Looking south from the corner of N. Bragaw St. and Mt. View Dr.
Yet another 1940s house appears to be on the way out.
Trailer park landscape.
CIHA has several copies of this duplex under construction in the east side of Mt. View.
View of the Chugach Mtns. from the industrial area.
Exterior work on Credit Union 1's new Mt. View branch.
A strong showing by a group of artists from the Talkeetna area, reflective of the wonderful natural setting they enjoy on a daily basis.
See it now through April 10, noon to 4 Sat.-Sun. and 5 to 8 pm Wed. at MTS Gallery, 3142 Mt. View Dr., Anchorage.
Untitled, by Chris Bowman
'Coat-rack #4', by Jeff Lebegue
'Floating Forest', by Bill Barstow
'Orion and Canis', by Bill Barstow
'Happy Hour', by Jim Gleason
'Birches and Devil's Club', by Tony Crocetto
'River -- Don't Build Dams in Earthquake Country', by Julia March Crocetto
I wrote about this Jan. 25th — Rural CAP’s proposed residential center for homeless alcoholics in an existing hotel building in Fairview was generating some fierce opposition.
Since then, the municipal Assembly has been removing some roadblocks, and plans for Karluk Manor seem to be moving ahead.
Today, former Veco Times columnist Paul Jenkins engages in NIMBY-baiting in an ADN column:
If another facility for drunks is such a great deal for Fairview, maybe it would sell in an East Anchorage or Midtown or Hillside neighborhood. Right?
Jenkins’ faux compassion for the much-maligned Fairview still makes a point [one I have noted serveral times]: social services tend to congregate in places in Anchorage where their clients are located, and where real estate prices are lowest. The vicious cycle created makes it doubly difficult to distribute these services in locations citywide.
It’s both a financial and attitudinal vexing problem. People have to stop believing Mt. View and Fairview [and to a lesser extent, Muldoon and Spenard] are dangerous and undesirable locations, and begin to take on an active role in a counterpunch, i.e. try [in any of dozens of different ways] to make the neighborhood famous for a better reason.
Not an easy task, and results may take decades to materialize.
The problem with fanning the flames of NIMBY-ism in order to derail Karluk Manor, is that it is a promising community structure, based on a model that has worked well elsewhere, and should be given a chance to succeed. I think that, though the situation Jenkins laments should be addressed in the future, the potential for Rural CAP to make real progress in rehabilitation of chronic street alcoholics trumps downside for the neighbors in this instance.
Artists Steph Kese and Erin Pollock are looking for Mt. Viewers who will consent to being immortalized on a public art piece.
The pair produced the acclaimed 367 lbs. of wax exhibit at MTS Gallery last July. This latest project will be a permanent installation, one of five new pieces selected last fall, for various Mt. View locations.
Mt. View Forum 