UWT Urban Studies Forum 2010 - What Would You Ask? (27. January 2010, 13:16 by Derek Young) ~ I Want To Know ...
Tomorrow is the UWT Urban Studies Forum focusing on Tacoma’s waterfront. As many of you know, I will be moderating the second panel. So, given our esteemed panel, what should I ask? Most of the questions are coming from the audience. However, given the opportunity, is there anything you’d like to know?
Second Panel – In the Field: What’s Going On, What’s Coming
- Steve Atkinson, City of Tacoma
- Peter Callaghan, Tacoma News Tribune
- Leslie Anne Rose, Citizens for a Healthy Bay
- Clare Petrich, Port of Tacoma and Petrich Marine Dock
- David Boe, Boe Architects and Superhero
Previously on Exit133: UWT Urban Studies Forum 2010: Waterfront Tacoma
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How safe is the work at the Point Ruston development? Could it be safer? Are positive steps being taken to insure a healthy waterfront at that location, as well as healthy working conditions?
1 | Posted by ConcernedNorthEnder | Jan 27, 01:21 PM
Ok Derek,
Here’s my question.
Schuster Parkway (between DT Tacoma and Old Town) was obviously designed to only move cars.
Much of the existing sidewalk is too close to traffic (which is moving at 40 to 50 mph and sometimes faster) to be safe, and there currently is no bike lane at all.
Does anyone on the panel have an idea or plan to introduce a safe bike lane and pedestrian walkway here?
3 | Posted by Tacoma1 | Jan 27, 03:41 PM
Who is promoting on-water recreation in the Foss Waterway? Can there be a place to rent kayaks, canoes, rowboats? Instruction on safe boating, etc. Where will the public access be? It’s a nice protected waterway with regulated motor boat speeds, therefore perfect for human-powered watercraft. Is anybody capitalizing on the potential for recreation as a draw to the area?
4 | Posted by Squid | Jan 27, 04:39 PM
I second Tacoma1’s question.
I’d also ask: Does the presence of a pulp mill across the Foss hinder private and public investment in improving the waterfront? Is having a pulp mill in such a visible (and usually smellable from one part of town or another) waterfront location in Tacoma’s long-term economic interest?
5 | Posted by dolly varden | Jan 28, 09:42 AM
One more: What can be done, besides getting the new History Museum director to unfence the Bridge of Glass, to make it easier to get down to the Foss from downtown? And how about from the Stadium/St. Helens area? In the process of shoring up Stadium Way (which I’m guessing will need to be done soon), can we create a pedestrian stairway down the hill to Thea Foss Park (and Tacoma1’s improved bike/pedestrian trail)?
6 | Posted by dolly varden | Jan 28, 09:49 AM
The FWA and the city need to be stewards for the future of Tacoma as well as working for more immediate revenue needs. The Foss Waterway building heights need to be capped at the A St bluff level if we want our children’s children to thank us for our foresight instead of cursing us for our myopic greed. We have a jewel of a city and the opportunity to plan for the next 100 years. Let’s think long term and do it right!
7 | Posted by Jon Fayth | Jan 28, 11:16 AM
I’d like to know why the city docks in old town and at point defiance are never down. Many boaters would welcome a place to tie up for a few hours and go have lunch/dinner or go wander old town, the park or even downtown. How can citizens encourage the city to re-open these “gateways” to Tacoma?
8 | Posted by Jennifer | Jan 28, 12:38 PM
@8 Jennifer, the Old Town Dock is included in the recently passed bond (mostly for Cheney Stadium), so funding is in place to renovate that dock. The uses you describe will eventually be feasible. And wouldn’t it be super if the new float was low enough that kayakers, other paddlers and rowers could launch and recover there? Then it could be another access point on the Cascadia Marine Trail.
@4 Squid, access was greatly improved at the south end of the Waterway with the installation of the new ramp and float. It’s accessed from the parking beneath the 21st St. Bridge. In addition, at the Dock Street Marina (near Albers Mill) there are now kayak racks for rent. These offer secure storage, a low float for launching, plus rest room and shower facilities. Pretty slick!
