Beautiful Neighborhood

I came across a new web site yesterday that I was invited to join.  It's called NextDoor.com and it is a social networking site designed to help neighbors get to know each other.  I suppose there are those people who don't bother actually knocking on the door of the person who lives next door, or a few doors down and talk to them face to face.  Interestingly enough, I actually met someone at a party who didn't have a clue who his neighbors are and actually started dating a girl before he found out she lived on the same block as he did. But I digress.

Next Door.com allows people to sign up and virtually meet their neighbors in a social, non-threatening way, and be able to share information such as an emergency alert, neighborhood event, or the ability to discuss community issues.  I joined the group simply because I was invited, which is the way it grows. I suppose it will prove to be worthwhile, especially the aspect about discussing community issues because people tend to be more vocal online than in person, IMHO.  One thing that amused me was a statement by the website people that said:

We believe in the traditional notion of neighbors as people who help and look out for each other. We hope that Nextdoor members embrace the concept of being neighborly to each other.

I only hope that this is the not world we are becoming where people need to have a website help them watch out for each other rather than common courtesy and simply being human.

Dinner and a Show

Theater Horizon opened their doors in 2009.  Last night I attended the new theater opener for what I believe is their third full season.  They had the event in partnership with several restaurants in the area that offer subscribers dinner coupons to so that dinner and a show is available.  I got goosebumps when I heard that because there has never really been that concept since I have lived here, and it is very exciting.

We have had a cultural center here for a while, and they have a wonderful venue for theater, so it is very exciting to have another theater in our little town. Now we have to work on getting more restaurants in town so there is more of a variety for theater goers as well as bringing in new people and things to do for our own residents.  Two of the restaurants who were at the event are not in the town and one of them is rather far away and would require people to drive rather than walk, which in my opinion does not make it a viable place to go to before a show.

Things seem to be getting better at least as far as cultural events are concerned.  I believe that once we establish culture as a destination reason, we can help establish our town as a destination place.  It is a matter of time.  

Dreaming

I am reading the most wonderful book called Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners, and Smart-Cooking Mama's given to me out of the blue by a friend of mine.  He said he saw it and it reminded him of me. It is really interesting and has gotten me fired up on the aspect of not eating food that is highly processed. While I was reading yesterday the image of a community surrounded by farmland came to my mind.  I imagined a farm outside a little village where each person in that village got what they needed from the farmer.  In the village, there were little shops that carried local wares and in the village, there was a school, some churches, and the people of that village could walk to the central part to do their local shopping.  I thought to myself that if I were Queen that's how this world would work.

Wait a minute, that is just how things used to be way back when before we all got "civilized"!  It was like that before we took away all the farmland and built McMansions on it, before we decided that stores would carry cheap, easy-to-break crap from China, and before we started manufacturing food rather than enjoy what comes out of the ground. There were little villages like that where people lived and were healthy because they ate was God intended and not things that no one can pronounce. Furthermore, there are places like that still in Europe more or less. Why can't we get back to that?

We are close to having reached the point of no return (at least in my neck of the woods) in this country.  But there is hope.  We can model the village life in some of the small cities in towns in America.  We can have the community gardens and local CSAs grow the food, we can create walk-able communities, and we can buy locally produced goods.  It will take desire and the political will to do so.  In the meantime, I will keep dreaming, looking for local produce, growing what I can, and boycotting food I can't pronounce.

City or Town?

Lately there has been some scuttlebutt about Norristown being referred to as a city. It appeared in a blog entry asking to stop calling Norristown a city. The term was brought up at a zoning meeting where the County's planning person called us a city and said we had an urban feel.  The author of the blog article insisted we are not a city and refers to the place as a town or by our old name "borough".  In her mind, the word "city" implies a feeling that she apparently does not feel in Norristown and probably furthermore implies a crime ridden area.

What is in a name? A rose is by any other name is still a rose. To me the words city, town, village, urban area, and borough are somewhat interchangeable.  Technically, the dividing line between those words generally revolve around population count and density.  Norristown is definitely not a suburb because we are not an area that has homes on larger sized lots with driveways and sidewalks.  Norristown has a population of over 35,000 people, has mostly densely built out areas and very little green space.  The word city is much more descriptive of how we are.  Webster's definition of a city is "a : an inhabited place of greater size, population, or importance than a town or village".  We are the county seat, so we have some importance.  That somewhat supports my claim.  Wikipedia says "A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings..." This means to me that town or city are appropriate names for where we live.

