"How Buying a House Radicalized Me"

This post at Hipster Housewife is a must read for anyone who owns or is thinking about owning a home. Maybe it won't resonate with everyone like it does me, but I wanted to share because of how many times I thought "Exactly!" as I was reading it. Especially this part:

We took on a new tax and we staked a very public claim that we believe this corner, on a hill, on the plains, will be worth living on for a while. Our plan to stay in this house for a while makes me much more appreciative of the fact that we’ll be living in this world for a while, too, and I have a responsibility to do my part to keep this hill on the plains habitable. After I signed those mortgage papers, after I entered the social contract which says this bit of land is mine, come feast or famine, I felt attached to the rest of the world by a very real tether. It’s one thing to know, cognitively, each action has a real consequence; it was a new experience to feel that knowledge gutterally. It added weight to every choice I made.

I had a very similar experience. Unlike the author, I never considered myself an activist before being a homeowner. I didn't realize it at the time, but signing those mortgage papers led me to a deeper sense of responsibility for the world around me. Like the author, it started small. First making our house livable for us, then helping a stray dog or two (or three). Then seeking out the neighborhood organization and becoming determined to raise awareness about it after a difficult search for a contact. Starting this blog. Advocating for an improved quality of life for area residents. Starting my MSSW. Next: World peace.

Me in '07. Red-faced and ready to take a sledgehammer to those cabinets.

Ok, I have a long way to go. Maybe I have always had an inner activist lurking, just waiting for me to sign the dotted line in order to awaken. Did buying a house radicalize me? I have my moments. The point is, I can't ignore the influence that becoming a homeowner has had on the past 4 years of my life.

Jason mowing our yard for the first time in early '08. It was winter, the yard did not need mowing.
Nonetheless, a proud moment.

Shop South Nashville: Johnson's Hardware

Had we known this place existed, we would have been frequenting Johnson's Hardware (located near the intersection of Nolensville Pike and Thompson Lane) ever since we bought our house in 2007, saving ourselves many frustrating trips to the Depot just to retrieve a washer or screw we forgot to snag.

Jason and I just happened to stop at Johnson's last weekend to see if they had the screws we needed to hang our TV. Screws galore. Jason was in hardware heaven.

I asked Jason what he liked so much about the store and here's what he said:

1. They have a better selection of screws (compared to you-know-who).
2. You can buy individual screws as opposed to having to buy a whole package of something when you might only need 1 or 2.
3. They are all labeled and cheap.

There is other merchandise. I asked about the paint. They sell Benjamin Moore which goes for about $40 a gallon (a bit rich for me), but the owner said she was about to switch to Porter so would be having a sale soon to get rid of them. I also really appreciated how knowledgeable and helpful and patient she was in answering my questions and helping us find what we needed.

There are cats. I love me a store that has animals roaming about. There were two little cats chowing down near the register.

Now that we know it exists, we'll be checking Johnson's first for our hardware needs. Hopefully they'll be around for awhile. According to these reviews on Citysearch, the small store could be in danger of closing next year if business doesn't pick up. This is also reflected on the sign that hangs right next to their front door.

Guest Post: The Old Guy - ...and there was Beavers

I found this photo on The Nashville I Wish I Knew Facebook page. I think it's kind of hilarious that a bar named Beavers existed at all and of course it existed in WeHo on Rains Ave. So I asked the Old Guy about it. Here's his response:

At the SNAP meeting a couple of weeks ago our hostess Jen was telling me about a website she had found with old pictures and asked me about one she had found. I told her what I knew about it and she suggested that I write it out as an Old Guy post and so here it is.

As I stated previously in the mid sixties two houses were torn down on the corner of Rains Ave. and Zimmerlee St. and a new restaurant was built, Bobby’s B.B.Q.. It was built in response to a trend for “curb service” barbecue. The building was a flat rectangular structure surrounded by a covered walk and a parking lot. There were low bar stool type chairs, one at each corner of the restaurant on which sat a waiter who would leap out to your car and take your order without you ever budging from your seat. In my recollection these were rarely used, fell into disrepair and were removed. By about the late sixties the barbecue craze had subsided and the restaurant closed.

The building sat vacant for a short while until it was reopened as a nightclub named “Beavers”. The club used to advertise on the local rock radio station KDF 103.3 (which has since gone country) and tried to set its self up as a music venue, ala 12^th and Porter, etc. I remember sneaking out of the house to go and stand at the sealed off door, behind which was the stage, to hear the bands without paying the cover. But alas “Beavers” was not meant to be. The location is rather away from the other music hangouts so after the initial excitement the crowds dwindled. And a group of the neighbor "hoods" decided to claim it for their own and would hassle the staff and the few remaining customers and the owners could no longer make a go of it.

One night the building literally exploded some might say under suspicious circumstances. Perhaps the insurance got too close to the mortgage, I really don’t know. The remnants were scraped away and the lot lay vacant for a few years until the building was built that now holds ABC mobile brake.

And there you have it. Happy Friday, folks!

