I’m usually not one to make broad statements about things I usually don’t do, except for just now.
But I usually don’t like to write blog posts about stories I already wrote. It’s a bit cheap, I think, and strays way too far toward “marketing.” Blah.
The way I see it, if you want to read a story on KitsapSun.com, you will. If you want to spend a little time kicking it with the homies here at the Bremerton Beat, I’d like to make it worth your while by serving something fresh, not just a few lame lines of reiteration.
So this entry is a bit of hypocrisy. It might read like original content, but really it’s not, it’s just a plug for this story, which is a promo for a city program that helps residents come together to beautify their ‘hood.
Beside the obvious reasons to do such a thing, aesthetics, make new friends, get that good community feeling down in your heart, it can also boost your property values. And that couldn’t hurt, especially with economists telling us we’ll be white-knuckling it for the foreseeable future.
Plus, dope dealers don’t like neighborhoods where everybody knows each other. Planting flowers may not seem like a public safety measure, but who knows?
All it takes, really, is getting together with some neighbors over the fence, or over beers, and brainstorming. Then somebody taking the five minutes to call the city (click here for the city’s Web page for the program) and figuring out the next step.
For inspiration check out this site for the Manette Neighborhood Coalition, who has been the only group to date to actually cash in. They performed a clean-up and installed a couple benches and garbage cans.
If you happen to get a project going, drop a line.
Bremerton. Represent.
Hey Andrew, We had a great turn out for out District 4 meeting on this very issue last month hosted by our council rep Roy Runyon. The ball has been rolling on this for several weeks now. I have to give credit to Carlos Jara. He canvassed our entire neighborhood and enlisted some of my time to help with the application process. This program is a definite springboard to improving neighbor relations and shared neighborhood assets. I think you will see many more applicants this year. Thanks for covering the story.