by G. Sax, (Twitter: @gsax)

In 2001, Jonathan Franzen wrote what I now safely consider my second-favorite work of fiction, The Corrections (The Great Gatsby still claims the top spot). It was an astounding book made more provocative to me because of his discomfort with being chosen for Oprah Winfrey's book club. Franzen is now a regular contributor to The New Yorker.

Last week, I received a call from a fact-checker at The New Yorker who asked me a series of questions about historical housing prices in the Twin Cities in general and pointed questions about the Ramsey Hill neighborhood of St. Paul. I was able to field her questions with verifying answers for a new work of fiction available in The New Yorker this week, "Good Neighbors" by Jonathan Franzen.

It is described as a short story about animosities and relationships among families living on a gentrifying street in St. Paul, Minnesota. The street name is Barrier Street. I told her there was no such street that I could find, but I understand that some things are better left as fiction. Like "555" phone numbers.

The story begins, "Walter and Patty Berglund were the young pioneers of Ramsey Hill—the first college grads to buy a house on Barrier Street since the old heart of St. Paul had fallen on hard times three decades earlier. The Berglunds paid nothing for their Victorian and then killed themselves for ten years renovating it."

Anyone interested in St. Paul, particularly St. Paul real estate, should be hooked by that opener. Other notable local area references include Linwood Park, St. Catherine's, 3M, Garrison Keillor, Kirby Puckett and Prince. All this from a guy who hails from St. Louis.

Franzen did his research. He knew that Ramsey Hill was a trouble spot in the 1980s and that its revival has strengthened since. The Ramsey Hill neighborhood is noted for its Victorian architecture. The Ramsey Hill Association claims that it is the "second-largest contiguous Victorian District in North America." It's a lofty claim, and maybe the word "district" is the key to its boldness. Quick research shows that several cities boast large Victorian neighborhoods.

Toronto lays claim to the largest and best-preserved set of Victorians, specifically in the Cabbagetown neighborhood. The Fan neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, is pretty darn Victorian. The Old West End of Toledo, Ohio, has a stake in Victorian lore. Boston's South End is officially the oldest Victorian neighborhood in the U.S. And Old Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, touts itself as the largest Victorian neighborhood in the country.

You can get a look inside some of the homes of St. Paul's Victorians at the 2009 biannual Ramsey Hill House Tour on Sunday, September 13. That's a ways off from this writing, so read the Franzen short story for now and mark your calendar to see the realities of the fictitious Walter and Patty Berglund.

This is my annual porch post. I know I write on this topic once a year because for me a porch is a qaulity of life issue and just got done cleaning the porches and putting plants, and furniture on them.  This isn't my porch it is Laurel's over on St. Clair near W7th street.  Sometimes I have to explain porches to suburbanites and I describe them as decks with roofs that are not always in the back of the house.  I use my porches often.  If I am feeling anti social I sit on the back porch which is just outside of my office, I work there sometimes too.  If I am feeling social I sit on the front porch. My neighbors are outside a lot more this time of year and we actually talk to each other.

Maybe I should explain talking too.  The best kind of talking is when people get to see each other and they don't have to use the internet or a cell phone. It doesn't happen very often but when it does it can happen on the front porch.

Porches are social and they make houses look friendlier and more inviting. That is why i explain them every year so that people will remember how important they are.

by G. Sax

I got a kick out of T's recent blog post, "Writing." It was the second time in a week she used a photo of an old typewriter to introduce the day's post. She's also made strong use of natural imagery and historic architecture in many recent posts. That's nothing new to most followers of this blog, but here's where I'm going with this:

Teresa is one of the most wired/wireless REALTORS® I know. She's fairly proficient with the tweets and emails and blogs and websites and tech conference appearances and multilevel social media management. She's also been outwardly supportive of electronic lockboxes where many of her peers would just as soon use a combination lock. Somewhere in all that electronica, she seems to manage to help people get some real estate transactions done…by way of MLS, PDF, and BB (Blackberry).

I do some stuff in the real estate industry myself, and I get an opportunity to talk to other REALTORS® about all this newfangled Web 2.0 stuff. What I hear most frequently is "I just don't have time."