Thoughts on Community Economic Development

At our last neighborhood meeting we talked briefly about creating a community economic development plan for WeHo in order to attract and accommodate more businesses that can provide services to residents of the neighborhood (This was also one of the top priorities of residents who participated in the 2008 NCDC Wedgewood Houston study, p.17). By services I mean something to contrast the heavy industrial presence in Wedgewood Houston, such as retail, restaurant or groceries, etc. Such businesses could not only provide easier access to needed amenities, but could also ideally provide employment to...or better yet, be owned by residents of the community.

I think it is a perfect time for WeHo residents to initiate an economic plan for the area. We are literally surrounded by possible upcoming and drastic changes to our neighborhood, from the fairgrounds area master plan* to the relocation of the Sounds (meaning changes on the horizon for Greer Stadium) to the ever-improving Chestnut Street area (Houston Station, May Hosiery Mills, etc).

We can't stop change from happening, especially in an ever-growing and changing city. But we can provide guidance in how to make change happen in a way that suits our needs and wants as a neighborhood. The question is how and the answer requires education, resources, communication, and action. All of these are important because what's the point of putting together a great vision for our neighborhood if in the end we're all left shrugging our shoulders because we don't know how to pull it off?

In one of my classes this semester we discussed one of the biggest and most successful examples of resident-led community economic development. The Dudley Street Neighborhood in Boston was so devastated by poverty in the 80's that slumlords, frustrated by their inability to sell their properties in the area, took to burning houses down in order to collect on insurance. These were houses that people lived in. Fed up residents educated themselves and took action:

The 1987 comprehensive plan was updated in our urban village visioning process in 1996, involving over 180 residents and organization representatives. Their ideas affirm many elements of the 1987 plan, add important refinements and renew their commitment to creating an "urban village" and declare their belief that "Anything Is Possible". From this process, a major commitment was made to enhance economic power in the Dudley neighborhood. Through DSNI’s community land trust, the Dudley neighborhood has the only permanent affordable housing in the city of Boston.

Residents continue to guide this plan which established community control over a critical mass of the 1,300 parcels of abandoned land that had come to characterize the neighborhood. Residents gained control by convincing the authorities in Boston’s city government to take the unprecedented step of granting the community the power of eminent domain over much of the vacant land combined with a partnership with the city on the publicly-owned vacant land. The Dudley neighborhood thus acquired valuable assets, established a community land trust, set a criteria for development and a "place at the table" for the planning and development of the community.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

To date more than half of the 1,300 abandoned parcels have been permanently transformed into over 400 new high quality affordable houses, community centers, new schools, Dudley Town Common, community greenhouse, parks, playgrounds, gardens, an orchard and other public spaces.

Wedgewood Houston is not nearly in the dire straits that Dudley was, but we do have our challenges. We know that change is the only constant, what matters is how we respond to it. Part of that, I think, is not looking at our challenges as just challenges, but as opportunities; then taking action appropriately.

Similar Posts:

• Bringing in Better Business
• Taking care of the biz biz

*We should know more about this very soon. Proposals for the master plan were due a couple of weeks ago.

Guest Post: Memories from the Old Guy - On This Day In 1963

You guys are in for a real treat today. This post from the Old Guy has been burning a hole in my inbox for close to a month. It's kind of amazing that the day I've been waiting to post it seems just as gray and overcast as this exact day 48 years ago that Wayne describes below. On this day in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The Old Guy reflects on his memories of that day as a boy in South Nashville and ends with what I interpret as a wonderfully eloquent description of something we could all be reminded of on a dreary day like today; whether our frustrations be with the season, our government, our neighborhood, our family, or all of the above...and with the passing of one frustration usually comes another. We can dwell in that, or we can hold out hope for a sunnier tomorrow.


For any newcomers, the Old Guy has lived in Wedgewood-Houston for nearly 60 years and stops by often to share his memories of growing up in South Nashville. You can check out more of them here.

As I recall fall had set in. I was in Mrs. Hale’s split 5th and 6th grade class in a portable classroom behind the old Hamilton School (on Southgate Ave where channel 8’s antenna array now sits). We were busy at our books when someone came to the door of the classroom and asked to speak to the teacher. She stepped outside for a moment and then back inside trying to control her weeping. “President Kennedy has been shot in Texas and they think he might be dead.”

In the 6th grade I wasn’t certain what to make of that news. They came through a moment later and dismissed all the classes I walked back home and it was all that was on T.V. I went outside to play, the sky was overcast and dark and a chilly wind was blowing. The neighborhood was deserted; everyone else was glued to the media. I remember thinking “This is a good day for a tragedy”.

For three days there was literally nothing else on T.V. The three major networks did “pool” type coverage for 72 hours solid of the events of that day, with the same reporters doing a marathon of reporting and looking increasingly haggard as the hours wore on. The presidential succession worked flawlessly with Lyndon Johnson being sworn in as soon as President Kennedy’s death was confirmed and life went on.

