Every week or so I receive an email from Neal Peirce, a national columnist. He regularly publishes, but I can't find a site that archives the contents of his emailed columns, so I'm posting it below. This particular one is about the resurrection of an abandoned downtown, the infusion of arts, and the commitment of a community. Sound familiar?
NEAL PEIRCE COLUMN
For Release Sunday, June 13, 2008
© 2008 Washington Post Writers Group
This is a week late, so I may have left out a few of my original thoughts. Overall, this was a great event, and I thank Kiel and the others responsible for organizing it (and thanks to Sam Davis for responding to the invitation); I've tried to fold a recap into the reflections I previously shared with Kiel. I have, no doubt, left out and/or misinterpreted many valuable points.
My wife drives by this building everyday (me, not as often)—it's located at the corner of Inyo and Van Ness. We questioned the color scheme when it was painted, though we conceded that it's better to have renovated buildings that are ugly that to have boarded up buildings not in use at all. Actually, we hoped that the colors were pulled from the building’s original palette, or from one of the same period it was built.
