Curious about your neighborhood? You probably should be, but you don’t have to take my word for it:

Mapping Bushwick’s Recovery from 1977-2007
by Adam J. Schwartz

Bushwick is one of Brooklyns oldest neighborhoods and one of its newest urban success stories.

In the 1970’s, it also became a symbol of urban crisis in America.

Martin Gottlieb in interview
“Until the Blackout, Bushwick was one of the least known neighborhoods in the city. By geography, it was almost separate, with its local economy based on local industry, in brewing or knitting. So between work and home, their existence stayed in the neighborhood.”

Bushwick’s struggles were not unique. Elsewhere in the city and across the country, urban areas experienced the difficult transformation from a predominantly industrial economy to a service economy. What sets Bushwick apart is the lasting impact that urban planning has left on the community.

Negatively, a policy of planned shrinkage allowed Bushwick to sink into ruin. Cutbacks in social services, including fire protection, made the neighborhood vulnerable to fire. The nation witnessed the desperation of this abandoned community through the rioting and looting that occurred during the 1977 New York City Blackout.

Positively, once the critical needs of Bushwick were recognized, the media put pressure on the city to take action. Bushwick could no longer be ignored. Under Mayor Koch, collaborative planning between city and local government created innovative long term solutions to Bushwicks housing crisis.

Todays Bushwick is the product of carefully considered public policy that laid the groundwork for growth and private investment. The current challenge for policy makers is to sustain affordable housing in todays heated real estate market.

-Up From Flames
http://www.upfromflames.com/

I am attempting to play a limerick game on twitter.

Rules:

1. I will post the first line and  it label it “1.”
2. Someone else supplies the second line, “2.” and so on. It is a first come, first serve deal. So, the first person to supply the next line gets added to the limerick. Once your line is selected you cannot supply another line.

I will then re-tweet the limerick as it develops. The finished limerick (if it fits within the 140 character limit) will post on twitter as well as on my website along with contributing player’s credits.

Here is an example of a limerick:

There once was a pyrophiliac
Who burned all the hair off his nut sack
As nothing feels so good
Than to scorch your own wood
Alas, his pubes have yet to grow back

This is a modern take on the old parlor game of improvisational limericks involving, ideally, 5 players.

This should be fun!