tacoma

Into the Tacoman summer

The Tacoman summer is much like an Indian Summer, but with more kayaks and cooler temperatures. Tonight should be the night. By now, the concept of Wednesdays on the Water on Ruston Way has sunk in with the masses, and they cannot resist the temptation to head down and get involved. As per the last 3 weeks, the weather should be a huge question mark, only revealing itself at the time of said event this evening. I’m guessing it will be “nice” but there are certainly no guarantees.

If you are interested in bringing your kayak(s) down, I recommend parking just south/east of Harbor Lights and dropping in below the prominent staircase. The scuba divers built a staircase down by the Lobster Shop that works well also, but you have to carry the boats much further if you do that. The scuba stairs are a couple hundred yards from parking, whereas the Harbor Lights-area steps are right across the street from ample parking.

The sailboats have been coming out around 7, so we might get started a little later than usual. Last week we were ready to go before the sailboats even made it across, and they’re the real reason for going out after all.

So let’s just 6:30pm. Tacoma, that means YOU. If you have any shred of community in that skeleton of yours, bring it down to the Tacoma waterfront tonight for great views, dining, dog-walking and swimming. I know you’ve been dying for the weather to nicen up so that you can take your inaugural Commencement Bay swim of 2007. You’re not alone.

Let’s give ‘em something to talk about

Sanajaya
Sanjaya

The Dock Street/Downtown waterfront of Tacoma is in trouble. The museum restaurant has closed, following the Blue Olive on their way out of town. The pedestrian bridge over I-705 is proving to be insufficient in fueling foot traffic from Pacific Avenue to Dock Street. Even before these closures, Dock Street has been a ghost town, but for construction workers, condo residents and the occasional boutique employee coming and going. A constant flow between Pacific Ave and Dock Street must be developed somehow, some way. It’s easier said than done, but necessary. If things don’t improve, this shiny, new area will continue to die like a limb with poor circulation. Surely, the urban planners have something up their sleeves!? There are currently a couple stealth ways to get from Pacific Ave to Dock Street by car, but they aren’t accessible to newcomers to the area. Those of us who have lived here know how to access Dock Street a few different ways. However, the train tracks and I-705 present quite a barrier to entry for those on the Pacific Ave side. Is it simply these logistics that hold the Tacoma Museum of Glass district down, or is it something more? Perhaps Tacoma needs to focus on getting more high-quality attractions in there. With all due respect, pet stores, sandwich shops and condos are great, but they don’t necessarily do much to attract visitors. I love the sandwich shop. Do you think I’d get in my car and drive down there JUST to have lunch there? I think not. I love the dog shop, too. Again, I’m not going to drive down there just to buy my dog a leash. There are plenty of places closer to home for that. So I ask you Tacoma, what is it going to take to get this area going??

Junior Daffodil Parade

This morning I headed up to the heart of the Proctor District to get a closeup on the Junior Daffodil Parade. In prior years, I’ve been on my way to Starbuck’s or the grocery store, unknowingly crossing up with a tidal wave of pedestrians, blockades and other confused breakfast-seekers. The Proctor District is no fun in a car on this particular morning. This year I gained the upperhand on the whole scenario, opting to travel by bicycle. Let me tell you, those blockades are GREAT when you’re on a bike because they don’t mean anything to you, except that you don’t even have to look for vehicles once you’re on the inside.

This was a very peaceful parade, amid a wonderful spell of sunshine and smiling faces; I meandered like a garter snake throught the apparent pretzel shaped course, snapping photos here and there. I even snuck up on my good friend and neighbor for a chat as the parade came to a close. This day ranks 2nd in “friendly neighborhood vibe of the year” only to the Mason Street block party, coming to an intersection near you in August.

As we were about to head home, we learned that the Junior Daffodil Website is the place to go to register a group to participate in the parade next year. We may get our (substantial group from the) block party involved next year, depending on what it takes to do so. Although I still don’t really know what purpose the parade serves other than community enjoyment, it sounds like a good idea to participate.

If the news cameras show up it must be good, right? Maybe even a breaking news bit on Tacoma Scout Pac 50 doing their best on the evening report?

Intersection cameras

The idea of putting Lakewood-inspired cameras in Tacoma intersections to catch speeders and yellow-to-red light runners is absurd for a battery of reasons. First and foremost, nobody should ever be forced to slam on their brakes because a light is changing colors. I haven’t stopped hard for yellow-to-red light in years, and I don’t like the idea of my coffee and other items loose in my vehicle flying about the cabin, not to mention my wasted gas mileage, and overall wasted time at even more red lights in town being the ultimate result.

Yellow lights should be twice as long in duration as they are currently. Who ever stops smoothly at a yellow light? I see people standing on their brake pedals and guarding their passengers with their forearm all the time. This is their prerogative, however, I choose not to play this game. Installation of cameras at key nodes in my daily travel path would likely change my behavior. This is exactly what they want, and this pisses me off.

The overall message I’d like to send here is that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the traffic & road realm should absorb taxpayer time and money unless it involves making them faster, smoother and/or less congested. I don’t see any of that at the heart of this issue. What I do see is scared, over-conservative drivers around town believing this to be a great idea for “making our roads safer” and generating revenue at the same time!

These folks will meet opposition as long as I’M ALIVE.

Spring/Summer 2007 on Commencement Bay

I say that those of us with kayaks make it a point to join the sailboat club on Commencement Bay this spring & summer on Wednesday nights. As often as possible, drop your boat in the water down on Ruston Way. The Tacoma waterfront is a great place to paddle around. This would be a great concept to merge with the Tacoma Photo Gang.. Many great photos of Tacoma to be had from the surface of the Bay.

Who’s with me??