Some of my data...

 Depressed 

Bleak

Kind of strange

Hopeful

scary

 changing

 Drastically, The City doesn't seem to have the same values it did when I was growing up.

 I was helped by a total stranger to find my way...the beauty of the water,

Raw Arts ...an amazing oasis for youth.

 Visiting the marsh and checking out the wildlife ecosystem and walking along the 

breakwater when the waves were crashing up and getting splashed...

 No best aspect just a crime ridden city that is unsafe for the people to walk the streets 

no matter what time of day or night.

 When i visited RAW in downtown Lynn, I couldn't help thinking that it might have been pretty nice and

 lively at one point. I hope it can be again. It has a ton of potential.

 An old city with some great treasures.

 Ocean Views, Gritty City

Lynn Coding

My coding process has given me so many rich directions... and repeatedly i am finding the codes to have an alternate opposite or contrasting code along with it.

Mourning the loss of the old city/ potential for future growth
natural beauty/ decay, abandonment, desolation
affluence / poverty
pride / disgust

other stand alone themes are diversity, youth, crime, frustration.

It seems that with all the opposites happening: this is not a dichotomy. This is a both/and situation: Lynn has both beautiful mansions and foreclosed triple deckers; both wooded forests and industry; both a sense of pride and shame for what has happened to a once thriving city. It's all there, and it's all part of the story.

I came into this project without knowing just how passionate the 'believers' are about the wonderful things the city of Lynn has to offer, and how upset it makes them not only to hear what others say, but to know that most of it is true. I think many people, including myself, had a pretty bad idea about the city, mainly that it is unsafe and depressed, but it's also got a lot going on. There's an interesting art scene going on, and I get the sense that there's much brewing in the way of social progress.

I'm very inspired by all the hope and potential evident in my small amount of research that Lynn might someday soon turn itself around. I find that instead of serving to expose my biases alone, this project has converted me into one of the believers.

Status update, 12/9

So I am deep in the process of coding at the moment. I was chatting to Dahlia today as I coded the results from my survey and she asked me if I could tell whose answers were whose. Truth is, Yes! I absolutely can. But I mixed them up before coding as much as possible to hopefully mix it up a little. I want to avoid having my impressions of the responders cloud my coding process. I know many of them well, or I know what they do, (i.e. a Lynn cop, his responses are pretty obvious!) and I wonder how that may effect my work. For example, I know that the cop's responses tend to be the most optimistic as he wants to protect and serve his community, so do I instinctively put his responses in my section of 'optimistic' themes and codes? or would they normally go somewhere else? I need to reflect solely on the words and the meaning behind them. Or perhaps knowing who they are is indeed important to know?

Another concern I am having is that i have certain opinions or impressions of words or phrases. Here's a good example: diverse. I automatically assumed that diverse is a GOOD thing, a positive. However, it is really just a description. I myself think of diversity as a positive, but maybe my responder does not. I then decided to set this word aside and make a new theme, that of diversity on its own, and not associate it with good or bad.

My survey data is quite interesting. There is a lot of conflicting opinions about Lynn, including within each responder. The opinions are very strong in both directions.

So on I go with the coding. I am finally feeling this come together. I still feel quite behind: I feel as if I was not sure what this project was really to look like until recently. It took a long time to get there, and I am not sure why it was so hard to get my head around it. Perhaps it was my high level of stress this semester thanks to work.

Lynn, Lynn...

In the midst of data collection!

I've got 9 responses so far on my Survey Monkey survey. (you can take it, too!)
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VSNLGDH

I am going to start coding from these responses today and writing poems from my coding.

I have also collected articles and books about Lynn and it's history which i will code from as well.

For my presentation, i plan on creating a photo/ poetry book. I like the idea of presenting my poems and collected images on one page, and then have another page for people to write in or draw their reflections. I stole this idea from my friend's wedding album! Cheesy, but we will see how it works!