Safest-Cities-in-North-Carolina

The National Council for Home Safety and Security (NCHSS) does a detailed analysis annually on safety and security. They look at all municipalities across every state in the country in developing their rankings each year. Last month, they released their 2020 rankings and for the fourth consecutive year, Rocky Mount climbed significantly up the charts. This places the city in its highest ranking ever among the Safest Cities in North Carolina.

The 2020 Safest Cities in North Carolina listings are on the official NCHSS website, alarms.org. There, it explains in detail the research and final analysis process used in compiling the annual list. Likewise, they also explain what size municipalities are in the analysis and they give a full listing with statistics on all towns ranked. 

The Rocky Mount police and their work with the resident’s has helped immensely in making the city safe.

How Has Rocky Mount Continued its Climb Among Safest Cities in North Carolina?

This is a valid question for any of the municipalities in the 2020 Safest Cities in North Carolina. In the case of Rocky Mount, one can not discount the focus and effort of law enforcement in several areas. Programs, gatherings, and urging residents to work alongside police to make the city as safe as possible are example of how they continued to climb.

That being said, one could also not minimize the efforts of Rocky Mount residents in the continuous rise of their city on this list. Working together with public officials and police to provide a safer environment certainly is a factor in the movement among the Safest Cities in North Carolina.

The numbers that will be described below show exactly what areas of research and analysis weigh into these rankings. Rocky Mount’s numbers in all of these areas are the lowest they have seen in many years. Yes, the hard work of city officials, police, and residents has been a big help in mking the city safer. But, it is also safe to say that the introduction of family-friendly communities such as Belmont Lake Preserve has likewise added to the city’s increased safety levels, too.

How does the NCHSS Arrive at the final Safest Cities in North Carolina List?

Neighbors and communities, like Belmont Lake Preserve provide a very secure and safe setting in Rocky Mount.

At alarms.com, the experts from the NCHSS explain the analysis process . The explanation for how they name the Safest Cities in North Carolina begins under the subheading “Methodology.” 

“To identify the Safest Cities in North Carolina, we reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics. We eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI.” It was added that they also would eliminate any town with a population under 10,000. That gave the entity a total of 3,381 cities to research and analyze. The two main categories in which each of these municipalities receive analysis then are violent and non-violent crimes.

How Does the NCHSS Define and Rank According to Crime Rate Averages?

The article on 2020’s Safest Cities in North Carolina goes deeper in its explanation of the process. As just noted, they look at the crime reports, more specifically at both violent and non-violent crimes. 

According to the article, per the FBI crime reports, “Violent crimes are … those offenses that involve force or threat of force.” In defining non-violent crimes, they also use the term “property crimes.” They explain these are usually “theft-type” crimes. 

“The object (of property crimes) …is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims.”

It is worth noting that this 2020 ranking is Rocky Mount’s best overall ranking ever in the listings. Consequently, the city has its lowest scores for both violent and non-violent crime in the six-year history of the NCHSS list.

Safety is the most important factor that many look for when moving their young family.

How Do They Get Final Numbers for the Safe City Rankings?

To answer the following, we again refer to the official answer given by the NCHSS. “We compute the total number of crimes reported by each city by adding violent and property crimes. We then created a crime rate as the number of crimes per 1,000 population. Then we transform the total crime rate variable so that we reduce the skewness.”

For more details on the entire listing of Safest Cities in North Carolina, visit alarms.org.

Harrison-Family-YMCA-BLP

In a true time of uncertainty, the families of Rocky Mount area can count on a name they’ve always trusted. With regulations including “stay-at-home” orders and social distancing, the Harrison Family YMCA brings some much-needed normalcy. Despite not being open, the Harrison “Y,” is bringing an array of online activities daily to entertain the kids and adults alike.

In this series of articles, we will detail the fun and educational “digital” activities for the youngsters. Additionally, we will touch on the same type of interactive activities the Harrison Family website offers for adults as well. 

Kids of all ages will enjoy and can complete the activities working together!

Keep Them Active and Learning Welcome to the Virtual Activity Room!

With the country and the world for that matter steeped in uncertainty, a bit of normalcy is always welcome. That being said, when it comes to combining fun and educational with a “dash of exercise,” the YMCA has long been an entity to count on.

Consequently, the credo of “counting on them” rings truer locally and presently maybe more now than ever.The Harrison Family YMCA has always provided fun, educational options for the community. Now during uncertain times they do this again. by introducing Virtual Activity Rooms. 

