Cascadia Report

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  • Making Washington a ski destination

    With the 2010 Olympics about to focus winter-sports attention on the region, the Washington ski industry has a golden opportunity to market itself. But less-than-ideal weather, lack of overnight accommodations and expansion limitations make it unlikely to spring into the national spotlight, according to this article in the News Tribune.

    Wet, heavy snow is one reason that skiing accounts for only 2 percent of overnight recreational trips in the state — about the same as cycling and horseback riding. “If you can ski in Washington, you can rip any place in the world,” Chris Rudolph, marketing director for Stevens Pass, is quoted as saying. “But ‘Come ski our hard snow’ doesn’t exactly make a great marketing slogan.”

    Most ski areas lack nearby hotels and can’t expand because they are located on public land. Instead of trying to lure tourists, the industry is talking about modest improvements to keep locals from going to Utah and Colorado, let alone B.C. Crystal Mountain is expanding, building a hotel and adding transportation. But officials say the best marketing is with a ski bum image such as at Mount Baker, which supposedly sacrifices about $50,000 in corporate sponsorships to keep ads and TVs out.

  • Poll shows Democrats have a chance — even in Idaho

    Even the most reliably Republican corners of Cascadia appear in flux this year, with the outcome of a statewide election in Idaho apparently in doubt for the first time since the early 1990s, according to a poll by the Idaho Statesman and a Boise TV station.

    Races for governor, a congressional seat and school superintendent are basically tied. Democrats haven’t won an Idaho governor’s race since 1990 or a seat in Congress since 1992. But the paper reports that this year could be different:

    “At this point in a typical campaign, Idaho Democrats are dispirited and looking for moral victories,” said Jim Weatherby, a political scientist who has overseen polling at Boise State University. “This time, it looks like they may actually pull off some major victories.”

    The election is still nine days away, however. The Sunday Los Angeles Times has an excellent piece on Karl Rove’s plans to juice Republican chances and make sure any Democratic gains can be rolled back in 2008. The GOP plans to reenergize conservatives who may be flagging, make sure the party’s campaign apparatus is functioning efficiently and put the resources of the federal government to use.

  • B.C. to pay for sewage clean-up

    British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell Friday pledged that the province would pay one-third of the cost of building a new sewage treatment system for Victoria. The city currently dumps raw sewage directly into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

    The funds could help avert a major PR problem for the 2010 Olympics, which are supposed to be environmentally friendly but face boycotts and protests if the capital continues to dump raw sewage. It also relieves friction between B.C. and Washington, where towns along the same body of water already paid for sewage treatment.

    “The lack of sewage treatment for our provincial capital is an embarrassment to British Columbians,” Campbell told CBC.

    The Victoria region was ordered in July to come up with a sewage-treatment plan by next June. The project is expected to cost as much as $500 million but setting up a public-private partnership to handle the project is expected to help control costs.

  • Comparing the region’s transit systems

    A Seattle group opposes the premise of a rebuilt viaduct freeway, a replacement tunnel or a combination of improved surface streets and transit. It says those options don’t solve any regional transportation needs.

    Vancouverskytrainseattle_1Instead, the group suggests a system of transit lines that echos the role of the now-defunct Seattle Monorail.

    The group, headed proposes a new tunnel for cars and transit under downtown Seattle, with lines leading to West Seattle, the north end and the suburbs. Unlike the monorail, which competed with under-construction light rail line, this plan, called Sea-REX, supposedly would complement other transit modes.

    The group tries to make the case for more transit infrastructure by juxtaposing other cities’ transit lines on a map of Seattle, located on this web site. It notes that even with the light rail line and Sounder commuter trains, Seattle’s system will be far from regional.

  • Olympics organizers say they’re under budget

    The organizers of the 2010 Olympics said preparations for the games are on time and under-budget, contradicting a critical audit last month.

    The Vancouver Organizing Committee report shows the games pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars more in sponsorship money than expected. Construction is under budget, the group said, following an injection of government money. Full details are expected next spring.

    An earlier report slammed the provincial government and organizers for vastly underestimating the cost of the games, partly because forecasts didn’t include improvements to roads and other infrastructure.

  • B.C.’s key industry likely to slump for years

    British Columbia’s key forest products industry is in for several more lean years, despite the windfall from the recent lumber trade agreement with the U.S.

    Across Canada, the industry is likely to shrink through 2010 thanks to a slumping housing market in the U.S., according to a report Thursday by the Conference Board of Canada. The group forecast some help from a weakening Canadian dollar and gradual thinning of inventory, which should lead to higher wood prices. Refunds of millions of dollars in duties paid to the U.S., under terms of the recent lumber-trade agreement, should help soften the blow.

    Still, B.C. is likely to weather the downturn better than the rest of Canada because of its relatively efficient mills, an economist at the group said. Production in B.C. may shrink by 2 to 3 percent from 2004 to 2007, compared to a 20 percent drop in Quebec and Ontario.

