Cascadia Report

Category: Cascadia not cities

  • Land-use law faces challenges but isn’t dead

    Oregon’s Measure 37, the law allowing free-for-all development of property, faces major opposition. But it’s too soon to gloat over the demise of the law or a resurgence of something similar elsewhere in the region.

    A court ruled that the voter-approved measure doesn’t apply to the scenic Columbia Gorge because that area is protected by federal law. Gov. Ted Kulongoski has proposed changes to the law, and a new survey says most Oregonians wouldn’t vote for the measure if they had the choice today. Sightline Institute published a report on the law’s impact.

    Similar measures to roll-back land-use planning were defeated at the polls around the region last November. But there’s evidence that people still aren’t satisfied with property rules, which seem arbitrary to many yet still can’t focus growth and coordinate services. The debate is far from over.

  • Time to give U.S., Canadian coins equality

    Who’s idea was it to redesign U.S. quarters so they’re easily confused with Canadian ones? Now that the value of the currencies is approaching parity, this is getting tricky.

    Kansas quarterAnyone who travels between countries and then tries to use a vending machine or operate a coin laundry is in for a surprise. Newer U.S. quarters have an individual state’s design on the tail side. While Canadian quarters are slightly thinner, who can tell between a coin with a Canadian caribou and one with, say, Kansas bison?

    Canadian quarterWith the greenback tanking, the dollars are closer in value than at any time since the early 1980s. Considering Canada’s economic fundamentals and the Bush Administration’s apparent desire to devalue the U.S. currency, it’s possible that the dollars could match again, a change that would affect everything from trade to Whistler bar tips. Maybe Cascadia should take the lead by rejiggering its coin machines now.

  • Frustrated with Seattle? Throw a party

    One measure of the frustration with Seattle’s political process: put together a party with the explicit purpose of speeding things up and plenty of people will come. The trick, of course, is focusing the energy after the party ends.

    It was no different Tuesday night at the launch party for Friends of Seattle, a year-old group that promotes development policies in the city. True, there was plenty of energy from a crowd of maybe 300 business and political types, but I left wondering if the group can keep the momentum.

    The highlight was a speech by Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, focusing on adding transit and removing the waterfront viaduct freeway to help cut pollution. He started asking how many people walked or took the bus to the party. Many hands went up. How many lived nearby? Almost none. He noted the obvious: “Seattle is the most car-dependant city on the West Coast.” But beyond removing the viaduct freeway, there were few concrete policy proposals.

    Yet others were less convinced, which was surprising at a party for a group that has made preventing a viaduct rebuild its first issue. Several people said they came to the party because they received an evite but weren’t sure about what Friends of Seattle stands for. One woman said she couldn’t see how Seattle could possibly survive without the viaduct.

    Movements can start with platitudes, only to fizzle when it comes to finding a way to pay for big ideas or convince people to change their way of life. The party showed that frustration with the city’s status quo; the group that can focus that energy has its work cut out for it.

  • Passenger ferry fans eye alternatives after defeat

    A tax increase to pay for passenger ferries across Puget Sound was defeated by voters — again — in Kitsap County on Tuesday.

    After the second such defeat in four years, most reports say the idea of passenger ferries is dead. But another group says it’s just the idea of county-wide taxes for ferries that should be dropped: “The problem is not the voters. The problem is not the idea of foot ferries.” Instead local governments and nonprofits should have the authority to start such operations.

    UPDATE:

    I somehow missed this op-ed outlining five reasons to vote against the measure that was on the ballot. Two are convincing. Raising sales taxes is the knee-jerk mechanism to fund public needs in this state because of the stunted tax system. So why not goose demand (and generate revenue) by adding modest usage fees on arterials? The other is that Kitsap County shouldn’t bear the entire burden for a transit system that also benefits the Olympic Peninsula.

    Any ferry user knows that more capacity is needed. Who is solving the basic problem that keep tripping up passenger service?

  • Measure calls for tax on real estate developer

    Legislation in Montana would tax the income earned in the state by real estate investment trusts like Plum Creek Timber, potentially upending the model that has made such companies successful developers.

    The article wraps up a multi-day series in The Missoulian about the changing timber business, especially that of Seattle’s Plum Creek. Articles document how the timber company’s focus has changed over the years from tree harvesting to real estate development. One notes the rising public costs of developing housing subdivisions in rural areas.

  • B.C. opposition proposes alternative energy fund

    British Columbia would set aside C$50 million from oil and gas royalties to fund research in alternative energy, under a plan by the opposition party.

    The NDP proposal also faults the government’s support of a massive roadway project in the Vancouver area, saying that it downplayed the environmental effects by including Washington’s more-rural Whatcom County in its projections.

  • Congressman publishing book on alternative energy

    Rep. Jay Inslee, a staunch backer of the alternative energy industry, is about to publish a book promoting companies that may help counter climate change. The Democratic congressman (WA, 1st) co-authored the book with a fellow from the Center for American Progress:

    The book highlights companies and individuals, many of them in Washington state, that are working to make a difference. The authors said they wanted to include citizens in the process, not just policymakers.

  • Takeover is end of an era, cause for concern

    The takeover of Longview Fibre by a Toronto property company represents the abrupt end of an era. It’s unclear how Cascadia will benefit.

    Family-run Longview was bound to get caught up in the consolidation of the industry. The 80-year-old timber company was barely profitable and as recently as 2004 handled communications by fax and postal service instead of email. Acquisition by Brookfield Asset Management, one of the leading global investors in timberlands, will surely bring the operation up to date.

    It’s far from clear how acquirer Brookfield Asset Management can afford to pay a hefty premium for Longview’s mills and forests. Lumber prices are falling and there will be pressure to cover the debt by cutting costs and selling more. This should concern officials in towns where the company dominates and anyone who believes in the sustainability of the region’s forests.

  • Rockslide shows need for road alternatives

    There’s no definitive explanation yet for the rock slide that blocked traffic between Vancouver and Whistler for seven hours on Sunday.

    Sea-to-Sky rockslide; photo from news1130.comSurely the major widening of the Sea-to-Sky highway to handle traffic for the 2010 Olympics played a role, but construction isn’t officially getting the blame. It’s worth noting that radio Web sites provided information about the road’s conditions all day, while as late as 1:00 a.m. on Sunday night the Vancouver Sun’s Web site told readers to wait for the Monday morning newspaper.

    The unexplained closure ought to renew interest in alternative forms of transportation to the Whistler area. Why not an expansion of the passenger ferry service planned between Vancouver and Squamish during the Olympics? Why not start a fast ferry from Seattle to Squamish? If the C$600 million or so cost of the highway’s reconstruction makes economic sense, can’t alternatives pencil out too?

  • How the rest of Cascadia handles the Olmsted Bros.

    Apparently a movement is afoot to replace the long row of cherry trees along Lake Washington with native plants that would more closely follow the original Olmsted Brothers’ design for the park. Danny Westneat refers to this as “botanical correctness.”

    There are similar Olmsted designs in Vancouver and Portland. Any idea how they’ve handled updating these master-designed parklands that help make the cities so liveable?