Housing in Tacoma

it still ain't cheap enough. I've been busy but I was following the comment thread over at EX133 (my nickname)for this: Metro City Homes Up for .........and I LOL'd at this --Is “Tjorax O’Tool” T’OT’s Swedish cousin?

23 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Apr 6, 07:59 AM

and generally I wanted to say I agree with thorax (Tjorax) and Crenshaw...I've been saying for years...

Building those condos is stupid. They don't appeal, as Crenshaw said @52...Tacoma is boring for folks that will spend 350,000 for a condo. Tacoma is boring, period.
so, my major housing rant in the last 6 years or so has been that there is not enough housing for the poor, the lower income workers, and the lower-than-middle-income families.

What should have been built downtown is a mix of high end with lower end prices with family-type services encouraged like:
Grocery stores, daycare, small department stores, doctor/dentist offices/doc-in-a-box, affordable movie house, movie rentals..........you get my drift.
Those things families (and others) use all day/everyday.
Families do not spend their nights out drinking and dining at El Groucho. I do, but this isn't about me(yet).

Imagine if every single empty condo (How smart is it to name your condo MTCondos....say it out loud)........
if every single empty condo was filled with a family....
Rent or buy. The economic dribble would be huge....

All those pizzas. All those diapers. All those impulse purchases.
I see this around Staydumb Thriftway n'hood where there is more of a mix.
Singles can live downtown. I'm downtown almost everyday, weekends too. It's pretty quiet. Not enough to do. Not enough entertainment. 80% of people who come thru my store are just looking....looking for something to do. Very few buy. But they could if they wanted to!

I know what the City Council was trying to do........Get rich people downtown to spend money. Give them free taxes.......
Pay them to come here. Gee, sounds so desperate.
If condos were built at a price of 100 grand to 200 grand with formica countertops.....downtown would be busy busy busy right now, instead of the ghost town it has been for the last 30 years.
I blame the City Council for toxic governing or lack thereof.
Good Urban Design is more than sidewalks vs cars.....
It's more than condo vs house....

I shop mostly at Albertsons at 38/Pacific. Businesses on every corner and around the block.
IT is BUSY there!
Why?
Affordable housing surrounds that corner.
Great public transportation too.
And a liquor store.