I found Kunstler to be interesting, especially when speaking about architecture. The second part of his presentation was better than the first part. I really wish he had spoken more in specifics about Tacoma since he had spent the day in the city. At times he came off more like a grumpy old man with a, says Tacomamama, "very us-against-them" mentality. He appears very confrontational and not someone very approachable or adaptable to change.
Mr. Kunstler started off his speaking engagement this evening by addressing the energy crisis, or what he calls "The Long Emergency". Focusing on the depletion and hoarding of oil in various world sites, he notes that a day of reckoning is coming where we will no longer have the resources available to fuel the systems we currently have in place (tonight he specifically focused on our transportation systems, especially cars and planes).
When confronted with the argument that technology may provide us with alternate energy sources (or "save" us), Kunstler is very adamant that TECHNOLOGY DOES NOT EQUAL ENERGY. One cannot fill a gas tank with technology; which is a completely illogical argument, but who is going to jump up and argue with the man while he's on stage? At this point he told an anecdote about speaking at Google's headquarters. Harping on their "kindergarten like" atmosphere and making fun of their executives stating that they dressed like "skate rats", he laughed off the fact that these "children" told him, "but we have technology!" I would have liked to ask him if would conceed the fact that technology can lead to innovations that may provide alternate energy sources that we have not discovered yet...
I believe at this point Kunstler began the second half of his presentation, focusing on where and how we live. He had several points:
- The age of suburbia is over. Going forward we will have only urban and rural. Cities will be more compact and rural areas will begin to be used for agriculture again out of necessity.
- We must get out of our cars and choose public transportation. Trains are the most logical choice (but we are not ready for anything more plain old regular rail transport - nothing fancy).
- Architecture should be purposeful, functional, and interesting. Use historical buildings as a guide and you won't need to hide ugly buildings in strip malls, in spaces that have been "greened up" and the like.
- Parks should be away from freeways, busy intersections, etc. People want to get AWAY from these things when they are in parks.
- In order to get people to use outdoor spaces, the space must be clearly defined. Building create walls, businesses create services (edges) and a reason for being.
Many of these are so obvious, you wouldn't think these would be wild and outrageous suggestions, but they are! Looking at his slides of the hideous schools (prison-like), public space (perpetually empty Boston amphetheater bearing a striking resemblance to Tollefson Plaza), and blank walls (I believe it was Boston City Hall with a block's length of blank wall) you start to despair of good design.
I know there has been discussion locally regarding the Proctor Safeway redesign. Currently Tacoma requires that any buildings along Proctor have windows along the street, however Safeway has requested a variance allowing them to have a solid wall along the West side of the building, among other things. I'm not sure what the progress of their request is at this point in time.
There were examples of beautiful and intricate architecture this evening as well. In addition to historical examples Kunstler had shots of windows and rooflines from his hometown, and he talked quite a bit about The Congress for the New Urbanism. The CNU appears to be working to create a new type of infrastrustructure that encompases neighborhoods, wildlife habitat, and farmland. You can check out their work on their website.
I'm sure there are plenty of things I'm forgetting from tonight, but these are the things that stuck this evening.
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Thanks for the recap, ensie. Though national and global policy matters scare tactics aren't the right way to reach people. Seems also that change has to start at home. Transportation is one way to help get there but building community should be a huge factor. For the money (free) Jim Diers was inspiring at the ground level regarding what individuals can do to make better and more sustainable communities. List to audio of him here and here to see what I mean.
Here's something I posted the other day(http://i.feedtacoma.com/Erik/get-your-tickets-james-kunstler/) to help cut through the hype a bit:
Shaking things up to shift perspective and add new ideas to the mix here is already in full swing. Just look around at events like Coffee and Rhetoric and Paul Spark's inspiring Local Life forums of late. Community garden efforts, grassroots pushes for a city-wide streetcar system and even now some folks talking of bringing baseball and the Rainiers into downtown. Hell, even the little things like taking back Frost Park which has morphed into lunch and impromptu art competitions. Not to mention the incredible energy and community that's grown out of blogs and sites like FeedTacoma.
