Town Crier Articles

What’s on the Menu? Fiber vs Cable vs 5G Internet
Posted on February 1, 2025 6:55 AM by David Carter
 
Fiber sounds good right? Good for your diet – your gut health? Cable, maybe not so much. Seems most of us at some time or another haven’t tolerated what cable was feeding us. And then there’s 5G, the new kid on the block. Full disclosure I used to work for Verizon and was there when services were developed, trialed, and introduced to our employees, like myself and others, before being offered to our customers. And before we go any further, there are many factors as to why FiOS disappointingly was not deployed everywhere, primarily the cost of installation to go everything, everywhere, all at once. Oh wait, that was a movie!

All of the service providers are anxious to have your business, although when I recently cancelled my 1G Internet plan at the Cox store, they only asked to whom I was changing providers. I told them to 5G and they didn’t even try to save the sale. That was surprising. I chose Verizon 5G Home over T-Mobile. Both are available in our neighborhood depending on your address.
 
Cable companies are struggling to retain customers for both internet and traditional cable TV, and the space is going to get even more interesting in the next several years. But that is another topic all together.
 
Simply put, cable providers will tell you that their services are fiber networks. And to some extent that is true, but unlike a true fiberoptic internet provider like Verizon FiOS and Glo Fiber, and others, the cable companies’ fiber typically only goes so far to a pedestal somewhere, maybe not even to the one in your backyard. And then there is that orange cable running from the pedestal to your house, barely covered by the sub-contractors who buried it. And that’s not fiber to the home ! Typically, in the cable scenario you are sharing bandwidth with other customers because the cable service is not a dedicated fiber optic line directly into the home like a fiber optic service provider. Just for you. Not just to the “curb.” Glass fibers (fiber optics) have the capacity to deliver amazingly fast speeds up and down the spectrum and are future proof. Cable’s coax is an older network, like copper landlines. Old school. Great in their day. But times are changing. Fast.
 
Speaking of fast, that is what everyone seems to want. Fast and reliable and at a price they are comfortable with paying.
 
Because the 5G carriers offer free trial periods, I ordered Verizon’s latest modem after checking availability in my area. They offer two modems. I chose the basic one and followed the easy instructions to set it up. You should place it near a window, which I did, actually between my house and the neighbors, and instantly saw 2 out of 3 bars indicating single strength. Signal “Good.”
 
First, I disconnected the Cox Modem. You could also just unplug it. Next, and this is important, using the Verizon app, I renamed the 5G modem using the same Network Name and Password I had previously with Cox. This way you do not have to go from device to device to reconnect. Your network devices will come on-line automatically. I tried this without disconnecting service from Cox for about 2 weeks until I was sure I was satisfied. This is important because if you are not happy, you don’t want to lose your service. I did not have traditional cable, so not desktop devices, just internet streaming YouTube TV to smart tv’s. All my devices, thermostat, camera’s, etc., work fine. Now you are not going to get 1G speeds, but then I don’t need that. So be sure to see what works for you.
 
Be aware although your address may show the service is available, a strong signal is not guaranteed until you connect successfully. So, while I may have no signal issues, someone else may not have the same experience, and that is dependent on various factors. You may have to reposition the 5G modem, and they do have a tool in the app to also show you where the best signal strength can be found. The 5G signal reliably delivers all the speed I need and half the cost I was paying for 1G service with Cox. There are no contracts (never do a contract for service) and other perks are available such as reduced streaming services subscriptions to popular streaming services.
 
So while 5G Home service works well for me, you may prefer Glo Fiber if they move ahead deploying it in New Town. The choice is yours, and that is what it’s all about. So, what’s on the menu, Fiber, Cable, or 5G?
Celebrating The 2024 Holiday Season
Posted on February 1, 2025 6:52 AM by Liz Fones-Wolf, Activities Committee
 
On Friday evening, December 6, New Towners continued their traditional holiday celebrations as they streamed into Legacy Hall for the first NTRA Holiday Party since Covid.  NTRA Activities Committee Members and their families decked the hall in green and red, and trimmed Christmas trees.  Wearing necklaces of small blinking red, blue, green and yellow lights, they warmly greeted over 100 residents.  The partygoers enjoyed the sounds of big band and seasonal music as they mingled with neighbors and connected with old friends.
 
