Join (or Start) Your Nextdoor Neighborhood

Join (or Start) Your Nextdoor Neighborhood

Even with this blog, a Twitter feed, a city-hosted website, and a Facebook page, it’s not always easy for our neighborhood to come together and interact online.

A new social media website called Nextdoor is changing that. Think of it as a cross between Craigslist, Facebook, a classic Internet forum, and a community bulletin board. It’s geared exclusively to neighborhood needs such as broadcasting community events, posting items for sale (or free), addressing crime/safety concerns, soliciting ideas about how to make our neighborhood better, and more.

Nextdoor image

Two Nextdoor neighborhoods have already sprung up here in Emerson-Garfield.

If you live near Corbin Park, you can join the active Corbin Park Spokane neighborhood here on Nextdoor.

And if you live in Emerson-Garfield on the west side of Monroe, you can join the new Emerson-Gafield West neighborhood here on Nextdoor.

Some of the great things Nextdoor enables you to do:

  • Get to know your neighbors
  • Get local recommendations for a great babysitter, plumber or handyman
  • Look out for each other by sharing advice and reporting suspicious activity
  • Buy, sell, trade or give away items within your neighborhood
  • Get updates on community issues, plan neighborhood events

And if a Nextdoor neighborhood doesn’t exist for your immediate area, feel free to start one. By breaking our larger neighborhood down into smaller, more localized areas, we can help make the whole of Emerson-Garfield even better.

Corbin Movin’ & Groovin’ Fair, March 9

Corbin Movin’ & Groovin’ Fair, March 9

Corbin Senior Center will hold its ninth annual Movin’ & Groovin’ Fair on Saturday, March 9 from 8am to 2pm.

Admission to the fair is free. It’s an informative event with lots of free advice on how to remain healthy and active — something that applies to all age groups, not just senior citizens. Some of the highlights include:

  • Free screenings for glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, and more
  • Free massages
  • Information booths with expert advice
  • Free drawings for cash and prizes
  • Affordable lunch
  • Avista and SNAP workshops

Movin' & Groovin' Fair 2013Click on the image above to view the full flyer, which you can e-mail or print out and send to friends, family, co-workers, and anyone who might be interested.

Corbin Park Little Free Library

Corbin Park Little Free Library

Corbin Park Little Free Library
Corbin Park Little Free Library

A Little Free Library (for more info on LFLs, see our “Wouldn’t it be nice if…” post here) is flourishing in the Corbin Park area of our neighborhood.

For more info — and current offerings — check out the library’s Facebook page.

Submit Your Traffic-Calming Proposals

Submit Your Traffic-Calming Proposals

Do cars tear down your street? Do you see a lot of reckless cut-through traffic on roads near your house? Is there a spot on a busy road that threatens the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers?

Here’s the good news: You can do something about it.

Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council is soliciting neighborhood traffic-calming proposals to be implemented in 2014-15. These will be vetted, voted on, and then the top two (one residential proposal, one arterial proposal) will be passed to the city for consideration.

Traffic-calming proposals include anything from curb extensions to traffic circles (aka roundabouts), chicanes, traffic islands, medians, landscaping, and pedestrian crosswalks. You can see some examples of these in the images above.

The traffic-calming toolbox (PDF link) from the City of Spokane provides a lot of easy-to-read information about potential traffic-calming measures, including a short description of each one as well as pros and cons. This post from a street-scaping blog also has lots of ideas and images.

Unfortunately, the deadline is incredibly tight (it’s Friday, March 1), but that’s because word didn’t filter out of the city until recently — so you’ll need to e-mail your suggestions immediately to emerson.garfield@gmail.com. We’ll take care of the initial paperwork.

Please include the following basic info in your e-mail:

  • Your contact information
  • The exact location of the proposed traffic-calming project
  • Why you think traffic calming is necessary in that particular location
  • Which traffic-calming method (e.g., chicanes, pedestrian islands, roundabouts) would be most effective

Keep in mind that, if your proposal is selected by the city for further study, you might have to collect signatures from neighbors for approval. This is not nearly as daunting as it sounds. Although there’s always a neighbor who grumbles or is overly suspicious, signature-gathering here in Emerson-Garfield is usually a pretty pleasant experience, especially for universally beneficial projects like these.

And should you think that nothing ever comes of these applications, please note that Emerson-Garfield is currently under study for one of the most ambitious traffic-calming projects in Spokane — which was entirely proposed and advocated by residents.

Building Stronger Neighborhoods Meeting, Feb 25

Building Stronger Neighborhoods Meeting, Feb 25

There will be a meeting for the new Building Stronger Neighborhoods Committee on Monday, February 25.

This year’s top goal for the Building Stronger Neighborhoods Committee is to attract and retain membership in the neighborhoods program. At the upcoming meeting we will discuss the responsibilities of the Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary and tentatively hold elections. If you aren’t interested but know of someone who might be, please forward this information and let potential candidates know about the upcoming meeting.

Here’s what’s on the agenda:

  • Meet & Eats Plan for 2013
  • Recap of the January 30 event that was hosted in Chief Gary Park
  • Discuss template for helping Neighborhood Councils host M&E events
  • Schedule Meet & Eats for at least the next 3 months
  • Trainings Plan for 2013
  • Discuss working with COPS to training for Neighborhood Night Out Against Crime events
  • Plan out the first 6 months of 2013 trainings
  • Follow-Up on District 81 Program
  • Discuss which neighborhoods have been contacted
  • Discuss elections
  • Nominations for Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary Position
  • If time permits and there are nominations, take a vote on each position

The Building Stronger Neighborhoods Committee is a subcommittee of the Community Assembly. It works to provide training and resources to neighborhoods to increase participation, identify and meet neighborhood needs, and build capacity. The committee meets monthly and works directly with the Community Assembly and neighborhood chairs to set annual goals and work plan.

The meeting on February 25 will run from 11:30am to 12:30pm and will be held at Fire Station 4, which is located at 1515 W. 1st Ave [map] outside of Browne’s Addition (accessible by STA bus routes #20, #60, #61).