Change is what you're willing to do and how you're willing to put yourself out there. Tacoma is still a small enough burg that simply by doing, change will happen and can easily grow. It always great to hear perspective from "outsiders" like Jim Deers and Kunstler but any of us can pioneer an idea to make great things happen.
And the best part is the appreciation. Whenever a new action for positive change occurs many, especially those in city government are thankful. Leaders throughout town can't do everything for us with their collective limited time and resources but are willing to help guide and provide what they can when available to help spread the load a bit.
I'm happy to see any energy to help push Tacoma forward but let's remember that, no matter who's holding the mic, we don't just listen/absorb but act. Change can start small. Landscape a roundabout. Play some music with your friends in a park. Keep your head up while walking and smile at perfect strangers. Shop local for your next gift. Try a new local restaurant. Together, small deeds will add up into great feats.
Posted by: KevinFreitas at April 24, 2008 05:35 AM (plECk)
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Kevin, I agree that the things you mention can help make a community more livable. But I think you're missing the kind of change that Kunstler is talking about. He is almost exclusively focused on the design of a community--streetscapes, squares, storefronts, parks. How they look and how they work. I think he would say that "building community" in the way you describe would be unnecessary in a well-designed city because everyone would just naturally do it anyway. Our public spaces would call out to us as hubs of the community. The Frost Park event is a perfect example--if Frost Park were actually a good park, away from a major road with something other than an ugly garage at one end, no one would need to "take it back" because we would all be using it regularly anyway.
I think you and Kunstler are talking about very different things.
Posted by: Erik Hanberg at April 24, 2008 09:22 AM (VD+VS)
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Except that the reality of life and the resources our cities have to deal with is that, largely, we're stuck with what we've got. Change on a planning and design scale is a lengthy process that we should strive to achieve but not lose site of the fact that poor spaces and design can be overcome with some creative thinking and action. They're parallel tracks and I think that if people buy into creating change with what we've currently got to work with, growing that to a larger scale will come, and is coming, next.
Just having bloggers express themselves online over the last couple years has raised awareness and energy about Tacoma like never before. That excitement is already translation to tangible outcomes. Hearing ideas from someone like Kunstler is just one step in that overall process but starting at the planning level alone won't do it. Without the people's buy-in and investment the best laid intentions may still completely miss the mark.
No matter the speaker du jour conversation is a good thing and I appreciate that they can help spurn that along.
Posted by: KevinFreitas at April 24, 2008 10:33 AM (/fI+2)
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It was very expensive, for me. And I was disappointed at the lack of local content and the recycled nature of pretty much the whole talk. But then again, I have only myself to blame for spending all that money and watching all those Youtube videos, which included just about every slide he showed and accompanying bits.
I am grateful to the experience for reminding me that I could have rearranged my life like that for a free event, with local speakers, learned more from it and not even have had to rely on my friends to buy me dinner afterward. Which I will be doing more of, from now on. (Not mooching dinners, I mean, but attending free events in the evenings.) Other than that: what Kevin said!
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Nice write up Ensie.
BHe is almost exclusively focused on the design of a community--streetscapes, squares, storefronts, parks. How they look and how they work. I think he would say that "building community" in the way you describe would be unnecessary in a well-designed city because everyone would just naturally do it anyway.
Yeah, the design of our buildings and streetscape is a critical component to building any sort of civic space and community life.
Tacoma still unfortunately has a ways to go in learning how to build good areas. Tollefson Plaza is only a few years old. Tacoma has made every mistake Kunstler pointed out dozens and dozens of times in recent history.
I am hopeful that he could play some part in improving the future look and use of the city for humans.