Everyone enjoyed the bountiful tables of delicious including mounds of shrimp, Mediterranean chicken skewers, Asian pork dumpling, Mediterranean platters, with arrays of olives and cheeses and desserts.  For long-time resident Tom Nichols of Charlotte Park, the party was a chance to reconnect with many old friends.  Jen Morgan, a new Activities Committee member, who recently moved from Fairfax, Virginia, found “everyone very friendly and welcoming.”   Bob Byrne, another veteran of New Town holiday parties judged the food as “best in my memory,” and David Nelson of Village Walk had one word for the event: "Fantastic!"
 
All agreed the party was a wonderful way to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season.  
 
 
  
   
 
 
 
What's New for New Town on Facebook?
Posted on February 1, 2025 6:50 AM by Town Crier Staff
 
If you are on Facebook, please be sure that you take advantage of our community resource pages.
  • New Town Residential Association is the NTRA’s Facebook presence where HOA activities and other timely messages can be found. This site is managed by volunteers, but we focus on Association news as well as what is happening in New Town and available to residents through the New Town Commercial Association (e.g. Santa photos, concerts, etc).
  • Buy Nothing New Town Williamsburg is a great spot for giving and asking for items, skills, and more at no cost. Have a plant you no longer want to care for? Post it! Need someone to help you move some furniture? Just ask!
  • Friends of New Town Williamsburg is another helpful group. This site is intended as a spot for neighborly sharing. Whether you are looking for the best spot in New Town for vegetarian options, want to meet with a few neighbors for coffee, or just want to pop in and say hello, this is the place. The site has been dormant for awhile, but recently turned over to a new administrator (Tammie Ortlieb) who is enthusiastic about its possibilities as a tool to build relationships with neighbors. Check it out and let’s help to keep it vibrant.
So, join us and like us on Facebook! We're here to support each other and to build a neighborly community. 
Lunchtime Talk - Healthy Living for Your Brain and Body
Posted on February 1, 2025 6:45 AM by NTRA Activities Committee
Categories: General
 
 
NEW TOWN LUNCHTIME TALK
 
Everyone is forgetful from time to time. But as we age, when we forget something, it is not uncommon to be struck by the fearful thought, “Oh no! Am I on the road to dementia?” Then, we might think: “What can I do?”   
 
To help answer this question, the NTRA Activities Committee is sponsoring a lunchtime talk Wednesday, February 5. Douglas Panto of the Alzheimer's Association will discuss "Healthy Living for Your Brain and Body." 
 
Learn more about the latest research on this topic and tips on how to stay sharp and in good health. 
 
Bring your bag lunch and questions, and we will provide drinks, coffee, tea, and water, and cookies.
                         
Place:  NTRA Meeting Room, 5118 Center S
 
Time:   Wednesday, February 5 at 12:00pm 
Update on Westwood Park and Cardinal Ridge - Our Potential Eastern State Neighbors
Posted on February 1, 2025 6:45 AM by Mary Cheston
Categories: General
 
As we start a new "newsletter" year, it seems appropriate to check-in on the progress with the proposed real estate developments for New Town's neighbor - Eastern State Hospital's surplus land. 
 
As reported in April, two developments are pending with James City County for the rezoning of this State land from public use to mixed use/residential. One development directly abuts New Town (79 acres) while a larger parcel of land (368 acres bordering Route 199 and Longhill Road) is also proposed for rezoning.
  • Westwood Park - Z-23-0004 - proposed 86 single family homes and 100 multifamily units with retail/commercial space on 79 acres. This application is undergoing its 5th JCC staff review this month and is moving closer to a possible hearing date with the JCC Planning Commission. ABVA's latest submissions have clarified several of the County's stormwater concerns and agreed to provide a full 50 foot buffer along the border of the New Town Commercial area (Discovery Park Boulevard where ABVA had originally proposed a reduced 25 foot border.) The application provides a 100 foot buffer on the NTRA border along Rollison Drive in Charlotte Park. How to design for the traffic impacts at the Casey and Discovery Park Boulevards intersection is still being debated.
  • Cardinal Ridge - Z-23-0008 - this large development from D.R. Horton Inc proposes 946 homes with additional acreage for mental health facilities and commercial space has had 2 JCC staff reviews.  (The last review was in mid-October with the applicant's responses pending.)
A recent post from Williamsburg Watch has estimated that combined these "two developments would increase James City County's housing stock 3 percent" as well as adding 140,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. New Town residents can review all submitted materials on the James City County website as these applications work their way through the zoning review. 
Lydias Park Holiday Decorating
Posted on February 1, 2025 6:40 AM by Liz Fones-Wolf
 
