Thanks for the feedback, bindersbeeÂsounds like youÂve gotten some valuable experience organizing your event. Too bad you donÂt live here or IÂd draft you : ) We do have answers for some things you bring up, but others I hadnÂt even thought of yet. Size and advertising Traditionally, our neighborhood (like most historic neighborhoods in our city) has had an annual or bi-annual home tour to raise funds. In the past, these have attracted from less than 1,000 to over 6,000 people. The best year for our neighborhood was when we had significant media coverage in the local paper and magazine, related to a major neighborhood re-development project. Most years, these events do not draw media coverage because they are frequent and the offerings donÂt change much from year to year. In recent years, attendance has dropped off, even though advertising has increased. We speculate this is because the neighborhood has matured, there are less renovations going on, and the freshness is gone. We would continue paid advertising for an event like this, but IÂm hopeful that a gardening event geared towards urban and small gardens would draw the media coverage weÂve been lacking recently. Downtown living is a hot topic, and putting the urban/small garden angle on it is something no one in our city has done yet. I like the idea of making contact with various groups that might be interested in this type of eventÂ.targeted marketing to gardeners (pinning down the downtown/small space crowd is a bit more nebulous, though we do have 2 monthly newspapers specifically for downtown dwellers). When are you going to hold the event? Good question. IÂm planning on getting input from the local businesses that might see increased business as a result of this event. IÂd guess that late spring/early summer would be best from that perspective, because IÂd think that the earlier in the gardening season this is held, the more business theyÂre likely to get from attendees. OTOH, an event in late summer/early fall would more likely have better weather and neighborhood gardens would probably be looking better than early in the season. Can you maybe add a 'farmer's market' or produce sharing of some sort? ThatÂs an idea we should throw into the mix. There are a number of farmers markets throughout our city in the summer, but mixing something into the food vendor area might work. Parking/Potties/Food WeÂve dealt with the parking and food vendors before for our home tours. Parking is on the street, and we set up food vendors in one of the parks. WeÂve not had to set up port a potties with the home toursÂ.there have always been some public buildings included on the tour where restrooms are available. IÂm hoping we can work with some of these public buildings as locations for the presentations; that would also take care of the restrooms. 501c3 Yes, our neighborhood has a 501c3 foundation which we utilize for fundraising, etc, so...

Hi I work with community gardens in urban areas, so I may be able to help some. (Perhaps I'm a hipster too!) First off, please visit the American Community Gardening Association web site, and please join ACGA. They are a clearinghouse of information on developing and maintaining community gardens. From my own professional experience, here is my advice. But remember this, they key is to engage and empower the people directly involved with the garden and all stages of its development. The best way to get neighborhood residents involved is through personal contact. Start talking to your neighbors, and get to know neighborhood residents where they gather, such as libraries, community centers, parks, anywhere. The average person doesn't know what a 'community' garden is. However, many are very interested in the idea of turning a vacant lot into a garden where they can grow veggies, flowers and herbs. See if you can get at least 2-3 persons interested and get their names and numbers. Ask them to ask the people they know in the neighborhood if they would be interested in a garden. 2. See if there is a community gardening organization in your area. Start by contacting your local County Extention Service. They will be able to direct you to any local community gardening groups who might be able to help you. These groups sometimes provide help with community organizing, acquistion of land, rototilling, seeds and plants, etc. 3. Plan a public meeting including the people you have already recruited and anyone they would like to bring. Advertise the meeting with flyers in public places, and in people's mail boxes. Hold the meeting at a local library, community center, etc. ACGA has a great slide show about community gardening that can be borrowed and shown at the meeting, if you wish. Don't be too upset if a lot of people don't show up for the meeting. The critical factor here is the # of people you have personally recruited. See if you can find one person (must be a person from the neighborhood) who can be the 'assistant' leader. 3. Contact the city, and find out who owns the land on the lot you would like to use. Then get permission to use it. Try and get a committment for at least 3 years. If the city owns the land, they will often 'lease' it for $1 per year. 4. Organize a 'work day' with those interested and clean up trash on the lot. Ask a couple of local business to donate something for the garden--donuts, drinks for snacks for the volunteers, garbage bags for clean-up, work gloves, etc. Make it fun! Anyone who happens by as you are working, tell them what is happening, and ask them if they want to get involved or to have a garden. These are the first steps. What happens next depends upon how these first four steps turn out. Being a college educated person, very hip as you are, remember that many people who live in low-income neighborhoods cannot relate to the hipster thing, so you need to be REALLY down-to-earth, and count on neighborhood residents to eventually take the lead in this whole process. I have found 3 basic types of persons in urban neighborhoods, when it comes to the idea of gardening. 1. Those who have absolutely no interest in gardening, or whether it exists at all. 2. Those who have little or no gardening experience, have little clue what it's all about, but could become VERY interested if asked to participate, or if they see a successful gardening project in action. 3. Those who are thrilled at the opportunity of having a garden that they can become involved in in their neighborhood. I am confident that the above 3 types, and gradations (+) and (-), exist in every neighborhood. You are doing a wonderful thing. I wish you the best of luck. Gardens Revitalize Our World! (GROW) Shelly Here is a link that might be useful: American Community Gardening Association

