The City of Evanston will hold an open house June 14 at one of the properties rehabilitated under its federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and Alderman Delores Holmes, whose 5th Ward included the open house site, will be at the event, along with contractors involved in rehabbing foreclosed homes under the Live Evanston program.
The open house will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1733 Leland Ave.
Under the program funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the city has been awarded $18.15 million to help stabilize two neighborhoods hard hit by the foreclosure crisis.
The open house site is a single-family home that now features a renovated kitchen with granite countertops, dark-wood cabinetry, stainless steel appliances and new fixtures. The home also has refinished hardwood floors, an EnergyStar furnace and hot water heater and new insulation. It also has a new roof, new landscaping and a new paint job..
So far under the grant program, city officials say, about $5.2 million in subcontracts have been awarded, with 72 percent going to minority, women and Evanston-based businesses. And of about 30 new hires for NSP2-related work, 60 percent have been low-income Evanston residents.
The LiveEvanston program aims to acquire and rehabilitate 100 foreclosed housing units to provide quality, affordable owner-occupied and rental housing.
So far, thirteen units are occupied; 20 are on the market for sale or for rent; and an additional 20 are being rehabbed. Units will be available through early 2013.
Current for sale listings are onlione at www.LiveEvanston.net and rental listings are available at www.cityofevanston.org/nsp2rentals.
Why is a studio needed for making a local content video?
I recently bought a webcam for $10. A very nice video/audio editing program (Corel VideoStudio X4) I got for $35. A decent microphone can be had from Radio Shack for not much. Use them together and it can be put up on YouTube for free.
A digital still camera that also takes movies with sound is about $100. Plenty are available used for much less. Modern cheap still/movie cameras are great in low light so no expensive high powered lighting is needed.
The days of using video tape and having to lug around a professional camcorder to make a movie are history.
Why does one need a TV studio? Why is cable TV needed for getting out local content when YouTube is available? If anything remarkable happens, any local controversies for example, people head to YouTube where clips are available 24/7. I've seen school board meetings there. There's no need for scheduling a program or reserving a facility – anyone can in effect have their own TV program, you just put it up and it's there. I think the only limitation is one segment (one uploaded file) can't be more than 15 minutes.
When cable TV started, I think part of the standard agreement was that the cable company would financially support local production in addition to providing a community channel. Since I've never had cable, I don't know what the current situation is. Does Comcast pick up the tab for this studio space and staff?