10 | Posted by Steve | Jan 28, 04:01 PM
Steve, that would be great if I owned a kayak. How about if I just want to paddle around 4-5 times a year? Anybody renting?
11 | Posted by Squid | Jan 28, 07:41 PM
If anyone made it to this event, I’d love to here a summary of the events…………..
12 | Posted by tacoma1 | Jan 28, 10:13 PM
Squid,
The Foss Waterway Seaport will soon have a livery (much like the first business on the Foss…. Thea Foss’ row boat rentals). They now have one boat built in their boatshop, and I understand another is soon to be launched. Look for this rental operation to be active this Spring. The boats will be fixed seat wherries.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Craig Perry and the Dock Street Marina folks are considering a kayak rental operation to complement their new racks. Give them a buzz and let them know there’s interest. Or perhaps another with an entrepreneurial bent will bring a small fleet of kayaks or canoes to the Dock Street facility and make use of their new racks for their rental fleet? It’d be a fun summer job!
13 | Posted by Steve | Jan 28, 10:13 PM
Here was my biggest takeaway from this conference: City of Tacoma taxpayers spent $105 million on a hugely successful clean-up of the Foss. However, not a penny on stormwater remediation, which today is recontaminating the waterway throught the two 96” drainpipes that channel polluted surface water not just from downtown, but most of South Tacoma. According to the panel scientists, treating stormwater like residential/sewage with large treatment facilities is not economically feasible. Different measure have to be taken, but aren’t.
I didn’t get to ask the question, “how long until the Foss is just as polluted as before?”
14 | Posted by Squid | Jan 29, 10:41 AM
Squid: Different measures are being taken.
City of Tacoma Surface Water Management staff are working proactively to reduce the “nonpoint source pollution” that makes into the Foss and our other local waterways.
Efforts include encouraging low-impact development, repairing infrastructure, working with local businesses to minimize their impact, and educating residents about their impact on surface water quality.
The solution isn’t simple, but this is not just a local concern.
The main source of surface water pollution is no longer industry. In fact, more than half of surface water pollution comes from residential sources – things like oil leaks, pet waste, car wash water, overuse of pesticides and lawn chemicals, and other contaminated runoff from roads, streets, sidewalks, parking lots, etc.
In addition to local efforts, a regional campaign, “Puget Sound Starts Here,” kicked off last fall to educate residents about their impact on surface water, and empower them to help reduce the problem before it’s too late. This campaign is a collaboration of more than 60 cities and counties, the Department of Ecology, and the Puget Sound Partnership and its hundreds of “EcoNet” member organizations.
Reducing contamination of our local waterways is a serious concern for the folks in Tacoma, throughout the region and across the country. My guess is you’ll be hearing more and more about these issues in the very near future.
In the meantime, more information can be found at:
www.pugetsoundstarts…
www.cityoftacoma.org…
www.psp.wa.gov
15 | Posted by Alicia Lawver (City of Tacoma) | Jan 29, 05:24 PM
Products that are sold in this country, that cause pollution should be taxed at a rate high enough to pay for the cleanup from the use of that product.
That way fiscally conservative, and or environmentally aware people will have the opportunity to buy the less costly, non polluting product. The people that don’t care about the environment or their money can go ahead and buy the more expensive environmentally harmful product, and pay for the cleanup of their pollution all at the same time.
17 | Posted by Tacoma1 | Jan 30, 05:18 PM
Given that monetary value is a representation of real work, goods, or services sold in a society, is paying over $700 a suare foot for a LEED Certified building really considered “green”? Has there ever been a cost analysis comparing the money per square foot a LEED Certified building costs versus the impact that money had on the environment?
I do see this forum has already happened but these are things I’d like to know.
18 | Posted by Jesse | Jan 31, 10:15 AM
I must protest. This type of shodding reporting on Exit133 has got to stop. I am not, nor have I ever been, a ‘Superhero’ (although I was tooned by RR Anderson as a ‘Tacoma Action Figure’). So lets get the facts straight please (and kudos to UWT for putting this initial conference on – can’t wait to hear about next year’s topic).
19 | Posted by David Boe | Feb 1, 12:45 PM
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