downtown rant

Still working like a mad man, so don't expect much action here as far as house projects go. I have been doing some incremental things, but nothing blog worthy. I'm hoping I'll have a worthy update soon. Every once in a while I'll delve into issues that probably only concern people who live in el paso, so forgive me if my readers have to endure a boring post. I think I just need to get this out there and by chance someone who this does concern will stop to think about it -- and I hope it has a positive effect. Maybe my experiences with downtown revitalization will spark some conversation..

As most have probably figured out I live in an old neighborhood near downtown el paso. There are changes happening here, changes I think for the better -- however slow they may be. Depending on the day of the week, you may hear me flip flop on certain issues. Glass is half empty, glass is half full. But however you try to spin it, the residents of old neighborhoods like mine need more stuff. By stuff, I mean quality of life things. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect businesses to cater to people that do live here. Sometimes I feel like I live off in an island that the rest of the city knows nothing about (or cares).

I think people need to realize that you don't have to live "in" downtown to be close to the (hopefully soon) action. There are so many old homes in need of some love that are fairly reasonable costwise -- it disturbs me that people don't see the potential in what we have here. Without the neighborhoods surrounding downtown revitalized, downtown will never be what it once was unless a significant population moves there. And I just don't see that happening for a while. I live mere blocks away and it is absolutely shocking that I can count the number of places to eat at after 5pm on one hand that are within walking distance. No, I'm not kidding.

"How can this be" you ask? Not to say there isn't dining/retail/entertainment options within a reasonable distance. There is -- if you have a car. And therein lies my point. Where are the businesses that cater to the people that do live in and around downtown? There are other old neighborhoods outside the downtown area that are more well endowed in that regard. There is "stuff" out in those directions, but not really close enough to consider (for me anyway). They also don't suffer from the lack of investment and abuse that the neighborhoods bordering downtown have. These would be sunset heights, el paso high/houston park, magoffin, segundo barrio, union plaza, & san francisco dist. These are the neighborhoods that really matter when it comes to downtown revitalization.

There really is no retail/restaurant activity in any of these neighborhoods aside from downtown -- and the vast majority of that closes down at 5pm. Except segundo barrio -- I think it is pretty self sufficient as is and is beautiful in its own way. There is no "help" necessary, but I digress.

I'm a simple man -- I don't need much as far as amenities. But it would be wonderful to have somewhere to eat downtown that isn't fast food or fine dining. Again you really have to be open at night. If you want to revitalize downtown with actual living people, you can't expect them to make the drive elsewhere for dining/entertainment. Downtown is trying to make inroads with the entertainment thing with some moderate success. But aside from that, there isnt much else to do for people that live there.

You don't need fancy lofts or some luxury condos to make downtown alive again (both of which are in the planning stage here). The way I look at it is you have to start from the ground up. Making downtown some exclusive shindig is never going to get you an appreciable volume of people living there. And for that reason the revitalization will sputter along, if at all. We need places to live/work/play for the everyday joe not some planner's vision of who should live here. Downtown will look pretty, sure, but it will still be abandoned at night until you can get a bunch of people to live in and around the area. And the best way to do that is to make it nice,but not too nice so people can't afford it (at least at first). You make it safe (there have been some modest improvements in this deparment). And you give people stuff to do. And I don't mean clubbing or the theater -- I mean everyday things. Downtown suffers from an anxiety that it can only exist and survive during the day. We need to change this: one restaurant, cafe, bookstore, misc hangout at a time.

Rant over. I don't expect anyone to respond to this, but if you do thanks for reading. :)

decrepit building of the week

Wow it's been a while -- Family life and busting my hump for the man have meant no time for house stuff the last few months. That's ok though -- after dealing with the house project it was kind of nice to not really think about anything house related for a while. Well not completely -- I always think about other houses. When walking through my neighborhood I often have a few favorites I obsess over, the ones that make me cringe, and the ones somewhere in between. I often say we live in a transitional neighborhood, but I guess sometimes the transition is a little slower than I would like.

And so without further ado, I've decided to start a little something called "decrepit building of the week". I don't plan to actually do this every week nor do I intend to focus on homes in my neighborhood. We'll just see what's decrepit enough to inspire me to blog about it. So let's lay down some groundrules.

• gotta be decrepit (I think we covered that)
• gotta have serious potential for a restoration
• gotta be old (late 19th, early 20th century)
• gotta be vacant (UPDATE)

I added a fourth condition after letting this one stew for a while.. First, I never considered the ramifications of posting about homes people live in. And while there are examples that fit the bill either way, it just feels downright sleazy. Heck, my house ain't the cream of the crop either. I'm fixing it up as I go, mostly because of budgetary constraints. So I understand and can relate to alot of the homeowners in the neighborhood who through for one reason or another have allowed their home to fall into disrepair. I do not however, have any sympathy for slumlords or owners of derelict, abandoned buildings. I reserve the right to at times rewrite some of my posts -- heck it's my blog. I thought this one in particular is a potential sensitive issue. I may never revisit this topic, but if I do I promise my readers that it will be fair and with minimal "attitude". And so without further ado, my first post:

My first installment fits each of those criteria very nicely in my opinion. It's a quaint victorian cottage with some nice detail. Does anyone know the story on this house? I've heard rumors (to which I have no real proof) that the owner started fixing it up several years ago. Brand new pella windows were installed, brick was repointed, new roof, etc. Allegedly there was a dispute between the owner & contractor. The owner then stopped all improvements and it has since been left to rot. The interior has been completely gutted as well. By gutted I mean there's nothing left -- trim, mantles, doors, floors. Zip. Looking in through the front door and you can see dirt where the basement would be. It's a damn shame.

ghettorific to splendirific

Well not quite there, but well on it's way. You may recall my introducing this decrepit old building here. Believe you me, it wasn't helping my property value that's for sure. So that's why I'm so happy to report it is finally getting some much needed love. Turns out someone did have the stones to see past this lifeless heap of a house/apartment building. It's been a long time in the making though -- I was starting to get a bit impatient when last year they put a new roof on it, but then any signs of progress fell silent. Until now.

