One day a few of us folks who live on the 800 block of N Hancock Street decided we wanted to improve our block. Our block is like the ugly duckling of blocks mixed with warehouse conversions, new construction, and a mixed bag of unrelated facades. We decided that the ugly duckling look was not working for us so we formed the 800 Block of N Hancock Street Beautification Committee. To commence our work, we met at Standard Tap over a few beers (to get our creative juices flowing, of course) and started to brainstorm and delegate and plan our beautification strategy.
Our first job was to tackle the trash, weeds, unmanaged facades, the construction debris, dog droppings, and overall mess on our street. This month was the clean-up. We got together to sweep, pick up trash, and pull weeds and add a few plants and planters we bought at a neighborhood garage sale nearby.
Next, we will work on getting rid of the graffiti and freshening up with some painting. We have a few unattractive facades on our block. We are hoping to persuade the new gym Sweat to agree to a mural to beautify the rear of their establishment. Right now it is peeling paint and graffiti. We also are in the midst of getting permission from the owner of the empty garage on the corner of Poplar and Hancock to let us paint murals in the cinder block windows. It would absolutely transform that corner.
Then we will be adding a few more trees with the help of the NLNA's Clean & Green Committee and getting local artist Leo Razzi to create a permanent sculpture for the block. The sculpture is a bit extravagant but we love metal street art!
Meet the neighbors of the 800 Block of Hancock Street. Get motivated by their energy, enthusiasm, and sense of community. We hope to see the same type of movement take place throughout the neighborhood. Hint, hint, North 2nd Street!
Let's get inspired by these folks! Have you met your neighbors lately?
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