Author: ejmcewan

About Liz: Proud Cincinnati resident, wife, and mamma Liz McEwan. Alter egos: Songwriter & musician Liz Bowater; blogger at TheWalkingGreen.

Summer is Over?

~ ejmcewan ~ 2 Comments

Wait!

Today was the first day of class at Cincinnati Public Schools and I’m amazed. Has Summer really passed by so quickly? Did school start this early for me when I was a child?

I’ve noticed recently how slowly I seem to be moving compared to my surroundings.
Maybe it’s my lack of media consumption that keeps me out of the loop;
Maybe it’s the constant attention I give to my toddler;
Maybe it’s my husband’s busy building schedule;
Maybe it’s our move from busy Vine St. to this quiet, tree-lined street five blocks away.

In addition to the start of the school year, which always signifies the official end of Summer to me, downtown Cincinnati–and Over-the-Rhine, specifically–seems to be moving very fast. New restaurants; new shops; new neighbors. It’s enough to make a girl like myself yell, “Stop! I just can’t keep up!” I swear, even though I leave the house every day and walk these streets, I cannot seem to move quickly enough to participate in all the excitement!

More often than not, in conversations with other young parents who live outside the city, I hear a lot of “Oh… I wish I could move into the city, but….” And then they elaborate on one of many (sometimes legitimate) reasons why moving into the city is unrealistic for their family.

To them, I say that there could not be a better time for young families to move into the City of Cincinnati.

Heck, I will go so far as to say that there has never been a better time to live downtown.

(And this is not the idealism of a brand new resident speaking. I’ve lived in OTR the better part of three years and worked here the two years before that. Even though I may not be a long-term resident yet, I’m definitely not new to the scene.)

It’s an exciting time to be in Cincinnati, no?

I only wish I had more time to spend with neighbors, make new friends, eat new foods, buy new goods, and take it all in. Maybe as the weather cools, time will slow down a bit and I will get a chance to really inhabit our great city.

Happy end of Summer, folks!
Maybe I’ll catch up with you in the Fall?

Looking for Advice!

~ ejmcewan ~ 1 Comment

What would YOU do?

My husband and I are now three weeks into our new home and we love it, but still have a monstrous amount of work to do before it feels like it’s “ours.” One of the questions on the table–along with a complete remodel of the kitchen, updating of three bathrooms, and all new flooring–is what to do with the backyard.

The current condition:

It is fenced-in and measures about 20′ wide by 27′ long. There is a gate leading to the adjacent yard, which is confusing but not particularly troublesome. It is completely shaded most of the day; the eastern 1/3 of it gets sunlight at the day’s peak. There are three raised planting beds lining the back fence, parallel to the house and one ground-level bed next to the house. I have no idea what was/is planted in the beds. Grass has not been able to survive in the yard for the past three decades, the yard is not level, and the soil is fairly impermeable.

The building-side planting bed lies directly below what was once an exit from the first floor (bottom left of the photo). Though a walk-out is still possible, that room is now a large utility room and the door has been blocked by a screened-in and locked gate. It is about four feet above ground level.

The kitchen is now on the second floor and has a screened in landing that was designed to lead to a nice walk-out, as well.

The entrance to the basement is at ground level on the other side of the building, with our sidewalk alley to its side.

Although we have not experienced any serious parking problems yet, my husband would like to tear down the back fence and pave a parking space. This would be especially helpful for my husband’s need to access the basement for work and for visiting guests so they won’t have to mess with on-street parking. We also believe this might increase the resale value of the home much more than landscaping would. BUT, we would sacrifice the security and privacy of our small yard–which is priceless, if you ask me. Our best idea for parking involves paving a diagonal space that leaves as much of the yard in-tact as possible. One problem: the alley in the back of the property is narrow and cannot accommodate a large vehicle. Although we don’t intend to purchase a Hummer anytime soon, we will be having more children eventually and will probably end up with a vehicle larger than a Mini Cooper. So, is the parking space even worth the trouble?

Some other ideas:

-Since the ground level is fairly useless at this point, we’ve considered creating a parking space covered by a greenroof/deck that extends all the way to the second floor. Basically, raising the entire functional greenspace 10ft or so above ground.

-We’ve considered turning the utility room into a small summer kitchen/outdoor playroom with a three season patio extending into the yard.

