The Train The Train !

Another point.......and an example.
The London Times printed this today about biodiesel. When Mark and I were at Evergreen we became interested in biodiesel and so he made it and we drove biodiesel cars...you may remember my car especially......the brown Mercedes with the bowling lady hood ornament........Well.......as I pointed out a while back.....biodiesel is a stop-gap measure and should be abandoned as a fuel source.

While they have the potential to help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change, biofuels will devastate forests and other habitats unless controlled, scientists said.

The Royal Society report of a 14-month inquiry was published as the European Union announced that its targets for biofuels are to be re-examined because of fears of their impact on the environment. Stavros Dimas, its Environment Commissioner, said that the environmental consequences of boosting biofuel production and the effects on poor communities were bigger than originally thought. from the London Times

The Example: Mark, John and I walked out of our penthouse on Sunday night, we said:
Peeweh !!
There was a stinky gray pall hanging over the neighborhood. Ghost of Old Tacoma? No. A train had just rumbled by, which is fine. But and it's a Big But, it was Diesel in the Air. That's what I'm saying.
Now I know, boy do I know, that the Dome District is the unwanted red-headed stepchild of The Downtown Renaissance......
(do we get a Festival in our end.....No ! There is ZERO City of Tacoma promotion of our district...there are NO Fairs, Events or clean-ups comparable to um, First Night or Taste of Tacoma.....nothing.)

but, diesel is a dying technology. I'm sure the Light Rail Hobo Train laughs at the big trains as they stink by, while Light Rail skips lightly thru town.....(wow, that's poetry!)
And diesel can't be replaced by biodiesel.....tho smelling like French Fries is cool, it is not sustainable.

The Trains In Spain Fall Mainly on The Sane

chug chug
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

BioDiesel in Tacoma

Back in mid 2003 we first bought a Mercedes diesel car.....After Mark took classes to learn the chemistry and then made biodiesel, well, we had to find a car!
I'll post pics later....
(this is a similar car in Memphis)
It was a 1979 brown Mercedes 300TD and the symbol on the hood was in the glove box....so we replaced the missing trinket with Bowling Lady.....our mascot that we twisted off an old trophy and attached to the hood...this became my car after Mark bought a yellow 1980 Mercedes wagon ...the kind of car John Lennon drove....Mercedes that is.....
Everyone thought we were goofy...and we are........
Biodiesel? What's that?
Folks pretty well know we'll drive a beater till we kill it and then move on...because our old cars go the same places as new cars...it's amazing, I tell ya!....
Example: Had a lovely dinner last night at Harbor Lites with my sweet inlaws, and parked the Volvo wagon between a new Lexus and a new BMW.....
Biodiesel....at first we had to drive up to Seattle to get biodiesel at Dr. Dan's in Ballard.
Mark and I were interns for Take Back Your Time Day....and we would drive up for the organizing meetings and encourage people to Smell Our Tailpipe! Hey, it smelled like French Fries.....
When I was taking law classes in 2004 through 2006, I had the same car as a nice lady who well, came from the right side of the tracks ....if you know what I mean....she carried a
Dooney and Bourke bag, and so did I!

Sadly, the transmission launched....and we sold it to a fellow up near Bellingham.....which is only slightly more
Hippie than Olympia.....
We Went to School in Olympia...yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.....
Biodiesel!!
It's almost mainstream now.....with redneck farmers and that ol' environmentalist George W. Bush allocating money to manufacture it.....and now in Seattle and all over the Puget Sound are truck stops and a few gas stations carry it.....but back in the Wild West Days....Mark and I were pretty much on our own......
Now of course, everywhere we look, folks are copying us....(as if)...and driving old diesel cars exhausting French Fry aroma!
So, are we really so weird? I mean, we have something in common with farmers w/ rednecks and Bush....
Who woulda guessed?
Well, me, for one......I know that we are far more alike than different...really..