nancymae

I love my little corner of the world. I've lived here since 1989.

Let me tell me about the drawbacks so you don't think it's perfect. It's right by the railroad tracks, so you hear the train horns at various hours of day or night. But they don't wake me up, and never woke my kids when they were little. In the winter, it looks a little slummy because the trees have no leaves.

There are 7 houses on Schley Pass. It runs off the 1300 block of E Wilson, which is the bike path as well as an ordinary little street. Most of the houses hereabouts are small (900 sq ft) single-family and mostly owner-occupied. Small yards, which can be kinda nice, if you don't want to mow a lot. Minimal traffic -- people drive here because they are meant to be here, not because they are passing through.

The houses were all built around 1900, give or take, for railroad workers. They are not fancy, but you'll find lots of hardwood floors and character. The neighbors have interesting yards, from a Japanese-style yard, to vegetable garden, wild flowers, and some neighbors have chickens!

Schley Pass and its neighbor Dewey Court are 2 blocks in either direction (north or south) from a handful of buslines, and like I mentioned, right on the bike path, which leads to downtown or eastward. It's 2 short blocks to grocery coop, hardware store, several tattoo parlors, excellent liquor store, a Tuesday farmer's market, coffeeshops, 2 Jamaican restaurants, a Lao-Thai restaurant, groovy breakfast/lunch cafe, diner, gunsmith, watch repairer, thrift store, locally owned pharmacy, acupuncturist, plumbing supply store, antique gifts, kitchen goods, copy/print shop, fire dept., paleontology storefront, and lots more. Oh yeah, and some cool bars and other restaurants.

You can also walk the 6 blocks to a woman-owned sex supply shop (A Woman's Touch), a new/used music store, Chinese noodle and Indonesian restaurants. There are daycares. There is a nonprofit building. There are various small-business incubators. A mile or so away you have a theater that features concerts as a mid-size venue. Lots of other venues, restaurants, and shops in walking distance too.

And yet, Schley Pass itself is pretty quiet. Sometimes neighbors have parties, but if you go over, they quiet down or they probably already invited you and will offer a beer. I could sunbathe topless if I felt like it. Neighbors talk to each other a lot in the summer months, less in the harsh Wisconsin winters (100" of snow last year...), but keep an eye out for who's going in and out, without being nosy. Sometimes you get some less than perfect renters next door, but they move out eventually!

The Willy St neighborhood is gentrifying, but prices are more reasonable here because of RR tracks proximity. The mix in the neighborhood is primarily white, but less so than some other neighborhoods. The local elementary and middle schools are mixed both racially and economically and the schools are excellent.

I love this neighborhood because you don't need a car. There's pretty much everything here.