We’re adding another author! Please welcome Marguerite Giguere The Skydiving Agent! to Classic Homes Northwest! Marguerite is with Crescent Realty. She is very active around Tacoma and has been kind enough to post some of our articles on her blog Get Real Tacoma. Having her contribute her views on the Tacoma real estate market is something we will all benefit from.

When we pressured her to provide a bio she shared this with us

Marguerite Giguere is a lifetime resident of Pierce County and currently resides in Downtown Tacoma. She’s a REALTOR Specializing in homes and condos in Downtown Tacoma and the surrounding neighborhoods under $400,000.  She has special expertise in buyer representation and foreclosures.  Marguerite loves Tacoma, Karaoke, and jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.

Welcome aboard Marguerite! we’re happy to have you here and we’re looking forward to doing a cross sale one of these days!

The City of Tacoma’s Planning Commission is holding a public hearing on March 17th. 2010 at 5:00pm. This hearing will concern the creation and review of the “Wedge Neighborhood” for consideration of being a historic district. This process was started in 2008 when residents of the “Wedge Neighborhood” requested to be designated as a historic district. In 2009 The Landmarks  Preservation Commission sent a recommendation to the Planning Commission for the creation of a historic special review district surrounded by multiple conservation districts.

Interested individuals may testify in person or submit comments in writing by e-mail or fax, (253) 591-2002. Written comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. March 26.

So, what exactly is a historic special review district? Glad you asked. Historic special review districts provided guidelines for the design of new construction within the district. Also, modifications to existing structures are reviewed for compliance to the guidelines approved. Properties within a historic district can potentially be eligible and receive certain tax benefits.  Conservation districts are buffer areas between historic districts and other areas of the city. The goal is to provide guidelines for new construction and protection of historic buildings. Historic Districts are one way for our community to help preserve the classic and historic character of our neighborhoods. For the people who live within a historic district official designation can bring a sense of pride and community.

Classic Homes Northwest supports the creation of a Historic Wedge District.

Here is a copy of the hearing notice for the Wedge Neighborhood on March 17th.

Here is a copy of the Public Review Documents for the hearing.
Historic Tacoma produced a walking tour of the Wedge District. The walking tour is a fantastic way to learn more about one of the more interesting areas in Tacoma. Historic Tacoma has published the walking tour online and you can find the tour here.

Will we see you on March 17th?

René Fabre’s post We’re all self educated buyers…..struck a chord with me. What is the walk score of the neighborhoods here in Tacoma? What local businesses do we as occupants of various neighborhoods take pride in frequenting? Just what is so cool about the areas that we call home? Walk Score, Yelp, Four Square, Twitter, and many other tools allow us to give a virtual shout out to the world about the neighborhoods we call home. I think it is a great idea to help spread the word about what makes our neighborhoods tick.

Since I help people buy and sell homes all around Tacoma I know (or at least feel like I should) a bit more than the average person about neighborhoods in Tacoma. That being said I am always looking to improve my knowledge of everything Tacoma.  To help me accomplish my goal of learning more about Tacoma I am going to start using the tools René mentioned. I will be writing articles on my efforts which I hope will be both entertaining and educational.

My plan is to pick various established districts (Stadium District, Proctor District, McKinley Hill District, South Tacoma, etc.) and use the tools to provide a detailed snapshot of the various features of each district. From there I will take the information and publish it online for anyone to contribute to. I need to work out the details of how I can allow others to collaborate but I am sure that with the help of some of the really smart people (René Fabre etc.) I am lucky to know that something can be worked out.

From René’s post we learned that the Stadium District in Tacoma has a walk score of 95! that is very impressive. If you were to live here you would have the opportunity to walk to just about everything you need from your home.  While the walk score does not take everything into account it is a useful tool to begin to learn more about the particular area you are considering. Our next post will cover the Stadium District in more detail.

I am always looking for more tools to use to help me be a better Realtor® if you know of any cool tools that allows us to join in the conversation about our neighborhoods please share them here.

I was browsing the Interwebs and I came across a mention of a local online radio station that has begun to broadcast recently. I tuned my browser to Tacoma.FM and found myself listening to a grassroots local effort to bring music and programming to Tacoma.

The following is taken directly from the Tacoma.FM website

What is Tacoma.FM about?

Our mission is simple. Reflect Tacoma’s unique blend of community interests, arts, and cultural diversity with locally produced programming to entertain, educate, and inform. Our goal for 2010 is to develop diverse and interactive music, entertainment, and informational programs of interest to our local community across multiple platforms.

An eclectic mix of music with no boundaries.

Tacoma.FM has local DJ’s who encourage music diversity and discovery. Popular classic albums, new music, local and independent artists, folk, blues, alternative and whatever else. Also, a growing list of specialty music programs across many genres including world music, jazz, blues, nostalgia, oldies, and more.

DJ’s, shows, etc.

We support original music from local and independent artists.

All local and indie artists across all genres are encouraged to submit original music to Tacoma.FM for airplay consideration. CD’s and bio information may be sent to us at the address below.

I find this very exciting that someone is willing to go to the effort to bring a different viewpoint of radio to our local community. Radio used to be community driven a local business that informed their listeners of what was happening in their neighborhoods. I hope Tacoma.FM will help dust off this business model.

Please visit Tacoma.FM and listen. Together we can help shape our local entertainment and listening choices.