Imagine Tacoma - Tear It Down! Part 1

Tacoma Rents Rise Faster Than ... Everywhere Else ( 6. October 2008, 21:07 by Derek Young) ~ Top of the List?

A report by Reis, Inc, a commercial real estate analysis company, lists Tacoma at the top of the list for 12 month apartment rent growth. Depending on which version of the press release one finds, Tacoma’s rents increased by either 7.3 or 7.7 percent. Whatever the case, Tacoma is at the top of the list. Seattle is second. San Francisco is in third. Austin, for example only increased by 2.1% this year. Palm Beach, Florida, saw rents decrease by 0.7%. In total, Reis tracks 79 metro areas.

The article cites the fact that the Pacific Northwest is home to some of the country’s strongest companies. Okay. Sure. That’s why our rents are going up?

The Hub Opens An Event Space - Oct 9th ( 6. October 2008, 11:40 by Whitney) ~ Party!

The Hub has remodeled a spare 1400 square feet of space next to the restaurant for private events and have named it the Side Car Event Room. To celebrate the completion of the space, The Hub Gallery & Events will be having a Grand Opening party on Thursday, October 9th.

Steve Naccarato will have the first exhibition at the gallery and will be showing his photographs and manipulated images of Tacoma and the Northwest.

Painter Shawn Woods will be the new Featured Artist at The Hub, and his paintings are now available for purchase at the restaurant. All proceeds from the sale of his work goes to his favorite charity, Parenting with Dignity.

They are also taking reservations for parties of 75-120 in their downstairs event space, which will be finished soon. Yes, downstairs – the old Stadium Bistro space.

Details
Thursday, October 9th – 6 to 8 pm
The Hub
203 Tacoma Ave. South

The party moves to the Hub after 8:00

What's Your Vision for Metro Parks? ( 6. October 2008, 10:56 by Derek Young) ~ Share Your Thoughts

Metro Parks Tacoma is looking for your input. They want your help to develop a vision to improve our parks and rec in Tacoma.

How can you help? Join Metro Parks at one of the following Visioning Workshops to hear results from interactive opinion polling done in August, view a GRASP analysis map showing the quantity & quality of our current system components, and participate in a discussion of gaps in our services.

Tuesday, October 7th: 6 – 7 pm
Wednesday, October 8th: 12 – 1 pm
Metro Parks Tacoma Board Room, 4702 S 19th St.

Space is limited. Please RSVP in advance to amandaw@tacomaparks.com or 253-305-1016.

HarvestFEST 2008 on Saturday ( 3. October 2008, 15:52 by Whitney) ~ Crunchy Leaves and Pumpkins.

Reminder! This is tomorrow!

Over here at Exit133 we have a soft spot for local food, farms and urban chickens. (Urban chickens?!?) So we were very excited to see the announcement for this years HarvestFEST hit our inboxes.

HarvestFEST is the annual farm tour held the first Saturday of October when farms across Pierce County open their gates to the public. Meet our local farmers and see the creative way agriculture is being reinvented for new markets and farm lifestyles.
Look for the complete tour in the special HarvestFEST insert in the News Tribune on Thursday October 2nd, or check the website for maps.

Its fall and we’ll be out on the hunt for pumpkins and apples. Anybody joining?

(Oh and just kidding about the urban chickens. Maybe.)

Details
Saturday, October 4th
Link to HarvestFEST online

A Few Notes From Pac Ave ( 3. October 2008, 11:26 by Derek Young) ~ Little Changes

We were meandering along Pacific Avenue the other day, and noticed a few little changes. The Camera Shop, a retail icon on Pacific Ave closed a few months ago as many of you may remember. Well, the front of the store has been blown out and they’re working hard to prep it for its new tenants. We asked what was going in. The answer? “Offices”. We even asked at the back door. “Offices”. Um. Okay. We’ll stop asking questions now …

A wee bit further down the street, Stephanie’s Gospel and Jazz has a sign. We feel like we were just here looking at a new sign …

Capers Hosts Wine Pairing Dinner ( 3. October 2008, 11:00 by Caitlin) ~ Bon Apetit

Capers Downtown, the restaurant right below Suite133 and our frequent lunch destination, will be hosting a wine pairing dinner on Friday, October 10.