Posted by: Erik B. at April 24, 2008 02:50 PM (BUTHB)
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Ensie, I find your write up highly accurate. I, like Tacomamama, absorbed a lot of Kunstler before the event (including reading one of his books). So, I was disappointed by the high quantity of recycled material. After watching the streaming video of Lars Gemzoe present to the city council, I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't find a way to be there. Gemzoe's presentation was based on years of academic quality study, while Kunstler seemed like he was pulling a lot of opinions out of his behind.
Thank you Kevin, the Eriks, Tacomamama, Ensie, DB,RR, Exit 133, and the rest of the Tacoma blogosphere for stimulating a lot of this conversation. You are inspiring. I do believe that together we can make Tacoma an even better place to live.
Posted by: Heather H. at April 24, 2008 03:38 PM (zy+ZE)
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Kevin, Jen, and Ensie,
i challenge us to take what we heard/learned/re heard from Kuntsler, and start our own conversation and platform (Blog,park, whatever)about the changes WE are willing to make and what it could mean to us locally. Some of the things he speaks of seem rather unreal, and some of them are frighteningly spot on. What can we do here, and what are we already doing? We have had 3 conversations now (Go Local or Die)about measures that others have taken for change. It's time for us to get out the whiteboard (chalk maybe?)and set some goals. Are you in? It's time for action!
Posted by: Daymaker at April 26, 2008 02:40 PM (lOXf6)
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Hi Daymaker,
I'm totally in, and I can vouche for Jen and Kevin that they are in, too. All three of us are involved in our community and will continue to be, but that's not what this particular post was about. It's about the fact that the Kunstler event was a relative disappointment in terms of local content. I tried to give an accurate accounting of what his presentation was like, and I think I did. Almost all of it could be found online for free, and just about none of it was specific to Tacoma, which is what I think most attendees were looking for. What's the point of paying for Mr. Kunstler to come if he is only going to recycle old speeches and offer little local content?
If you want to talk change, for my money,I was much more impressed by Jim Diers (who I believe spoke for free?) who had actual solutions and ideas instead of just complaints to offer. He did a great job of showing of how everyday, grassroots efforts can make small changes that cause big changes in a community. He was incredibly inspiring to listen to. If he was given the type of forum Kunstler had been we might be seeing more of the type of change you are talking about.
Posted by: ensie at April 26, 2008 11:17 PM (0Y/90)
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Ensie,
i have to agree with you on the absense of satisfaction, but for me that's more due to my annoyance of "Pep" rallies and disappointment in most of the public yearning for "solutions" and answers from outside of ourselves. I feel like this is an "inside job", much like self esteem. We have very passionate people here, and we are very capable of doing and being the very change he so abusively spouted. The "Local Living Lounge" is an opportunity for us to congregate on a regular basis to incent change and action. I'd love to share my Thursdays with you zealous nuts that are committed to Tacoma being all that it is. Anything that you feel relevant to the "Localization" conversation is welcome there. We need to take his and Dier's presentations and make them Tacoma specific. Let's start being PROUD of what we are already accomplishing and get some energy behind it to move it further. the Market and "Local Living Lounge" starts May 15th.
Posted by: Daymaker at April 29, 2008 10:31 PM (lOXf6)
Princess Sadie Thumbs
Today I received an e-mail direct from Sadie, our former kitty who it appears now has her own e-mail address (!) at Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital. Princess Sadie Thumbs (as she is known for her attitude and extra toes) is now living at the vet's office while she waits for a new home. They graciously offered to house her there as they do for a certain number of Tacoma Humane Society kitties that are up for adoption.
Dear Ensie, Frinklin & the crew,
Life is good here at Met Vet. My food bowl is right next to my bed -- I don't even have to stand up to eat. My litter box is two steps away, so I use it always. I feel like a princess here.
Sometimes the staff makes me walk around for exercise, but I discovered if I try to eat their plants, they let me go right back to napping in my room.
I could live like this forever!
Love,
Princess Sadie Thumbs
As you can see, Sadie has happily taken over their office.
You can e-mail Sadie at Sadie(at)metvetpets(dot)com, especially if you're interested in adopting her.
