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Day 24

day 24Today took me to another late 90’s suburban neighborhood, fairly similar to the Eastwood neighborhood I visited a few days ago.  This area felt, structurally to be very similar–similar construction, similar era, similarly sized houses.  Since I visited Eastwood quite recently, the differences were probably more striking than they would’ve been otherwise.  For one thing, there were none of the creative things we saw in Eastwood (though it should be mentioned that those really awful manhole covers were not present here).  Also note that while many of the houses here back up to the reservoir, these are not exactly waterfront views.  The reservoir is screened from view (at street level, at least) by thick forest behind a chain-link fence.

Most of the stimuli in this neighborhood came from the apartment complex that Brookewind cuts through.  Someone was playing music at the pool, which generally seemed to be a focal point of activity.  The rest of the neighborhood featured kids solemnly enjoying their last few days of vacation.  Back-to-School creates some cognitive dissonance for me because it signals the premature end of summer, and even though it’s still mid-August and very warm, pools will be closed or empty and a lot of this summer noise will be gone.  It feels like we write off the last month of summer.  Today’s walk really hit home this reality…the noise was subdued, it felt hot and empty, as if the spiritual experience of  “summer” had already passed into memory even though the corporeal  experience was still present.

The good: Apartment complex, single family housing and even a nursing home provide a good mix of populations.

The bad: It’s disappointing to not see the reservoir.

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Day 23

day 23Today’s walk was though a little neighborhood just off Winchester and surrounded by Winchester Road and New Circle Road.  I really expected an area of commercial property based on how this area appears from Winchester but was surprised to find that the entry street, Brown, quickly transitions to a residential street.

Remnants of an old house

There are a mixture of housing styles and types, though frame houses dominate.  Like the Golfview neighborhood, these appear to be mostly mid-century.  Some of the original houses have evidently been torn down and lots combined, so some of these houses have some very neat, large yards.  In some cases, remnants of the original homes are still visible.  In general, it felt like residents here had an independent streak and value the fact that this neighborhood is hidden.  My favorite moment came when I realize the “ding..dong” sound I heard was triggered by me walking past the last house on a dead end street and past a door sensor (such as you might see on a convenience store) nailed to a tree trunk.

The good: Some great lots, lots of character, mystery

The bad: Mysterious but also perhaps not entirely on the level.

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Day 22

day 22Today, I looked at one of the smaller neighborhoods located along Liberty Road, in this case with it’s entrance at Gerardi Road.  This appears to be an amalgamation of houses built by several different builders (some of my favorites were located along Kingsbury and were very forward-facing, with nice porches).

There were really two especially noticeable things to me here.  First, people within the neighborhood are willing to adopt creative solutions from their neighbors.  I saw two houses with garages converted into Florida rooms.  The idea of garage-as-living-space is not new–I’ve found it’s very common.  But these rooms took things a step further with the degree of furnishing and the addition of a sun screen curtain.  20140804_140350-LResidents here also have found a solution to unsightly manhole covers (another common sight in Lexington), by decorating them with large potted plants.   But something else is evident here: this neighborhood has a serious concrete problem.  For a neighborhood built in the late 90’s, the sidewalks and driveways are in generally terrible shape, though it varies quite a bit from house to house.  I’m guessing, but I think the culprit may be salt for melting ice (and which I’ve also seen used on snow in lieu of shoveling).  But perhaps the concrete is to blame as well, as even some concrete slabs appear to be deteriorating.

The good: unique solutions, and a willingness to imitate neighbors.

The bad: concrete.

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Day 21

Day 21This was a quick walk through another quiet neighborhood officially called Twin Oaks, located between Clay’s Mill Road and New Circle Road.  Though connected and officially part of the same neighborhood, I passed through two distinct areas (to make things more confusing, the dividing line is not a particular street but actually happens mid-block).  The first evidence of a change is that the newer subdivision, located on the New Circle Road side, does not have sidewalks while the older one, on the Clay’s Mill side, does.

The older neighborhood is comprised of homes built in the 50’s or 60’s, the newer neighborhood is newer enough to be recognizably newer, but is more typical of late 70’s and early 80’s construction.

The older neighborhood was certainly old enough to be stable, boring but in a good way.  The newer neighborhood, too, was quiet, unremarkable but very comfortable.  My thoughts while walking through this neighborhood were focused on the architecture (internally wishing I understood better or had the vocabulary to describe why a house strikes me as being from a particular time) and on the paving techniques (many driveways have been resurfaced with asphalt).

Good: Quiet, despite major roads on each side.

Bad: Feels more distant and detached (and this could be good or bad, depending on your preferences).

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Day 20

Day 20Today’s walk was in a subdivision called Golfview Estates, a neighborhood of 1940’s era frame houses sandwiched between the Red Mile track and the Gay Brewer Jr. golf course.  As I’ve come to expect from older (that is, pre 1950’s) neighborhoods, there are a lot of interesting things going on here.  There are nice things, flower filled yards, or ones decorated with knicknacks.  Not all of the interesting things are good; one house has a driveway that has for all purposes been converted into a trash heap.  A number of homes loudly proclaimed that they had CCTV systems and that your every move was being recorded (in one case, this may have been to protect materials being used in a remodel rather than personal property, but the number of people who felt the need to post such signs was striking.  I wonder if this is a good indicator of the safety of a neighborhood or whether people notice that their neighbors have done something and decide it’s a good idea.

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“Herbie” trash bin covered in bumper stickers

This area leaves some unsolved mysteries.  For example, how does a Boy Scouts trailhead sign find it’s way to a dead-end street?  And when one covers their trash bin with bumper stickers, it the intent to say what you really think about whatever it advertizes?

What worked: Lots of interesting things

What didn’t: The sidewalk configuration, which basically necessitates that the Herbie, et. al., trash barrels are placed on the sidewalk for collection.