Progress

Ok, maybe it's not that big of deal for neighborhoods that have good, basic infrastructure already in place but for older urban core neighborhoods like ours, getting new sidewalks installed IS a big deal! Some things just take awhile to get done but after almost 3 years years of pushing for sidewalk repairs the city finally came through for us. There are still areas of the neighborhood that don't have sidewalks, curbs or good drainage but this is a step in the right direction.  It's amazing what new concrete can do for appearances!

How about this, a new outdoor restroom was installed in Lockwood Park!  This is a small victory! Our parks have not had restroom facilities for a number of years because of budget cuts but I could never figure out why other parks in more affluent areas of the city seem to have these amenities while parks in neighborhoods in the urban core are neglected. 

Mystery Solved

The historic street signs have been going up in the historic district for the last several weeks. But up until this weekend no one had actually seen any city crews installing the signs. The signs seemed to magically appear from one day to the next on different intersections in the neighborhood. Well, I finally spotted a crew installing some signs this weekend. I caught up with Mr Romo and Mr Gonzalez from the city's public works department working on the corner of Olive and Lamar. Looking good!

The Day After

As the saying goes, "the people have spoken".....and the political landscape at the national level has once again shifted. We'll have to wait and see what this really means. The big question is can this new group of political leaders learn to govern without having political ideology get in the way. The landscape may have changed but the challenges and problems remain: the economy has not fully recovered, unemployment is still high, the housing market is still struggling, millions of people still do not have adequate health care, immigration reform is still needed, our public education system is in dire need of reform...you get the picture. It makes me wonder if this new congress will make any headway.

In the meantime, life in our corner of the world goes on....... school guard Bob still waves at me every morning on my way to work, neighbors and friends stop by to chat, my fall veggie garden is doing well, the weather is getting cooler and over the next two weekends about 300 students from the University of Texas at San Antonio School of Architecture will be doing a service project in the neighborhood. Maybe those things don't mean much the day after a big election but they are significant reminders that the important things in life don't need to be earth shattering events!

Lots of Stuff Happening

October always seems to get folks more active and interested in getting things done. The weather finally cools down and I know for myself I tend to feel more energized. Maybe it helped that we we spent 10 days in September driving along the rugged Oregon coast! That trip was just incredible and it helped put things into perspective. But its always good to come home, especially if you live in Dignowity Hill!
At our October neighborhood association meeting it was exciting to see the large number of folks that attended the meeting and who are interested in the many things that are happening in the neighborhood. Here are some of the things that are happening in the coming months:

• In early November the San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation together with the University of Texas at San Antonio School of Architecture will be doing a service project in the neighborhood. The project will involve over 200 student volunteers from UTSA to do minor repairs and painting on some of the houses in the neighborhood.
• At the October association meeting the director of Parks and Recreation made a commitment to work with the association to open up the Lockwood Park community building for neighborhood use. The building is a landmark in the park and has not been used for a number of years.
  
• At the association meeting we approved the statement purpose for our 501c3 application. This a great step forward in getting to a non-profit status for the association.
• The city will be doing a survey of our neighborhood sidewalks in the coming months. This is great news and is the first step in getting our sidewalks repaired!
• The Dignowity Hill Community Garden is flourishing and thriving under the watchful stewardship of some great volunteers.
• Restoration activity on some of the old houses in the neighborhood is ongoing and it's good see some of these old houses coming back to life!
  
• Maybe it's the cool weather but I have seen folks in the neighborhood tending their yards and sprucing things up....the neighborhood is looking good!

I'm sometimes taken aback by the many good things that have happen since we moved into Dignowity Hill in 2007 and we still have many challenges ahead of us...but I would not live anywhere else at this time in my life!

New Year Connections

New year, new beginnings. After being off from work for two weeks its back to work today....not that I'm complaining....with daily news of layoffs and shutdowns, it's good to be employed! But it was good to be away from the daily grind. Nothing like some down time, especially during the holidays, to reconnect with family and friends and recharge your spirit.

