Welcome to Life In Gastonia. Take a tour on the Westside (and elsewhere)! Please visit regularly and provide us with your comments as we try to improve the lives of residents that live on the West side of Gastonia and the city as a whole. Many visitors and comments remind us that the issues we address as problems for the Westside are also problems for the whole city. We have updated the site and included more sections and features to address all of these issues. Our focus is still the Westside, as we feel this area has been the most neglected by the city and we have a standing invitation to the City and County leaders to provide us with information on improvements and projects for the West District and other areas. Keep watching, and remember what you see here when election time rolls around. Change starts at home in our own neighborhood. Our votes say a lot about what kind of change we want and who we trust to provide it. Take a Stand Gastonia!
You love us, you really love us! Anyway, our website is getting more and more popular and we have had to make some changes to keep up with it all. Please have patience as we make a few changes to the site and also do a little work to our own organization so that we may be more productive. We should have more updates for you very soon. Thanks to everyone who contributes to our efforts.
Life on the west side of Gastonia for most residents is anything but Great as the official City slogan would have you believe. Great Place. Great People. Great Promise. Instead, for the Westside we like to use the slogan Great People, Dismal Place, Broken Promises. It is not a very uplifting or inspiring slogan but it fits much better. There are many truly wonderful people in our neighborhoods but they have been ignored and forgotten. They feel abandoned and hopeless. Most dream of the day when they can afford to move somewhere else. These are not signs of a healthy growing community. It is definitely not a sign of a great place or any type of great promise. A start to our efforts to bring change is to give the community an identity. We have started a monthly newsletter titled Westside Village Voice. We think the name pays tribute to the community roots as mill villages. You can see our logo on the home page and you can also use the contact form to request that you be added to our email list to receive the newsletter. We will include events, stories, and promotions form the different communities within the Westside such as Highland Creek, Jenkins Heights, and others.
We have also decided to make our struggle public. To let everyone know that we care, we will no longer be ignored, and we are trying to make changes. We can not do it alone. We face a tremendous task that so far only we, the residents, have agreed to pursue. We are coming together and with our voices and our votes to see that we get the change we so desperately need. If we need to elect new leaders, we will do it. If we need to seek a public forum such as the news media, we will do it.
This website will allow everyone to experience in word and picture what daily life for Westside residents is like. We will also document correspondence with the city leadership and provide the latest statistics on crime, housing and education. We want to provide you with a window into our community and why we are desperately trying to change it. Our families and our futures depend on it. We will have change. We will make a difference. We will succeed!
Please look around the website and get a feeling for what we live with on a daily basis.
Our goal is to change the following:
-zoning -better code enforcement -decrease in crime -increase in home ownership -improved commercial sector -area improvements to the esthetic and visuals -improved city services -better communication with city departments -improve education opportunities -increase recreational opportunities for families
Newest Features
TAKE A STAND! Click HERE to go to our Take A Stand page. We have posted a petition to limit the City Council and Mayor's terms to two years instead of four. We need 5,000 signatures to have this placed on the ballot and decided by the voters of Gastonia. The City Council decided they needed 4 year terms and now the voters have a chance to tell them that 2 years is enough. If they are doing a good job, they will get re-elected. If not, then they won't! You can click HERE to go directly to the petition. Print as many copies as you need and encourage friends and family to sign. You may also go to our Take A Stand in Gastonia page for more info or to leave a comment. Take A Stand Gastonia!
View the results from our Westside Village Voice email survey by clicking HERE. Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter by filling out request in the contact section!
Gastonia Electrical Service - Click on photo to read about the company that provides electrical service
Latest on Prostitutes- Click on Photo to see the latest offenders and how many times they are arrested
Click on the photo to view our ideas for a thriving Downtown without all of the tax money waste!
The past decade has been a very rough one for the West District of Gastonia. Our schools and infrastructure are in decline and there is little promise that the future holds anything better. Please take a moment to let us know if you think the city leaders have done enough to support the West District in comparison to other areas of Gastonia such as Downtown.
Political Endorsements
The Voice for the Westside Please use the contact form below if you would like to sign up for our monthly email newsletter. Stay informed and show your support!
Send Us Your Comments You may also email us directly at: contact@lifeingastonia.com or you may post them on the comments board by clicking HERE
Go to groups and then organizations, we are Life in Gastonia.
Life in Gastonia did not complete the research for any of the statistics shown. All statistics used are information obtained from Realist Tax Search, Cityofgastonia.com, city-data.com, gastongazette.com, and cityrating.com, as well as other internet sites and statewide newspapers and magazines. All information on the Mayor's home was obtained through public records.
