A few years ago I rode my bike to the local farmers' market to get some Swiss chard for dinner. PAWS (Pound Animal Welfare Society) had a booth set up with orphaned cats and dogs. I did not come home with chard that day, but instead with a beautiful Siamese kitten. (Too little to ride safely in my bike basket, I pedaled home so I could [...]
There are a couple of places in Montclair that feel like happy secrets and when I'm reminded of them I always feel the need to share.
One such secret is Kip's Castle. Sitting high atop First Mountain, this majestic structure offers an equally majestic view. There are no lords or ladies living there - in fact it's actually part of the county [...]
I love this piece in Slate's design blog. It's the story of a guy who felt so strongly about the benefits of walking that he started his own guerrilla campaign to encourage people to walk more.
The Slate bloggers write, "Although 41 percent of all trips made in the United States are 1 mile or less, fewer than 10 percent of all trips are made by walking or [...]
Well, this is big news: Montclair Center has been named one of three award-winning "Main Streets" of 2015 by the National Main Street Center! According to its website, "The Great American Main Street Award winners have succeeded in making their towns an exciting place to live, work, play and visit."
Award winners distinguish themselves by [...]
As a longtime resident of Montclair, I've always thought of my town as a very friendly community. Apparently the U.S. Department of Transportation thinks so too; Montclair was just designated a [...]
Good news for prospective buyers looking for homes in Glen Ridge: I have a new listing for a great house at a great price. 8 Hathaway Place is a very pretty four-bedroom Colonial in the north end of town. This home has all the charming architectural details one would expect from a home built in 1920, but it also has modern conveniences such [...]
I recently saw a street sign that perfectly sums up Montclair. This sign is on the corner of Bloomfield Avenue and North Willow Street and is part of the new "way-finding" project that the town has recently implemented. It has arrows directing which way to go in order to get to various destinations in town, but what makes the sign so cool [...]
Yet another reason why I love Montclair: Gray Russell, our Environmental Affairs Coordinator (how many towns even have an Environmental Affairs Coordinator?), was recently honored as New Jersey's "greenest" public official. According to an article on Baristanet.com, Russell received his Garden State Green Award on May 18 at Kean University. [...]
Earlier this week, I came across an intriguing headline in The New York Times: "Young Americans Lead Trend to Less Driving." As aNew Jersey Realtorwhose home-buying clients tend to be New Yorkers looking for urban convenience along with leafy yards and good schools, I've been a witness to this phenomenon locally. Apparently it's [...]