The Virtual Activity Rooms are much as they sound like, a classroom that your kids (or people of any age, actually) can enjoy some of the fun activities synonymous with the Harrison Family YMCA. In this case, the Rocky Mount location is dedicating the Virtual Activity Room to the youngsters a few times a week. To do this, they are adding interactive videos that you can see at your own convenience. 

The Harrison Family YMCA has different themes for different days to keep your children busy. We will briefly explain each of these below.

Mindfulness Mondays: Harrison Family YMCA Keeping Them Sharp in Mind and Body!

Once introducing their Virtual Activity Rooms, the first one is “Mindfulness Mondays.” According to their introduction of these videos, the Harrison YMCA said the following.

“This page is for our Mindfulness Monday Activities, which include things to keep kids learning and using their minds such as yoga, mindfulness sessions, emotion management, reading, and more.” Staying true to their word and to keeping the kids “mindful,” they have released several videos in this area. Those have showed the kids a fun a-home”time capsule activity, yoga, and a do-it-yourself project to make “fidgets.”

There will be a new “Mindfulness Mondays” video released each Monday. You can see these and all the previous activities at this link harrisonfamilyy.org.

The kids learn to be healthy both physically and mentally through the “virtual” programs.

Tuesdays are All About the “Tots!”

Beginning April 20, the Harrison Family YMCA introduces “Tots Tuesdays.” This area the “virtual” school available also has all the videos from previous weeks available. Obviously given the name, this area is for a slightly younger demographic. Likewise, there is new material here each Tuesday.

In the videos released for the “tots,” they have also concentrated on both physical and mental improvement in these fun -filled activities. The initial video under “Tots Tuesdays” was an animal-themed aerobic workout, called “Animal Bonanza!” Then comes an enjoyable tutorial to help learning the ABC’s, “Alphabet Fun.”

“Try Something New?” That’s the name of the game on Thursday’s with Harrison Family YMCA

The Harrison Family YMCA has. third day of the week for its interactive learning. That day is Thursdays. To be specific, they call these, “Try Something New Thursday.” In these activities, slightly older children are the man focus.

Each week so far has had a new “tutorial” on Thursday’s. In the first week, kids make “fireworks in a jar.” Next up among activities from what can be described as the virtual “science lab” area, is making edible play dough. Keeping much variety in the lessons, the third week taught the guys and girls some rythym , as they learned to sing “Camp Song.”

There are even science lessons and projects for the kids to enjoy from the Virtual Acivity Rooms.

Being Fit While Having Fun For All Ages

In our next post, we will continue our series on the “Virtual Activity Rooms” available from the Harrison Family YMCA. There we will look at several other exercise programs aimed at the kids. Likewise, we will also in this series touch on the “virtual” rooms available for teens. Lastly we will show the available videos for adults. To see more on all of these activities, visit harrisonfamilyy.org.

Rocky-Mount-NC-New-Homes-BLP

For our third installment of this series of blog posts, we will move slightly up the road from our previous article…literally. Last article, the focus was the beautiful Rocky Mount NC New Homes built by DR Horton at the Belmont Lake Villas Estates. The “Villas Estates” has no question become one of the two most popular sections to build in at Belmont Lake Preserve. As a result, the other and neighboring section is the area we will focus on in this post. That section is the Belmont Lake Villas and was a long time coming. However, with “America’s #1 Builder, DR Horton and a variety of great floor plans, we think you’ll agree, this section of homes was worth the wait!

(This is the third article in a series of posts about DR Horton, our on-site builder at BLP, and the #1 Builder in the U.S. To read the previous two posts in this series, follow the links below.)

Belmont Lake Preserve- “News and Events”- “DR Horton Builders at Belmont Lake Preserve: See Why They are America’s Favorite Builder”

Belmont Lake Preserve- “News and Events”- “DR Horton’s New Homes in Rocky Mount: The Belmont Lake Villa Estates

“Worth the Wait”: Welcome to DR Horton’s Rocky Mount NC New Homes at the BLP Villas!

Rocky-Mount-NC-New-Homes
In addition to the great one story homes in the “Villas” BLP’s amenities are second to none.

As we alluded to in our previous blog post, both area transplants and residents searching for Rocky Mount NC New Homes had spoken. The “retiree” demographic seems to prefer a certain type of home to fit their needs. To place this type home at Rocky Mount’s most amenity-rich, spectacular new home and golf community at an affordable price would almost seem too good to be true. Enter “America’s Favorite Builder!”