The bottom line to me is there is no doubt in my mind from a planning perspective that we are an urban area. We have small amount of areas where development can occur, we have dense housing, and generally we have a large, diverse population.  That spells urban.  What we don't have is the businesses, shopping, and arts areas that give a hustle and bustle feel to a place whether it be town or city, and that is where I believe our efforts should strive to accomplish. Regardless of what you call Norristown I still call it home.

How Long?

The other day I attended a community meeting, and during the meeting a question was posed to a person talking.  That person held a position of authority as being chair of an advisory panel to Borough Council and was pretty well schooled on why the group make the decision they were discussing.  One of the members of the audience point blank asked him where he was from.

I hear that a lot and it never ceases to amaze me that people either constantly ask me, or anyone who holds a position of authority, where they are from.  Does it make that much of a difference? I have lived here nearly 30 years now, yet I believe I am still considered an "outsider".  It appears that no matter how long you are here, if you weren't born here, you are not worth a plug nickel.

I asked a group of "natives" exactly how long it takes before a person is considered relevant. I explained that my husband and I have been here almost 30 years, we have raised a son here, and we have been active in the community almost as long.  The person looked at me somewhat quizzically and said he thought 30 years warranted  a "vested" status. I suppose I surprised them with my question, but I was really curious.  Does being born in a place grant you special powers to make decisions for the town? I supposed experiences or education from outside don't give you any special consideration.  I fear that with that kind of narrow thinking, this town is not destined for much.  

This Little Town of Mine

Last night when I got home from work, we heard siren after siren which we thought were fires.  I have a scanner app on my tablet and tuned in, but I didn't hear anything other than a breathing problem situation at a street in the east end of town. This morning I went to the local Patch.com website and saw there was a shooting not far from my home, a drunken person who crashed into a day care center in the afternoon, and an article about a motorcycle being stolen, recovered, and then stolen again. Facebook didn't give any clues either.

The town I live in has its fair share of crime.  Most of it is minor, vandalism stuff but in the last few years there have been more and more shootings.  I suspect that many of the shootings have to do with drugs, but since I am not in that scene or have guns, I wouldn't know what causes people to want to shoot each other.

Many people have been complaining that there is too much crime and I agree.  It is not an easy problem to fix and there is no easy solution.  I think that more jobs could work toward less, but I also think that people need to take a stake in protecting their blocks by calling the police and actually testifying if they witness crimes happening.  There are stories after stories of towns taking back their communities by standing up to criminals but it is not easy.  Until people stand up for what they believe in and not hide behind their front doors, status quo will remain.

Teach a Man to Fish

There was another cleanup this weekend.  This one was on a block that is well known for problems both because it looks so bad, has several vacant properties, and has a lot of crime.  I arrived a little late because I wasn't really sure which intersection everyone was meeting at, and I parked further away than I wanted.  There was a slightly smaller crowd this time and I only saw four people who were at the last one.

During the time I was there, I took a small break for a cup of water and to get out of the blistering heat for a bit.  I sat down next to a man who was sitting under the canopy drinking water and talking to some of the people there.  I introduced myself and he said that he lived on that block and had come over looking for work but when he found there was no pay he was uninterested.  I was floored.  This was his block, I explained.  What happened to the "pay" of doing a good job for the community?  He just looked at me probably thinking I was daft.  Later that morning, another man came over and asked if there were jobs available and when I said no and asked if he was a resident of the block he said he was not interested.

I was hoping that part of the project was to get the neighbors to help themselves after the first initial push.  I know the young man who is heading up this project and he has gotten some volunteers to sign up from the neighborhoods where he is working, but I don't understand the whole mentality of keeping you own block clean. Isn't that what a neighborhood is all about?

A Tale of Two Cities

 The other night my husband and I attended a meeting given by the Montgomery County Commissioners held in Pottstown.  It was one in a series of meetings designed to be a listening tour of sorts to hear from the citizens of the county.  The first part of the meeting was all about what the commissioners are doing and a little information on what is being planned at the county level.  The last part of the meeting was all about the residents.

