Eminent Domain

I am not a property owner so recent Supreme Court decision on eminent domain for a private development over a few "hold out homeowners" just passes me by. I don't really care, but it's interesting.

A conservative talk show host was railing against "big government," but this is actually "big corporations" using government as a tool. It's conservative's beloved "market place" in action. Big fish eat little fish. Office park versus gandma who lived there all those years in her little cottage.

Liberals might say this proves the point. Even government now serves corporations. The fox now runs the hen house. Republicans on the Supreme Court, in the White House and Congress.

I say it's not just government or corporations. It's "the people" in disguise. Marketplace behavior. There are small businesses, in that town, wanting to see the office complex built. Economic base, jobs, shoppers, survival. Teacher pay raises. Ruled by the almighty dollar. Some little people against other little people.

But be wary of "bigness."

I remember a line from former President Gerald Ford's 1976 state of the union speech, and he's even a Republican. Speaking about the year that had just past, Ford said:

"At the same time, Americans became increasingly alienated from big institutions." "They were steadily losing confidence, not just in big government but in big business, big labor, and big education, among others." "Ours was a troubled land."

Exchange Citizens

There are exchange students from foreign countries. How about "exchange permanent citizens?" A friend of mine came up with this idea.

Lots of people want to come to America. Many think they can still make a fortune even though this is getting harder. At the same time, there are lots of Americans who wish to get away from the rat race. Chill out in the slower pace of some foreign nation. Many retired folks who would bring their retirement incomes with them. In some cases folks can no longer afford to live in America anyway. Look at real estate prices, health care costs.

How about exchanging places with someone from Costa Rica? An American moves there to slow down while a Costa Rican comes here. How about exchanging places with someone from New Zealand?

My friend is suffering from what some people might call "blue state blues." Not happy with the current direction of American society under George Bush. The so called blue states voted for John Kerry. Some have considered leaving America. Going to Canada, for instance. Problem is, Canada can not absorb all that population increase easily. Immigration to Canada is very limited.

This friend of mine suggested the "exchange citizens" idea.

It is worth thinking about, but would have some bugs. Some countries would be a lot more popular than others. It's an idea worth considering as immigration policy and quotas are negotiated between nations.

Also, I hope most of the blue state people stay here. We need them to keep America from jumping off the deep end.

Run to Bellingham, but you can't hide

It was 1977 and I was just sitting down to brainstorm with my professor about term paper ideas. Hardly anyone was upstairs in the offices for the department of Geography and Urban Planning.

Before we got started, a frantic student appeared at the door. "What can you tell me about the Yukon?" he ask. Before the professor could say much the student went on complaining about Bellingham. He had come here from the east coast thinking he would get away from "perverted society in the east."

It didn't work.

People were just the same, noise, nonsense, "why, there's even a symposium for the gays." "It's full of gays and lezzys." He said it was just like where he came from. "I got to go to the Yukon, get away from it," he said.

The professor could barely get a word in edgewise mumbling something like, "you're about as intolerant as they come," when the student dashed away.

I didn't get a chance to say anything either, but remember volunteering at the Gay People's Alliance student club. That office had just gotten mail from gay organizations in Alaska. I wouldn't be surprised if there was also something in Whitehorse, Yukon Territories.

Wading through wetlands. A partially submerged boardwalk along Cedar Lake. Pine and Cedar Lakes in the Chuckanut Mountains south of Bellingham were a recent destination for the newly forming Gay Men's Hiking Club. More information on these monthly hikes is posted in this newsletter as they are planned.

Snazzy Alternative Transportation

A few of the more colorful buses have been added to our transit fleet. That's snazzy enough for subdued Bellingham.

Down in Seattle, bicyclists go naked and paint their bodies in bright colors. It's part of the annual World Naked Bike Ride Day.

This year was cool and rainy.

Climate subdued the excitement, even in Seattle. I didn't go after seeing the forecast. Still, I read close to 63 participated. A few more than last year.

In 2004 some people tried to organize a similar event in Bellingham, but it was subdued, actually suppressed. There were more police than riders. See 2004

Protesting war and dependency on oil is a big motivation behind naked bike rides held in various cities. I like the images that populate various web pages after such rides. Just do a few searches.

The word "celebration" comes to mind rather than "protest" however.

