For this year’s Christmas season, the Riverwest Artists Association has sponsored a series of window installations on Center Street. These diverse and quirky windows span the length of the street from Holton to Humboldt….
Center Street
This is the Place

A new year is a good time to take stock of what’s good and what’s bad in your life. For many people, one thing that’s good is this place we’re all in together. It’s where we live. It’s our neighborhood. So we’re devoting some space this issue to reflecting on the past year — in photos and writings — and on this place we live in together. Just what is it that makes a place a neighborhood? You may think it’s something as simple as location and boundaries, but even that can be complicated, as Dan asks in “Where is Riverwest?” Boundaries are fluid and changing; we decide what they are. You may think it’s the people that make a neighborhood, and that is mostly right. People have everything to do with a neighborhood’s character, which is why Riverwest has so much character. We live in one of the few diverse neighborhoods in one of the most segregated cities in the nation. But we still have a ways to go, as Tanya talks about in this month’s View from Here.
Where is Riverwest?
What are the borders of your neighborhood? Unless you’re a newcomer, when you think about this question, definite answers probably come to mind right away. Where did you get those answers? How certain are you that they are right? Do they describe something that’s really out there or something that for some reason or another you need or want to believe in?
Civil Society in Riverwest
A fresh new year has just begun. Let’s pause for a moment to take a glimpse back as, at the dawn of 2002, a group of would-be writers and supporters are getting together to plan the very first issue of the Riverwest Currents. Skip to summer, when Riverwest had its first ever concert series in the newly-renovated Gordon Park. Center Street was re-paved and folks threw a party to celebrate. Spring Clean-up, Locust Street Festival, Fourth of July Parade, Gardeners’ Market in Garden Park, Artwalk, planning for Kilbourn/Reservoir Park and bike trails along the Milwaukee River…a rush of activities! Some you went to, others you missed — the year passes by in blur. Ring out the old, ring in the new!
Holiday Shopping on the Cheap
With the holidays fast approaching, this can be a stressful time of year for everyone, especially if your bank account isn’t exactly overflowing. So, how can you save some dough while still giving in the spirit of the season?

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