Old down, new up.
As Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle were completing a big loop around our street in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood the other day, we encountered a project obviously completed just moments prior.
In fact, the gentleman who’d done the grunt work was still putting away his spade, his wheelbarrow, the tools of his good efforts to make our blocks a better place to live.
I called out my admiration for his new fence, and he waved and then departed inside.
I fished my iPhone 4 out of my pocket and — take that, Ellie B — tugged my beloved rescue mutt back toward that corner plot to snap off two shots to mark this early September improvement.
Out with the dignified old warrior.
In with the optimistic new guardian.
Long may you stand.
What projects have you noticed around your neighborhood? Do you feel like the blocks around where you live are on the rebound, decline, or same as they ever were? What would you most like see improved in the place were you live?
Mark Bialczak 
Oh, that’s a great looking fence! I love your neighborhood! It’s so picturesque there. 😀
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It’s a nice little spot, Rachel.
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😀
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Miami not good/safe for walks like this.
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That is probably the case is you say so, Carl. Sorry to hear it.
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I like seeing rock gardens, big sculptures and also, seasonal decorations. I enjoy the hay or straw stacks, with scarecrows and pumpkins! I think Fall is my favorite time of year, but I do so love Christmas decorations, too!
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I don’t see much fall decorations around here, Robin. In the country, yes, but not in the city. That sounds pretty cool!
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Seeing others’ completed projects is so motivating. I usually get back home and tell Mr. B that we need to re-do our entire house! You can learn a lot by taking walks around your neighborhood. On a leisurely walk many years ago, we saw a house painted a very pretty shade of blue. We knocked on the homeowner’s door and asked for the color and they were thrilled to give us the name. We had our house painted that color two weeks later. 🙂
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That is a great story, Mrs. B. Your neighbors were flattered that you loved their house color. Nice. I hope they lived far enough away that they were not peeved two weeks later to have a copycat house too close by. 🙂
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Love how you stop to smell the roses,and check out a new fence,mark. My baldwinsville street had a rental house owned by out-of-state people,and it was a mess. Now it is for sale after being renovated…what a relief! Makes me happy when i walk by. Good post!
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It is a shame when people think they can run wild over a place because they’re renting. And it’s a greater shame when a landlord allows it to happen, even an out-of-state landlord. You can enlist nearby management to keep the property value up, people. Dingbats.
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Aw. A nice fence indeed. Now Oscar and I need a walk to see what’s new in the neighborhood, Chum.
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Walk that cute pug, Aud. Enjoy.
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I like your neighborhood Mark. It looks so peaceful and quiet–homey. Seeing it on foot is always the best, even with an energetic dog friend hustling you along.
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On foot is great in the neighborhood, Angie, or on train chair, right? I hope you are more on foot these days, my friend.
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like you, i enjoy traveling around the neighborhood on foot, you get such a better perspective. it seems that there is always something going on – gardens, painting, repairs, builds, all good –
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All good is very good, Beth. I’m glad you take it all in the slow, natural way, too. ))
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Love seeing people keep up their properties.
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It’s a good thing for all, Dora, you are right there.
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It does the soul good to see a new fence go up. Your trees are so big! As we speak, neighbors (or their lawncare services) are edging the sidewalk. The VRMMM seeps through the brick walls. We mowed our yellow dust lawn yesterday. I managed to both hit the city water plastic cover and slice the corner off and then hit two embedded marking posts I didn’t know were there and bent our blade. Off to Lowe’s for a $17 blade to replace it. Hmph. It’s hard to have nice lawns here, as we are in drought and the water bill is over $300 if you do basic watering, which is legally only allowed once a week. The SS Gestapo HOA keeps everyone in line as best they can. Our neighborhood builder bulldozed several acres in the spring two streets down from us, sold each of the 80 new lots within weeks, poured foundations on a dozen two weeks ago, and have framed and sided at least half just this week. All systems go! The noise and pounding never stops! People cross borders to get these jobs because they work every day of the year. No down time. I feel for them in this heat and humidity. I should invest in Gatorade stock.
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Cripes, Kerbey, what a picture you paint. Scraggly grass. Tiny trees. No water. Constant noise. Houses springing up every day. Many jobs. Many jobs. Many jobs.
That sucks about running over hard stuff and ruining your mower blade. And also the hardass HOA doesn’t sound like a barrel of monkeys, either.
But you have a lot of jobs.
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Mark I like that natural wood look on that fence! We seem to have a lot of people getting rid of their fences. But for some reason, the keep the posts and gate. Some plant hedges between the posts. Once the hedges fill out, I’m sure it will look fine, but until then, it looks rather random to have a gate with no fence! The funny thing is; people still open, walk through the gate, and close it, instead of beside it. 🙂
Diana xo
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The gate, no fence concept is sort of intriguing, Diana. I want to know why. Did we miss the memo? And still they use the gate and not the gaps. Hmmmmmmm. Sounds like a ‘Twlilight Zone’ episode.
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Maybe it’s a Canadian thing Mark? 😀
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Perhaps the Barenaked Ladies will write a song about it?
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I wouldn’t put it past them haha!
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fun to see the After. I like our neighborhood as folks take pride in their lawns, etc, but not so much so that we feel bad for not always staying on top of things. Also, our backyard neighbor–who is as nice as they come–keeps an immaculate lawn, and hers is the one that we see from back windows. Can’t see our own so-so landscaping. Hurrah on the view 🙂 I admire so those who make things look good–especially the wild rain garden look–but we just do the minimum. So much else to do inside and out and about. Bread to bake, cocktails to shake, …
Do you have home (outdoor or in) projects going on?
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We have front and back gardens, the love of my dear wife Karen. I help. I mow. We keep the grounds nice. I am not a builder of any sort, so, big projects, not so much. But we do the little stuff inside ourselves, sure. Karen bakes and we both like the beer and red wine to address THAT portion of your comment, Liz!
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I live in the middle of 20 acres of piney woods. They provide us privacy and comfort. I would only somehow be further up the hills which surround us so that we could receive more sun.
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My neighborhood is a little odd in respect to upgrades and beautification Mark. Where I live is all rental units in old renovated buildings because we are so close to the university and the houses are more profitable as income units than to sell (even though property here is dear). These buildings have very utilitarian grounds with large trees and then cedar chips laid over rest of the small properties. That keeps weeds out and needs very little upkeep and doesn’t get harmed by roving students. Now, this is an old neighborhood and just a short way down the street (about 3 blocks) there are huge mansions most of which are now embassies for various countries. Their grounds are all meticulously groomed by professional designers and gardeners. Every time you walk or drive through that area, you see new landscaping elements. It is a very nice cruise but not one that you want to do more than once a day or so. All the embassies have very high security including external cameras that watch the road for someone who may be casing the building. There is a special division of the RCMP whose job it is to keep the area secure and they are never far away. Not that there is much vandalism (Ha! – pick a flower there and you could find yourself in federal prison for defacing a foreign country.faster than you can say: “WHAT?”) but there are a lot of demonstrations against foreign policies. Anyway, their grounds are kept amazing.
Great Post Mark. Thank you.
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Interesting lay of the land in a very diverse neighborhood there, Paul. Student property that’s utilitarian and embassy property that’s gorgeous but forbidden fruit. I’ll take the former every day of the week. Egads to the latter! Great comment, my friend.
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I love seeing improvements around the neighborhood. Ours is mostly the same. But my job puts me out in the neighborhoods all around tje county. Interesting to note that when I do see work around our own neighborhood there is ALWAYS an older member of the neighborhood offering help. That is the best part.
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That is a great part of it for your neighborhood, Colleen. How cool!
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