Pshaw. It can be done with the right effort, and that effort has high potential of paying off.

"Is do." This is a phrase of prominence in my life (and on my Facebook page). Horace said "Carpe diem." Nike said "Just Do It." Pablo Cruise said "Love Will Find a Way."

T has found a way. And most days you come here to see what she's up to, what photos she's taken, what new thing she has to say about St. Paul. What she is writing. And sometimes you get stuck with me instead.

I am a professional writer. And so is T. Sometimes she even gets paid for it. Ding, ding, ding! She's a writer! And she writes a ton. Her "Writing" blog came in at 520 words. That's the max I'll go with any given blog post.

The spelling continues to be atrocious. I have some tips I'll pass along to her that might help out with some of that. Not all good writers can be good editors. One of the best writers I know is one of the worst spellers I know. It happens. It's worth cleaning up, as I state in some marketing talks that I give, because the errors have a way of mentally getting in the way of what's really important:

Voice. If the written voice is pure, it resonates loudly. Misspellings are the equivalent of the verbal er, um, ah, ummmm.

Voice. T has one. Her little, St. Paulite, rat terrier of a voice infiltrates her written words. This is the mark of a solid writer writing.

I don't know, maybe it's a front. Like an old St. Paul building lovingly photographed without the Twitter birds atop. Whatever the case, T exemplifies "Is do." Congrats to her on the office change to a St. Paul address, and all the other things she's doing to promote my beloved city.

Every city has a College Avenue, or College Street.  St. Paul is no exception, College Avenue is close to downtown, just two blocks off of Summit Avenue and one block from Mulberry street.  college Avenue is one block long and these condo's are the only homes on the street.  The building was built in 1898 . . actually there are two buildings, so close together that they look like one. They were converted to condos many years ago. I once lived a block away and remember when they were converted, they had been apartments.  There was a Mission school on college avenue in 1851, the mission is gone but the street is still there.

The school used to be where the history center is today.  The best view of this building and of downtown, especially at sunset is from the parking lot of the Arch diocese building.  The lot is on Kellogg Blvd and Mulberry Street.  If you have never heard of College or Mulberry, don't worry they are both one block long and no one has heard of them. . . except the people who live and park on them.

One of the things I always notice when I stand in the parking lot is the wonderful mix of old and new. I can see the church steeples, and the landmark center, and buildings that were built less than ten years ago and a couple that were completed last year. It is the mix of old and new that gives the area it's charm.

The Cullen House Built in 1862, William Cullen was the superintendent of Indian affairs in Minnesota.The home is what is left from a limestone mansion that was partially destroyed by a tornado in the 1870's.  The new owners have put a second story on it. For many years it just had a flat roof.  It is located on Stewart street in the West 7th neighborhood on the river bluff. It is nice to see it being restored.  We have a few of these limestone homes around. This one must have a wonderful view of the river valley.

Greek Revival style architecture, found in the older neighborhoods of St. Paul. Built in the 1840's and 1850's.  On the inside the style is very simple.  Next time I'll take a photo of the entire house.

One of the houses on officers row at historic Fort Snelling. I tried to find some information about what if anything is being done to preserve the fort.  There is a preservation project but the scope of the project is not well outlined.  When I was out there a week ago I could see semi demolished buildings and a lot of equipment parked next to them, the kind of equipment use for demolition and removal.  The area is fenced off and there are some pretty serious signs out there, after all it is still military land.  The building in the picture is in much better shape than many  of the buildings. It was built in the 1850's and is make of brick, and is in the Italianate style which is fairly rare in the twin cities.

The fort was completed in 1825 and is considered the birth place of Minnesota. Localed on the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi River. It was an outpost in the wilderness and is on one of the most beautiful pieces of land in the state.

Some of it has been preserved and restored, and turned into a living history program. When it is opened part of the fort can be toured and it has been restored to look much like it did in the 1820's. The rest of the Fort looks like it is being demolished by mother nature and heavy equipment.  Many building have already been demolished.