Featuring Oregon wines, the menu includes Gorgonzola polenta with grilled handmade sausage, Wild King salmon with beurre blanc and leek risotto, and much more. Mouth watering. Is it dinner time yet?

Details
October 10, 6:30 p.m.
Capers Downtown
701 Pacific Ave

Please call Capers at 253.272.2240 by Wednesday, October 8th, to make a reservation.

Ballot Issue Discussion ( 3. October 2008, 10:16 by Caitlin) ~ Issues? Join the Discussion

This Tuesday the Tacoma Public Library and League of Women Voters are hosting a discussion on six key ballot issues that Pierce County voters will be deciding on come election day.

Peter Callaghan of the News Tribune will be moderating the program. A question and answer period will follow the discussion of each ballot issue. Proponents, opponents, and undecideds can come learn more about the issues they’ll see on the ballot in November.

Details
October 7, 6:30 p.m.
Main Library, Olympic Room
1102 Tacoma Ave South

For more information call the Tacoma Public Library at 253.591.5666 or visit TacomaPublicLibrary.org.

Monsoon Room Closed For A Bit ( 2. October 2008, 15:52 by Derek Young) ~ Hmmm...

The Monsoon Room, the ultra-hip little drinking establishment at 1022 South J Street that we love for its coziness and good drinks, is closed for “major reworking” according to a handful of tipsters and the sign on the door. A few phone calls later and … we haven’t learned a whole lot more. Okay, we’ve learned a few things, but we’re still trying to confirm the details. Anybody?

Tacoma Greek Festival Starts Tomorrow ( 2. October 2008, 12:08 by Derek Young) ~ Retsina?

Morgan reminds us that the always amazing Tacoma Greek Festival starts tomorrow. Food. Dancing. More food. Lots of people. Always fun.

Details
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
1523 South Yakima Avenue, Tacoma, WA
October 3rd–5th, 2008
Friday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Link to stnicholastacoma.org

Tacoma Film Festival Starts Tonight - Plus An Update ( 2. October 2008, 11:34 by Derek Young) ~ Watch A Movie!

Tonight is the opening night of the Tacoma Film Festival. A reception at the First United Methodist Church scheduled to begin at 6:30. However …

Due to the high interest in the VP debate, we’ll open the doors at the church at 6:00 and have the debate playing live through its entirety. Unusual yes, but that is what people want to see! It will be a great chance for people to watch it together, have food from the Hub, desserts from Corina Bakery and wine by the glass. The movie will follow the reception and begin 8:15 to 8:30 p.m.

The festival runs through October 9th.

Opening Night films:

“On Paper Wings”
Directed by Ilana Sol
(Documentary, 67 min)
In 1945, a Japanese balloon bomb claimed the lives of the only people killed on the continental U.S. as the result of enemy action during WWII. Forty years later, the decision to fold a thousand paper cranes would unite the Japanese and American civilians affected by this incident.

“Light Years” (15 min)

“Pierre” (7 min)

More information at GrandCinema.com

Previously on Exit133

A Few E133 Reminders ( 2. October 2008, 11:05 by Derek Young) ~ Keep It Up

This is our periodic, help us help you post. You know, season changing housekeeping stuff. Exit133 continues to grow and new people find us every day. It used to be, way back in 2005, I knew every single person that read this site. It’s not like that anymore. With that said, a quick reminder to our old timers and orientation to our new timers …

Send Tips
Do you want us to talk more about your neighborhood? Tell us what’s going on! There are only a few of us here at Exit133. We will never claim to know the entire city of Tacoma with all its nooks and crannies. We know the neighborhoods that we live in, the faces we pass, and the buildings between our home and the office. If there’s a public meeting or event you think we should attend, a story we should cover, or a business that you think we should know about, send us a tip using the contact page or via email at tips (at) exit133.com. We can’t be everywhere, but we try.

Comments
Maybe it’s the change in the weather. Maybe it’s the economy. Regardless, people seem surly right now. We’ll go six months without moderating a single comment. Then we’ll have days like yesterday where we pulled six comments.

We do and will moderate comments, but its really not something we enjoy. So we have our guidelines. We describe the comments on Exit133 as being like a discussion at a bar. If your comment would get you punched, slapped, kicked out of the bar, or otherwise offend everyone in your vicinity, it’s probably not appropriate. No personal attacks. Avoid sweeping negative generalizations. No ads. Advance the discussion.

