Historic Provo Tours 2014

One of my favorite events of the year is coming up: Provo's Freedom Festival! I got my catalog of events in the mail today and browsed with great anticipation. This year I plan on going to an event that encompasses our neighborhood--the Historic Provo Tour.  Just follow the link for all the info, but basically it's a "self-guided tour of buildings listed on the Local and National Historic Registers." There are two open houses where you can see the interiors of historic buildings in and around our neighborhood. These are on Thursday, June 12 and Friday, June 13, at 5:30. Look online for more info and hope to see you there!

For the Bicycle Riders in Joaquin Neighborhood

We used to live in Draper, Utah, where almost every day, rain or shine, I would see person after person either sweating or freezing to death in skintight clothes as they toiled up one of the largest hills I have ever had the privilege to live on. Who were these crazy people (with amazing calf muscles)? Bikers, of course!

At our last neighborhood meeting we had Aaron Skabelund from the Provo Bicycle Committee chat with us for a few minutes about the new Provo Bicycle Plan and it's impact it would have on our neighborhood. Take a minute to read it! I'm excited about it because it will not only connect bike lanes in the city so bikers can get where they need to go safely, but it will make certain streets in our neighborhood more pedestrian-friendly for those of us who like to walk.

I also learned about two fun weekly events that start at Joaquin Park here in our neighborhood:

Monday Night: Night Ride, starts at 9 p.m.: a moonlit jaunt around our fair city, and

Thursday Food Truck Ride, starts at 7: a family-friendly bike ride to the Food Truck Roundup at 560 S. 100 W.

If you want more specifics, search for bikeprovo.org on Facebook, or contact Aaron Skabelund at a.skabelund@gmail.com. He is chairman of the Provo Bicycle Committee and can get you connected with other bikers in our community!

Joaquin Neighborhood Meeting Report from April 26, 2014

It was a rainy Saturday, but I braved the weather and went to the Joaquin Improvement Association meeting at the library anyway. It turned out to be a good decision! I met some new and interesting people and got some great ideas to get involved in the neighborhood. I liked being able to walk around and see the different aspects of the neighborhood that the Neighborhood Plan focuses on. Remember to take a look, especially at pages 19, 24, 27, and 33. That should give you a good idea of the zoning issues here and proposed changes to make the neighborhood more friendly for walkers and bikers.

 

A quick recap from Bill Graff on our Facebook group:

 

"At the meeting of the Joaquin Improvement Association today we:

 

1. Set our goal to be to improve the livability of Joaquin for everyone.

2. Endorsed submittal of the Joaquin plan to the City Planning Committee.

3. Set the date for our first neighborhood festival for June 12....
4. Obtained a volunteer treasurer.
5. Established the need for a service committee with possible projects identified and a potential chairperson.
6. Established weekly meetings of the executive committee and expanded membership from 3 to 5."

In respects to number 5, I'm not a big fan of the word "service," thanks to all the mandatory "service" projects I was forced to do growing up, but I'm planning on starting on a Clean and Green neighborhood group to get involved in our neighborhood at a smaller level and get younger families involved in our neighborhood. More details to follow as I work them out.... Let me know if you have a project idea to clean up the neighborhood or make it look better!

The next monthly meeting is Thursday, May 22 at 7 p.m. Don't miss it!

Another Neighborhood Meeting Reminder plus Agenda!

As taken from the neighborhood email:

 

"We are having our next meeting this Saturday April 26th 9:30 AM room 201 at the Library.  At the last meeting we asked everyone to bring a friend or two.

The format will be a 20 Minute overview of the whole plan then there will be stations around the room that you can visit according to your interest.  20 minutes to ask questions at the stations. Visit them all or one the whole time.  

 

Land Use, 

Urban Design-streets and buildings

Urban Design safety, traffic and parking 

Historic Preservation  

 

Meeting wrap up and sign ups for people willing to help be a block captain or work in one of the areas of interest."