As requested I am posting pictures of the traffic control box art as each is done.  This one is on the southwest corner of Locust and Broadway Streets.  I will post pictures of the art on each box as it is completed. 

This box is signed by Abby Carman.  I would direct you to the Main Street Argenta web site but there is nothing there on the artists or their art.  Hopefully a reader will post a comment here with more information on Abby and her art and the thought behind this piece.  These artists have donated their work and they should be promoted.  This is the north side of the box.

And this is the south side of the box. 

So what do you think?  Love it....Leave it...or it's ok? 

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I have been exchanging e-mails with the Levy Project blog author and it has been enlightening to see how others approach their neighborhoods.  We here in Argenta have been blessed  with a neighborhood that most would consider has turned the corner and is on the upswing.  Although I know there are some in Argenta that are still unhappy with a particular street or house in the neighborhood.  There are many other nighborhoods in North Little Lock that are working towards that corner.  Because there are so many different ways at looking at neighborhoods I am asking the question...

What Turns Around A Neighborhood?

1. Is it an active neighborhood association?
2. Is it having the City be proactive in code enforcement?
3. Is it having the attention of City Hall and the aldermen?
4. Is it increasing property values
5. Is it a neighborhood blog or web site?
6. Is it having people wanting to move to the neighborhood?
7. Or is it simply a growing group of creative or proactive residents doing things?

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It seems Argenta News may have started something in North Little Rock.  Since we started this site Levy has started a blog site (Click here for a link to the Levy blog) and it seems today that someone in Rose City has started a blog site.  (Click here for the link to the Rose City site). 

In general neighborhood web sites are a good idea.  However both the Levy and Rose City site appear to overlook several important pieces of the Argenta News site that make it work so well..  These mssing pieces are

1. The site CANNOT be run anonymously.  City officials need to work with people and neighborhoods not unkowns.  Anonymity also does not help with a lack of strong leadership in many neighborhoods.  You can't change a neighborhood if you aren't willing to step up and be counted. Anonymity also breeds a certain lack of responsibility in postings.
2. These sites do not appear to be working within the or closely with the neighborhood groups, often creating friction within the neighborhood at the specific time when these neighborhoods need unity and strength to adress their problems
3. These sites appear only to be adressing police, code or safety problems in the neighborhoods.  There are many good things going on in these neighborhoods, yet very few make the blog sites.  Where are the new business announcements and activities at the community centers?  Just to list a few examples.  Only listing problems is not neighborhood building.  Sooner or later the City will tire of having somebody poking them in the eye and the City may go partially blind to the neighborhood problems.
4. These sites miss the opportunity to raise money for the neighborhoods through the site.  Neighborhood building requires outreach to those who normally don't participate through block parties or other social events funded through the web site.
5. These sites appear to expect the City to take care of their problems.  Neighborhood clean up and crime fighting is just as a much a neighborhood responsibility as it is a City responsibility.The Levy site in particular appears to want to divide the City into the have and have not neighborhoods instead of reaching out to the other neighborhoods for help.

Bottom line....neighborhood rebuilding is a 5+ year committment and requires more than just a few code issues resolved or ditches filled in.  This kind of committment requires leadership and leadership requires a big neighborhood picture view.  Not anonymous complainers. 

I will undoubtably catch grief on this from other bloggers, but we have turned the corner here here in Argenta and it has been the result of many people over the years putting their name on the line in what they believe.  I have reached out to some of these neighborhood groups and I make the same offer again

I will help you do the things we do here in Argenta, just ask.  I will give you a web site like Argenta News.....free, just ask.  I will help you raise thousands of dollars each year for your neighbohood, just ask. Just remember though...to step up and take me up on this offer, you will have to step out from behind the curtain and be a leader.  Trust me, the rewards far outweigh the fears. 

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Yes, we do have the occasional crime problem here in Argenta.  A few weeks a simple burglary of some yard equipment, a few rowdy young teens,  and the occasional domestic problem.  But in perspective, we have very few crime problems here in Argenta and live in one of the most crime free neighborhoods on either side of the river. 

