this link is about last year's open house concerning the train crossing at Pacific and SWT so while not technically current, I find it hard to believe that Sound Transit has anything good up its sleeve....
Riding the coattails of Good For Greening the Environment, they are shoving trains down our throat......and I'm a huge fan of public transit....um, European style.
Here, in Tacoma, I don't trust that anything will be done right....The thinking went: Ok, we need 20 million in new money to circulate in Tacoma....so let's build CONDOS CONDOS CONDOS .....and now, they look like prisons or mental hospitals, or just plain ol butt ugly.
I've blogged on this before.....Portland did it right.....WHY? because when the pioneers crossed to the West Coast, the light and lovely stayed in Portland, while the bangers and the alcoholics went North, stopping in Seattle long enough to pee, and then on to Alaska......It's a forbidding mindset around these parts....
So now I don't trust any decision that is made by the Powers that Be in T Town...the idea that the city council allowed the MM bridge to go for so long....no one was "on it", and now, it is a Pyhrric victory to be able to blame the State for Bridge Neglect.
Hey, put me in charge of Pretty In Tacoma...but alas, I actually have to work for a living...so unless you are willing to pay me to do alllll the research that will be done (if we're lucky) by a Consulting Firm, and then the Powerful Choose The Best Idea.....well it will look Just Laughably Ugly....
Is no one going to stand up to Sound Transit, and say: Just because you think you are Friendly, doesn't mean you get to ruin a beautiful and heavily traveled neighborhood.
And come on ! Diesel is a dying technology. Even bio d. has its big problems.
I stole this pic from Kevin...the link is above. It shows the ugliness I fear that is coming to a T-Town near you !
Here is another link to a lovely view of the Pearl
And the history .....the blueprint....that Tacoma should have paid attention to.....but chose not to........
It may well be that the Pearl District will be the country’s best re-creation of Jane Jacobs’ idealized central city. With its short blocks, high density, pedestrian friendliness, mixed usage, restricted-income rentals, architectural variance, lively street activity, and the older buildings that survive, it has become a favorite object of study for planners and developers throughout the U.S. Ironically, it is the Pearl’s considerable economic success that is causing the greatest concern, as the trend toward off-the-chart rental/sale costs has the Pearl District rapidly becoming an exclusive enclave that is beyond the reach of average Portland residents and independent retailers. There are many concerns that the gentrification of the Pearl will result in weeding out the very diversity that makes the area so attractive.from tndwest.com/pearldistrict.html
