Sunday, February 17, 2008

Two Words

Not sterile. That's what I told an archictectural student from Milwaukee who lives in RP. She's working down at the Mart and was interviewing locals for a paper about her neighborhood. She wanted one word to describe what I liked best, and after going off on a long statement about all the reasons why I came to RP and like it here I finally came up with the words; not sterile. RP is not sterile.

We are a gooey, messy, thorny neighborhood with a fair amount of roses, pearls, and gems in our midst. But you have to delve for them, they aren't presented on a silver platter by white-gloved butlers. This is not your pasteurized, homogenized suburban sub-division. RP is not necessarily an easy place to live in, but it is alive and kicking. It's definitely not sterile and I wouldn't have it any other way.

2 comments:

The North Coast said...

Heavily forested with mature trees and richly endowed with beautiful old buildings, a great beach, and an incredible assortment of delightful eccentrics, artists, and great characters.

These are the things that come to my mind when asked to describe Rogers Park.

And, well, yeah, some problems that persist. I could do without the crime and severe social problems that produce it. We wouldn't be "sterile" without that. Even without the little pockets of crime and blight, we would still have lots of zesty flavor in the neighborhood, what with people like our rich assortment of dreamers, artists, and all-round Great Characters.

Fargo said...

Not sterile. Hah! That's a good one.

A rich mixture of characters, diverse architecture, trees, parks, gardens, beaches, tasty food, and a few thorny issues - that would be my quick version.