Things That Change, and Unfortunately, Don't

Vacant lot at 345-351 East Main St.

People have asked what made me start this blog. I've always been interested in Norristown. After our Sesquicentennial, I wondered why they never taught local history in our schools. As I grew older, I wondered why our historical sites weren't open to the public like other historical sites were. I wondered how the powers that be in town could allow our most unique architecture to be demolished for chain stores. But it never occurred to me to do anything about what was going on.

My first series of novels were semi-historical, set in different time periods. I decided to set the 4th one, FEAR ITSELF, during the Great Depression, and my dad agreed to be my main research source. Since his memories of the 1930s were all based on East Main in Norristown, that became my setting. He told me what they ate, what they wore, how they kept warm, and what kinds of jobs people had (including kids). He described the cars and wagons on Main St., and the trolley that ran the length of it.

349 and 351 E. Main before demolition

Dad drew me a detailed plan of the inside of 349 East Main, where he grew up, so I used the house in the book, even in the present day chapters, despite the fact that the home had long since been torn down. I used the house next door, too, because it had been my mom's grandmother's home. Mom described it for me, with all its original Victorian elegance--big square central stairway spiraling up to the third floor, fancy woodwork, tiles, a huge kitchen with a pressed tin ceiling, a fanlight over the front door.

Norristown allowed 4 houses in this row to be leveled about 30 years ago. Why? Because a warehouse on East Penn St wanted to park their trucks there. The company never even used all the space--only, at most, half of it.  They never paved the lot, just dumped gravel and let the weeds grow. They never did a thing to improve the look of the property along the busy Main St. side.

I think that's when I started my move from observer--when I fully understood how gorgeous those houses had been, inside and out, and how the properties had been turned into something as ugly as a huge, unkempt parking lot. The company moved out, leaving us with vacant lots.

Here's my zoning note for today. For nearly 100 years, that block was "Neighborhood Commericial"--meaning it had residences and mom-and-pop shops, and a couple small manufacturing places, not unlike West Marshall today. On the new map, it's called "Town Center II." I hope that means a return to small shops and restaurants (Giacomo's is still there, and Lou's on the next block). Even a gas station on that empty lot wouldn't be bad, since there's only one entering Norristown at that end. But please, no fast food joints. All Italian moms who used to live there would rise up out of their graves and give us the evil eye for pushing bad food.

Back to my story:  Right after FEAR ITSELF was published, I was driving down Green St. and saw that the line for the Patrician Society Food Bank was incredibly long. Thinking back to my parents' stories of hunger during the Depression, I decided to help out my hometown a little by donating a portion of all royalties from FEAR ITSELF to the Patrician Society. But it doesn't amount to much and I kept feeling I should do something else.

I volunteered for the Bicentennial Committee last year, in an effort to learn more about Norristown. I found that most residents had no clue what was going on in town (most don't even know we HAD a Bicentennial). Half of our Council didn't show up for most of the events, or help promote them in anyway. The disconnect between borough and residents was epic (and is still the biggest obstacle we need to over come).

Then came the increase in shootings in Norristown last October. And I found stolen goods in my yard soon after.

This year, when the whole Pennrose Airy St development debacle came up, I noticed other Norristonians gathering to take action, so I joined them. And after being in the July 4th parade, seeing the faces of kids from every neighboorhood the parade passed through, I knew the time was right to start writing about Norristown. Those kids deserve a decent place to live, and the conversation has to start somewhere.

Artsy Trash Cans, Alley Bike Trails, and Crandall Jones

 I think this may be Zoning Week here on the Diary. With the first workshop approaching on Thursday night, we ought to go in informed and ready with questions.  But first, today, I need to pass on info and ideas from Shae Ashe's Norristown Project meetings this weekend, and a little news from Muni. Hall.

I went to the morning meeting on Saturday. It was so nice to meet other Norristonians so interested and positive about making a difference in our borough that they'd get up early and come out to discuss it.

While talking about how to encourage people to keep the town cleaner, one innovative idea was to have an art contest in the schools, to decorate public trash cans, thereby making them more noticeable and sending a message that we don't want litter in on our streets. The trash cans could be creative and humorous, and actually be a first step getting our homegrown art out where it can be seen. The project would also engage the community, particularly our students.

Another idea that combined kids and the arts was to have some concerts specifically for children at the band shell in the summer, or maybe show family movies there. It was noted that the zoo had started showing free family movies, but that they needed publicity.

