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OBSERVATIONS
May 27, 2021 |
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A sizeable new residence is under construction at the corner of Baker Street and River Birch Court in a newer section of South Smithfield where two more houses of similar size were recently built and occupied.
 Wingate Lassiter |
Smithfield has new houses filling
vacant lots in older parts of town
Of course, there are many more houses than this going up in new subdivisions on the edge of town like booming East River on Buffalo Road.
But what's just as remarkable are new houses being built on residential lots that have stood vacant for many years --- in South Smithfield especially.
It's not a "housing boom" as Smithfield experienced in the years following the Sylvania plant's opening in 1967. Still, it's heartening to see the town making a comeback as an attractive place to live in this age of rampant suburbanization.
What's the cause?
Affordability is one, for sure. The average selling price for new homes in Johnston County, according to the latest Shackelford Report, is $257,000 --- up 7.1% during the past year alone. Compare that to Wake County's $347,000 --- up 8.4% since the spring of 2020.
Perhaps the pandemic has also boosted Smithfield's housing market. More folks are now able to work from home at least part of the time if not full-time, and that means they can choose to live just about anywhere --- without having to worry about fighting traffic to commute to work.
And then there's renewed recognition of the joys of small-town living where everything's more convenient for day-to-day living. In Smithfield's case, making that even better is the expansion of medical services and recreational opportunities here over the past decade.
So bring it on! Just as long as that growth isn't dependent on our becoming nothing more than another "bedroom community" without jobs near at hand.
This one's on Chestnut Drive --- on the only vacant lot left along that street in a residential neighborhood developed half a century ago.
Foundation for a new duplex occupies most of a previously vacant lot at the corner of Parker and South Second streets.
Two houses fronting South Second Street across from the Dog Park appear to be finished but not yet sold. Several more lots next door have been cleared of trees to make way for more structures like these.
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