-We could build cascading porches like those in the neighboring backyard. (We’ve even considered cutting out one half of one of the 3rd floor bedrooms to create a rooftop patio.)

-We’d like to level the yard and install permeable pavement or ground cover and then completely reconfigure and rebuild the planting areas.

Although it will probably be a LONG time until we have the time and resources to undertake any serious project like this, we’re having fun dreaming big and making plans for our yard. I’m looking for ideas and suggestions!

What would YOU do with this backyard?

For now, we’re settling for this:

Read This: The Urbivore

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I’ve discovered a new blog–The Urbivore’s Dilemma.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Prediger at Urbivore’s Dilemma.

I was turned on to it by the folks over at GOOD. (Check them out if you’re not already familiar.) It chronicles a New Yorker’s experience of switching from a diet consisting of mostly take-out to one of primarily local produce from her new CSA share.

Since this is my first year as a CSA shareholder (I’ve bought into an Urban Farm Project), I immediately understood the dilemma. The challenge of a CSA is not only adjusting to a vegetable-based diet, but of learning to cook with whatever food is fresh, in-season, and available. The first few weeks of my CSA were hard to navigate–lots of lettuce and greens, beets, and turnips. (I froze a lot of the root vegetables, hoping to figure out what to do with them at a later time.) But the past few weeks have been much easier–carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, etc. It’s been a relief to use the vegetables in meals I would normally cook, but still gives me a little room to experiment. The familiarity of the more recent produce makes my investment seem more reasonable.

I’m excited to follow along with the Urbivore’s experiment in changing her diet and maybe get some good ideas for my own local produce experiment. Does anyone else want to share their experience of learning to eat local, in-season produce? Recipes? Funny recipe failures?

Read This: Suburban vs City Living costs

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According to a recent article in the New York Times, most families will actually save money by choosing to live in New York City rather than moving to the suburbs once they have children.

There are a few caveats:
– The cost of paying for private schooling in lieu of public city schools changes the numbers quite drastically.
– The article presumes that the working parent(s) work in the city.
– As stated in the article, sometimes ideology or suburban lifestyle trumps affordability for growing families and they leave the city anyway.

You can read the full article here.

I would love to see the same article written for Cincinnati. My presumption is that the numbers would be the same: for a family whose working parent(s) work in the city, they would save money by living nearer to work. This should be common sense, no?

Maybe I’ll write that article, all numbers and statistics included.

Thoughts?

Things to Love, Take Two

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Four quick things I’m crazy about these days:

Studio 1a.m Measure Me Stick–

I saw these featured on a blog a few months ago, though I can’t remember which one. I am a fan of the old-school marks on the wall to measure a child’s growth, but I understand that not every parent wants to make marks on their walls. (Heck, my dad would have never done it.) For parents like that (or for folks who want a growth chart they can take with them when they move), this is a great option. And, unlike most growth charts, it isn’t painted to look like a cartoon frog or tree or anything like that. Classic. I like that.

Little Sapling Toys–

This Etsy store is full of great wooden toys–from teething rings like the Ohio state one pictured here to toy cars, peg boards, and rocking horses. Aren’t they adorable? The store is family-owned and they claim to plant a tree for every toy sold. Even their photos are beautiful!

BLDGBLOG.blogspot.com–

The Building Blog is a collection of “Architectural Conjecture, Urban Speculation, and Landscape Futures.” The writer, a gentleman named Geoff Manaugh, collects stories, articles, and photos from across the world. I can’t figure out exactly what he’s most interested in writing about, but I love it all. Some posts are building and architecture-related; some are more anthropological or sociological. I found the blog linked from another that I frequent. The story was about The Duplicative Forest in Oregon and you can read it here.


Minihipster.com

Okay. So, ignore the language. Ignore the pretentious fashion culture. And ignore, for a moment, the fact that the clothing on some of these kids means that their parents have either too much money or too much time on their hands (or both). Just pay attention to how awesome these kids look. Seriously. I was the least-cool kid in the world before I entered middle school. And, even then, I was a weird, eccentric thrift-store junky with no concept of color or texture. (And I’ll openly admit that it’s easier to dress my son than it is to dress myself most days.) Unlike me as a child, the kids featured on this blog/site are super hip and super cute.

Enjoy!