Yes, once again, we travel briefly back in time to early 2018. It is at about this time that DR Horton begins building new Rocky Mount NC Homes at BLP. The prospective home buyer had spoken and there was a particular “style” home they were seeking. This was a more ranch-like, or one-story home that the buyer seemed to desire. Well, their desires were listened to and delivered upon, with several options. Those options for Rocky Mount NC Homes were brought to the table by DR Horton. Likewise, they were to become the section known as the Belmont Lake Villas.

DR Horton Rocky Mount NC New Homes at the Belmont Lake Villas: The Floor Plans!

Not only is that demographic thrilled to see the Rocky Mount NC New Homes at the BLP Villas, but so are prospective buyers of all ages. DR Horton is offering up four different floor plans for the “Villas.”

Those floor plans we will look at below include the following:

  • Arlington
  • Bristol
  • Clifton
  • Dover
The “heart of the home” in DR Horton’s Arlington model is the open kitchen, dining, and living areas.

The Arlington

Once again to refer to our previous post, the Rocky Mount NC New Homes and floor plans we will discuss will feature description from the official DR Horton website

“The Arlington is an open concept perfect for those looking to downsize or right size to the main level living.” The description continues at drhorton.com. “This home offers 2 bedrooms plus a private flex space that includes a closet. The heart of the home is the open kitchen, dining, and living areas which offer plenty of spaces for large gatherings. “

They conclude, “A covered rear porch allows for additional entertaining or enjoying the outdoors. If needed, this home has the option for a second floor offering a bonus room, full bath, and bedroom.”

The Arlington is 1,588 square feet and starts at $191,990. These one-story, Rocky Mount NC New Homes feature two bedrooms, two baths, and a two-car garage.

The Bristol features many windows to provide large amounts of natural light.

The Bristol

Priced right at $195, 990, the Bristol model from “America’s Builder” is another one-story plan. Like the Arlington, these Rocky Mount NC New Homes feature two bedrooms, two baths, and a two-car garage. There is an option on this floor plan for a second floor if needed. 

DR Horton describes this plan as having “a spacious main-level owner’s suite plan with optional 2nd floor. This home has it all: walk-in pantry, large granite island, guest bedroom, and flex space.” 

They conclude their detailing of this plan, saying the following. “Tons of windows ensure this home will be open and bright. The owner’s suite with dual vanity and huge walk-in shower with seat could not be better.”

The Clifton is referred to as a “MUST SEE” floor plan by “America’s Builders,” DR Horton.

The Clifton

Starting at just under $200K ($199,990), the Clifton floor plan is slightly larger than the previous two covered. This 1,797 square foot, two bed, and two bath home is also a one-story home, however. Likewise, as with the first two Rocky Mount NC New Homes in the “Villas,” this too has a two-car garage.

“The Clifton is a MUST SEE open concept floorplan,” it rages at the DR Horton website. “Airy & bright great room, large granite countertop island, dining area, and walk-in pantry. The main level Owner’s suite with dual closets and a spacious bath has a walk-in shower with seat.”

The Dover

The private bath in the “Owner’s suite” of the Dover floor plan features a huge walk in closet and double vanities.

The Dover offers an abundance of space with 3 bedrooms and a flex room,” according to drhorton.com. “The open kitchen is in the center of the home with a large island and walk-in pantry. The dining and living areas feature with windows adding to light and airy feel of this home.” They conclude, saying, “Inside the owner’s suite is a private bath with two separate vanities and a must-see walk-in closet.”

This is the largest of our four Rocky Mount NC New Homes offered in the Belmont Lake Villas. It is 1,883 square feet and has three bedrooms. Similarly, the Dover does have two baths and a two-car garage. It is also very reasonably priced and starts at $202,990.

Next Look at DR Horton’s Rocky Mount NC New Homes: “Getting Smarter”

Among other things, our next blog entry on DR Horton will focus on a program called “Home is Connected.” This will discuss the products and steps being taken by DR Horton to keep people on top of the latest technological innovations.

Additionally, there are on-site agents to work with you on building the home you’ve always dreamed of at Belmont Lake Preserve. Likewise, there are several homes DR Horton has already built that are for sale also. To see the Rocky Mount NC New Homes at BLP currently on the market, visit belmontlakepreserve.com.