Speaking of the spirit, we went to church this Sunday. Thought it might be a good idea to start the new year by connecting with the Good Lord. It was also good to reconnect with the two people who are the soul and most likely the the heart of this particular congregation....the preacher and his wife, Gordon and Jeannene. Actually, both of these folks are preachers...... Baptist preachers as a matter of fact. Gordon is the preacher in charge while Jeannene served as a hospital chaplain for several years until she decided that home was where she needed to be. I worked with Jeannene for about a year and I always enjoyed our conversations about religion, hospital work and how tough it is to work in health care. She also encouraged me to start writing a blog.....it took a awhile but the seed she planted finally took root. When we moved into our "new" old house, Jeannene did our house blessing. As is often the case, we didn't keep in contact with each other as our busy lives consumed our time. It was good to reconnect with these folks after not seeing each other for awhile....besides, it doesn't hurt to know a Baptist preacher or two.

The point of this ramble: take the time to connect or better yet to reconnect with something or someone that stirs your spirit.

End of Year Ramblings

Some of End of Year Ramblings to Close Out 2008:

Had breakfast at Tommy Moore's place this morning. Tommy's is on the Eastside near downtown. Nice place, good food and excellent service. Because of our work schedules it's a little tough for us to visit Tommy's Cafe and Deli on a regular basis. But each time we go there Tommy and his staff always treat us like royalty. Tommy seems to remember who you are even if you haven't been in for awhile. Great customer service but even more important, you feel like friends every time you walk into Tommy's place. That's nice.

One whole year of living in this old house. One year of living in Dignowity Hill. Looking back, the blessings out number the negatives. Saving and restoring our old house has made us realize that community matters. Because of this old house we've made new friends, strengthen old friendships and hopefully brighten our little corner of the world.

Dignowity Hill Watch List for 2009: Ft. Sam Houston and the BRAC impact on our neighborhood, the newly ordained Arts and Entertainment District, city elections and new council person for our district....all of these have great potential or they could be a great bust!

Dignowity Hill Wish List for 2009: better lighting for our streets, repave our streets, a stronger sense of pride in our neighborhood, less trash in yards and streets, stronger code compliance, improve our bike lanes, slow down the traffic on Pine St, get the Hays St bridge project going!

One last thing, someone once wrote that "change is the law of life".....well, 2008 certainly brought many changes not always good ones but change none the less. I think that 2009 will bring even more change to Dignowity Hill and our surrounding neighborhoods. Change by itself is a given. The real challenge is to move from change to renewal and transformation.

Happy 2009!!

Hope on the Hill

Man, where has 2008 gone! Is it me or is time really accelerating! I have to say that 2008 has been a tough one for many of us. With the economy tanking out, folks losing their jobs, our leaders (read: politicians!) letting us down....it's no wonder there seems to be a general gloominess about the future. But I feel hopeful. I know, I know....I may be going against the grain with this but I really do feel hopeful. We have a new president, the Bush era is finally ending and expectations are running high that things will get better....I have to believe that things will get better. But it won't be easy.....nothing worth fighting for making life better is ever easy. There an old Mexican "dicho" (saying) that goes like this: " La lucha es vida" (The struggle is life). How true is that! Its hard work making things better! Hope and struggle go hand in hand. It happens everyday and sometimes so close and in front of us that we can easily miss the good the comes from hard work, a little vision and hope.

Across the street from our house, on a little strip of property that belongs to the elementary school, is a little garden area. I see it everyday from my back porch. When we first moved into the neighborhood, the little plots of what once were apparently thriving gardens were neglected and overgrown with weeds and grass. Sometime last spring as the school year was winding down I approached the Principal with the idea of letting me work the gardens over the summer. She was gracious and agreed but because of my work schedule it was little tough to get to the gardens and work in them. So the summer past and it looked like the gardens were to be neglected for another year. Then one day shortly after the school year began my wife and I noticed someone working the gardens plots. It turns out that the Principal had contacted a local community volunteer group to work the gardens and was able to secure some grant funding to offset the cost of restoring the gardens. WOW! Since then the gardens have come back to life. It amazing what a little elbow grease, compost and manure can do to renew tired soil! So here we are, almost the end of December and winter veggies and flowers are growing and thriving in soil that was terribly neglected for who knows how long. The school kids love it and so do I!