Going naked doesn't really make sense as a protest of war, oil dependency, or what ever. Main stream America might look at this as the ultimate in silly ness. The connection to serious things such as foreign policy / transportation planning seems vague. Also, wouldn't riding a bike in the nude be uncomfortable? They don't make padding in bike shorts for nothing.

On the other hand, celebration does make sense.

Celebration, including mild eroticism.

To me, celebration makes more sense than protest. Otherwise, why go naked?

Cyclists tend to be erotically appealing. Effects of all that exercise on the body. This appeal can certainly be used as a motivation for getting more people cycling.

"You too can have a lean sexy body."

Think of the billions of dollars spent on weight loss clinics. Much of that ineffective. Diets, programs, therapy, multi step whatever.

Billions.

Save that money and just go bicycling.

Libido is a powerful motivator, more powerful than the tiny "drop in a bucket" that one cyclist might have on reducing global warming.

Reduce one's own waistline. That's results one can see with out the whole world having to change first.

Being in the company of other attractive cyclists can be a motivator. Bike clubs, group rides. Better than hanging out in bars.

What ever it takes.

If more people get cycling, the war, oil dependency, global warming become less. Like the brightly colored transit busses. Most people like a celebration.

In case you are wondering, in alarm, I am not really advocating an orgy.

There have been some nude dance parties, I have gone to, that were guided by the phrase, "sexy party, but not a sex party."

One such party is done as a fund raiser for charity.

Someday it would be fun to go on a group bike ride; most likely a clothed ride. Then have it end at a hot tub.

Or how about ending a ride with "cool down stretching" at a dance?

Dance with spandex clad cyclists.

Painted? Shirtless? Maybe even the "N" word. Unthinkable.

Suspicious Of Urban Villages?

Somewhere behind all the parked cars is Barkley Village in Bellingham, WA. I still like it better than most retail developments because a bike trail goes past there.

Retail developers usually say, "we must provide parking to be viable."

That's America.

See if you can spot the "village" across that vast parking lot. See the "for sale" sign? No, that's not it.

European villages have charm, so they say, but I must admit, I have never been outside USA and Canada.

Now, a lot of urban planners, in America, are talking "villages," but some folks are wary. This skepticism has appeared in a few reader comments to some of my blog entries. Especially a recent entry related to Chuckanut Ridge, development proposed on Bellingham's south side.

Good points for dialog.

Maybe, most American developers can't be trusted to build true villages.

I once saw an article, in a Seattle paper, that discussed Barkley Village and a few other developments in the Puget Sound area. They were seen as examples of "new urbanism."

A great innovation, or is it just placing brick facade on the supermarket to make things look "quality?" Basically just the same old story? A glorified strip mall?

One difference between Barkley and the proposed development at Chuckanut Ridge is Barkley's retail focus. Chuckanut proposes "mixed use" with residential as the primary focus; from what I can gather.

That may, or may not, make much difference, but retailing does tend to "bring on the parking lots."

With automobiles, population growth and the profit motive so engrained in American society, maybe we can't create villages in a positive way. We might be stuck with "lesser evil" compromises.

Some would say that Bellis Fair Shopping Center is an urban village. It's pedestrian friendly inside the mall. One can walk from one end to the other with out having to cross streets or be in the rain.

On the other hand, try walking TO Bellis Fair. Pedestrian connection to everything else is treacherous.

Also, people would say that any village owned by one private entity is not a village. Try passing out leaflets in the village, or doing anything besides "shop till you drop." Private owners tend to "control" public life on their properties.

Many so called urban villages are owned by single proprietors. That means the "village space" doesn't really exist for public use. Therefore, the question of how we connect these developments is very important. How are these developments connected to one another?

Barkley Village does, at least, have the bike / pedestrian trail going past. Maybe that's not much, but it's something.

Connectivity between various developments. That is an important question.

The "village square" is usually a pedestrian place that is publicly owned.

Organizations who wish to slow growth in Bellingham ought to frame the front page

of June tenth Bellingham Herald and hang it up in the office.

Two unrelated headlines:

"17 Years For Park Murder." "Bandido Sweep Nets Dozens."

Less people want to move to a crime ridden city.

Lot of folks don't realize how many problems have been in this area.

I am not really an anti growth whiner. When I moved here (yes I moved here too) I didn't come to escape a big city. The town I came from was smaller than Bellingham.

