No these new green areas on Seaward won’t grow if you water them they are new cycling lanes. These are just some of the lanes that you are seeing in Ventura. The City started “installing” them in other parts of Ventura in April. The Breeze cautions bike riders that you must still stay very alert when driving in these lanes because they don’t protect you from getting hit by a vehicle that might drive into a green lane.

Consortium Media + Public Relations (CM+PR), a brand development agency in Ventura, has added two professionals to its team. CM+PR combines advertising, public relations, creative, web, social media and promotions in its services to a wide range of local, statewide, national and international clients.

Katherine Carlton joins the agency as its new multi-media specialist. Carlton works with social media and press to project management and media coordination for different clients. She has worked on national campaigns, cultivating positive brand awareness and charitable outreach partnerships for clients.

Carlton graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing communications from California Lutheran University. She also studied at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

Sarah MacMillan has been hired as CM+PR’s new digital marketing & PR associate. As a recent graduate of California Lutheran University, MacMillan studied business management and marketing communications with an emphasis in advertising. She also spent time studying graphic design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. Her strong background in search engine marketing and optimization, as well as Google AdWords and Google Analytics will enhance the firm’s skills to CM+PR to further pave the road between PR, SEM and effective brand marketing.

CM+PR is at 4572 Telephone Road. Learn more at www.consortium-media.com, or call at 654-1564.

by Patricia Fasen, Realtor

Housing readies for first-time buyer shift

Get ready to see more first-time home buyers in real estate. In the first quarter of 2017, the number of new-owner households was double the number of new-renter households.

About 854,000 new-owner households were formed during the first three months of this year, more than double the 365,000 new-renter households in that period, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. What’s more, it’s the first time in a decade that new buyers outpaced new renters.

First-time buyers are “crawling out of their parents’ basements, they’re forming households and they’re looking to buy,” Doug Bauer, chief executive of the Tri Pointe Group Inc., a home builder, told The Wall Street Journal.

Home builders say they’re ready to respond with a shift away from luxury homes and toward more entry-level homes at lower price points that tend to appeal to this growing group of millennial buyers.

Thirty-one percent of spec homes built in the first quarter of this year by major builders were smaller than 2,250 square feet, according to Zelman & Associates, a housing research firm. That is an increase from 27 percent a year ago.

“There’s an increasing confidence level in that part of the market,” Gregg Newlson, cofounder of Trumark Cos, a California home builder, told The Wall Street Journal. “The recovery is finally starting to take hold in a broader way.”

First-time buyers accounted for 42 percent of buyers this year, up from 31 percent at the lowest point in 2011, according to Fannie Mae.

Many people are buying their first homes later in life, which means they tend to have higher incomes, builders note. They also may have greater expectations for what they want to have in a home after renting luxury downtown rentals.

When people are finally getting to the stage where they want to be homeowners, they don’t want a fixer-upper anymore, they want to have a home that suits them and can be what they envision. Contractors such as pepper constructions take on a multitude of clients and create plans for those who want a difference in what they are getting. Research your area for home building contractors and discuss with them what you want, no matter where you are in the world.

by Jill Forman, member of the Board of the Ventura Friends of the Library

The County Board of Supervisors gave the Friends of the Library a round of applause recently. The Friends had just pledged to give over $200,000 to help establish a new branch library.

Why the applause? As Nancy Schram, Deputy Library Director, said in her address to the Board, “The Friends is a grass-roots organization…made much of this money holding book sales…selling books for as little as 25 cents.” That is a lot of book sales, a lot of books, and a lot of hard work.

As Supervisor Steve Bennet pointed out, this is a perfect example of the government and the community working together for a common goal. The remainder of the funding for the branch is coming from governmental agencies and a trust.

The new branch will be on Hill Road, across the from the government center. It is on a bus line, in a heavily-trafficked area of the city. East Ventura has not had a library branch since the closing of Wright Library in 2009.

The Friends take in donated books in decent condition, sort and price them, and have periodic book sales. The sales involve boxing up the books, loading the boxes onto trucks, and taking them to the sale site. They also bring tables, chairs, signs, bookends…and themselves. At the most recent sale, many volunteers worked 10 hours including setup, sales, and takedown. Most of the regular volunteers are in their 70’s and up, and it’s a long day.

All the money from sales, memberships and donations, goes to support Ventura’s libraries. They fund the Summer Reading Program, and year-round reading programs for children and youth. They purchase supplies and materials for activities. They have been fighting for an East side site: attending government meetings, writing letters, serving on commissions, speaking with officials. This new branch is a dream come true for the organization.

The new branch will combine the best of traditional libraries with innovative technology and mobile furnishings. There will be adult literacy training, early childhood literacy classes, and a collection of print materials. The staff is excited to have this opportunity to build a branch to “…enable residents to explore, discover, and connect with the world,” in the words of a Library Services flyer.

Kathy Thomson, President of the Friends, asks all Venturans to join the Ventura Friends of the Library to support this vital service.

Norbert Tan has accepted a new position at Antioch University. He will serve as their new Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement. Norbert will be based at the Santa Barbara campus and also oversee fundraising for Antioch’s Seattle and Los Angeles campuses.

Norbert’s last day as Executive Director of the Ventura College Foundation will be July 7th. He has served for over ten years of providing service to Ventura College and its Foundation.

Norbert successfully built a strong team and helped steward and grow critical programs that support VC students including the Promise, Textbook Lending, the Weekend Marketplace, and Scholarship programs. Most importantly, under his leadership, Norbert developed many community relationships and helped raise significant funds to help thousands of students succeed in college over the past decade.

Greg R. Gillespie, Ph.D., President Ventura College stated “Congratulations Norbert and we wish you success in your future endeavors! “

Keeping its commitment to public safety, the Ventura Port District will once again fund lifeguard services from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day at Ventura Harbor beaches off Spinnaker Drive. Ventura Port District commissioners have decided to contract again with California State Parks for lifeguards to cover Harbor Cove and Surfer’s Knoll beaches.

Harbor Cove will have a daily lifeguard from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and the South Beach/Surfer’s Knoll area will have a lifeguard from 11 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. daily. Visit www.venturaharbor.com for updates or time changes throughout the summer. Lifeguard coverage is subject to change due to crowd and environmental conditions.

Parking is free at both beach parking lots and free street parking is also available on Spinnaker Drive.

“I’m glad the board has allocated money to make our harbor beaches safer by having state lifeguards present from Surfs Knoll to Harbor Cove beaches through the summer season. Public safety is a priority to the Port District,” said Port District General Manager Oscar Peña.

Ventura Harbor beaches are a unique summertime destination for walking, basking in the sun, playing beach volleyball and wading at Harbor Cove Beach.

Visit Venturaharbor.com for more information on Ventura Harbor beaches as well as seaside amenities.

Ventura County Bird Club presents, with the Havasi Wilderness Foundation “Birds and Wildlife Around the World.”

Join in this exciting adventure as they explore plants, birds, mammals, and environmental “breaking news” from 11 countries and visits to 10 World Heritage sites.

Thursday, June 29 at 7pm at the  Ventura Moose Lodge 1394 at 10269 Telephone Rd. visit www.venturacountybirdclub.org and www.havasiwf.org for more information.