I don't know about you, but I've certainly noticed a pattern and apparently, so has the mayor of Montclair. In yesterday's Montclair Times, mayor Jerry Fried observes "In so many things green, Montclair has been there first". What is it about this town that fosters green innovation and attracts so many like minds? Fried attributes the [...]
I wanted to share this link to home design trends for 2011, which I found on the "Greenhouse" blog on usatoday.com. This Montclair Realtor is happy to report that among the trends listed is a growing interest in urbanism, and correspondingly, walkable suburbs.
The New Urbanism movement originated back in the early 1980s as a reaction to [...]
I had a lovely client who along with her partner wanted to rent a house on a big property so their dogs could run. We found her a great place, and the lease was signed. She paid all the fees and deposits. And then days before the move in date, she had to back out of the deal because she lost her job. She was a project manager on the [...]
After closing on their bank-owned Colonial in Verona, one of the first "improvements" Bil and Ashli made was to add a vegetable garden to their backyard. They are predicting a prolific harvest of beans, onions, tomatoes, and Chinese sweet potatoes, of which they only eat the [...]
The NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection has begun a new program in which old refrigerators or freezers that are not energy-efficient can be traded in for a $50 rebate. NJ residents must meet the criteria (listed [...]
I'm a big fan of the rating website, www.walkscore.com, but its algorithm relies mostly on the proximity of a house to stores and community resources. But to find walkability rating, it's not just about distance -- it's also about the quality and ease of the [...]
I'm a fan of mixed use. Mixed use is the practice of allowing different types of buildings to coexist in a single neighborhood - for example, residential space next to/on top of restaurants and businesses. By adding vitality and activity to a neighborhood, mixed use benefits a community because residents are able to walk to things that [...]
When I walk to Watchung Plaza from my Montclair home, I take a short route through an interconnected grid of streets and through a small park. I wave to my neighbor on the way. I stop for a brief minute in the park to chat with a friend who's on her way home from work (she's just gotten off the 5:31 [...]
1. The train station (any one of the six)
2.Watchung Plaza for a dozen bagels on Sunday morning
3.The farmer's market on a Saturday in June for local rhubarb and asparagus
4.Tierney's Tavern on the way home from work for a retro burger and beer (no phone, no credit cards!)
5.The Wellmont Theater on a Saturday night to see David Byrne, Kathy Griffith or Rosie [...]
