South Perry Spokane a guest blog by Pia Hallenberg
Cascading Creations GardenStone monte tareski pia hallenberg Christensen Spkane spokane grapevine
I fell in love with the neighborhood long before it was “up and coming,” long before I moved there five years ago. On a summer day, back in 1999, I sat with Perry friends outside a newly opened South Perry coffee house, The Shop, and we dreamed up bars and restaurants, outdoor movies and summer parades that would take over the rundown street and fill the mostly empty storefronts.
Today, South Perry features almost everything we dreamed about on that summer afternoon: there’s an indoor farmers’ market, a nursery and a tiny tavern – you’ve got to love a neighborhood where people readily take their pints outside on the patio, even when it’s snowing, just so they can visit at the pub. There’s an organic food store, a great breakfast café and a supreme pizza restaurant – you get the drift.
A lot of factors came together and worked out for South Perry. The city invested in a street improvement project that stretched over years and turned the street into an attractive neighborhood center with solid sidewalks, parking and good street lights. It was designated a business corridor under the city’s growth management act. Younger families began purchasing and restoring 100-year-old homes in the area.
But most importantly people showed up to support the neighborhood. They volunteered countless hours at the summer fair, bringing in live music and putting on outdoor movies. They called the city to figure things out. They worked within and sometimes against a bureaucracy they had little experience with to make things like the farmers market and the tavern happen. And they showed up: at the South Perry Business and Neighborhood Association meeting last night, they continued to add extra tables as people dropped in.
Some are neighbors, some are church members, some are long-time volunteers or staffers at neighborhood non-profits, some are parents, some work at the neighborhood school – and the one thing they have in common is that they take the time to do so on a Tuesday evening, because they care about the neighborhood they live in.
With this little blog post I’d like to tell you all thank you. Thank you for investing in my neighborhood. And I’d like to encourage all of you out there to do the same in your neighborhood – show up, participate, volunteer a few hours here and there, and support the merchants down the street. It works out to the benefit of everyone involved.
Monte & Kelly Tareski
Spokane Grapevine
GardenStone Creations
Cascading Creations
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