Media Exposure Fun

In case you've been out of town over the last 3 or 4 weeks our neighborhood has been highlighted in 3 newspaper articles. All three articles have painted a positive picture of the neighborhood. Most of the attention is a result of the reinvestment and neighborhood plans being developed by the city in partnership with the comunity. Yours truly has been interviewed all three times for these articles and for the most part it's been fun. This media exposure gig is all new to me so I'm still getting used to saying the appropriate things during an interview. For those of you that do not know me, I tend to be a little irreverent at times. My sense of humor is a little warped and I don't generally take myself too seriously. I use words like "cool", "weird" and "interesting" during conversations. I often fall back on the language of my youth. I can't help myself!

After the most recent newspaper article about our neighborhood was published I was taken to the woodshed by one of our association members for using the word "cool" in a quote. Thought that I sounded too much like a surfer dude....sigh! I thanked him for his honest critique and told him I would work at my interview giving skills. I suppose I do need to be mindful of what I say when ever I'm involved in an interview. It's never too late to learn new skills! Coming across as "polished" matters to some folks.

On the other hand, what truly matters to me is the fact that our neighborhood is on the cusp of experiencing some significant changes, that there is a sense of hope bubbling up, that we have an excellent association leadership group in place that really cares, that we are dealing with issues in a thoughtful manner, and most importantly I can see the beginnings of a transformation in attitudes of some of my neighbors. Now, is that cool or what?!

Early Morning-North Pine and Lamar Streets

Images taken between 530am and 630am- August 2009

Basic Stuff

If you live in Dignowity Hill and have walked around the neighborhood you've probably noticed that many of our sidewalks are in need of repair or need to be replaced. At the first public meeting of the reinvestment plan someone asked who is responsible for the maintenance or repair of sidewalks in the neighborhood. This question has been raised in other public meetings held for the reinvestment plan. Well, according to city code it is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner to maintain and/or provide for sidewalks abutting their property. Interesting.
The general feeling from the community is that we need to start with some basic infrastructure improvements in the neighborhood, for example, repave our streets, repair sidewalks, put in curbs, and improved street lighting, in order to start improving the quality of our neighborhood. This makes sense. But the current city code that puts the onus on homeowners to maintain or provide sidewalks does not make sense. The community is pushing for those basic infrastructure improvements to happen and city planners need to listen.
The reinvestment plan and neighborhood plan developed over the last couple of months has some excellent elements and goals that will over time have the potential to bring much needed positive change to the neighborhood. The point of this little ramble is that if these plans have any chance of succeeding then we have to start with the basics.