Little Mexico.
Cleaner than Regular Mexico.
Posted on 11/04/2007 6:11:06 AM PST by Tennessee Nana
DALTON, Ga. -- Known by many as "Mexico Chiquito," or Little Mexico, the Whispering Pines mobile home neighborhood often is the first place immigrants live when they arrive in the United States, according to residents.
"I found this place because some cousins were living here already," Manuel Mendiola, a nine-year resident, said in Spanish. "But it's not the same as how one would live in Mexico; over there one would have his own house."
Saul Peinado, 29, who's been living in the neighborhood just outside Dalton for 19 years, said when he arrived there weren't many Hispanic residents, but eventually that started to change.
"When we first got here, there were only two Hispanic families including us, but then as a white family would move out, a Hispanic family would move in," he said in Spanish.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics made up about 40 percent of the population in Dalton and nearly 30 percent of the population of Whitfield County in 2000. At Whispering Pines, which has about 150 households, many residents are drawn by friends or family who already have made a home in the neighborhood.
"Most people come here first because a relative or friend already lives here, but most of us would want to have something better in the future, maybe out own home," resident José Arredondo said in Spanish.
Residents pay $240 per month for a lot and between $400 and $500 a month for the mobile home, depending on whether they're renting or buying, Mr. Mendiola said.
About 2:30 p.m. every weekday, two school buses drive through Bay Drive and drop off neighborhood children. After school, children stay outside to play while their parents talk to each other on their porches. Mexican music plays from inside most of the houses, and during the day clothes hang outside to dry next to a few trampolines.
Gabriela González, who lived in the neighborhood for five years, said in Spanish that one of the good things about "Mexico Chiquito" is that there are a lot of friends for children to play with, but they have to be careful about cars driving too fast.
Some residents said there was an accident earlier this year in which a car ran over a 2-year-old girl, prompting additional speed bumps on the main street. Although residents said they consider the neighborhood calm, they complain about loud music, especially on the weekends.
Judy Woods, the only non-Hispanic resident on the street, has lived in Whispering Pines for 29 years. She said that during the weekend the street is "seriously like an interstate."
"My neighbors are great, no one bothers me, but it's just the loud music," she said.
There have been 54 calls made to the police this year from the neighborhood, the majority complaints about loud music and 911 hang-up calls, said Lt. Nancy Chadwick of the Whitfield County Sheriff's Department.
Some residents say "Mexico Chiquito" feels just like home since most people speak Spanish, and in some houses there are even signs advertising "atole y buñuelos," a Mexican drink and dessert, just like in Mexico.
E-mail Perla Trevizo at ptrevizo@timesfreepress.com
I thought they were coming here for "new lives"...
Assimilation is a good thing..
PING
Little Mexico.
Cleaner than Regular Mexico.
“....just like in Mexico.”
there it is....
Sure, now go back home to the land of milk and honey.
If I could believe that these people would vote Republican—or Libertarian—and help us kick the decadent, depraved, self-serving, mendacious, dishonest, anti-American Democrats (...but I repeat myself...) out of office—I would personally take a caravan of buses to Mexico to bring back as many as would come.
If they’re illegals aliens where’s ICE? You mean coffee break hasn’t ended yet?
Is this like Islamberg, a terrorist training camp not far from NYC?
The absolute LAST thing these people want is to assimilate and become Americans. They are Mexicans first and always; their allegiance is to Mexico. Their utter contempt for America and its traditions and institutions is obvious.
Nos quito los llantas en nuestro casa nueva!(we took the tires off our new home!)
Well, I feel sorry for Georgia at this point.
When the full state of Georgia comes to their sense and takes action,
just tell your illegals to not bother coming to Oklahoma or Missouri.
Tell ‘em to keep moving north to Windsor, ONT or to New Haven CT.
They’ll be much happier there.
Over there the drinking water is tainted with sewage, so water vendors roam the streets screaming, "Agua Purificada!" and they miss that here.
The bigger question is how do all the carpet mills that employ them get away with it? For those of you not familiar with the area, Dalton is to carpet like Hickory, North Carolina is to furniture. It’s the carpet capital of the world with over 150 manufacturers and hundreds of outlet stores. I know some managers at Mohawk Carpet got busted for knowingly bringing in illegals but they were more like sacrificial lambs tossed to the public to keep us pacified.
Paging Julie Myers...am I wasting my time?
Whispering Pines mobile home neighborhood often is the first place immigrants live when they arrive in the United States...
yeah and then hordes of them move up to nj where the guv corslime and the lib/dems welcome them with open check books!!!
That’s the liberal plan all ready.
With the right leaders I hope we can still turn it around.
Can't be bothered to learn English? Just go home already.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.