Back in the mid 1970s, I came to Bellingham from Pullman, WA. for that "go away to college experience."

My sister was living in Bellingham at the time and I remember sitting in her apartment with a view out over Bellingham Bay. One could see rough looking factories around the bay. Something Pullman didn't have since that town was much smaller, basically no factories.

I said I was worried that there would be crime in Bellingham and my sister said, "there is crime most places unless you live in Pullman all your life."

Of course, Pullman had crime also, but it was familiar turf.

It is amazing what can happen in any city with out one being aware of things. Bellingham has had the Washington, D.C. Sniper, the Hillside Strangler and Ted Bundy all reside in our city at one time or another.

Someone suggested a bar should name sandwiches after all the serial killers that have frequented there. The Ted Bundy Deluxe.

And now, not far from where I live, the Bandido's with a few of the kingpins operating from here.

I wasn't aware.

Then, I have bicycled through Los Angeles and did not see crime. Along the bike paths, things were nice. The crime was elsewhere.

An inclusive church

Of the photos from my recent Seattle trip, this is likely my favorite. A rainbow banner proudly displayed on All Pilgrims Christian Church. It says, "You Are Welcome Here." "Come as you are." A good thing to see in a district of the city with so many different kinds of people. Gay, non gay, rich, poor, young, old, not to mention so many different races, nationalities, interests.

Looking on the web, I saw that this church was listed among the open and affirming congregations in Washington State for gay and lesbian people.

Some affirming churches in Washington

Also found the church's web site with a nice description
All Pilgrims

Dancing shoes embedded into the sidewalks

Along Broadway in Seattle. This one called Exotic Weave.

Last weekend, I took Greyhound Bus to Seattle for a visit and to attend an exotic dance that wouldn't likely be happening here in Bellingham. A smoke free, alcohol free, clothing free, fund raiser called Romp Naked. More about that event, from another visit last Autumn.

A fun trip to the big city.

What's wrong with Broadway in Seattle?

One of a few empty storefronts.

Retailing in decline? The topic of a talk show on the radio just before I traveled to Seattle for a dance, I go to, several times per year.

But much of the street was still lively, compared to what I am used to, living in a smaller city.

Like here in Bellingham, people are discussing density, but in a slightly different way.

Seattle's mayor has a proposal to increase density along Broadway to six stories. Four is the current limit.

Would that help beef up the sagging retail sector? Bring more residents, and their dollars, to the street?

Some of the retailing is in decline. More "down and outers" along the street.

Of course some people might think I am a down and outer. My clothing isn't exactly "upscale."

Not that I am an expert on Broadway, I don't even live in that city, however I do have opinions about most any "urban planning" topic.

When I walked down that street, one time clear back in 1988, I remember thinking there was a disconnect even back then.

$5 "boutique" ice cream cones. Homeless folks pushing their market baskets down the street. What's wrong with this picture?

The people can't afford what's for sale. Or at least "those people" can't afford it.

"Those people" get more numerous when the billionaires start chasing out the millionaires.

Now, back to 2005, callers to the talk show kept saying rents are too high.

Maybe there is a disconnect in a neighborhood that values artists, experimentation, creativity and at the same time money.

A few years back, some callers said, there were a few corporate outlets along the street. Stores with names like "The Gap."

Now there's the "gaps," where some big names once stood. Big places went downtown leaving emptiness in their wakes.

After the millionaires got chased out, are billionaires leaving also?

Are the homeless coming back? Or the homeless never left.

Then a caller suggested some of the retail spaces were too large. Spaces might work better if broken up into smaller, cheaper spots. Spots for startup businesses?

"Entry level."

More bottom and mid level rungs on the ladder of life?

Increased density could help, but it might not be the main issue. That's just why they were talking about this street on the radio; due to the mayor's proposal.

It seemed like other issues, like the mix of retailing, were on people's minds.

Not that density is a bad idea. It's just two more floors. Maybe it wouldn't be a magic answer either. People say most of the buildings along that street hardly go up to two stories now.

A deeper question is:

"Can we all be rich, artistic and socially conscious at the same time? "Have we gotten used to expecting too much of ourselves, our planners, the economy, the environment?"

These questions haunt other places as well.

Deaths by car

In USA, it's car accidents.

In Iraq, it's car bombs.