This is a photograph of one of two cars in the upper Heights, that recently had the wheels stolen off the car while parked  in front of the owner's house.  Click here for a link to the post on the Arkansas Times blog. site. The Heights is a neighborhood very much like Argenta, where most people park on the street with bungalow style homes.  So appreciate what we have in here in Argenta and next time you see a police officer, Mayor Hays or Chief Bradley make sure you thank them for our excellent police protection in Argenta and North Little Rock.  Also make sure you thank your neighbor, crime protection is also a direct result of neighbors looking out for each other. 

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A public hearing will be held at 7:05 pm Monday night at the NLR City Council meeting.  This is an ordinance creating specific limits and penalties for excessive noise during certain hours (ie. car radios, parties, car horns, etc.)  This ordinance is being pushed by our own Ward 2 City Council members, Alderwoman Robinsion and Alderman Thomas.

 A copy of the noise ordinance may be picked up at the City Clerk's office at City Hall at 301 Main Street.  The City Council meeting is also at City Hall at 301 Main Street. Click here for a link to the City Council agenda Monday night.

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If you are just getting out of bed or just getting back from church make sure you check out the  really nice article on the traffic control box art by Jake Sandlin in the Sunday Arkansas Democrat on the front of the B section.  The article gives a good backgound on how the project came to fruition and the involvement of other groups downtown.  The article also goes into Theresa Cates (the creator) backgound and theme. Hopefully this article will bring more attention to Theresa's other works as well.  I would provide a link to the article here, but the Democrat has a subscription only policy for viewing it's web site content.  So make sure you pick up a copy.

Increased awareness and attention of all the things we having going on down  here is in Argenta is a good thing and will only benefit us all with more attention from developers, owners and potential homebuyers.  Bringing attention to Argenta is one of the primary goals of this site.

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If you haven't already discovered the calendar feature on the right......you need to.  This is much more than a calendar of the current month.  Click on any highlighted date and you will see a schedule of the events happenning in Argenta for that day.  Once you click on the date and it pops up you can also click on the monthly or weekly view for Argenta events.  The events are color coded for the general location in Argenta where they are ocurring and when available there is a link to the group's web site.

Use this calendar to plan your Argenta events and if you want to know why everbody is downtown on any day look here to see the event.  If you have an event ocurring in Argenta e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with the event information and we will get it on the calendar.

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It just hit me, three days after putting up a post suggesting Central Arkansas Transit should be running the trolleys on the 4th of July I realized the trolleys probably can't run over the Main Street Bridge due to the fireworks.  The fireworks display is launched from the Main Street Bridge and takes all day to set up.  One stray spark from the trolley power line as the trolley went by over the Main Street Bridge could have set off the entire fireworks prematurely.

So apparently I am an idiot, for not realizing this before I wrote the post.  And this is the good news.  The bad news is....none of the readers of this site caught my idiocy.  Come on people.  I rely on many of you to help me keep an even keel. 

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Without much fanfare the NLR Police Dept. has developed a traffic control plan to quickly get all the cars out of the Argenta and Riverfront area.  This plan closes both the southbound lanes of the Main Street Viaduct (bridge over the railroad tracks) after an event, to facilitate outbound traffic particulary at the 7th & 8th Street intersections.  According to Capt. Davis with the NLR Police Dept. the plan works very well and will likely only be used after the fireworks during Riverfest and on the 4th of July.  This plan will not be used for events at Alltel or Dickey Stephens. 

The viaduct detour was pointed out by a loyal reader who was trying to get back into Argenta after the fireworks and had to detour over to Pike to get home to Argenta.  Why would anyone ever want to leave Argenta, except to grocery shop (people are working on that)?.  So in the future keep the Main Street Viaduct detour in mind and use I-30 and the Broadway Street exit to get back to Argenta within a couple of hours after the Riverfest and 4th of July fireworks.  

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