City Comforts, the blog

Small pleasures are important ones

Frank Gehry:

One story that Mr. Gehry told me and which made him chuckle was that of a friend who is a chiropractor and who asked him to help her lay out her office. "I love doing that kind of stuff," Mr. Gehry said. The friend came over and brought her floor plans and Mr. Gehry spent several hours noodling over them. "I've always had the fantasy of having a little kiosk in the mall where I could do that. Where people would line up and you would charge them 25 bucks and you would look at their plans. I love doing that kind of stuff. They think you are a genius when you move one little wall and get an efficiency and nobody had thought of that before. Small pleasures."(italics added)

Always the contrarian, though he may well be correct

Sao Paulo is banning outdoor advertising.

...I suspect the city is more attractive with the commercial angle. The underlying buildings are mostly ugly, so a fanciful clutter will do better than an attempt at sleek postmodernism.

An antidote to "earth tones"

Real Urban Art:

Thanks Glen.

If wishes were horses...

If the Viaduct wasn’t already in place....

But it is in place.

Look in the mirror

This woman links everything back to the monorail:

I don't see a 14-mile monorail line from Ballard to downtown to West Seattle, do you?

And it's because of people like you, Joni.

Exactly my sentiments

"If only they'd all been honest from the beginning...".

In order to make good public policy decisions, one must consider all the options, all the facts, fairly and without prejudice. It is clear that everyone who has approached the Viaduct thus far has done it with strongly preconceived notions and wishful thinking, and that has prevented an open, honest discussion about a critical decision for our city's future.

Btw, another thing greatly concerns me about Gregoire's confused and feckless "decision" about the Viaduct is totally partisan. Her action provides an enormous opening for the Republicans to offer a systemic (and not unfair) critique of Democratic management. After all, here we are -- a full six years after the Nisqually Quake created a (supposed) emergency. Yet an entirely Democratic Washington State government (local, state and federal) has been unable to come up with a reasonable and affordable solution. The Democratic establishment has stumbled along as if the D in Democrat stands for "Dither." Lawsuits and years of political rancor — among Democrats — loom before us. I suspect that Mr. Rossi, who ran on the Republican ticket in 2004 and barely lost to Mrs. Gregoire has noticed; and if he has any brains he will hammer Gregoire with her undecision decision.

For Chris Gregoire

Dino's Back.

And I wonder how he will handle the enormous political opening which you have provided with your unproductive (I am being kind) announcement on the Viaduct.

There is no virtue in boldly making the wrong decision

(If there were then GW Bush will go down as a great President, which is exceedingly unlikely.)

While the Governors has made a great blunder, it is unwise to say that [t]his is a case where failing to take a stand is worse than making the wrong call..

I don't think so at all. In fact the net result will be what I believe is the correct decision: the Retrofit. But the manner in which we will back into it will be destructive and a big waste of energy. The Governor did the wrong thing for he own career and for the body politic. But it would have been far worse had she "decided" on the Tunnel.

It's not over until exhuastion sets in

And this is Seattle so we can do process for years.

Wait until the City Council decides to put the surface/transit option on the ballot because it is scared (with good reason) that otherwise the Rebuild will win. The Governor will freak and will see how idiotic her decision was.

If only they had all been honest from the beginning they wouldn't be left with only two very bad choices. They with held information about the retrofit and surface options to stack the deck in favor of the tunnel - but now it may backfire.

Neither shrewd nor silencing

Gergoire's action is neither shrewd nor silences the surface/transit enthusiasts.

1. She could for example have said something like "I choose the Rebuild but if the City of Seattle can demonstrate in the next 90 days the firm ability to fund the Tunnel..."

In that way she would have demonstrated some leadership (though at the end of the day the Rebuild will not be a viable solution) and yet she would have given the Mayor/Counci one last, placating chance.

2, She has satisfied no one, certainly not silencing the PWC and guaranteed months of civic strife as the surface/transit folks lobby for putting their option on the ballot. What will she do in the face of an initiative to put the surface/transit option to the vote? She has created a monster for herself. She has made herself look weak and indecisive and a sitting duck for a Republican challenger who will have fun with the 'Democrats can't manage' theme.

•••

Gomez offers a summary of the surface/transit folks: "They have no concrete solutions for how to create their purported transit solutions or how to divert citizens into using those nonexistent solutions."

Partly right

Josh Feit calls for an Up or Down Vote on the Rebuild.

So, Governor Gregoire: Why are we voting on the tunnel at all?

He's correct.

Pitting the tunnel vs. the re-build is a false choice—and a rigged election that will saddle Seattle with an elevated highway through downtown for another 100 years by default.

Seattle should vote on the only currently fleshed out plan, the re-build, in its own right, up or down.

(And doesn’t voting on the tunnel idea vs. re-build idea violate the two-subject rule?)

If the re-build wins on its own merit, as opposed to winning in opposition to an unfunded tunnel plan, then okay.

But he loses it when he gives such credibility to the People's Waterfront Coalition. He says that "And I’m tired of hearing that there isn’t a boulevard/transit option. There is. The People’s Waterfront Coalition has laid one out. They say that 25% of riders will transfer to transit." (italics added)

Uh...excuse me but who the devil is the PWC to make such a prediction as " 25% of riders will transfer to transit. (I assume that "riders" = "drivers.") . The PWC comes down to one or two people, neither of whom has any more expertise in transit planning than do I. So why quote "The PWC" as if it is some sort of big-deal transport consultancy?

If Feit wants to argue that the PWC's proposal should be given a hard but rigorously fair look, I'd agree entirely. But he shouldn't be a sheep being lead to the slaughter, as was his editor Dan Savage with the Iraq war.

Perfect timing for a big announcemenmt if you want to minimze attention

Gregoire calls for voters to decide future of viaduct.

the governor's announcement came as a surprise to several City Council members who said they expected a decision next week.

