Oil & Water: Artists and Commercial Real Estate. It just doesn’t mix. Or does it? For as long as I can remember, artists and the art world have been shunned by commercial property owners and commercial brokers alike. It would be easy to say it’s been a bad mix, but the truth is: It’s barely been a mix at all. But things can and do change and some commercial property owners have turned the artists into proverbial gold. Others are looking to mirror that success. Case in point, 86 Joy St. in Somerville, AKA Joy St. Studios. Just prior to the onset of the recession, Property Manager Louise …

WED. 1/12: Schools are closed. The Tufts campus is closed. Even the City is mostly closed. But all over the city many eyes will be wide open watching the white stuff fall. So point your camera out the window and send us your photos of the Blizzard of 2011 as seen from your place. We’ll keep a running online gallery of your shots. Upload them to the story yourself (just click the “add” link under the photos) or e-mail your photos to deniset@patch.com.

Exactly 1,111 runners turned out for the annual Somerville Homeless Coalition benefit 5K Race on Sunday. Check out our photo gallery to see a few of them and their supporters. According to initial figures, the race netted $35,000 for the Somerville nonprofit, which provides social services to the Somerville area's homeless, near-homeless and working poor. Robert Espinosa took first place with a time of 15:59 minutes. The fastest woman was Rachel Shanley, who ran the race in 18:13 minutes. The Steve Burton Award, to the person who raised the most money for the Coalition, was awarded to Robert …

It was a mostly cloudy day, but the mood was sunny at the Davis Square Oktoberfest on Sunday. Check out our photo gallery.