Survey+of+Church+Hill

Due to the large area of Hawkins County, I completed a windshield survey on the largest city within Hawkins County, Church Hill, TN. While driving through this area on an early weekday morning I found that the community has one two red lights and one speed camera, and that there is much more traffic than what there is on a weekend morning. There are several school buses on the roads as well as older children who are walking to their schools because they live nearby. Unfortunately I did not notice any sidewalks for these children to walk on so they were on the side of the road. I noticed that there is also an increase in local law enforcement helping direct traffic at crossings without red lights and radaring traffic speeds within school zones on these mornings as well.
 * Windshield Survey of Church Hill, TN**

Train tracks seem to run throughout the entire city. I did notice that there are several railroad crossings that do not have the proper crossing gates to warn of oncoming trains. The flashing lights are present but no dropping crossbars to stop oncoming traffic from crossing. There is one particular railroad crossing off East Main Street where the lack of crossing gates causes a problem on school mornings due to the increase in traffic coming down the hill from the Church Hill Intermediate and Middle school. It appeared that cars would go ahead and stop on the train tracks while waiting for the traffic in front of them to proceed which I found very dangerous. This is one location that could benefit from having railroad crossing gates as well as a red light.

__** Schools **__

There are 3 elementary schools within Church Hill: Church Hill Elementary, Carters Valley Elementary, and McPheeters Bend Elementary, all ranging from Kindergarten to 4th grade. There is one Intermediate School for 5th and 6th grade: Church Hill Intermediate, one Middle School for 7th and 8th grade: Church Hill Middle, and one high school for grades 9th -12th: Volunteer High School. Buses are available to transport children to and from their homes for school. As I stated earlier I did notice a few older children walking to school but I feel this is probably by choice. The buses in my neighborhood alone, which is directly across from the high school, run as early as 6:50am. Due to my own experience with children in the Hawkins County School system, during the winter months where snow is involved, it is almost impossible to get the buses in and out of the numerous back roads that are located within the city. In January 2011, Hawkins County schools were canceled due to snow for over 2 weeks in a row. All schools in the area appear to be clean and kept, the playground area at Church Hill Elementary looks brand new. Church Hill Intermediate has only been open since the 2010 - 2011 school year therefore it definitely looks the nicest.

Church Hill Elementary



Church Hill Intermediate

Church Hill Middle School



Volunteer High School

Carters Valley Elementary

McPheeters Bend Elementary

__**Parks**__ There are several parks for families to go to spend time together by enjoying picnics, playing in creeks and on playground equipment. One thing I did notice is that at 2 of the 4 parks located within Church Hill, is that there are walking trails for mom or dad to get some exercise while safely watching their children playing of the playground equipment. One thing that concerned me was at the Jaycee Park. There is a walking trail, but there is also a creek that seperates the walking trail and the playground equipment with only 2 places to cross if the parents needed to get to their children quickly. I walked over to see the depth of the creek and although at places the creek is only several inches deep there were some spots that appeared to be over 4 feet in depth. I would not advise any parents to leave their smaller children to play while they walked along the trail without other supervision being available in case their child got too close to the creek. There is also a local community swimming pool open during the summer as well as a skate park that is open year round. I spoke with a lady from my church about any pros or cons she sees in the Church Hill Community and she stated that a pro to the area is that in the summer time there is a "Lunch Box Program" that will go to the Community pool and to local parks twice a week and serve free lunches for anyone that is in need. She also stated that the negative side of the area is at times homeless persons will use the bathrooms located at the parks for shelter and that this can be freightening to parents and children who go to use the restroom. She recommended that local police patrol the areas early in the morning to clear out the restrooms or that a homeless shelter be built somewhere in the community.

Laurel Run Park

A.S. Derrick Park
 * [[image:http://www.churchhilltn.gov/images/photos/full/DerrickPark4.jpg caption="Derrick Park Photo"]] ||

Jaycees Park
 * [[image:http://www.churchhilltn.gov/images/photos/full/JayceePark.jpg caption="Jaycee Park Photo"]] ||

J.W. Sally Park
 * [[image:http://www.churchhilltn.gov/images/photos/full/JWSalleyPark.jpg caption="JW Sally Park Photo"]] ||

Church Hill Skate Park
 * [[image:http://www.churchhilltn.gov/images/photos/full/SkatePark.jpg caption="Church Hill Skate Park"]] ||

Church Hill Municipal Pool
 * [[image:http://www.churchhilltn.gov/images/photos/full/SwimmingPool.jpg caption="Swimming Pool Photo"]] ||

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__** Church **__ You do not have to travel far within Church Hill to find a service to attend. There are several churches of the Baptist, Freewill Baptist, Methodist, and Non-Denominational Faith directly off of 11W and East Main Blvd, which is the main street running through the city. Other than the Non-Denominational church, the others are fairly large churches. If someone is looking for something smaller, I found several smaller churches along the backroads of Carters Valley. Carters Valley is a beautiful country area to drive through and the churches I found seemed very old from the outside.

