“Borrowed West Side” and “Blue West Side” Aren’t Taken Yet
A letter in today’s News calls for the formation of an organization to protect “the so-called New West Side, houses mainly built in the late ’40s, ’50s and early ’60s.” They could call it the New West Side Association or something.
Nice blog. Lots of posts. Two a year.
What we really need, too. A blog (an association?) to protect turquoise and orange Formica counter tops. At least that’s what the houses in my neighborhood had. We’ve really got to watch out for those, and the chain link fences of my youth. God forbid they should ever pass from the scene.
posted by Michael McC. on June 30th, 2006 at 2:39 pmAlso, it would be terrible to lose those tiny galley kitchens perfectly sized for preparing Space Stix and Tang.
posted by anno on July 3rd, 2006 at 12:57 pmIs there an Ann Arbor blog that is dedicated to marketing Ann Arbor, to businesses or new residents?
I’m asking for the sake of New Orleans. There is a civic organization that is ready to blow a budget on a static web site, because that’s all they know, when I feel they’d be better served to set up a pretty blog, which is much less expensive, and spend their money on a writer than can man the blog, writing about recovery and answering questions.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on July 4th, 2006 at 2:24 amThey should get Greg Peters at Suspect Device. For a former Ann Arbourite he’s now fiercely loyal to New Orleans and has a good background in emergency services, blogging/writing and cuttin’ through the crap. He’s a tad controversial but he’s straightup.
posted by stella on July 4th, 2006 at 10:23 amThat’s an interesting challenge, Alan. I like your idea of a writer/blogger, because people are going to want to know what is still open, what there is to do if they are going to visit/volunteer/etc. I don’t know exactly what the civic organization you refer to is trying to do, but there is one organization that doesn’t have a blog, but they do have regular articles written by some fantastic journalists. It’s a Michigan site/nonprofit, but there is some emphasis on things happening in the Traverse-City area.
posted by Lisa on July 4th, 2006 at 11:58 amhttp://www.mlui.org/.
Thank you. The Michigan Land Use Institute is an excellent example. I’m speaking with a neighborhood organization and it’s members about a web site. They have no concept of cost, and are ready to hire a web designer at $60.00 an hour to update HTML. Won’t last. I’ve set up a number of WordPress weblogs for community groups, and have hosted web publishing workshops. It’s a great model.
The web site you noted is well suited to their expectiations. Any others? Your web site, http://www.thinklocalfirst.net/ , what is that about?
posted by Alan Gutierrez on July 4th, 2006 at 9:06 pmI’m glad you liked the MLUI idea-I couldn’t decide how much it actually applied! I certainly got some ideas for things I’d like to do with www.thinklocalfirst.net from their website.
We’re a Washtenaw County nonprofit with a mission to support and cultivate locally-owned independent businesses that are committed to making our community a healthier and more vibrant place to live. Currently we’re putting together our second annual directory of independent businesses and are planning a wider Think Local First campaign and Buy Local Week in December. (Note to independent businesspeople reading this - the deadline for locally-owned businesses to join in order to be listed in this directory is July 12th). And of course, we have a long list of things we’d LIKE to do to promote a healthy local economy that we’re also pursuing. Feel free to send any ideas/questions you have to me at len@lenetwork.org.
posted by Lisa on July 5th, 2006 at 11:29 am