Downtown

Russell leaves Tacoma in transition

Often all is not as it seems. This is especially common in business. Perception management is the true art of business, and urban planners of Tacoma, you have failed to sustain the perception that we are on the rise. Wired City, you have listened to a loud minority over the past 10 years and that should now come to an end. Fire up the grit and start reinventing yourself again. Back to the future we go.

Opposite and equal to our local right-wing ideology is the “let’s make Tacoma rad!” idealist. They have somehow justified and acted on principles that do not fit our region. Not yet anyway. Link light rail’s minimal positive contribution to our downtown has left a trench in the middle of the area’s potential commerce. The traffic flow between UWT and “old” downtown near the “old” Russell building is a joke. The idea of keeping cars to a minimum in downtown is a joke. The idea of Tacoma being rad right now is a joke. First comes infrastructure, then comes rad. This is just how it has to work.

Trying to model Tacoma after New York or San Francisco or Seattle is where the idealists’ rationale ends and their fantasy begins. We don’t have the established bustle of vibrant culture in our urban space and therefore need to focus on the ugly, brick & mortar details like traffic flow, destroying decrepit buildings (no matter their significance to rogue architects), courting big businesses to town, and simply doing all the things necessary to make downtown Tacoma attractive to big business.

Preserve that which is rationally preservable, and think green when convenient, but for now focus primarily on growth. Big growth. Professional services and administration, sure. Better yet, corporate headquarters and influential retail anchors like Whole Foods, REI, Costco, Best Buy, Safeway, Sports Authority, Nordstrom, Macy’s… dang, even Ross, TJ Maxx, Ikea or KMart could be a great start!

Boutique shops, record stores, salons and quaint cafes in Tacoma are the true favorites and the overall goal for most people. I still believe these businesses can’t make it on their own. You can’t have business without traffic. We have little traffic because we have few significant retail businesses. Chicken? Egg?

We slow the creation of profitable traffic when we cater to students and alternative methods of transportation. Most people would certainly agree that, in a perfect world, public transportation and walking or biking to work are all preferable to the single-occupancy vehicle operators clogging our thoroughfares. Cars are ugly, they’re loud and they smell funny. Unfortunately, they are also the primary means for people to buy things and take them away. It’s awfully hard for a guy to buy a TV or a computer or even a new wardrobe and take it home on his bicycle.

Tacoma seems an incubator for one thing and one thing only: food and drink. Why are bars and restaurants the only noticeable, new downtown businesses? NOT counting schools or government, try to come up with 5 significant, downtown retailers currently in business. I asked a few people to answer quickly:

“That cool antique toy store… you know the one I’m talking about? Um… retailers?” – N.C., Lakewood resident

“[laughs] 5 BIG retailers? In downtown Tacoma? Um… goose egg.” – P.C., route driver in downtown Tacoma

“Bullseye shooting range sells stuff.” – C.O., local web designer and prior tenant of downtown Tacoma office space

“Ha! This isn’t gonna be quick. Significant? LeRoy Jewelers?” – C.T., commercial real estate broker in South Tacoma

Extended sighs and pauses followed all of the above comments. The one person I asked who did name several downtown retailers included many that I certainly do not consider significant. If you succeeded in naming 5, my guess is that you either work downtown or you are currently enrolled at UW Tacoma or Bates Technical College. Most of us have a tough time naming 3.

The previous era of progress has waned; it is now time to fortify our stronghold. Repair, replace, regroup and reclaim. If you’re purebred Tacoman, you’ve been through this before, at least twice. For those of you who suffer from a “staying the same, means going backwards” mindset, think of this as a lateral move toward future success. Enhancing Opera Alley, the museum district, the light rail line, the north end of Pacific Ave or the Dock Street waterfront are all possibilities for commercial improvement. I say we start with one area and FOCUS on it. We need a large capacity for moving automobiles quickly and in large quantities, we need convenient proximity to freeway ramps and we need parking. We do NOT need more rail lines, bike lanes, parks or high-dollar condos.

P.S. Russell Investments, good luck in Seattle. I hope that aside from allowing you fancy, new digs, WaMu’s demise has also taught you plenty about deception, smoke n’ mirrors, and the idiocy running rampant on Wall Street.

Only way to “save the Luzon”

The Luzon issue is really starting to get old. How many different groups do we want to look at this before we move in one of many new directions? Personally, I would’ve given up on it long ago. Unlike most of you reading this, I’ve been here my whole life and the massive void in the middle of downtown created by the DaVita parking lot and the Luzon building has long worn out its welcome with me.

On the news of Igor Kunista moving in to try and save the day, I will wait a small while longer before calling for the outright demolition of this dangerous, useless structure. If we DO want to continue pondering ways to salvage the Luzon building, then I will offer my final idea on this matter.