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Gilbert 1985 - 2007
This morning while in a hurry to get out the door to meet the usual group for Sunday breakfast I noticed a suspicious lack of noise coming from one corner of the dining room. Normally this spot is home to Gilbert, my fussy grey cockatiel I've owned since I was nine (if you're doing the math that's 22 years). His large cage appeared to be empty, until I saw his small, motionless body lying on his side on the floor. I sucked in my breath quickly, alerting Frinklin that something was wrong, and rushed to open the cage.
I bought Gilbert from the now-defunct Ramona Bird Farm with the earnings I made my first year of 4-H. I was going through an Anne of Green Gables phase at the time and named him after Gilbert Blythe. He kept a series of parakeets company over the years. Gil never backed down from cats and was fascinated by dogs and loved to ride around on Matchbox's back. Although he never learned to talk he could wolf-whistle like nobody's business.
Frinklin and I have joked for a long time that Gilbert would never die. Guessing life spans for cockatiels is just that - a guessing game. Could be 5 years, could be 20 years. A bird vet once told me that feeding him birdseed was like feeding him cheeseburgers and fries and that I should be giving him pellets. We switched him to pellets and he responded by throwing the pellets at me every time I walked by. He was back to burgers and fries after a couple of weeks. I figured making him happy was more important than making him healthy at his age (18 at the time).
Gilbert's been around so long I can't remember a time that I didn't have him. It's literally been 2/3 of my life. In the next few days I'll need to clean out his cage (once I finally recover from the virus that has sapped my will to live) and decide what to do with it.
Bird people are unique people. Over the last few years I've gone from owning several birds to now owning none. I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a regular person.
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Sorry to hear about the loss of Gilbert. I'm not a bird person but I am a pet person
Posted by: Eden at April 21, 2008 07:02 AM (BDCWt)
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I'm glad I got the chance to get to know him a little. I'll be sure to pass on any pics I snapped in recent months. He made me happy 'cause I grew up with a cockatiel named Zane. RIP Gilbert!
Posted by: KevinFreitas at April 21, 2008 12:18 PM (/fI+2)
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Even though I've only known Gilbert for a fraction of his life, I'll definitely miss the guy. I'm glad he had such great bird parents during his two decades, and then some, lifetime.
Posted by: Cassioposa at April 21, 2008 12:28 PM (/fI+2)
Hub's Head Chef, Bar Manager Quit
Tonight I had my first bad experience at The Hub. Which is really unfortunate, considering the fact that I've had really great experiences there previously. I wouldn't normally write about one bad time at a restaurant, except that not only was the food not good, but the service was bad too.
First - let me say that I was there the week The Hub opened in a group of 8 people and our waiter was fantastic and the food was delicious. Then was back last week and the waiter was almost oppressive he was so attentive. Kevin declared his steak "possibly the best in Tacoma" which is saying a lot considering what qualitysteaks there are to be had. I had pizzas both time and both were good.
So tonight I sat in the bar side of The Hub for the first time with Frinklin, Cassioposa, and Angela. Cassioposa got there first and ordered a glass of wine, only to be told five minutes after ordering that her chosen red was not available. After choosing another the waitress returned again and told her, again, that they were out. Cassie finally asked, "What is available?" and was told, "Oh, pretty much everything..." Not helpful. Fortunately her third choice actually was in stock.
Once we were all seated and ordered drinks it took a good 15 minutes to flag down our server. Granted, the restaurant was busy, but not frantic. We placed an order of fries as an appetizer and proceeded to order our entrees. A ceasar sald for Cassie, a pizza for Frinklin, chicken picatta for Angela, and the flat-iron steak for myself, asking that the fries be substituted with mashed potatoes. I sensed trouble as our waitress didn't bother to ask how I preferred my steak.
Our fries never came. When our food showed and I asked I was told it was a side order. I love it when servers tell you what you ordered. It's not that there can't be a misunderstanding - it's just that I know what I wanted, so I'm not the one that's wrong. The order for fries finally went in at that point.
