HELP WANTED: Graphics Artist

The NPA has a handful of printed items and other things we’d like to get into motion including a packet of information for new neighbors. We’d like to provide a form of NPA “Welcome Wagon” packet to accompany a personal welcome. There are other items that have been in discussion as well.

So anyway… we need a logo.

And we’re looking for someone with some graphics skills that might be willing to create something for us. While we’ve a few dollars, what we have we need for our not-for-profit application. So… if we could find someone generous enough to volunteer their talents that would be much appreciated. If we need to wait until we could pay someone what they’re worth it could take us a while.

So anyway… If you have such skills or if you know of someone who does we’d appreciate a hand on this. Just contact us at rick@BeloitNPA.org

Thanks!

Best Places To Buy An Old House 2009 — Midwest

We’d thrown in our hat several month ago to This Old House for their 2nd annual search for “Best Places To Buy An Old House.

I’m sorry to say we didn’t make the cut. There were thirteen historic neighborhoods selected from across the Midwest.  The online reviews are brief but indicate high degree of community-wide appreciation not only for their historic housing stock but also indicate proactive, tight-knit communities. You’ll also see frequent references to economic and quality-of-life aspects and initiatives. They all seem like wonderful places.

I’ll have to pull out my Cubs fan adage of… just wait always next year!

From This Old House description of what they were looking for…

Unique, tight-knit neighborhoods are precisely what we looked for in selecting the winners of our second annual Best Places to Buy an Old House contest—places that might not be on your radar but deserve to be. Like last year, we relied on our good friends at PreservationDirectory.com to help us contact thousands of neighborhood groups, real estate agents, and preservation societies to get their takes on the best places to track down, fix up, and fall head over heels for older homes.

Here are the eight greatest places to buy an old house in the Midwest, from Arkansas to Minnesota.

The neighborhoods and communities TOH selected are:

Elgin, Illinois
Gifford Park Association website
The city is offering grants to help buyers restore single family homes that were broken up into multifamily units.

Also, Elgins award was picked up in MSNBC.

Woodruff Place, Indianapolis, Indiana
The stately homes in Woodruff Place were built for the elite but are now available at moderate prices. Many large Victorian-era homes that were divided into apartments in the 1960s and ’70s can be returned to single-family houses.

Guttenberg, Iowa
The town hasn’t been bought up yet by city slickers from Milwaukee, Dubuque, Iowa, or even Chicago (4 hours away) looking for peaceful vacation homes.

Leavenworth, Kansas
The Kansas Income Tax Credit gives homeowners a 25 percent reimbursement credit for restoration or maintenance work on homes in the National Historic Districts.

Morgan Park, Duluth, Minnesota
The neighborhood hit a rough patch when thousands of steel jobs were lost in the 1970s and ’80s, but it’s experiencing a renewed sense of pride as beautification efforts have begun turning Morgan Park back into the solid middle-class neighborhood it once was.

The Southmoreland Neighborhood, Kansas City, Missouri
Southmoreland Neighborhood Association
A movement to restore Southmoreland’s historic homes is underway thanks to the neighborhood’s walkability, close proximity to downtown, and cultural institutions including the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

The Dundee Neighborhood, Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha has recently become known as a hip, indie-spirited place, primarily around the city’s Old Market area, near Dundee, which is packed with studios, museums, music venues, pubs, and clubs. Heck, even people from big cities are moving here to take advantage of cheaper art and music-studio space.

Southside Historic District, Fargo, North Dakota
A recent study by MainStreet.com found there are more job opportunities per capita in North Dakota than any other state in the country.

College Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio
….addition, the neighborhood continues to tackle quality-of-life issues. It recently took part in the Neighborhood Enhancement Program, a 90-day blitz of initiatives launched by the city that address crime, blight, and building-code violations. (Officials follow up with businesses, volunteers, and others involved for the next nine months to ensure all changes are permanent.)