  • What’s at stake in airport-for-land deal

    The Port of Seattle and King County announced plans Tuesday to give the county ownership of a 47-mile suburban train line and the port control of Seattle’s secondary airport, which is now county-owned. The stakeholders need to tread carefully.

    Consolidating management of the region’s airports makes sense. Currently no fewer than four governments control the major airports closest to Seattle, leading to competition that doesn’t benefit taxpayers or travelers. Look at King County’s attempt last year to lure Southwest Airlines from port-owned Sea-Tac, a move that would have added to road traffic and hindered the airport’s regional role.

    Unfortunately the latest plans may waste the valuable rail corridor, a 100-foot-wide swath that could easily accommodate a multi-use path alongside a commuter rail operation for much of its length. King County Executive Ron Sims seems focused on ripping up the rails to build a bike path, which would be a personal legacy, according to an earlier press release, but wouldn’t significantly improve the region’s mobility. Instead, retooling the train corridor could dovetail with Sound Transit plans for light rail and buses to serve job centers on the Eastside, and with additional commuter trains south of Seattle. Parcels that don’t fit could be sold to help pay development costs.

    Those details seemed far away during the announcement Tuesday. When asked what the deal would cost, according to the Seattle P-I, Sims said: “A lot. Wow, I don’t think we’ve ever…I don’t even know how to start counting. Hundreds of millions of dollars.”

    There are still many pieces that need to come together for the deal, which also involves other property and rail lines. But the focus needs to be on improving the mobility of the region and on getting long-term value for taxpayers, not the vanity of another bike path.

  • Following Portland’s path to prosperity

    Portland’s livability is the envy of Cascadia’s other major cities. A News Tribune columnist came up with a list of seven sensible ways Tacoma (and other cities) might copy from Portland’s example:

    1. Tax increment financing. Cities need to push the state to allow them to raise money for infrastructure improvements, which spur private investment, by borrowing against future tax revenue. The mechanism is already widely used in other states.

    2. A public development commission. Set up a board to handle development and financing of projects, buffering them from constant political meddling. Vancouver did something similar when it redeveloped its waterfront land; in contrast, Seattle is an example of political interference run amok.

    3. Build light rail and streetcars. Portland is building a new four-star hotel with 600 rooms — and just 35 parking spaces. That’s possible because of the efficient train links to the airport and around the city.

    4. Elect leaders with vision. Politicians need to articulate a vision beyond and endless cycle of more taxes for more amenities. And voters need to demand that leaders articulate what makes their city livable.

    5. Stick to an urban growth boundary. Focusing development encourages a balance between supply and demand while providing critical mass for services.

    6. Give people a say. Respond to grassroots movements, like the ones in Portland to build a riverfront park instead of a freeway. The opposite would be to follow the conclusion of the recent Seattle Times poll advocating rebuilding Seattle’s viaduct freeway. Politicians are already using the conclusion as cover, even though it polled just 400 voters, 40 percent of whom were over 60 years old.

    7. A downtown university. Portland State University began as a downtown extension center and now sprawls for blocks, encriching the city. Tacoma may do similar with its University of Washington campus. What are other keys to success in other cities?

  • Port CEO gets raise despite poor results

    Port of Seattle CEO Mic Dinsmore got another raise Tuesday, despite the taxpayer-funded port’s lackluster performance and financial problems.

    The 6 percent raise boosts Dinsmore’s compensation to about $340,000, more than twice the pay of the governor and far more than heads of bigger ports around the country get. Dinsmore lashed out at port commissioners who questioned the increase.

    Pay for performance makes sense and, in fact, compensation should be raised for public positions in order to attract more competent candidates. But it’s hard to make the case for additional pay while traffic at the seaport and cruise terminals drops and as Sea-Tac loses its competitive position to Vancouver and Portland.

  • Portland rail project hits familiar obstacles

    Portland will break ground on the area’s first commuter train line on Wednesday, extending the light rail system farther into the city’s suburbs. Of course it’s under fire from critics.

    commuter rail by TriMetThe TriMet project will run 14.7 miles between Wilsonville and Beaverton, adding passenger capacity along the congested I-5 corridor. The trains will run on track owned and used by a private freight railroad, connecting park-and-ride lots through the suburbs to Portland’s light rail system by mid-2008.

    That’s not good enough for critics, who point out that the $117 million project is expected to serve only 4,000 passengers a day by 2020. The claim tha the project won’t take enough cars off the road is the same criticism still faced by Seattle’s Sounder train and likely by West Coast Express in Vancouver.

    In fact, the investment on fixed passenger-rail infrastructure is exactly what Cascadia needs in order to focus development, curb sprawl and lessen pollution from cars — as the region grows. Let’s hope the scrutiny makes TriMet pull off the project efficiently so similar the idea spreads.