Since we were not able to attend an earlier meeting due to scheduling conflicts, we attended this meeting and it was great that we did.  Pottstown and Norristown are very similar in age, architectural assets, and socio-economic population.  We vary a little in racial makeup, but generally there are similar issues in both municipalities.  The main topic of concern that evening was Section 8 and the administration of the program.  As you may know, this is a Federal program which is administrated by the county so any changes to the law, or any compliance with the law has to be done on the Federal level.  It was very interesting to note that some of the comments that came up sounded as if we were sitting in a Norristown audience.  There are the same frustrations about the holders of the vouchers, or perhaps the assumed holders of the vouchers because due to privacy laws everyday residents are not able to know that a particular house is in the program.

There were no solutions given that night, but there is a lot of follow up that needs to be done.  The person who chairs the department took a lot of names and supposedly will follow up with the complainants.  It was of interest that 92% of the municipalities accept vouchers, and the idea is that voucher holders can go anywhere in the county but the reality is that they gravitate to one or the other locations maybe because they have family or other ties to those municipalities.  It remains to be seen where this program goes or if the problems associated with them go away.

Compost Happens

I came across a website the other day for a company called Philly Compost.  This is a woman owned company that will pick up your food scrapes and create compost from it.  Right now, they offer their service to six zip codes in the Philadelphia area.  I found them after reading a blog entry that referred to Compost Cab, a Washington DC based company.  Compost Cab presented at Green Festival which has summer and fall events in DC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. 

Urban settings do not allow many people to do home composting, and these services will help provide that.  They partner with local farmers, create compost from the scraps you give them, and help reduce material being sent to landfills along with excess methane created from those landfills.  It is a win-win situation in my mind but of course is a fee based service. Philly Compost charges $15 a month, and I am not sure what the city charges in fees for waste collection, but if it is based on tonnage allowing Philly Compost to pick up your organic materials it could end up saving you money. 

I know in my house we end up putting out one bag every other week.  We compost our kitchen scraps, recycle our paper and cardboard, recycle our plastics, and save our used batteries to take to the hazardous waste collection offered by the county.  Bear in mind it is only two of us now, but even when our son was living with us, we didn’t produce that much more.  I look around every week on trash day at our street and our neighbors have mounds of stuff on the curb.  It feels good that we are doing our part to reduce greenhouse gases. I think if everyone does what they can we could help reduce the hole in the ozone and produce amazing fertile soil that will grow more food.

Regentrification

For the last 20 years or so, Norristown has tried many things to try and re-invent itself and each effort has largely failed. I have been reading as many articles as I can get on how areas go from crime-ridden, trash strewn places, to hip and upcoming neighborhoods that improve a city’s tax base as a way to try and determine why.  In every article it points to similar themes, one being a very controversial issue, that being re-gentrification.

One article, published in New York Magazine decries the negative connotations of hundreds of poor being thrown out of the homes they have lived in for generations. Lance Freeman, who undertook the study that the article is written about, says that the previous residents actually appreciated the work that was done and were less likely to move from these neighborhoods.  He points to the fact that with many of the houses abandoned anyway those who are living there stay there.  Of course there are those areas where the rent is raised and the people who can’t afford move out, but his study this happened less than expected.

A few things come across as positive ways to improve an impoverished area in many of the articles that I read and one of them was a Business Improvement District (BID).  This was tried in 2004 in Norristown and failed miserably.  It failed because a few near sighted business owners failed to see the potential outcome and only saw that the government was charging them yet another tax.  That negativity spread and soon the other businesses climbed on board and voted it down.  Perhaps it was because the municipality fronted the idea and was too closely associated with the project.  People at that time were just recovering from an administration that was corrupt and mismanaged and they were still gun-shy for things from government officials.  Almost 10 years have gone by and maybe now it may be accepted better.

The bottom line is that no one thing will make the difference.  It has to be a total policy toward urban revitalization which affects not just economic development and lifestyle change, but a way to improve the living standards of the residents.  Norristown can build all the pretty buildings they want but with no one there who has the knowledge and will to maintain them and help the people who live in them, they will decay like the falling leaves of summer.

Community Involvement

We each have a responsibility to the next generation. ~ Deval Patrick

Community or civic involvement is very important to do and there are many benefits, both personal and for the community, that are realized by being active.  However, these days less and less people are getting involved.  Whether it is because they lack the time or the interest, people are less likely to “work for free” no matter what the cause.  It seems as if this is not just an American phenomenon, as I recently read a blog from a mom in Australia who said the same thing. She remarked that we are turning into a ‘what’s in it for me’ society.

