Thursday, October 15, 2009

We Could Be the New Pittsburgh !


Hey Tacoma....Feeling down? Down Down Down as a Luzon Building Brick? A pile of Luzon Building bricks?

Feeling as down as a world class bridge...that has no purpose in life but to mock you as it lays barren staring at a world class corporation headquarters that just broke up with you....over the phone...with a text???
Hmmm?

You need direction ! You need a Role Model !
Here, take a look at Pittsburgh....
just one quote...OK, maybe 2 or 3...This will cheer you up...because There Is Hope !!
Just get off your flaccid ass and quit accepting the idea that businessmen and women with an MBA know anything about Life!
Invest in Art. Art. Art.
Art Garfunkel.
Art Walk.
Art Run.
(2 of my friends have MBAs and more are lusting for them....)
Oh sure we need Bean Counters, but they can't be Leaders...or you end up with the Tacoma Mall. Which is an underground Tomb of Corporate Crap. (now that there is no alcohol-serving bar)

I mean the name alone...Pitts...burgh...who knew??
a snippet or 2...

"Jeb Feldman, owner and co-manager of UnSmoke, fell in love with the town soon after he arrived from New Mexico, also to study arts administration at Carnegie Mellon. Braddock's empty lots and neglected streets inspired him to work with others to help spur development. He joined ranks with the city’s young and determined mayor, John Fetterman, who has gained national attention for his efforts to create a workable model of urban renewal. With the support of the mayor, Feldman sees investment in the arts as essential, both to invigorate residents and lure artists and their followers. He has become an unofficial spokesman for Braddock's artistic development."

and very very important...

"Once a shell of its former industrial self, Pittsburgh has been busily making itself over. Now its cheap rents and artistic legacy are luring a new generation of creative pioneers, writes Yael Friedman ..."
Linkie here, and no ...I did not forget that Tacoma hates Andy Warhol.... that Tacoma rejected Andy is a mistake I intend to never ever let Tacoma forget...

let's say that again...CHEAP RENTS
I pay 2 grand a month and I have about 3000 square feet for workshop and retail. I love the space, but the rent is waaaaay too much. Mr. Riley charges the cheapest rent for the most space in Tacoma...in a neighborhood you'd like to have a shop in.
You other landlords, fuck you.
This is Tacoma. It is "a shell of its former industrial self"
You, bad landlords, with your insane high rents have kept Tacoma dirty and stupid. It's waaay hard for one with good intentions to get a foothold here. So...the bad neighborhoods attract the Artists, the Creatives, the Brave...
with NO HELP from the Landed Gentry, or the Government. ...which is fine, but it's too hard, and good people have to give up and leave...a dream delayed is a dream denied.


It does not have to be this way. Anymore.
Vote. Vote Responsibly.
When I think of Jim Merritt, Marilyn Strickland, Kevin Rojecki, Roxanne Murphy, Marty Campbell, Beckie Summers Kirby, Catherine Ushka-Hall and Chris Van Vechten for Tacoma School Board, Victoria Woodards....
All have vision and energy and can lead Tacoma to her new Destiny !