In April 4, 1968 we saw Dr. Martin Luther King assassinated. Then on June 5th that same year the brother of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, as it were, live on T.V. and repeated ad nauseum. I’m not quite sure where to go with this except to mark that I was witness to the fact that they happened. I don’t hold much hope that people learned from it for we keep repeating the same mistakes. Sorry, there is nothing more to make than an observation.

This time of year has a beauty unique to itself but with it a certain dread for the discomfort of the approaching winter. We can spend this time in maudlin pursuits or look ahead, after winter there has always been spring.

Mic Check.

Is this thing on?

The past 3 months have been a whirlwind of activity. Or as Jason likes to put it, "You do too many things." And it's true. I've managed to steamroll through my first semester of graduate school, neighborhood meetings, band practices, shows and a full-time job in the last 3 months and it has been crrraazy. Not that I think I'm special or different for being so busy, it's just that I'm not at all used to being so. damn. busy.

I like it though. My new schedule has created in me an appreciation for the down time I do have, and I feel like it's actually motivated me to be more productive in my down time. My only regret is that I didn't have time to share relevant discoveries and observations during that time with readers of this blog.

So. Here are a few things that have happened:

1. I created a bumper sticker.

I'm not quite sure if I'm happy with it yet. Somehow I don't think people will get it. It definitely requires a sense of humor. One clever Twitter follower suggested that I should add "WeHo excited" at the end. Reference here.

2. I helped clean up a street and an alley.

On the left is the alley that runs parallel to and in between Southgate and Moore Ave. The photo on the right is on Wingrove next to the fairgrounds. Metro Beautification and Councilwoman Sandra Moore were responsible for organizing this badly needed clean-up, so major props. The alley was way too trashed for the group of volunteers to handle it so Ms. Moore had Public Works on it like the next day. BAM! Trash piles gone.

And of course I've noticed that they've started appearing again. More needs to be done to communicate with residents that trashing the alley behind your house is not an acceptable or an effective way to get rid of your crap.

3. I discovered a back way to school so I can avoid Nolensville Pike rush hour traffic. It routes through Lewis St in Chestnut Hill. Lewis Street is referenced in Steve Earle's song, South Nashville Blues. Neat.

4. I discovered that if there isn't anyone else at Dudley Park and if Jason and I watch them like hawks, one corner of the park is just fenced off enough to let the dogs run around free and pee on stuff. We keep their leashes on for easier grabbing, but it lets them blow off some steam when we don't have time to go all the way to the dog park.

5. I went to Santa's Pub.

Positive's: $2 Yeungling. A diverse group of patrons. It's the closest non-gay bar in the neighborhood (not that I have a problem with gay bars. See Stirrup.). Hipster karaoke.

Negative's: It's smokey. Cash only. Hipster karaoke.

Well, that about catches you up. School doesn't start back until mid-January so I hope to keep writing until then. I have a plethora of Old Guy posts in my inbox so definitely be on the lookout for those.

Also, Stephanie McCullough from the Nashville Civic Design Center will be at the SNAP center tonight to discuss the Wedgewood-Houston study that she helped put together in 2008. So if you're curious about the future vision for WeHo, you should come. Here's a link to the study. Our newsletter has the details about the meeting.

Food Stamp Challenge: Day 5

Other than the cheese toast for breakfast this morning ($0.16), my last day on food stamps will be spent eating leftovers. Spaghetti for lunch, and for dinner either taco soup from Monday or Dal Palak from Wednesday. I still have plenty of bread, potatoes, pasta, onions, old broccoli, rice and beans. I have so many beans. I could cook something different tonight, but this food needs to be eaten. There wouldn't be much of a lesson from working so hard on preparing good food on the cheap only to throw it away.

I feel like I did ok this week. In class we talk a lot about resources and how lacking a single resource can wear on those resources that an individual does have, causing that person stress. In a simple example, a person loses their job (resource), therefore losing their health insurance (resource) and source of income (resource), causing them to rely on their family for help (resource), which diminishes their self-esteem (resource) needed for interviews, causing depression and so on. It snowballs.

This week the resource I most lacked was time. I came home from 5 days out of town and threw myself into this project in the midst of work, class, meetings and study time. In turn, I wasn't able to buy the delicious fresh produce I'd been craving or cook many of the meals that I really wanted to. Lucky for me, I have lots of other resources to rely on, like an awesome husband who will clean the mess in the kitchen that I made (cooking for only myself) while I study. This helped in reducing my stress allowing me to bounce back quicker. But week after week, I'm not so sure. Lucky for me, this project was only for 5 days. That also means that I have hope (resource) that tomorrow I will be going out to eat, something I look forward to.

According to a new study (click here to see the interactive map), there are over 100,000 "food insecure" people in Davidson County. That's more than 16% of the population. Over 33,000 of them are children.

For even more of a disappointment, type in "Nashville, TN" in the search box on this Food Desert Locator to see how much of Nashville is considered a food desert.

What can our city do to increase access to healthy food for the people in these food deserts, thereby increasing their resources, reducing stress and improving the overall health (physical and mental) of our community?