Please remember, we ask that you provide a real email address when making comments. If we have any questions or clarification about your comment, we use it to ask you. If the email address is fake, bounces back, or you don’t respond, we reserve the right to pull it.

However, we are okay with pseudonyms. As many of you know, some of our best commenters are people who write under assumed names and have for years. If this is your gig too, use a name, own it, and take responsibility for your comments. People will get to know you and your personality. Using multiple identities is highly discouraged. Using multiple identities in one conversation is simply creepy and we do remove these comments when spotted.

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Thank you for reading Exit133. Keep up the discussion.

Planning Commission Public Hearing - October 1 2008 ( 2. October 2008, 09:03 by Nick) ~ Parking paradox. Parkadox?

Parking, parking, parking. That’s what seemed to be on everyone’s mind last night as the Planning Commission held a public hearing to discuss the proposed updates to the downtown elements of the city’s comprehensive plan, affectionately know as “Destination Downtown.” It’s a hefty revision, weighing in at 140 pages, and is designed to affect broad changes downtown in terms of increased density, improved walkability, coordinated land use, and much more. You can view the whole thing online at cityoftacoma.org/planning.

If you don’t believe that the arrangement of stationary cars along the streets could be the most pressing matter at a meeting about the future of downtown, try entering “Parking” into our search bar up top. This has long been a bone of contention in Tacoma, and it should come as no surprise that all public comments on the issue were negative. The usual arguments were made about how downtown’s minimum parking requirement turns off new businesses, but several environmental concerns were raised as well. One commenter noted that a focus on parking could not fit with the city’s plan to bring 10-20 thousand new residents downtown. Several argued for the implementation of “parking maximums,” which would let the city control how many cars it can sustain. Others argued for deregulation; just let the market decide how many spots it needs. Only one consensus emerged: nobody’s happy with our parking situation. This issue’s not going away.

Of course, not everyone wanted to talk about parking. Several praised the new plan’s emphasis on lower income housing and mixed-use developments, and others were satisfied with the revisions to building height limitations. Residents from both the Stadium and Hilltop districts expressed concern over being incorporated into downtown (naturally, their complaints were mostly about parking).

The best line of the night came when a Hillside resident compared the dead-ending 21st Street with Alaska’s infamous “bridge to nowhere.” Could Baarsma make a VP run in 2012?

EDC Reviews Demolition Ordinance ( 1. October 2008, 14:05 by Whitney) ~ Preserving History

Historic Tacoma’s Sharon Winters went before the City Council’s Economic Development Committee yesterday to discuss the current demolition permit process. In recent years several historically significant structures have been torn down without a historic review taking place. Historic Tacoma would like to make a few changes to the ordinance to prevent the loss of “historically or architecturally significant” structures.

They are proposing a system that would trigger when a structure is 50 years or older. The office of historic preservation would have a certain amount of time to rule if the structure is significant or not. If it is not, the permit is issued. If it is, then alternatives to demolition would have to be considered. After looking at adaptive reuse, dismantling and reusing, and restoration benefits, it can be determined that the building should be demolished. But they are asking for the process. Today, unless the structure is registered as historic, there is no such safeguard to demolition. The process would also allow someone to acquire a certificate of non-significance during the pro-forma stage of development, in order to avoid surprises after purchasing.

Council decided this was a valid issue and concern and voted to form a task force to produce the language changes needed to alter the ordinance. We should be seeing this come back in a few months.

Thoughts?

AMOCAT Arts Awards for 2008 ( 1. October 2008, 14:01 by Caitlin) ~ Celebrate Art!

This came in a while ago, but … sometimes we’re a bit slow.

The Hotel Murano, King’s Books, and Linda Danforth have been selected to receive the Tacoma Arts Commission’s 2008 AMOCAT Arts Awards. The awards recognize community members’ vision, dedication, and action in creating a lively arts community in Tacoma.

The Arts Patron award goes to the Hotel Murano, the award for Community Outreach by an Organization goes to King’s Books, and the Community Outreach by an Artist award goes to Linda Danforth.

In addition to honoring the award recipients, the Art at Work Opening Celebration will include live music by Pearl Dijango, poetry readings, and an art activity.

Details
Art at Work Opening Celebration
October 29, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Tacoma Art Museum
1701 Pacific Ave
This is a FREE event

Visit Tacomaculture.org for more information about November Art at Work month.