We lived in the SF Bay Area when I was growing up. (Gorgeous Garter Snakes there! A colorful kind too which are only in SF, they're endangered! We used to see them all the time when I was little, they're so pretty!) Anyway, my mom was tending her artichokes, and later that night, A HUGE black scorpion fell out of her hair!!!! We freaked, she was hysterical, my dad smooshed it, and it didn't sting anyone thank goodness! In the Santa Cruz Mountains where we had a cabin there were these awful, huge, gross, yellow spotted banana slugs that would hang out in the garden, I think they stung too. They are UC Santa Cruz's Mascot. Stepping on a snail barefoot. There are tons of them in the Bay Area, along with Black Widows. The Black Widows get huge too! They are so scary looking, all shiny & black with the red violin on their back! We did have Praying Mantis' though, they were so cool looking, and were great to keep on the Rose Bushes to eat all the aphids. I moved to Washington two years ago, and I have never had such a Garden Enemy as the slugs we have here. They are horrible! It is amazing how much defoliation can occur in one night from these things! They are all different colors, black, brown, spotted, they are hairy, and some look like they have armour on. I hate them! During the growing season I do, "Slug Patrol," every night. I fill a large baggie almost every night with them. It's fun to pour salt in the baggie and watch them melt. They are disgusting!!!!!! I hate them! Here is a link that might be useful: San Francisco Garter Snake

Chazas, we are in Mt. Pleasant, and yes it is a historic district. Besides the city, plans have to be submitted to two historical groups (the city's and the neighborhood's). Our architect has warned us to expect the permitting process to take two to three months. She has done a lot of work in the city, including our neighborhood, so hopefully the process will go smoothly! We're trying to minimize problems by not touching the front of the house at all (the non-historic dormer windows were added when the front of the attic was bumped out during a previous renovation; it would never be allowed now but we are REALLY hoping it won't be an issue as it was done before this became a historic district). Parking is not nearly as bad in our neighborhood as in Dupont or Adams Morgan (we lived in both neighborhood before buying this house) and there is non-permit parking available just down the street. We also have a garage, although that may have to be used for delivery, storage, debris removal, work space, etc. The project is extensive enough that we have pretty much decided to move out of the house. MANY people have recommended it and fortunately we have a basement apartment that will be minimally affected (downside is that we will have to ask a good tenant to move out!). Our hope is that this will help minimize both the cost and duration of construction. BTW here are photos of the house, first the front from two different angles: And a view of the back: The above photo shows (barely) the raised area in front over the attic where the bedroom will go, and the long flat roof where the deck will go. The photo is a bit deceptive as the house is much longer than you can tell from the photo (20' wide and about 50' long). Finally, a view of the back yard from one of our second floor windows; we were fortunate to find a house with a deep (if narrow and sloping) back yard AND a garage. This will be the view from the new rooftop deck, which we had talked about adding even before considering doing all this other work: