It's been a busy couple weeks for me so I'm finally posting about how our neighborhood get-together went a couple weeks ago. In short, it went great! Thanks to everyone who showed up! There were twelve of us there, all Roosevelt neighbors on 63rd Street, 14th Ave, or Brooklyn, with the exception of Gavin MacPherson who is a graphic illustrator in Wallingford who came over to take notes and help out (notes below). I wish we had some photos of all of us...did anyone take any? I'd love to see them and post them here!

The discussion was really productive. It was a great start towards the creation of some mural possibilities.

My FAVORITE moments included seeing neighbors meet who'd never met before, including people who had lived in the neighborhood for 19 and 32 years. Another was when Gavin showed us the several conceptual sketches he'd done while sitting there listening to mural/neighborhood identification ideas, and they were almost identical to what neighbor Randy had shown us on a postcard moments before...but Gavin had done the drawings before Randy had shown us the postcard! Not sure this description paints a clear picture, but if you were there you know how awesome that moment was.

We also talked about getting together for potluck dinners or progressive dinners, aka safari suppers (doesn't that sound fun!), not related to doing a street mural, but just to get to know each other. No meals have been planned yet but let's keep the conversation going.

We had been planning on applying for a Neighborhood Matching Grant this summer and on painting the mural toward the end of the summer, but that was feeling rushed, so the new plan is to apply for funding in the fall and to paint the mural next summer. The grant is due in October and Joanne, Peter Randall and I could use a little help figuring out project logistics, so if you're excited about the mural idea, email me at sanderlazar@gmail.com.

Below are the notes Gavin took with some of the key ideas and words he heard at the gathering. These will be helpful as we move forward and think about designs that work for our neighborhood. If you think any key ideas or words are missing (even if you weren't at the get-together), let me know.
Cheers,
Sander

Commonly mentioned key words:

• Convenient
• Beautiful
• Hidden - exclusive
• Togetherness
• Involved
• Gardening
• Neighborhood
• Quiet
• Accessible
• Variety of trees
• Fixed

Symbolic graphic elements:

• Natural environment
• Flora
• Birds
• Tree of life
• Green
• Mandala

Common concerns:

• Safety
• Conditional on design
• Graffiti

Potential ways to improve a sense of community:

• Party
• Progressive dinner / potluck
• Emergency plan awareness meetings with city service education.
• More people on neighborhood email list

Hello neighbors! 

Neighbor Joanne and I (we live across from each other on 63rd close to 15th Ave) have been talking about how we'd like to get to know our neighbors better, and we've also been discussing doing a street mural, taking our cues from the several that have been painted in the Wallingford/Green Lake area (see examples below).

We've been knocking on doors and enjoying meeting people, but still haven't met many of you. So, to rectify that, we're hosting a neighborhood get-together. Please join us! We'll meet, get to know each other, and talk about what we think of doing a street mural. Who's invited? Everyone who wants to come who lives within approximately one block from 63rd and 14th. Especially if you're an artist or artistically inclined, please come! ALSO, if you're definitely opposed to a street mural but still interested in meeting neighbors or improving the neighborhood in some other way, we hope you come too!

When: Sunday May 18, 3:00 pm
Where: 1423 NE 63rd St, grey house on SW corner of 63rd and 15th Ave
Bring: Yourself! We will supply snacks, juice, wine, and home-baked chocolate chip cookies! Kids are welcome.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Some background: I've lived in the neighborhood for seven years, and Joanne for over a dozen, but we don't know that many of our neighbors. This realization took on new meaning when KUOW did a story this spring about the "Seattle Freeze," which included data showing that Seattle ranks 37th out of 51 similar cities when it comes to giving or receiving favors with neighbors, and 48th out of 51 when it comes to talking with neighbors frequently. It's not all bad- Seattle is near the top as judged by other civic health indicators, but still, those rankings are pretty bad. Well, there are many ways to turn that around, and doing a neighborhood project like an on-street mural is just one way, and folks might have other ideas, which we'd love to hear. 

New dragonfly on 60th and 4th Ave NE, Green Lake neighborhood

Ladybug in Wallingford on 49th and Burke Ave.

"Share-it Square" in Portland

Sea turtle in Wallingford (41st Street and Interlake Avenue)