The company that I work for offers a volunteer day off as a way to foster community involvement in its workers.  I don’t take advantage as for the last 20 years I have volunteered and are currently active in several groups.  I guess being involved like that I wonder why others are not.  It offers a great sense of self satisfaction and the skills learned from working with others can help in my daily job.  Plus there is the networking aspect of it where you get to meet a lot of people that you might not have gotten to meet otherwise.

But the most disturbing thing about what is happening is that our future generations will likely suffer as a result.  Non-profit organizations that serve the needy, the hungry, the disabled, and so many other deserving individuals will surely suffer as a result.  They don’t have the money to pay for staff and the money they do raise has to go directly into the programs they are running.  We need to find a way to incentivize the aspect of community involvement without offering monetary or tangible gains.  Until people realize that doing good for others does yourself a lot of good especially with feeling good mentally, less and less people will be willing to do something for nothing.

Santa

An unidentified man distributed $100 bills the other day in Reading PA according to an article that appeared recently. I find that truly amazing. He apparently distributed an estimated $20,000 at a bus station downtown. First I find it amazing that a person would be able to hand out that amount of cash, and secondly I find it amazing is that he didn’t get mugged while he was doing it. I suppose a person dressed in a Santa suit might be immune to being attacked?

A $100 doesn’t go very far these days, but it can buy a week’s worth of groceries and two tanks of gas for a person who is scrapping together every cent they can get. I remember when that amount was a lot and I was really happy getting only slightly more than that for a weekly wage when I was in high school. Of course back then my mother spent $36 for a week’s supply of food and I could replace the gas I used in my mother’s car for $1.

But still just giving away a $100 bill to that many people is over-the-top generous and should give you pause as to the impact this person made in those poor people’s lives. That is the real meaning of Christmas.

My Home Town

Often after you have lived in a certain area, most people tend to take a sense of pride or something.  I have lived in Norristown for over 20 years and I now call it home.  I am not from the area originally, but I am now.

The other day I met a person at a social event and when he heard that I was from Norristown he remarked that he was now working in Norristown and was not too pleased about it.  “What a dump”, he said to me, and went on to say that there was absolutely no place to eat.  He said that one gets tired of Mexican food after a while.  While there are a lot of Mexican places, there are other places if you care to look for them.  I left the conversation feeling somewhat offended as if he had insulted my very person.

Yes, Norristown has a ways to go but calling a dump I think is a little over the top.  Perhaps I am looking through rose colored glasses a bit, as is my nature.  I know that there are big plans to change things, but we did get somewhat slammed with the economy when things were just getting started and many municipalities are having issues.  Our main problem is the demographics of the area which is not something that will easily attract new businesses and people.  We have to work a little harder to go after those people and use the plan that we have in place, and make some new ones, to ensure that we have a variety of businesses that will attract people and ultimately residents who want to live in a walk able, sustainable community, while at the same time enforce the rules that will weed out the aspects of the community that cause issues. 

Be Part of the Solution

I read a comment in the 2 cents column of the Times Herald by a guy named Jerry who was complaining about the trash behind the Bandshell at the Elmwood Park.  His last comment whined about why no one is doing anything about it.  I felt like calling I a rebuttal for that comment like “well Jerry instead of complaining about having someone else do it, why don’t you do it?”  I didn't frankly because I kept forgetting to call, but it really annoys me that people think like that.

Jerry should be part of the solution.  If he is tired of the trash in that area, maybe he should bend over and pick it up.  Or maybe he should grab a group of his friends and schedule a clean-up of the area.  Who does he expect to clean it up anyway?  He is the same kind of person who probably has trash lying around the front of his property and won’t pick it up because he didn’t put it there.  This kind of thinking is pervasive in this town.  Everyone is expecting someone else to do the work and they just sit around an complain about it. As a result nothing gets done.

So be part of the solution.  If you see something wrong then fix it or get a group of people together to help you fix it.  Enlist the help of the administration to point you in the right direction if you don’t know how to do it.  There are plenty of community groups in the town that work on stuff like that and would be more than glad to have another helping hand in the work they do.  People are too quick to just point their finger and place the blame and the solution on someone else.  It has caused a downgrade in our community.