Over the years Charlotte Park homeowners, including Dave and Marie Gaydos, have decorated part of the Eizabeth Davis green for the holidays.  Inspired by their efforts, this year Eden and Bob Glenn kicked off the holiday season by inviting their Abbey Commons neighbors to celebrate as a community by gathering  to decorate their Lydias Park reen.  In the late afternoon, of Sunday, December 1, kids and adults opened boxes of decorations and climbed ladders (carefully), as they trimmed the trees on the common with brightly colored balls and other decorations and then trooped into the Glenn’s townhouse for hot chocolate and goodies. Young resident Sheila Cyrus thoroughly enjoyed the event. She observed that it made her feel more like Christmas when “things are pretty” and that during the winter “grass is brown and the tree are bare” but putting “ornaments on the trees added color” and happiness. The Glenns hope to continue the decorating and community building in future years.
 
 
 
   
Go Tribe! New Town Day with William and Mary Women's Basketball
Posted on February 1, 2025 6:40 AM by NTRA Activities Committee
 
 
 WILLIAM & MARY Tribe v. College of Charleston Cougars 
 
Location: Kaplan Area.
 
Time:  11:45 pre-game reception - Game starts at 1PM
 
Are you looking for a fun family weekend activity?   On Sunday February 23, the NTRA Activities Committee is sponsoring a New Town event to cheer on the College of William and Mary Women’s Basketball team.
 
Before the game New Town neighbors and their friends and family are invited to a reception at the arena at 11:45 with a FREE pizza lunch and raffles.     
 
$5 Discounted tickets will be available at the door if reserved in advance.  RSVP by contacting Susan Schlimme:
      text:      703-864-0069 
      email:   skschlimme@hotmail.com
Potential Competition for Cox Communications Services
Posted on December 1, 2024 7:00 AM by Jack Espinal, Board President
 
Currently, Cox Communications holds a Monopoly on wired Internet and cable TV services in our New Town neighborhoods. (Verizon Fios chose not to lay fiber for residential services in New Town during New Town’s development). While Verizon and T-Mobile do compete with Cox Communications with wireless Internet services through their cellular networks, those systems cannot provide the bandwidth and speeds available to Cox Communications customers. This means that cellular-based Internet will work well with tasks such as reading email and simple Internet searches, but they will have much more difficulty streaming high-resolution video, and serving multiple users in a household simultaneously.
 
Glo Fiber has started competing directly with Cox Communications in the Williamsburg area using fiber optics rather than copper-based coaxial cable. This newer technology has the advantage of providing faster service, higher bandwidths, symmetrical download and upload speeds, and more consistent/reliable performance than coaxial cable.  The maximum available bandwidth from Cox Communications is 2 gigabits per second download and 35 megabits per second which compares to Glo Fiber’s 5 gigabits per second symmetrical (both up and down) bandwidth.  Like Cox Communications Glo Fiber also provides up to 130 optional entertainment channels and landline telephone service. Glo Fiber has recently completed the installation of its fiber optics cable system in Ford’s Colony with satisfactory results.
 
Glo Fiber recently approached the NTRA Board about using the area’s communications easements to install underground fiber optics cables and provide their Internet, entertainment, and telephone services to our residents. This service would directly compete with Cox Communications but its use would be totally voluntary.  The NTRA Board of Directors will consider this issue early next year.
 
The installation of a fiberoptics system would require some digging throughout our community, but the majority of the underground work is performed with augers.  This reduces the installation's impact on the community and its environment. When the installation is complete the ground is returned to its original state.  There would be flush-to-the-ground boxes scattered throughout the network to provide maintenance access to the fiber optics cable.
 
