A program in search of an acronym

Did you know that the first parcels of land in the newly subdivided town of Monrovia were sold on May 17, 1886? 

Still a town in 1886, we wouldn’t become a city for about another year and a half.

Hmmm…May 17, that day sounds familiar…

Anyway, the reason we bring this tidbit up, is that it’s now memorialized as part of the City’s newest public art program.  

We've been racking our brain for months and we think we came up with a catchy name and affectionately call it the Monrovia Cool Stuff That Our Super Talented Public Works Folks Stamp in the Sidewalk Program—MCSTOSTPWFSITSP for short!  That rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?  You know government, we love our acronyms!

Well, perhaps we can shorten it...just a bit…

Ideas? We're listening!  Send them to planning@ci.monrovia.ca.us.  The winner will get a lifetime free subscription to “Over the Counter”

Wahoo!  (It’s all the budget will allow.)

Speaking of art…one of the great things that we get to do is work with the community on developing public art.  Several years ago, the City Council adopted a public art program that is funded by new development.  Over the past decade, the City has amassed some cool and interesting pieces.  And because Monrovia does things a little different, a little cooler, and thinks outside the box, our art collection is becoming quite eclectic.  And we believe that suits Monrovia to a T! (or is it ‘tee’, ‘tea’...?) 

There we go, off on a tangent again!  (Squirrel!)  But you know how we get, just a little excited to talk all things Monrovian.   

We really just wanted bring you in on the inauguration of MCSTOSTPWFSITSP.  Coming soon: more cool stuff in the sidewalk!  And hopefully a few less letters...

So next time you're headed to the Monrovia Historical Museum, look down at the sidewalk and check it out!  Don't know where the Museum is?  Here's a hint: it's on the north side of Recreation Park (742 East Lemon Avenue).

While you're there, take a #sidewalkselfie and tag it #artinmonrovia.  

Oh, and the significance of May 17…it’s Monrovia Day!

…and now you know…the rest of the story.

Everything Old is New Again

You know, they say that time is like river... it's cold and wet and teeming with bacteria or something like that. But, we think that time is more like a circle. Things come in and fade out only to return again when it's least expected. This blog post is dedicated to the old becoming new again. We know, that seems like kind of a deep topic for our blog, it's amazing how a couple of overcast days have turned us into philosophers!

So, what has us thinking about time in metaphors? Why are we questioning the very nature of how we organize our lives? The answer is Pavilions. Yes, you read that right, Pavilions grocery store has got us thinking about life, the universe and everything. Why has a grocery store affected us in this way? Because Pavilions will soon be looking a little different. Actually, it will soon be looking like a Vons. We know, we know, we just got used to calling it Pavilions, too! 

So what does this change mean for grocery consumers? In a nutshell (which you can buy at Vons, by the way) you'll probably see some lower prices. All of the great products and customer service that you expect from your Monrovia store will still be there.

If you're a planner in Monrovia (so, you know, if you're one of about 6 1/2 people), you're probably wondering about the new sign design. We were thinking that they could save on their new signs by just removing the extra letters, like this:

Pavilions

    v   ons

Shockingly, they didn't particularly like our design idea and decided to go with this instead:

So, if you're driving down the street and notice something different about the grocery store, you haven't time traveled back to 1985 (if we could travel back to 1985, we'd buy some Apple stock) (apples are also available for purchase at Vons... but we were actually thinking about the company that makes iPhones), it's just the universe reminding you that time is cyclical and everything old can become new again!