A Sense of Community

As some of you may know, my husband and I are avid bicyclists.  We ride the Schuylkill River Trail almost every day and have logged more than 5000 miles on it for the last three years.  I am always struck by the sense of community that abounds on the trail.  If even you are stopped by the side of the trail changing a tire, or inspecting some noise that your bike is making, someone if bound to come along and shout out “are you okay?” as they pass.  It is sort of the unwritten kind of law to do that.  Everyone who uses the trail, even though we don’t know each other personally, we are a community of cyclists and as such are bound together in some fashion.

The other day, our ride was interrupted multiple times.  The first time we came across a guy who was trying got change his tire.  We asked if he needed help and at first he said no, but then we realized he really didn’t know what he was doing.  He was all decked out in his riding outfit and had a very expensive carbon fiber bike but didn’t know how to change a tire.  We stopped and helped him out and when we left, he vowed to pay it forward.  A mile or so later, we came across a woman who had found a set of keys and was wondering if we lost them.  She was trying to find the owner and interrupting he own ride to do so.  Then later when we stopped for water, we came across a large bee that was obviously hurt and was crawling around in an area where he could have been stepped on.  I get a twig and coaxed him on and put him in the bushes. 

It is this sense of community and desire to help our fellow cyclist that gives me a hope. If we can have this love for our fellow human out on the trail, then it is possible to have that sense of community in our neighborhoods, cities, and nations.  It is this sense of community that can allow us to become united with everyone regardless of who they are, but simply because they are a part of the human race.

Outpouring of Support

Last night a fundraiser was held to assist two elderly people in our community.  Their house was caught up in a fire that took out four homes shortly before Christmas and the woman of the couple nearly lost her life, but was saved by several firefighters.  It wasn’t a fire caused by a smoldering cigarette, or a pot left on the stove.  It was a fire caused by the senseless violence of a gang of young men who threw a firebomb at a house that was attached to their house.  Theirs was a total loss and the only things left are the four walls holding up the structure. 

The fundraiser was mostly organized by their son, who has a catering company in a nearby town who does beef and beer type events.  One reason I attended was that one of the civic organizations that I belong to assisted in the organizing and selling tickets.  However, most of the planning was done by the son and most of the guests were friends and family of the parents.  It was really heartwarming to see that many people come to support those two.  500 tickets were sold, and needless to say the place was packed, as you can see in this photo.

Samuel Johnson said, “There will always be a part, and always a very large part of every community, that have no care but for themselves, and whose care for themselves reaches little further than impatience of immediate pain, and eagerness for the nearest good.”  In most cases I believe this to be true.  There are so many people who could care less about what the implications of their actions on those around them.  Case in point the totally selfish action of the gang member who put four families out their homes to settle some misguided sense of justice.  However, last night’s outpouring of support for two members of the community to help them rebuild their lives goes against those words.  We all have it in us to join together and give a leg-up to another.  I just wish more people would rally around and do what is right for a change.

This Weekend

This weekend I helped work on the Selma Mansion, the ancestral home of Andrew Porter. Mr. Porter was many things; Revolutionary War general, surveyor for the state of Pennsylvania, and founder of the Marine Corps. The Selma Mansion, located at 1301 W Airy St, in Norristown, PA is a house built in 1794. For years it has languished, vacant and gathering dust. The Norristown Preservation Society (NPS) was formed to save the property after the owner of the property died back in the 70s when it was in danger of being torn down. Several years have gone by and the organization now finally owns the mansion.

With a new infusion of members on the board, efforts are being made to stabilize the property and clean it up. This weekend’s efforts were centered on making the first floor clean and bright so the people can come and see the potential of the place. The main goal is to house a collection of Civil War artifacts and create a house museum that will highlight Norristown’s history and bring visitors to the area as well as create a place where community groups can meet. On Saturday members of the NPS board and members of the West End Association, of which I am a member of both, went into the house and scrapped loose paint, took down the wallpaper that was hanging from the walls, and cleaned up the mildew that has grow on the walls due to a leak in the basement. We also cleanup the horse carriage house and cleared up the code violations that the municipality has saw fit to charge us with. On Sunday with the help of a crew from Cabrini College, we did more of the same to the four rooms and main hall on the first floor. The place looks fantastic and is well on the way to becoming a useful property.

It was great to see the energy in the place over the weekend, despite the fact that it was cold and rainy. I know the new NPS board members are excited to see that there is so much support from the community to get this house back to where it should be. Now comes the arduous task of raising the money needed for the renovation of the property and the creation of the museum.