 

For those trying to cut down on driving and ride bikes instead, it was suggested that the alleys could be used as bike lanes in much of the town, though many need to be paved or repaired. That brought up the amazing fact that the municipality claimed that they didn't own all the alleys, and (here's the kicker) had no way of knowing which ones they own.

Now, I KNOW they own my alley. I remember when it was dirt and when all the homeowners on our block signed the alley over to the borough back in the late '60s. (All of us kids thought paving the alley ruined it for bike riding because it was so much more exciting to ride over all the ruts.) Since all of the surrounding alleys were paved at the same time, I just assumed they did the whole town. Still, if all those homeowners signed over the alleys, the paperwork must be SOMEWHERE in the borough archives. So I think the burden of proof falls on Norristown in this case. And honestly, isn't it time for the town to take over paving and maintenance of all the alleys, even if they have to do it over several years?

The last bit of news is that Council has hired a new municipal administrator (actually, the final vote will be Aug. 15). His name is Crandall Jones and he's from Georgia. According to Councilman Caldwell, Mr. Jones “had the best experience with urban cities of Norristown’s size. He was quite familiar with generating an arts district in East Point, Ga..”

So I googled East Point, Ga. I couldn't find any mention of an arts district, though they do have a Cultural Enrichment Commission that holds an annual arts festival, similar to our Arts Council and Arts Hill festival (I couldn't find that they were much more active or developed than we are). East Point does have a population remarkably like ours, at about 35,000, though it's spread over 4 times the area and their density is only about 2,000 residents per square mile (compared to our average 9,000).

I hope Mr. Jones will settle here in town, and (unlike many of the people making our decisions) make an effort to really get to know our people, our community, and our history.

Mr. Ambassador

Norristown is the ONLY town in the US to have an official ambassador. His name's Hank Cisco.

I met Hank when he was Officer Cisco, the policeman who'd come to my elementary school every year to present a program on traffic safety. Every year he'd lead us in the song "Never cross when the light is red," to the tune of London Bridge Is Falling Down. (Second verse, "Always cross when the light is green.")

There wasn't a kid in the Norristown schools in those years that didn't fall in love with this man.

He was a police officer for 24 years, and a county detective for 13 years. At other times in his life, he was also an amateur and professional boxer, trainer and referee. He brought this experience to Norristown PAL and started the PAL Boxing Program.

Although he was born in Brooklyn, he was raised in Norristown and stayed here. His four children and his grandchildren are all Norristown natives.

After retiring from the force and the boxing world, Hank became Ambassador of Norristown. The photo shows him kicking off our Bicentennial festivities last year on March 31 (anniversary of the day the town was incorporated).

Sure, "Ambassador" is only a ceremonial position, but it's the most important job in town right now. Hank is our biggest cheerleader. He's never stopped believing in this town, and understands better than anyone what we have going for us. But lately, he seems to be cheering on his own, while all the naysayers online (most of whom don't live in town) are making our reputation worse.

Time to get behind Hank and help spread his message.

Independence

I was in Norristown's July 4th parade (as part of a local singing ensemble). Since I couldn't sit and take photos of the parade, I took photos of the onlookers instead. Here are some of the many children who lined this year's parade route.

We saw expressions of delight, wonder, happiness, patriotism, and pure friendliness, from kids and adults alike. When I smiled and waved, people smiled and waved back, frequently calling out "Happy 4th!" Hundreds of flags were in evidence. For one day of the year, race, religion, economic and cultural background don't matter. We're all neighbors.

Norristown can be surprisingly wonderful at times.

That same day we had two shooting incidents in town. One was a murder. I personally know of one house that had a break-in. No doubt there were others, given the current rate of burglaries. Crime has gotten completely out of hand during the last year and no one in charge seems to want to talk about solutions. We keep hearing that better days are coming for Norristown, that it's the next "hot neighborhood." If by "hot" they mean stolen or dangerous, then yeah, maybe that's true. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a renaissance for our town, but we need to solve immediate needs before expecting newcomers to flock here.

Not one of the kids above wants to be scared. They don't want members of their families or their friends killed. They don't want bullets or intruders coming through their house windows.

So I think it's time for our townspeople declare their independence from the rhetoric and poor choices of our council, and start demanding, first of all, safe neighborhoods for ourselves and our children.

Norristown can be a wonderful place. More than once a year would be even better.

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Coming up this week:  Wed., July 10. 6 pm

Zoning Meeting at Municipal Hall, 235 E. Airy St.

Topic: Proposed changes to zoning in Norristown neighborhoods. These changes will effect a lot of residents. More tomorrow.
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