Crews battle to repair damaged system.

Hundreds of thousands of Puget Sound residents may have to survive without electricity and heat through the weekend.

And without radio/tv/newspaper.

Is it possible that the Governor moved her announcement (it's not a "decision") ahead to take advantage of public attention on staying warm?

They also have a Tunnel to sell you

Gregoire calls for voters to decide future of viaduct.

Gregoire didn't suggest that two other options for the viaduct be put before voters: retrofitting the existing structure or replacing the roadway with a surface boulevard and expanded mass transit. State engineers have said a retrofit wouldn't be cost-effective, and a surface street couldn't handle the traffic carried by the viaduct.

Big loser? (besides commonsense) — Gregoire's political future.

Note bene

Entire dorm hallway putt in Park Hall at the Ohio State University

Giving people a choice is not "social engineering"

Joel Connelly: Seattle's Social Engineer.

Here’s what bugs me about Connelly’s “populist” complaint against social engineering: Like any trite demagogue, he’s got it ass backwards. Joel: Social engineering is when you prohibit something (smoking indoors) or mandate something (busing).

In this instance—not requiring developers to build parking—the city council isn’t mandating or requiring anything.

In fact, they’re doing the opposite: They’re letting the developers decide for themselves. They’re letting developers look to the market to build whatever they want. If developers think they can attract more and charge more for development with parking (which they obviously can), they’re free to do it. If they think they can save money by not building parking, they can do that.

Do you like Iraqi food?

Well, do you?

I hope so because there will soon be (if we are a decent people) very many Iraqis living in the USA and they will need to find work. And serving one's native food is a traditional way to make a living and even move up the economic ladder in America.

(Originally asked November 22, 2004.)

In Recognition of Nonsense

In Praise of Chain Stores.

Stores don’t give places their character. Terrain and weather and culture do. Familiar retailers may take some of the discovery out of travel—to the consternation of journalists looking for obvious local color—but by holding some of the commercial background constant, chains make it easier to discern the real differences that define a place: the way, for instance, that people in Chandler come out to enjoy the summer twilight, when the sky glows purple and the dry air cools.

•••

I don't have the time to explain — I am sure that readers here fully understand — why certain passages are bunk buit from time to time I will recognize them as the nonesense they are.

We shouldn't be afraid of other cultures

Aceh wary over new Sharia police.

It does not take long to find their first target - a couple sitting in a parked car, at the side of the road.

One by one, the team surrounds them. A discussion develops and after a few minutes the couple drive off.

"We reminded them that in Aceh you have Sharia Law now and you're not allowed to do this," the leader of the patrol said, "even though they were actually husband and wife. This is a public place and it stirs up socially jealousy - people don't know they're husband and wife, so they're not allowed to do it."

Where'd they get that idea?

The Seattle P-I Editorial Board says.

The first rap on the retrofit idea is that it offers a 15- to 25-year solution. Replacing it, with either another elevated structure or a tunnel, would offer a 50- to 100-year solution.

I wonder where they got the idea that a Retrofit would only last 15-25 years. I wonder if it is from the same people who just weeks ago were saying that a Retrofit couldn't work at all.

Winter Driving Tips

We've already had snow in Seattle — about three inches — but it was enough to stop everything for 2-3 days. (Which is odd considering how much snow there is just 40 miles away in the Cascades.) Here are some good Winter Driving Tips from Car Talk.

Via the comments at Crescat Sententia.

Someone better fill in this guy on the new program

WSDOT Viaduct project manager Ron Paananen dismissed

a state-funded study by T.Y. Lin International that looks at retrofitting rather than replacing the viaduct. While Lin has developed a retrofit plan that could withstand an earthquake, "it would only have a 25-year life span and would cost 80 percent of the elevated-structure alternative," Paananen said.

Everyone is an engineer/accountant when it comes to the Viaduct

One fellow says.

I’ve pretty much pooh-poohed Viaduct retrofit proposals, mostly because WSDOT engineers had insisted it wasn’t a cost effective option. No doubt we can extend the life of the Viaduct — we’re doing that now — but at some point it just becomes safer, less disruptive and cheaper over the long haul to replace the thing than it is to constantly repair it.

Show me the numbers, friend.

"WSDOT engineers had insisted it wasn’t a cost effective option." Duh. It is astonishing that so many liberals, otherwise appropriately skeptical about what the government says (e.g. about Iraq) are so easily taken-in by officials for whom the Viaduct mega-project is just job security.

When faced with lack of money and embarassing political stalemate and solutions completely impractical...

...When all else fails, do the obvious:

Viaduct retrofit wins backing in state report.

A new report for the state Department of Transportation acknowledges that the existing Alaskan Way Viaduct might be retrofitted to withstand an earthquake...

This news report should be headline news in the Seattle Times today rather than buried in local. But whatever. It's great news.

•••

A friend wrote to ask "So there is hope??" My response:

A major politician like Governor Grgoire is like the air craft carrier which needs an 'ice breaker' to run before it when in far arctic waters.

Gregoire can't come out of nowhere at the end of this month to announce that she is directing WSDOT to conduct an intensive fast-track design effort on exactly how to retrofit the Viaduct. She needs to have laid the ground-work, just like a lawyer does in court...have to show chain of custody and that the expert is indeed an 'expert' and that the particular fact is indeed a fact. Then the lawyer can ask the judge to make the decision once the groundwork is laid.

It's the same in politics. The Governor needs to be able to say "In light of recent new studies, we now have a third option...the Retrofit."

The fact that this new study emerges only at the last minute (when the two favored options are shown to be silly) is a testament to prior bad staff work which boxed in the Governor. So thank god for consultants who have no shame in changing their position when the check writer tells them to.