Are you familiar with The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak & Oyster House in downtown Seattle? It is a rather upscale restaurant in a rather small, very old building adjacent to the relatively new and magnificent Washington Mutual Tower on 2nd and University (The WaMu Tower may now be called the Chase Tower, but you won’t ever hear me call it that). The old building that houses this fine restaurant reminds me a lot of the Luzon building.

When the WaMu Tower was built, they kept the little old building on the corner and even incorporated it into the new building, providing it with STRUCTURE and PARKING and a PURPOSE!! Anyone who wants to save the Luzon should take a close look at the Brooklyn.

In the picture below, you can see the Brooklyn’s old building incorporated into the base of the new super structure. From the street level, it works seemlessly, and the precious architecture from yesteryear is preserved.

Brooklyn in downtown Seattle

Downtown Tacoma via Puyallup River

If you’re like me, you’ve often wondered what it would be like to take a kayak down the Puyallup River. Your ship has come in. This article and subsequent video should provide everything you need to know when taking this safe, fun journey through the wilds of Pierce County. You can park cars behind the Puyallup Fred Meyer on River Road and drop boats in the water under the bridge to Hwy 167. There is a nice sandy beach under the bridge, perfect for this sort of thing.

We left the other car at The Dock building on Dock Street in downtown Tacoma and it took us about 4 hours to connect the dots. 2 1/2 hours of the trip is like riding an escalator – very relaxing and calm. The last hour and a half did involve a pretty good paddle, but only because of the way we timed the tide. Surprisingly, when the tide is coming in, Commencement Bay actually backs up into what appears to be the last mile of the Puyallup River. So we were effectively paddling upcurrent and downstream at the same time for awhile, even though that really doesn’t make sense until you’re there.

You loop around the Simpson Lumber Mill (the one with the smokestacks and giant sawdust piles in the middle of the port – this is a site to behold if you’ve never been close to it) and cut across Commencement Bay to Dock Street.

I highly recommend this for anyone with a kayak in the Tacoma area. It’s just too easy and convenient to pass up. The river level is high right now because of all the warm temps and mountain runoff; I assume this is key to the whole operation. Obviously, if the water level is low, the conditions will change drastically, and you may end up carrying boats over sandbars in spots.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO of what we encountered. Good luck, and please drop us a line if you try it.

Tacoma Union Bank of California building for sale

The Bank of California Building at 1011 Pacific Ave in downtown Tacoma is for sale. I had the privilege of meeting owner Jay Yi last week and he allowed us a full tour of the historic site. The impressive structure is packed with an arsenal of equally impressive contents. Never having been used for anything other than a bank, the facility is uniquely tailored for a certain purpose. Like housing millions of dollars in cash, jewels and other valuables for decades.

You pass through the giant, classic pillars on the outside and into an expansive lobby where your eye is immediately drawn 40 feet upward to the cathedral ceiling. The ornate wood and plaster detail overhead is unlike anything you will find in new construction today. Gold carvings tell a story that wraps around the top of the room. Solid granite walls line the staircase leading downstairs.

An old bank manager’s office at the front of the building is luxuriously decorated with gorgeous wood paneling and feels like something out of Scooby-Doo. We could not find any of the secret compartments in the walls, but I’m certain they are there somewhere. If I had an office, I would want it to look just like this one.

We took the old world elevator to the basement and that is where things really got interesting. Exiting the elevator, I suddenly felt as though I were thrust headlong into the middle of a scene from Ocean’s Eleven. I’ve never had free run of a giant vault before. Have you? There were thousands of old, empty safety deposit boxes and multiple safes for the storage of exactly who knows what.

Movie set. That’s all I kept thinking. Well, that and the fact the building may have access to the old tunnels under Tacoma. Stay tuned.

OMFG delicious

The Rock has long been a nighttime take-it-or-leave-it for me. Crowds, pricing and mediocrity have generally kept me away, save for the weekday lunch buffet (a Tacoma classic). After granting The Rock another chance, I can tell you the food, drinks and service were all off the charts. Bravo, Rock, bravo.

Everybody knows that Pagliacci has the best pizza in the world. Well, I am here to announce that this is no longer the case. In the words of the not-so-great George Thorogood, move over little Pagliacci, a big, old Rock is movin in!

My comprehension of the experience is already cloudy, after having just finished my leftovers 15 minutes ago. The crust is hand-tossed, thin and crispy – it’s the closest crust to Pagliacci I’ve ever seen. What was so great about it? There was this prosciutto, meatball, almond and mushroom pizza that seriously ‘knocked my socks off’ <== I have never used that phrase before. You can't imagine how good it was. They have an impressive selection of pizza toppings, providing endless possibilities to appease even the pickiest of eaters (I brought one of them with me and she loved her mushroom n' olive pizza). Last night we walked right in and sat down at a booth in the bar. This new room they've created is cozy and comfortable compared to the old setup. To top it off, our server was one of the best I've had anytime, anywhere. I went in with little enthusiasm for a place I'd been many times and left with a new favorite.