Boldly Living on the Cutting Edge
Boldly Live Where Others Won'tMark Smith
Publish America 2005
When Grace Slick, Jerry Garcia and their respective bands bought property in San Francisco?s Haight-Ashbury, let?s just say the entry price to get into housing was a bit lower than it is in today's market. I remember noticing a house there a couple years ago that had just reportedly received a $300,000 paint job.
Urban living has been fashionable in places like San Francisco for decades, and now it is coming into fashion again most everywhere. Yet not everyone can see the opportunities that exist today in American cities, and of course living in transitional neighborhoods is not something everyone can do.
I have lived in many transitional neighborhoods. Sometimes it is even difficult to call them transitional--looking back on a few today; you'd have to squint to see the transitions. We've long known this as "urban pioneering," and the author of a new book calls it living on the cutting edge.
I was listening to talk radio one afternoon and heard Mark Smith talking about his new book, Boldly Live Where Others Won't. I was delighted to learn that Mark was in Pittsburgh, or just outside of it in a town called Wilkinsburg, so I found his number and gave him a call.
If you are one of those suburbanites who think the "urban" with the most emphasis on "pioneering" is in the center city, it's not always like that. In Pittsburgh it's in places on the outskirts where the steel mills used to be. Wilkinsburg is in the middle in terms of the amount of emphasis you'd have to give to the word "pioneering." It's actually an early suburb that had very large homes which were later divided into many apartments when the prior occupants discovered they couldn't sell the homes for what they wanted. That in no way diminishes the necessity to use both the words "urban" and "pioneering" to talk about living in Wilkinsburg today.
Why do people live in such places? There are both economical and social reasons. As an aficionado of cities and a student of them (I earned a masters in urban studies but always remain a student), I more than suspect the notion of social mobility was more intact when people of different classes and races lived closer together in places like Wilkinsburg (which they still do!). I know we get into the topic of "gentrification" when people of more means move into these "cutting edge areas," but the more different people there are together in one place, the more "city" there is in an "urban" area. Cities are not just dense, they're different.
The economic reasons are less abstract. You can live for less and even make a little money (instead of shelling out a couple grand each month on a housing or rent payment).
Mark's book is a guide to those who have thought about, or have already started the process of, being a pioneer. It is primarily a real estate book, explaining the ins and outs of buying a property and being a landlord. It is different from other real estate books because it goes beyond that, explaining what it means to be a good neighbor and explaining the difference between being an investor and a stakeholder.
Mark says, "While giving new life to communities and properties, urban pioneering has also given meaning to the lives of many looking to undertake a bold new endeavor. These pioneers seek to make a difference both in a way and in an area that most people would never consider. Rehabbing an older property is not new, nor is real estate investment in downtrodden areas. What is relatively new is an engaging, hands-on interest by a new breed of pioneer to live, invest, and stake a claim in those neighborhoods more often fled by the mainstream."
I meet with people everyday who are doing just what this book describes. While some run into problems, most find it an engaging and rewarding experience. It's not just the real estate owners who are pioneers; renters attracted by the property owners also take a stake in a "cutting edge" neighborhood and find rewards in the experience.
If you've been missing something from life and want more out of the place where you live--want to be in a place you can actually feel a part of, to be in a place where your existence and efforts can make a difference--urban pioneering might be for you. If you've got yourself into an urban pioneering environment and don't quite know what to do next, this is the book you need. Be a "New Colonist" on the next level, and learn to live boldly by picking up a copy of Boldly Live Where Others Won't."
