The invites went out, the ice cream truck was booked and rain was in the forecast. Panicked, I reached out to my good friend Ryan Phillips, a meteorologist for NBC in Miami, who confirmed it would rain during the party I was hosting for my clients.

RAIN OR SHINE, THIS COMMUNITY SHOWS UP

So my husband and I bought a canopy and this amazing community still showed up! Neighbors braved the weather to welcome my clients who just bought a home in Piedmont.  “It’s really a great community where you feel safe,” Piedmont Resident Kala Hale told me.  “You feel connected and you can find your people no matter who you are.”

Jean Takazawa agreed.  “We all have an unspoken understanding that we are raising our kids together as a town.  So we look out for each other. And I think our kids know they can’t get away with anything. Because someone’s mom or dad is always in town and has their eyes on them.  I love that as a parent.” 

A VISIT FROM THE PIEDMONT POLICE

The Piedmont Police Dept. also has their eyes on everyone and everything going on in the city. It is one of the big reasons why people choose to live here.  Officer Tyler Petit stopped by to introduce himself, welcome my clients and tell them about a few programs they offer to residents. 

“Welcome to the City of Piedmont if you need anything from us give us a call we’ll literally do anything we’re here to help,” said Officer Petit.  “We like to get to know our residents because it creates a community bond that we need to do our job as well.”

“We have a ton of different programs.  For the elderly community, if they don’t have anybody who can check up on them, they can sign up for this program and our dispatchers will actually call and check up on them every single day.  We have a construction program, a lot of people do work on their homes and we will come and check up on their house at night.  If someone is on vacation, we will go and do door checks and make sure nobody broke into their house while they were gone.  That’s just the small level of customer service we provide that makes a huge difference in people’s lives.”

ADVICE FOR A NEW PIEDMONT RESIDENT?

What advice does neighbor Corey McCarthy have for a new Piedmont resident?  “ Get involved with the community. One of the biggest reasons why we move here is for the friends, the neighbors, the community and relationships. The community here is everything.  Get involved, volunteer and show up at school.”

Speaking of showing up and getting involved in the schools, Ruchi Medhekar, one of the newest members of the school board came to introduce herself. “I’m so excited to participate in community engagement.  Lindsay and I are excited to spend time with different folks in the community so getting out to events and figuring out what’s top of mind for them is really exciting.”

It was exciting for me to see even with rain, wind, clouds and cold temps, the warmth and strength of this community was clear.