__**Church Hill Senior Center**__ In 2009 I noticed that a Senior Center was built in Church Hill and was always curious to learn more about it so I dropped in for a visit. Wow, this is the place to hang out if you are retired. With over 12,000 square feet, the center offers a billiard with two pool tables, a game room where members can sit and play cards together, a craft room where they offer quilting and ceramic painting, a computer room where Excel classes are offered, and a music room that has weekly choir practice. Lunch is served daily free of charge and breakfast is offered twice a month. The center is adjoined to the local Fitness Center and the members of the Senior Center have daily access to the center every morning in order to stay in shape. A piece of land next to the Church Hill police station has been donated to the members of the Senior Center, and each year they develop a small garden where they grow and gather food to be eaten at the center. I found this to be a great place for retired adults to stay engaged, and young at heart. One gentlemen in particular that I spoke with made this comment to me: "The only thing wrong with getting old is that although my body is 65, my mind still feels like it's 16."



__**Local Businesses**__ There are several businesses within the city limits such as Restaurants: Domino's Pizza, McDonald's, Hardees, Pal's, Randall's, and Dairy Hart. A couple of years ago a restaurant known as The Mountaineer closed down disappointing the people here in Church Hill who liked to have a home cooked meal including vegetables instead of fast food. For those who like to eat healthy must shop at the two local grocery stores: Food City or Food Lion, and cook at home instead of settling for the fried and greasy. Both stores offer a small selection of organic food, but if you are looking for a variety of healthy choices you will have to drive to one of the Health Food stores in Johnson City which is a 45 minute drive.

Other businesses in the community include three storage units, two car washes, three auto lots, three barber shops, one hair salon, four gas stations, two antique shops, one law office, one drug store, one flower shop, two dentist offices, one medical group, two fitness centers, three banks and a Builders First Source, (which sells lumber for building projects). These businesses are not hard to find because they are either directly off of 11W that runs through Church Hill or off of East Main Street that directly runs parallel to 11W. I do have to say that as I was driving through Church Hill I did not get the impression that it is an up and coming community. There were several places that were businesses just a few years ago and now all that remains are empty buildings. One company in particular that use to employ over 1000 employees is known as Hutchinson Sealing Systems, who makes rubber automotive parts. Several years ago there was a huge lay off and now only a couple of hundred employees remain utilizing just part of the huge plant that is now left partially empty. I did notice that there is a for sale or lease sign currently on the property. This could possibily mean more future layoffs for the Church Hill community. Another company known as AFG, who makes glass, has also had a large number of layoffs in the past 5 years. For those who live in Church Hill, it appears that they may need to drive to other cities such as Kingsport, and Johnson City to have true job security with adequate pay.

__**Homes and Subdivisions**__ Driving through the community I found that there were many diverse choices in areas to live. There were 3 apartment complexes, with Silver Lake Estates being the nicest, several trailer parks, subdivisions with split-foyers and small country homes, subdivisions with homes that look like mansions, and then there are the homes down the country roads of Carters, Stanley, and Goshen Valley. You are less likely to have neighbors directly beside you if you decide to buy or build a home in this area. One thing that I found intersting is that in one particular neighborhood, Indian Ridge, there are very large electrical power towers that are in the backyards of several homes. I'm no expert, but this definitely does not seem safe. When I pulled up in front of the homes and rolled my window down, I could hear the buzzing vibration from electricity. Definitely not somewhere I would want my children to run and play.

**__Recreation__** For those children who like to play baseball, there were a total of 6 different baseball / softball fields in the community. Definitely not as nice as the Domtar complex in Kingsport but still available nevertheless. I was a litle curious about one particular field that was directly beside the Wastewater Treatment Plant with only a metal fence seperating the two. The smell from the treatment plant was absolutely horrible and I could not believe that little league baseball took place there. I am curious if the smell is coming from any type of toxic fumes that are unhealthy to smell for periods of time. I tried to search for information regarding this particular treatment plant online but could not find any information.

__** Overall **__ Overall I found that Church Hill is a nice community to live in if you want to stay out of the city and enjoy small town life. There are several places to live, whether you want to live in a subdivision or live out in the country with no neighbors. You can do your grocery shopping, banking, and even go to the dentist or medical doctor if needed. There are nearby schools to almost any area you choose to live in, and although they are not the most up kept fields in the world there is recreation available for young children as well. For the elderly there is also recreation available at the Church Hill Senior Center, which I thought was wonderful, and a Fitness center that everyone can enjoy. A little something for everyone here in the largest city of Hawkins County, Tennessee.