I figured that this would be a great way to start seeing some of the neighborhood. While I don't live in the Mexican War Street area, it is a 15 minute walk away and also is where my new INDIE COFFEE SHOP is located.
The War Streets neighborhood is a federal and city historic district of Victorian-era rowhouses on the North side. It was laid out by William Robinson following the Mexican-American War. By the late 1960s many of the houses had fallen into disrepair and it was slated for demolition. Thankfully they were saved, and a revival of the streets began in earnest. For a more in depth history check out the Mexican War Streets Society website.
While some of the streets are a mixed bag of restored and dilapidated houses, the houses on the streets named after the Mexican-American battles reminded me a lot of Georgetown.
I came across some great street signs:
I also stumbled across RandyLand. With a name like that on the map I of course had to investigate. Upon walking up I came across a larger than life urban garden that had a NOLA, whimsical flair to it. On the outside was a map of the North Site (VERY cool) which was labeled with all the streets and major sites in the area.
Check out some pictures I took while walking around - they definitely do not do it justice!!
The artist has a larger than life personality and I was able to talk with him for about 15 minutes as I was wondering around. He took up renewing the neighborhood/urban gardening as a hobby about 25 years ago. Not only has he painted and planted many plots around the area he also founded the Olde Allegheny Gardens, small gardens around the North Side. Randy has a great sense of community and really was trying to create a community that looked out for the youth and older generations; a community that can learn from one another. It is AMAZING how one man has started to change the neighborhood - I guess the old cliche holds true! Check out the piece the TODAY SHOW did on him.
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