David and Amanda at Frozendale H&S Maker Market
December 7, 2024
A: This is David and Amanda interviewing each other on Main Street outside of the Heart & Soul Makers Market at Frozendale. Shall I start off asking you what you love about Rosendale and how long you’ve been here?
D: I’ve been in the area for about six years, in Rosendale for about two and a half of those. I live in the Bloomington Hamlet of Rosendale and I love events like this that invite all kinds of businesses together to participate and offer something – it feels generous, I like that. I like seeing the makers here, and to see some of the creative folks come out of the woodwork. Those who don’t have storefronts and things like that.
I love that we have trails right out of the back door of our main street. I love walking there. I love that there are all the nooks and crannies with all the different hamlets, and that it has kind of a center but also all these little mysteries and I still feel like I discovered parts of it.
A: Me too. I’ve been here for nine going on ten years and I feel that way. There’s always something new that I’ve missed. Last night there was a cellist playing here at the Garden House and then someone came along with a violin, an electric violin, and a ukulele and it became a party. It was really fun. The night before was the first night of trivia at the Garden House and I wasn’t able to go but apparently it was really popular because people want things to gather at and hang out and have fun.
D: Yeah and will that be weekly or monthly?
A: Weekly!
D: Other things I love – I guess I keep meeting people who have a spirit of doing things together and collaborating. That kind of culture was already here when I got here and that suits me. I like being creative with other people. If I put an offer out to do that someplace where I felt like my neighbors or community members were just like “yeah, whatever, I’m not interested in doing things,” then I would feel more dead inside, and I’m glad I don’t feel that way here.
A: I didn’t grow up in a real community like this. I grew up in a suburb in Northern New Jersey and it was pretty much everyone for themselves and – at least among the people that my family knew – there wasn’t that kind of community where we would come together and do things like this and that’s one reason that I love Rosendale so much you know I moved here and it became my home and I feel like I’m part of this large ever-growing, ever-changing, creative and loony and wonderful family. It just seems unending, there’s always something new.
Anyway ….[ HONK] She made a mistake! People get very excited. Walk off the sidewalk sometimes. There’s not a lot of room for error here though. … I would like to see this street safer. There’s not a lot of room to widen the sidewalk but if we were able to slow down the traffic and put some more crosswalks in with designated places like either blinking lights for pedestrians or a stop light for pedestrians. You know with a crosswalk button I think that’s really important. She came very close to being hit just there! So that’s a to me that’s a major place for improvement.
D: Yeah. I lived in Japan for a couple of years and we had convex mirrors everywhere. At the pull out here if you had a convex mirror … I was so used to it. People get accustomed to them. They’re not common here
A: I’ve wondered why we don’t have.
D: And we used to do things in Portland with flags kind of like prayer flags, that we would design. We’d string them on the cable lines. So it’s just a little more visually like you get the sense something’s here and that it’s just more than a corridor you’re going through – this is where people live and play.
A: Yeah and it’s pretty and it probably makes people slow down. That’s a really great. What were were they actual prayer flags?
D: They were we made our own. We just felt like we wanted it to be more “our take” as opposed to it to that kind of borrowing. So we made our own. We had a little painting party. We also did a birdhouse workshop and we hung birdhouses on on poles and things. So when you came down our street you just feel like you’re in someone’s park.
A: Yeah! were you on a busy mean road?
D: Not as busy as this but it was on the way to a popular co-op, and it was to kind of [short] cut off of this parallel to a main street. So we did all kinds of things to slow traffic, just by creating.
A: Creative non-government!
D: Visual! Just like the [yellow slow] signs that were put up. Those things that just kind of give people a little pause or something they take notice of and feel like, oh yeah this is not something just to blow through.
A: I think the idea of a do-it-yourself slow down is probably going to happen sooner than the government doing something because it’s the state government. I would also love to see the town actually take better care of the ice on the side of the street because those folks just have a hard time. So that’s something that the town or the state could do.
D: Is there a main street business association?
A: I think the guy who had the canvas store tried to put something together but I don’t think they’re currently actually is.
D: I felt like that might also create momentum for having better signage for those who are on 32 who wouldn’t otherwise turn on Main Street – to have a better representation of [Main Street] businesses on that road, because the sign there is pretty tired.
A: It is pretty tired isn’t it? It needs a little zhuzhing up – a glow up right?
D: That might even be fun just to do rogue and just have people paint their own signs and then just like put it up at night. That’s how we started our stuff in our neighborhood – just doing it. Most things no one even asked about.
A: We’ve talked about what we love.
D: I agree with some things to create more like pedestrian safety here.
I would love to have some process to clear out some of the parts of the path behind these businesses on the creek side. I feel like access and awareness of the creek would be awesome.
A: I agree and there’s a couple of people specifically that we need to talk to because it’s such a gray area. Who owns what? and is it private or is it public? and you know there’s also a respect involved. This public is sort of in people’s backyards, but it would be lovely to at least have an access point – maybe it’s Snyder St. you know. So people can get in and walk around down there, and a lot of people do it anyway and sometimes, if you know someone, you can do it.
D: I think just be able to walk the whole length of it from bridge to bridge on the creek side so you could walk a loop and not be on the roads and to be along the creek – that would be such a nice piece.
A: It would be nice – its ends by the store, and then it’s just the wall, but someone can figure out. People are very creative – there’s a way to figure out how to circumvent that. It’s a project definitely. Yeah, it would be lovely to have a circular route!
D: And another bigger thing that I’m curious about. I know people have expressed interest in Fann’s plaza, and Andy and I have spoken about this – could that be the transit center where the bus actually stops? So the [buses unload] right at the mouth of Main Street? As opposed to crossing the bridge, crossing the road to get into Main Street? and the parking lot is used but it could also be redesigned.
A: It could handle a lot more, Most of it’s usually empty, agreed.
D: I think the businesses there, if they knew that bus loads of people would be getting out there, spending money there just on their way into town, or wherever they’re going.
A: Yeah that plaza could definitely be a lot more than it is currently. Apparently it used to be a pretty big department store.
D: I’ve heard people talk about you know all their history of going to their department store there. The back-to-school shopping.
A: Yeah it’s really interesting talking to people who grew up here. Telling how it used to be so vibrant here, it had a bank, it had a hardware store, it had a drug store, they had everything that you need to have, and right now it’s a wonderful town and I love it here but definitely you have to drive a bit to access certain things, especially a bank or a pharmacy. It’d be lovely to have those things here.
D: Is there anything else?
A: Not coming to mind right now but we can always we do a part two another time. I think that’s pretty good. I hope it was recorded. All right.