My steak came, as did Angela's chicken picatta - with fries. When I stated that I wanted mashed potatoes my steak was sent back, only to be returned shortly with word from the kitchen that the restaurant was out of regular potatoes. It was just that no one had informed the wait staff. There was no opportunity for them to warn any patrons that their meal may need substitutions or the like.
At this point we were all starving. I ate my steak (tasty, but cooked more than I would like) with sweet potato frites and three of the saddest asperagus you have ever seen. As Angela said, "I would have been embarrased to plate those!" She half-heartedly picked through her over-peppered, tomato covered, so-so chicken picatta. Frinklin's pizza and Cassie's salad were pretty good, although Frinklin noted his pizza was a good couple inches smaller in diameter than it had been in the past. Our french fry appetizer (made from yams, lest you believe they had received a shipment of regular potatoes) showed up half way through our meal.
When our checks arrived our sever was kind enough to discount my steak and remove the cost of the appetizer completely. It was explained to us that the Head Chef walked out earlier today and that the Bar Manager had also quit. That could definitely explain the irregularity in our meals. While we sat and discussed this development and our meal our drinks were collected and table began to be bussed as though we were not sitting and chatting. There was no reason to throw us out, as there were plenty of empty tables, but we took this as our cue to leave.
I don't know exactly how much the Head Chef and/or the Bar Manager have an effect on the Serving Staff at a restaurant, but it seemed as though our waitress had no idea what was going on this evening. I don't think I'll be sitting in the bar section again. I hope it was just a fluke and that The Hub find a new Head Chef and Bar Manager soon.
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I am so sorry to read about your crappy experience. My friend Pat is one of the owners. He's a good guy and business owner. I bet he gets it fixed fast.
Jamie
Posted by: Jamie Chase at April 17, 2008 10:47 PM (w/u1k)
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Wow, sorry I couldn't be there last night. Guess maybe I'm not. Seemed like they were running a really tight ship before so hopefully this is just a minor hiccup. Thanks for sharing tho.
Posted by: K to the F at April 18, 2008 06:05 AM (ROdeo)
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We ate a late night sandwich at the Hub on Tuesday and the food and service were fabulous. Our bartender/server was Ahmad; I sure hope he isn't the bar manager that quit - he is great.
Posted by: Heather at April 18, 2008 12:18 PM (Ctru0)
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Wow, that's amazing. We were there last night, and the food was great. We did have to do a reorder on the wine though -- first choice was apparently sold out. Service was a bit off, but we just put that down to training issues. Hope everything works out -- it's our new favorite place to go.
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I'm chalking this experience up to a fluke and I'll definitely be back to The Hub. I really enjoy the food, and, as I said, I've had a couple of great experiences there. We were actually told that the Head Chef "walked out" and thought it was very odd that both he and the Bar Manager left on the same day.
Posted by: ensie at April 18, 2008 10:57 PM (Zklr0)
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There were a few oddities in our trip there, but it was the first day so I put it down to first day kinks. We also got kind of a short pizza.
Posted by: jenyum at April 19, 2008 06:10 AM (LMqvC)
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hah! We were there last night (6-ish, 6:30) and it was bad, bad, bad, for us, too. Although I'd been there several times and had good experiences, like you, last night was just *weirdly* bad.
The hostess tried to seat five of us at a teeny table set for two with four chairs (and told us we could just pull up a chair from the table set for five right next to it) , then our server was kind of bitchy, the pizza cornmeal was so burnt it was nearly inedible, the pizza itself was sort of lopsided and sloppy, and the busser was so overly efficient he just about took two plates we had that *had* food... We had an antipasto starter and it was pathetic, it came with 4 "crostini" (brick-hard bread, in actuality) and when we asked for more, the server kind of shot us a look and said, "it only comes with four pieces of bread." ...and when I asked her if S & I could get plate for the pizza she kind of looked at me like it was a weird request. Ayeeee.