So am I hopeful? Will 2009 be a good year? Yes....if this little bitty garden can make a comeback with a little bit of hard work, a little vision and hope....then think of what we can do together as neighbors and friends to transform our neighborhood!

Our Front Porch

We live on a corner lot and because of our location we are literally at a crossroads of neighborhood life. Across street from our house is Bowden Elementary School. Kitty corner from us is the Ella Austin Community Center which has been serving Eastside neighborhoods for over 100 years. A block away is Childress Memorial Church. A plaque on the building tells us it was built in 1908 by a Baptist congregation. The current congregation provides a wonderful community anchor. From our front porch we have a wrap-around view of community life. We can sit on our front porch and see all three of these community service and gathering places. On Sunday mornings and often times during the week we can sit on our front porch and listen to the lively spirit filled worship services coming from the church. During the school year we can view and listen to the daily start of school day activity....the sounds of children talking and laughing, the school guard whistle, the school horn signaling the start of classes or recess. The community center is busy all day with their activities....there are always people and cars coming and going.











Our front porch perch gives us great front row seats to what goes on in our corner of the world. However, lest you think that sitting on our front porch is this romatic experience of a by gone era, the reality is that from our porch we also see the gritty side of life in our neighborhood. Which is not a bad thing....it's good to have a balanced view of the world. Keeps you grounded. For us, seeing the needs and challenges of this old neighborhood has produced this interesting motivation to make this place better. We have been inspired by many of the long time residents such as Nettie Hinton, Betty and Diane Green, Hector Gonzalez, Evelyn Brown and others who love and believe in this community passionately....and I do mean passionately! They are always lifting up our neighborhood to the powers that be to bring recognition and improving the quality of life. Come to one of our nieghborhood association meetings and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about!
The point of this little ramble is that if you want to change the world you need to act, you need to raise your voice, you need to get involved, you need to hang out out with people who have courage and vision. And.... it helps to have a front porch.

Changing Times

From the top of Dignowity Park looking west you can see just about all of downtown San Antonio. Our neigborhood is so close to the city that we can walk into town in less than 20 minutes. Within walking distance of our house, a downtown transformation is occurring. Streets are being fixed up, new lighting has been installed and a general clean up of the Eastside has begun to take place. All in an efort to attract more tourist to the area....which is a good thing. To the northeast of our neighborhood and less than a 10 minute drive is Ft. Sam Houston, an Army post with a long and colorful history with San Antonio. The post is undergoing a huge transformation as it readies for the arrival of close to 12,000 military and civilian staff that are being moved to Ft. Sam beginning in 2009 as part of the BRAC 2005 realignment. Since the military is not buiding any new housing for these folks many of them will be looking for affordable housing outside of the post. Our neighborhood is surrounded by ongoing change and transformation. The big question for me and my neighbors is how will our neighborhood be impacted by all of this change and impending transformation? Will newcomers to San Antonio look to Dignowity Hill as a place to live? Will it change the character of the neigborhood? Is this good or bad? Will gentrification take over and force some of our residents out? So many unanswered questions. One thing I believe is that no matter how this change will affect us we must begin to collectively take ownership of the way we think about ourselves and our neighborhood. Good or bad, image is everything and what we present to the world makes a lasting impression. For example, when my wife and I go for our walks around the neighborhood I'm dismayed by the litter and trash that we often see in the streets and in some of my neighbors yards. Before anyone thinks about moving into our neighborhood we must begin to be good stewards of what we own and where we live. Ok, I really don't to want to be preaching here but think about it this way: if we don't care enough to keep our streets and yards clean then why would anyone care enough to consider our neighborhood as a place to visit or move to and live?