Meet Your Neighbors – Tom & Amanda
November 30, 2009 by RickM
Filed under Neighbor Introductions, Neighborhood Discussion
Meet Tom Long & Amanda Berard… Gretta and Harvey as well.
From: Amanda is from Hayward WI, Tom is originally from San Francisco and more recently from Chippewa Falls WI.
How long in the neighborhood: 10 months, February 09′
Family: Gretta, the white coat golden-doodle looking dog and Harvey the dark haired mix are both rescue dogs they had prior to moving to Beloit. Gretta loves to run, Harvey… he likes being carried.
Occupation: Amanda works for United Health Care and telecommutes managing her team from their home office. Tom works at Kerry as a commercial & operations controller – dairy division.
For Fun: They enjoy walking and playing with Gretta and Harvey. They’re into their Roku digital player for watching TV programming over the net. And on the other end of the technology spectrum Amanda knits, and very well too. Yes we’ve told her about the fanatic knitters in the neighborhood along with the when-n-where. Tom is looking to hone his handi-man skills with various projects planned for the house.
Community Involvement: As they’re new to the community and still settling in their focus has been on getting their new home set up.
Why this neighborhood: They had looked at homes in various communities in the state line area and as far south as Rockford. By chance they drove past the home on Bushnell and saw it for sale. Prior to moving to Beloit they’d lived in a new home where they were the first owner. They were intrigued by the distinctive architectural character of the old house. They contacted the realtor that afternoon and checked out the home that evening. Following that, looking at vintage homes elsewhere regionally they chose their Bushnell St. home. Tom appreciates having a short commute to work.
Best part of living here: They really enjoy being able to walk downtown. They particularly enjoy Nikki’s because they’re open late and they tend to work late. Having the park directly across the street is very nice and they’ve enjoyed events hosted there. They enjoy taking walks through the neighborhood looking at the old houses. There is a lot to do but regret that they’ve missed a number of things they’d have like to attended but they heard about too late.
Aspirations for the neighborhood community: It would be nice if there was a dog park nearby. Tom would also like to bike to work if there was a bike route available. They enjoy the growing number downtown restaurants and look forward to more downtown development of this sort.
Meet Tom & Amanda (and possibly Gretta & Harvey): You’ll bump into Tom & Amanda down at Nikki’s, usually late. You’ll see Gretta & Harvey out early walking their people around the neighborhood.
I agree – lack of Bike routes for crossing town for commuting purposes is terrible. Backstreet riding is the best (get out of the automobile mindset, bikes don’t require it), but you lose all hope when you get past Walmart (on 81 east) and Willowbrook (going Colley Road). Colley Road would be great for bikes but there it’s too narrow, and there’s no shoulder and, in your case, no path to Kerry facilities from Gateway Blvd.
Something Beloit needs to work on.
At one of the community meetings to discuss the Gateway project, I expressed my concern that I would no longer be able to get out into the country on Colley Road. I was told there would be a bike path. What happened to it? Barb Seguin