 
Glo Fiber is the nation’s 5th largest Internet service provider and offers very competitive pricing to its customers with no long-term contracts. They offer 600 Mb per second Internet for $70 per month, 1.2 gigabits per second Internet for $85 a month, 2.4 gigabits per second Internet for $140 per month, and 5 gigabits per second Internet for $290 per month.  This pricing is significantly lower than that currently offered by Cox Communications. Unlike Cox, they do not offer short-term promotional pricing that reverts to higher costs later.  Cox Communication's pricing structure has also been reproduced in communities where Glo Fiber has been installed to remain competitive.  If Glo Fiber is installed in New Town everyone should benefit from lower prices even if they retain their current Cox Communications services.  But, the question remains: “Will the disruption in our community be worth the future cost savings?”  The Board plans to survey the community on this issue in the near future.
 
Glo Fiber Link:
 
Join Our New Town Buy Nothing Group!
Posted on December 1, 2024 6:57 AM by Gina Forster
 
New Town now has a local Buy Nothing group! If you are not familiar with this organization, Buy Nothing is a global initiative that operates on a hyperlocal level. This means you get to know your neighbors while keeping items out of the landfill, decluttering your home, and requesting items or neighborly help you would like. The best part is that all of this is free. No trades, barters, or cash is ever involved.
 
Gina Forster and Tammie Ortlieb are your local admins of the group. You can message either one of us with questions. Tammie has been involved with Buy Nothing groups for over a decade and has enjoyed the strong sense of community that is built within the groups.  I have personally enjoyed my Northern Virginia neighborhood Buy Nothing group and am excited to create that same sense of neighborliness here in New Town.  I have given and received plant cuttings, spices, art supplies, children’s items, and much more. People have even offered skills/actions such as a knitting lesson or a ride to a doctor’s appointment. Each interaction feels like a connection, not just a transaction.
 
Spread the word to all your New Town Neighbors!
 
To join, simply head to Buy Nothing New Town Williamsburg on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/share/A4pgKhZ4cCACj2XV/?mibextid=K35XfP 
(Remember to answer the membership questions and agree to the rules to be accepted into the group.)
 
Hope to see you there!
 
#gratitude
Summary of the Landscaping Services Survey - November 2024
Posted on December 1, 2024 6:55 AM by NTRA Board of Directors
Categories: NTRA Business
 
The NTRA Board of Directors conducted a landscaping services survey to assist in making decisions on the type and level of landscaping to be contracted for in 2025.  The large number of landscaping tickets received over the last year has overwhelmed the Association’s manager and it has become apparent that using one large landscaping company to provide commercial-level services for all six of our diverse neighborhoods is not meeting our Association’s needs.  The survey has shown us what our membership sees as important. The following is a summary of the roughly 100 written comments submitted.  There is also a tabulation of the survey question results in charts available at this link. 
 
Overview
 
198 owners or about 30 percent of the Association responded to the survey. The survey highlights both ratings of the importance of different types of services and owners' various opinions on these services' quality, management, and costs. 
 
Key Themes from Owner Comments
 
Satisfaction with Current Services
  • Many residents express satisfaction with the scope of current landscaping services, citing them as a reason for moving to New Town.
  • Some residents prefer to maintain existing services without additional costs, emphasizing the importance of uniformity in landscaping and protecting the appearance of our community.
Concerns About Quality
  • Numerous complaints about the quality of services, including poor turf maintenance, inadequate pruning, and neglect of common areas.
  • Residents report issues with large mowers damaging small yards and a lack of attention to detail in landscaping tasks.
Cost and Management
  • A significant number of respondents seek clarity on costs associated with landscaping services and how changes might affect HOA dues.
  • Suggestions include allowing homeowners to opt-out of certain services to reduce fees, while others advocate for maintaining comprehensive services.
Recommendations for Improvement
  • Residents recommend hiring smaller, specialized landscaping companies to better cater to the diverse needs of different neighborhoods.
  • There is a call for improved communication between homeowners and landscaping companies to ensure clarity on services provided.
  • Suggestions for better management oversight of landscaping contractors to ensure accountability and quality of service.
Specific Requests
  • Requests for more frequent leaf removal, better tree trimming, and the use of smaller equipment for tight spaces.
  • Some residents propose alternative landscaping solutions, such as using clover instead of traditional grass due to environmental concerns.
Comments Conclusion
 
The survey reflects a strong desire among residents for high-quality, reliable landscaping services that meet the specific needs of their properties. There is a clear call for better management, communication, and potentially restructuring the service model to enhance satisfaction and maintain New Town's aesthetic appeal.
 
(See full survey results in detailed graphic charts.) 
 
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