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KPBS Evening Edition

A Place To Express Yourself About Life And Death In Hillcrest

Express Yourself With Chalk

It's a bucket list for the community. That's how one man described a chalkboard display outside a bar in Hillcrest, where neighbors and visitors have been filling in the blank to an age old question.

"Well, it's a compilation of everyone's 'before I die, last things I want to do,'" Robert Van Dyken said, as he was passing by. He also had a few thoughts about the writing on the wall. "For example, I will never die, this one is a young person who still feels immortal. You can always tell the age group you're looking at "before I die I want to ride my bike," that's a 10 year old. But Van Dyken was far less inclined to answer the question himself. "I think I need to reflect a little more before I just dig in," he said.

Kevin McConville said he saw the public reaction when it went up on the corner of University and Richmond outside the Alibi Bar. At first, he thought it was kind of crazy. "My gosh just look at the board. It's unbelievable, within like probably a half hour of this board being up, it was half full of just ideas," McConville said. Hundreds of dreams, hopes and jokes have been scribbled, erased and replaced since the board went up about two weeks ago.

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Jerusalem Farmer thought it was a cool concept and made sure her comments wouldn't be forgotten, so she took a picture of it with her cell phone. Farmer is six months pregnant. "I put, make sure my family is happy," she said.

Neighbors don't seem to mind as long as it doesn't get vandalized. A similar wall went up outside a building in North Park on Adams Avenue several months ago, and has seen quite a bit of graffiti.