History, politics, people of Oly WA
While I still need you to be around, you’ve been doing some writing for the Seattle Times magazine. Of course, not a publication I get to read very often.
Older, Richer, Bigger: Grand schemes and dying dreams on Bainbridge
Images become treasures to grieving parents
David Ishii, Bookseller: In his life and in his store, he chronicles the city’s story
Taming The Next Big Thing: Beyond the booms and busts, the story of our selves
Warshal’s Sporting Goods closed.
Almost Live is off the air.
Emmett Watson is dead.
I saw Raban today in the PI. Not just like his horrible piece from crosscut awhile back, but it just reminded me just how much we’re seeing ourselves through his eyes nowadays and it reminded me how much I miss you Fred.
Fred, please come back. Write stuff for us.
Just because Warshal’s closed, doesn’t mean we all shop at REI. I walk past the Outdoor Emporium after every Mariners’ game.
What I’m saying is that REI can still be there, Raban will always be a gifted writer and he’ll write about Washington. But, the guys who are heading out to Forks will stop out the Outdoors Emporium for corkies and yarn on their way out of town and I’ll always want to read you.
Being world class can be an argument for anything.
Building a new arena for the Sonics.
In that last one, the question is which city you’re referring to. It could be Seattle (or the greater Seattle area), to which I assume Kevin Calabro was referring to in a radio commercial I heard on the way home today. I wish I had the audio, but the gist was: build the new arena, we’re a world class city, this is what world class cities do.
Of course, I never assumed anyone could be referring to Renton, which is where the new arena would be built. But, the mayor of Renton sure was:
It was not too long ago when Renton was a running laugh line on “Almost Live.” Now our city is featured on the front pages of local and national media including the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. Renton is serious about business.
…
A month ago we found out that Renton was selected as the preferred site by the Sonics and Storm ownership for a multi-purpose events center. What a great moment for Renton!
When I asked Clay Bennett, the owner of the Sonics and Storm, Why Renton?
He said that without doubt Renton was his first choice since he was excited at the expanding economy and the bright future that he foresees in Renton.
…
But irrespective of the outcome this has been a win for Renton. This has shown the world what we knew all along: We are a ‘can-do’, world-class city, willing to roll up our sleeves and look at possibilities.
Oh, Fred Moody, where are you when Renton so dearly needs you?
(or: Fred Moody, where are you when we need you most?)
Of course, some do build the wooden kind, but that’s beside the point.
This argument is the silliest of all the viaduct silliness because it implies that Seattle is a world class city. Or, that it won’t be a world class city until it tears down the viaduct, and maybe builds a tunnel. The point, though, is to tear down the viaduct.
For everyone who thinks this way, that Seattle needs to freshen itself up for its world class status, I suggest: Seattle and the Demons of Ambition: A Love Story.
Seattle, beware the devil on your shoulder.
It almost seems like we’re repeating some of the history that Moody writes about in “Demons of Ambition.” The football team is getting close, but not finishing the deal. Our basketball team is threatening to jump ship, and the city itself rejects them, but forces behind the scene are lining up in support.
And, the viaduct is seen as a wall that prevents the city from being “world class.” Now, that is something that has gotten the city into trouble before:
What had been envisioned as yet another showcase for Seattle as an emerging world-class city has turned into an epic disaster. The WTO convention was shut down, and Seattle was being exposed to the world as an overreaching dunce.
I wouldn’t compare the WTO directly with removing the viaduct, but I think they’re a symptom of the same disease.
And in regards to Andrew’s picture from the above post, I give you, FDR Drive in New York:
Interstate 5 in Portland OR, which probably isn’t very world class:
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