Eureka Springs, Arkansas
The town is attracting an array of new part-time and full-time residents, from retirees who want something a little funkier than Florida to younger, outdoorsy types flocking here for the hiking, biking, climbing, and kayaking.

Brewer’s Hill, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Brewer’s Hill is attracting an increasing number people looking to buy and restore its enormous houses at prices that are hard to find outside of the neighborhood. All the rehabilitation bodes well for both property values and the neighborhood’s future.

The Vine neighborhood, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Vine Neighborhood Association
The Vine’s status as a local historic district allows buyers to take advantage of incentives that save thousands on property taxes.

The Central Residential Historic District, Brookings, South Dakota
Since families tend to stay here for good, most of the houses are extremely well-maintained. Seeing as the neighborhood is on the National Register, unattractive updates and alterations of its housing stock are unlikely.

You’ll see that several communities highlight the fact that their state provides rehabilitation tax credits. Know what? We have this available to us as well. Not all states do. More about this elsewhere.

On a personal note… Congratulations again to Elgin IL. We’ve good friends there and we’ve had a chance to see up close what is possible.

Next NPA meeting – This Monday 6/22, 6:30

Historic Home Owener’s Tax Credit

(Recap from this meeting here)

Have you heard about the “Historic Home Owner’s Tax Credit” program?

Interested to know what its about and how to take advantage of this significant benefit?

What if you could get a tax break on projects such as (but not limited to)…

• - Work on the exterior of your house, such as roof replacement and painting, but not including site work such as driveways and landscaping
• - Electrical wiring, not including electrical fixtures
• - Plumbing, not including plumbing fixtures
• - Mechanical systems, such as furnaces, air conditioning, and water heaters
• - Structural work, such as jacking up floors

Well, this month we’ be talking about tax benefits for those living within Beloit’s historic districts or individually landmarked homes. If you don’t live within the boundaries of the historic district you may be eligible to apply. If you’re not sure if you live within the gerrymandered borders of the districts we’ll help you find out if you are.

Joe DeRose from the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Offices will be joining us to discuss what the tax advantages are, whats involved in taking advantage of these significant benefits as well as how to apply. Additionally, we hope to have some neighbors on hand who’ve actually taken advantage of this program.

We’re meeting this next Monday evening, June 22nd. 6:30 at bushel & pecks. (328 State St.)

4th Annual Casa McKelly House Party

NPA neighbors and friends were all invited and a bunch showed. We had rain again this year but it passed and the turn out was great in spite of the overcast. The dunk tank again was the big draw for the kids. And like last year the Beloit Memorial High School Jazz Combo was supurb! Because of the weather we had to have them set up inside so seating and dance floor was minimal. Many folks enjoyed the band from throughout the house as well as from the yard. Folks congregating everywhere. Lots-O-food though it went quickly with all those teenagers in and out. (note to self… more food next year)

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Performing for us this evening:

• Pierre Charles – Piano
• Christian Garcia – Sax
• Ben Goodwin – Tenor Sax
• Robbie Goodwin – Trumpet
• Kevin LeBaron – Trumpet
• Jeff Patterson – Trombone
• Crystal Rebone – Bass
• Alex Vance – Bass & Drums
• Peter White – Drums

Under the direction of Chris Behrens.

And sitting in, neighbor Matt Goodwin who got to jam with his boys. Can you emagine what a thrill that was.

Hope you can join us next year.

Detroit’s Tiger Stadium – gone forever

Its not neighborhood news but just saw this…

I can appreciate that projects need to make financial sense and certainly Detroit needs to take care of dire economic priorities. That said its confounding to me that Detroit has so little regard for it’s heritage.

Could they not find a way to either employ adaptive reuse if near term use is shovel ready or secure it for valid public safety concerns until viable reuse could be found once economic conditions change?

I’m not much of a baseball fan but I’d think Tiger Stadium is a significant part of Detroit’s identity and contributes to why people would want to visit. It’s an icon, unique and special. I’ll be willing to bet an entire dollar that what gets put in its place is generic, forgettable and could have been located elsewhere.