,'' Jessie Goodwin said. MEMO: Graphic with map
ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Public schools: Driver Elementary, John Yeates Middle and Nansemond
River High schools.
Shopping areas: There are shopping areas along U.S. 17; Chesapeake
Square Mall is about a 10-minute drive.
Recreation: Ball fields are at area schools; Bennetts Creek Park has
tennis courts, a fishing and crabbing pier, boat ramp, nature trail and
picnic shelters. Bennetts Creek Marina on Ferry Road has boat slips, a
boat ramp and a restaurant.
SOLD
At 6025 Vineyard Lane, a three-bedroom, two bathroom house, built in
1975, sold for $98,600 in 1994.
At 3725 Arbor Road, a four-bedroom, two-bath house, built in 1979,
sold last year for $92,500.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by VICKI CRONIS
Ray and Jessie Goodwin have lived here 18 years. It's quiet, they
say, and Arbor Meadows neighbors are ready to help each other.
by CNB