That said, the space was crackin' busy, and good to see in that state since St Helens had been so empty the few times we'd gone. It was nice to hear the din of conversastion and see familiar faces (though I missed seeing you guys-- what time were you there?) -- and I was kinda chuckling about how Pat seemed to find the winning combo; a lunch space with wifi and tables big enough for meetings, and a dinner space central enough for people to meet after work.
Hopefully the kinks get worked out...
Posted by: jcbetty at April 19, 2008 08:17 AM (lvOTL)
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I also had a bad experience, a snotty waiter, being told there was no soup because they ran out the night before (?), was told the seasonal vegetables and the greens were the same thing -- asparagus (is asparagus a green?), told they were out of several wines and an entree at 1:30 in the afternoon. Was not impressed.
Posted by: lisa at April 21, 2008 11:01 AM (T4bRj)
Job Search, Updated
There's been a lot going on and I've steadfastly refused to blog about it. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's the fact that it has to do with money and the lack thereof. Or the fact that some of it's job related, or again, the lack thereof. I can tell you that I've felt overwhelmed and exhausted when it comes to dealing with life and have spent far too much time curled up in bed as of late. Then again - at least I'm not out spending any money.
Frinklin's job search is on it's eighth or ninth week now. He's sent out a couple of hundred resumes and has had something like four interviews, which s a little disheartening. It's not that his job skills are lacking or resume is poor, it's that for one reason or another he hasn't been a perfect fit for the jobs available (Interviewer: "I see you live in Tacoma, how do you plan to get to Seattle each day?" Frinklin: "Actually I worked in Seattle for two years previously and loved taking the commuter train. I also own a car, so commuting is no problem." Interviewer: "Interesting. We're still concerned about your ability to get to work each day." Frinklin: "??") or there have been a gazillion candidates. The Seattle/Tacoma job market is extremely tough at the moment. See Richard Florida's new book for confirmation.
On the upside, Frinklin picked up some freelance work this week (thank you company who smiled on us!) and the State of Washington concluded their investigation into his unemployment claim last week, so a check finally arrived. Yay!
I can say, it you've ever been in this position, it's all about having funds available to shift around. I'm having to move money from my 401K to other places, and was using a credit card to cover something for a time...until one of my credit card companies decided that they would be halving my available credit without any notice. Gee! Thanks! I completely understand that there is huge credit issue occurring currently, but freaking out and cutting off one of my liquid sources of monies - not cool.
In other news I went on a week-long Conference to the Homeland of Bob's Hogs and Weiner Pigs. It was great fun to hang out with all the fellow Bob's Hoggers. We had "pajama parties" each night hosted by my roomie and myself where we "networked" for a couple of hours with drinks. It was the best part of the entire week. Beet was in fine form. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that we spent an hour "learning" how to color code an Excel spreadsheet. Actually, I spent that hour chatting online with Cassioposa and Kevin while Beet droned on about color coding Excel cells.
The trip home from the coference was an adventure. I'll leave that to my next post, hopefully tomorrow, from my new laptop (hint, hint).
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Climate Change
It is currently only raining on the Eastern half of my house. The Western side is completely dry. And when I say raning, I mean pouring - wind blowing, rain slanting down, etc. But looking out the Westside window - nothing.
Craig Ferguson's Murder She Wrote
I've gotten into the habit of staying up far to late in the last few weeks. Frinklin still isn't working and I'm working from home, so schedules have gotten lax, hours are flexible, and late night television has been aplenty.
Folks, I give you that which has inspired a fresh round of quotes inspiring inappropriate, near-constant, inside-joke giggling:
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I live that running joke about Paul McCartney & Angela Lansbury.
Posted by: Eden at April 05, 2008 02:56 PM (BDCWt)
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This is the greatest inside running joke video ever:
/watch?v=AYxu_MQSTTY
You have to add the www. u toob .com to the beginning because you comment filter won't let me.
