COMMENT OF THE DAY: THIRD WARD ARTS DISTRICT “‘So how dicey is it really and when will it become artsy and then trendy?’ Question of the day! As Montrose ex-pats now living on Dowling St. I can tell you that we have experienced NO crime in the year we have been here. As for artsy, you can walk to Rick Lowe’s Row House installation and the relocated Flower Man house, among several other art spaces, from our new home. Artsy, yes. Trendy, very thankfully no.” [Cranky Old Coot, commenting on Home Sweet Funeral Home: Washington Terrace Mortuary Seeks Residents]
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As a long-time East End resident – grew up there and tried to be an urban pioneer in Eastwood in the late 1980s and 1990s – I never thought I’d see glitzy new townhomes lining Leeland between Scott St. and downtown, even across from the old liquor store at Leeland and Dowling. Just goes to show, never say never. I moved to the Heights in the late 1990s and have never regretted it. From time to time I read a news article exclaiming how Eastwood is turning around, but it looks the same to me after 20 years, very worn and rough.
While I agree with you that the East End turnaround has been slow, I believe that change/progress is coming. With rail coming down Harrisburg Blvd., highly involved neighborhood assoiations and an active chamber of commerce, I think that we’ll see major strides for the East End in the next five years.