Community Garden Sites – Proposed

There are a number of city lots available for the possible creation of community gardens. We’d just need to find people in the general neighborhood of a site to take responsibility for it. Two are adjacent to historic districts. One at 432 Wisconsin (College Park Hist. Dist.) and one at 507 St. Lawrence (Bluff Street Hist. Dist.). I -know- there are some avid gardeners among us.

Sounds like fun -and- a great option for fresh produce -and- a great use of this space -and- a great neighborhood initiative. Interested? Let’s discuss at our next regular meeting, or comment.

All potential community garden sites:
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Richardson House Turns 100 Years Old

Kinda nice having a great college for a neighbor.

Prior to moving to the area I lived in Evanston IL, another ‘college’ town. So when I was considering where to move in the stateline area the fact that there is a college here was very attractive to me.

Though I was unsure how it might manifest, my expectation from prior experience was that living in a college town would add a layer of arts, entertainment, educational opportunities and… well, sophistication. Though neither of us teach or work at the college we’re frequent beneficiaries of the college being just down the street. It couldn’t be more convenient. We likely take advantage of what’s available more often precisely because it’s adjacent to the historic district. Additionally, we’ve had the opportunity to meet some very interesting neighbors who are professors or otherwise work there.

So with that as preface I was very pleased to see in the mail yesterday the Beloit College Arts & Lectures Calendar. There are many things we’ve circled that we’re now hoping to attend. Some great stuff. I’ve updated and expanded The Beloit NPA calendar with these events and others. Hope to see you out at some of these events.

The City Getting It Right – Street Lamps

Yeah, it’s old news. We’ve all seen the ‘vintage’ street lamps that have been going up as streets in the older neighborhoods get new sewer, utilities and general reconstruction. You’ve surely seen them on Harrison, Bluff, Wisconsin and elsewhere. What I wasn’t aware of though was that Church street was likewise upgraded though sans the vintage lamp posts. I understand that Church street was among the first to receive the infrastructure upgrade and reconstruction. This was done though under prior administration.

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At-Risk House Gets New Lease On Life

I am particularly glad to be removing one house in particular from the “Historic & Vintage Home Real Estate For Sale” page… Because it SOLD!
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Garagescape or Porchscape?

Happened to be driving by a ‘planned residential development’ today and saw the perfect example of what I’d heard once defined as a ‘garagescape’. You likely only need the picture to illustrate the concept.

I make no secret of my bias, I love old houses and neighborhoods. Residential developments such as these leave me completely cold and help define ‘Generica‘. I can hear the prospective home owner talking to their realtor. “Yes, we’re looking for a three car garage with a house attached. Our garage is the priority as we’ll be miles from absolutely everything and anything we’d ever care to do we want to drive there.” They’re clean, new, fully modern and ‘efficient’ homes I’m sure, but one’s ‘quality of life’ is greatly influenced on where one makes their home and I find these… well, interesting. No doubt our old neighborhood shows it’s wear-n-tear after eighty to a hundred years or more. I wonder what condition this development will be in half as many years.

Me, I love a ‘Porchscape’ pedestrian neighborhood. Likewise, this term is best described by some pics of a neighborhood that looks warm, interesting and inviting even in the snow.

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Beloit WI Historic Districts

College Park (Near East Side) Historic District

Click here for the higher resolution PDF doc.

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