Workers have been scurrying around the property for the last two weeks or so and have made up for lost time a bit. I'm not sure what they're doing inside, but I'm sure it's about time whatever it is. As for the exterior, the changes are subtle, yet significant. With the new roof it still looks like a condemned building -- all the pigeons still think so (note large white streak in gable). And despite the owner's best efforts to evict the pigeons that have called this place home over the years, they still love to roost here although far less than I remember. Not even 3 fake owls perched on the roof could dissuade them -- I think that's hilarious. They sure are persistent!

You'll notice the old divided light window sashes are now gone -- I'm sure most were beyond salvageable (although I did see them save a few). Now replaced with "double hung" vinyl windows, except for the two large front facade windows. They look a little too imposing -- I would have stacked them to at least simulate a double hung window, but it's still an improvement. The workers have also been busy scraping all the stucco off. It wasn't completely covered, but I'd guesstimate it was still nearly 40 - 50% of the building. From what I hear the owner plans to restore the brick, which would be awesome if they refrain from painting it. You can make out the apartment addition that was put up sometime after the original house was built. By the style of the house, which appears to be folk victorian, I'd say it was built sometime around the turn of the century and the addition was built not too long after. It's actually much larger than it appears in the photos.

Hopefully they keep up the progress and I can look out my window next summer and see a beautiful old building and not an eyesore. Looks like I won the bet..

house project done

Well about 98% done -- there are still a few loose ends to tie up. And now for some DIY vacation.. :) Take a trip down memory lane so you can see what we started with.

The full after set is here.

Before:

After:

leaving well enough alone

I'm sure many a houseblogger has encountered the eternal question of leaving well enough alone. The alternative is subjecting yourself to what could potentially make your life much more difficult and will undoubtedly take longer than you anticipate. Worse yet, you could run out of steam halfway through and never get to finishing said project.. I don't think I would let the third scenario happen, but I could drag it out a very long time.

Above is a picture of my living room. There are a few things in this picture that I have on my long term to-do list. They follow in order from least to most difficult:

1. Fireplace: Seems to be in decent condition -- although I don't think it's been used in many years. We've been meaning to get it checked out & cleaned ever since we bought the place. We also need to get a new screen and tools. Maybe this year.

2. Pocket doors: These are some beautiful doors, but unfortunately for us we've never really been able to enjoy the fine craftsmanship. One door seems to have jumped the track as it is dragging on the floor. The other has a wood strip that drags along the trim casing along the top and it bends enough that we dare not open it anymore for fear of breaking it off. Moves freely though. Some realignment is in order -- I'm paranoid of screwing them up in the process though. Someday I'll get around to this.

3. Refinishing woodwork: I might have mentioned this before, but the trim in the living room and foyer have been screwed around with the most of anywhere in the house. I'm thankful it was never painted, however someone took it upon themselves to "pretty up" the original finish. You can see the mahogany-ish stain on pretty much all the trim under the ceiling. The box beams are even worse as all grain detail is pretty much obscured by the slathered on stain several shades darker. Neither of these finishes are original. In fact you can just make out the original color on the inside edge of the pocket door. If I were to refinish the wood in here, it would be the same stain as I finished the front door.

I'll probably get to the first two things in the short term, but the third one on my list intimidates me. I know if I start screwing with it I've pretty much committed myself to finishing it. I like having the interior rooms in a somewhat acceptable shape, particularly the formal rooms. So what do my readers out in cyber world think?

backyard upgrade begins

This is something I've been putting off for far too long. I've been somewhat guilty of letting the yard go a bit in anticipation of tearing it all up anyway. I had some vacation time this week and decided now was as good a time as any to dig in. First thing was exposing the concrete slab that was being covered up by the screening. This will need to be removed before I can lay down some fresh sod. I had encountered the edge of it when planting the oak tree right next to it, so I knew I had my work cut out for me.

After a little time with a jackhammer, the concrete was busted up pretty well, although I'll probably have to revisit it since I only got the top layer off. I wanted to concentrate on the patio, so I moved to that next.

Most of my time was spent prepping the area that'll get pavers laid on. I needed to excavate as much as 6 to 8 inches in some spots in order to get the pavers at an equal height. You can see the remaining chunk of the slab is getting a much needed facelift. This is taking longer than I thought.. I think I'm going to need more material too as the new patio is going to be bigger than I initially thought. Wish me luck that I'll actually finish it this week.. at the current pace I wouldn't count on it.

bucket 'o hardware

I've been working on the door hardware for the project house for the last two months or so. A batch here, a batch there. The pieces here are ready to find their way back into their rightful place. It was fun seeing the transformation of some pretty rough looking hardware using what I like to call the stuccohouse method. Much props. :) Hopefully my hard work will be appreciated for years to come..