Voices of Poverty

Last Thursday, April 26, I was pleased to join a group from Leadership Charlottesville for the unveiling of a new website called "Voices of Poverty." The site features a series of podcast interviews about life in poverty in Charlottesville. Kudos to the team that put this together -- what a terrific project! Click here to see & hear it for yourself. And do spend the 8 minutes listening to the first interview, in which one of our PACEM guests from this past winter (Art) talks very eloquently about life as a homeless person on the streets of our community. You can skip the second interview -- some politician blathering on about affordable housing blah blah blah. :-)

UPDATE: Luke Church of WVTF public radio covered the unveiling of Voices of Poverty; click here to hear Luke's piece.

And Now, for Another Perspective on Global Warming...

Darlene and Chris, two Cville locals, have a wonderful food blog ("Eat Air") that makes vegan cooking look mighty easy and delicious. Their normal stock-in-trade is recipes. A few days ago, they posted on a slightly bigger topic -- global warming. Makes for an interesting, and provocative, read.

A Postcard Tour of Cville (via Google Maps)

At Waldo's prodding, I have followed the lead of Lynn Rainville and others in creating a Google Map Postcard Tour of Charlottesville. As I upload new images onto my blog, I'll add them to this funky new map as well....

Hotel Clermont, Then and Now

The Starr Hill Building (801 West Main St.), adjacent to Continental Divide and home to Charlottesville Players, Capital Real Estate and several other tenants, sits on the site of a beautiful old hotel -- Hotel Clermont -- which is pictured here circa 1905:











and here again in 1912:











This is what the property looks like today:












(courtesy http://www.cvilleofficespace.com/starr_hill.JPG)

Back in the early 1900s, hotels up and down West Main St. did a booming business thanks to their proximity to the bustling Union Station, where the Southern Railroad intersected with the Chesapeake & Ohio. They were also well-served by the streetcar line that ran along West Main St., which carried up to 1,500,000 riders per year at the time the above images were taken.

From the front door of the Hotel Clermont, one could walk right across West Main St. and onto the elevated pedestrian bridge (seen below, circa 1915) over to the station depot -- which now, of course, serves as the home of...Wild Wing Cafe.

"What They Didn't Teach Us in Library School"

This is the best article I think I've ever read about homelessness in today's America -- written by a public librarian in downtown Salt Lake City. It's long, but it makes so many excellent points that I just had to post the link:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040207F.shtml

[Here's the Cliff's Notes version: Not only is it wrong how we address (or, rather, don't address) homelessness in our society, but it's self-defeating.]

Holly for Cville

Holly Edwards, a longtime friend and colleague, is kicking off her campaign for Charlottesville City Council tomorrow, April 12, at 4:30pm at Crescent Halls (at South 1st St. & Monticello Ave., across from the new ACAC Downtown). Holly joins Jennifer McKeever, Linda Seaman, Satyendra Huja and (presumably) Mayor David Brown as candidates for the June 2 Democratic nomination to Council. No word yet on Kevin Lynch's plans.

I'd be happy to serve alongside any of these folks on City Council, but I am particularly enthused about Holly's entry into the race. I know Holly well and I look forward to the vision, leadership, integrity and grace she will bring to Council. I encourage you to check out Holly's website (www.hollyforcville.org) and please join us for the festivities tomorrow if you have the chance.

Fabric of History

Bill Emory and Victoria Dunham have launched a great new blog that focuses on the rich history of Charlottesville's Woolen Mills neighborhood.

Check it out: http://www.historicwoolenmills.org/fabric.html

In honor of their new blog, here's an image from my collection that shows the Woolen Mills as it looked in the 1910s:


I look forward to seeing what treasures Bill and Victoria dig up!