Bright in the Corners
Call me crazy, but I think Tacoma is just fine. It’s time for every Taconnoisseur to reject the notion that civic vigilance is the same as believing we’re always on the verge of losing everything we care about. I say, enjoy Tacoma and take pictures of it. Keep records, because you’ll want everyone to know you were here.
In what other city is there such a palpable sense of possibility? Here, anyone can be a pioneer. The percentage of people who care deeply and specifically about this City is so high that support networks seem to form instantaneously. The community recognizes that a contribution is being made, and rallies around it. Not every good thing stays, but in nearly any other city, those very same good things would have been little more than an idea.
One evening a few months ago, Mike Hahn casually asked on Twitter whether anyone would be interested in a brief run followed by a pint at a pub. Now, 40+ Tacomans run with him every Thursday, and have a pint with him at a pub afterwards. It might not be Doctors Without Borders, but it brings people together in a relevant and interesting way. It’s a reflection of Tacoma. Here, the oddities and absurdities are simply odd and absurd, rather than some kind of slick, crass promotional.
The beauty continues. Despite the loss of the Luzon, Tacoma’s preservationist streak is fierce. There are a lot of old buildings in Tacoma. Many of them, like many of our empty commercial buildings, have no practical use at the present. Yet they remain, and they have their protectors. Quietly and ably, citizens are taking painstaking stock of our visible history, as evidenced by Historic Tacoma and the City’s TacomaCulture.org. There is uncertainty about the future of the old Gray Middle School building, for example, but there is no haze of apathy greasing the descending skids.
Tacoma is a City where we are comfortable living in the worn traces of past generations, dreaming of an ever brighter future. This underlying sense of respect for a stubborn working-class history tempers and permeates our vision of the City of Destiny.
Photos by Kevin Lidtka
As long as the sparkling new condominiums aren’t spilling shoppers and bar-hoppers into downtown Tacoma, curmudgeonry can be difficult to avoid. When yawning parking garages stare down dirty “For Lease” signs, cynicism is reflexive. But cynicism is the result of narrow focus. It is common nationwide to find civic discourse marred by the hysterical unwillingness to distinguish between realism and fatalism – especially these days. Tacoma may not be suffering from an egregious fit of such temporary psychology, but it is certainly present. The public voice is perceptively and monotonously distrustful, with various civic interest groups skittering like little hermit crabs, collecting grievances in various pods of isolation, united only by our grumpiness. When I meander the local blogosphere, I have to remind myself that the citizens can take responsibility both to celebrate and to criticize. Since the internet has arranged the intellectual wilderness into neat rows and clusters of like-minded perspective, it’s easy to exclusively choose one or the other.
But Tacoma is a dynamic city pushing itself toward the crest of adventure. The route forward is unpredictable and fraught with opportunities for failure and redemption. The market will change and the economy will improve. We may even get a cool grocery store or two. We’ll have our reasonable worries along the way, but we will certainly have a lot to be proud of.
Filed under: General
15 comments
R RR Anderson May 13, 2010
Buy now!
M Mike May 13, 2010
You hit the rusty railroad spike squarely on the head, Dan. This town, to which my family and I are admitted newcomers, is fairly ready to burst with pride and possibility. Give a little, and she gives back in spades. We’ve never experienced anything like it.
[buy now buy now buy now]
D debivans May 13, 2010
To me, Tacoma is like the “Aaa-aaa-aaa” of a sneeze without ever getting to the “Choo!” And that’s the way I like it.
A Altered Chords May 13, 2010
Good article Dan. I agree. Buy now.
C crenshaw sepulveda May 14, 2010
Anyone know when Daniel Blue’s column will come back to exit133.com? It has been a very long time.
C captiveyak May 14, 2010
Crenshaw:
I can’t think of a more perfect comment than the one you chose. You may be a genius.
Sincerely,
Peggable
D dni May 14, 2010
Awesome photos!
L loisstark May 15, 2010
You have captured my feelings about Tacoma – we are a fabulous collection of people and places – some ripe/juicy, some a bit green, some a little off. Rejoice – we are a great mix. I look forward to more of your submissions.
Z ZestyJenny May 15, 2010
Love. This.
M MspaceJoe May 16, 2010
“Tacoma, don’t get your hopes up” is a slogan a friend of mine used to say and unfortunately something I’ve been feeling lately. I’m afraid that my pioneering spirit has been shaken. I’m tired of my house getting broken into, my car stolen and vandalized, and everyone talking about Tacoma’s potential with little action. Yes, there are many really good people and its a beautiful place, but now with a child in the house I am wondering if this is the best environment for one to be raised. How much can one endure the constant gaze of neighbors waiting for you to leave so they can take your stuff. I know, it’s just stuff, but do I really have to cut all the plants out of the yard and light the perimeter? Is that a place we want to live? After ten years in Tacoma I’m sad to say I need to be convinced I should stay.
A Altered Chords May 17, 2010
W/ a child in the house you need to take any/all steps to ensure the safety of your house. No matter where you live.
Get and alarm: $25.00 per month.
Get a Dog: Humane Shelter.
Get motion sensing floodlights. $cheap.
Cut back shrubs/trees etc so that your windows are exposed.
Join neighborhood watch/Safestreets,
Get to know as many neighbors as you can.
These steps do not take a ton of effort.
C captiveyak May 17, 2010
Exactly what I was going to say, AC.
Urban crime is not unique to Tacoma. I live in Central, and knock on wood, the glass in my windows is 100 years old. Coming from a place in Hollywood where I had to pass through three deadbolts just to get to my front door, and had bars on all the windows, Tacoma seems rather quaint.
If you want to avoid the societal effects of uneven economic circumstance with a city, the best place to go is the suburbs. There’s no city that can give you uniform pleasantness and security.
That being said, I can understand MJ’s frustrustion. It’s no picnic dealing with a laundry list of misfortunes like that. But to say that those misfortunes are somehow connected to some tragic flaw of Tacoma —- eh, that i can’t get behind.
R RR Anderson May 17, 2010
I hesitate to get a dog. Dog poop is bad for the vegetable garden. Also if my house is mistakenly invaded by police swat team the first thing they’ll do is waste the dog with a machine gun. For these reasons i’ve been thinking about getting a goose. Ancient Romans used geese as ancient burglar alarms and their poop is great compost. Geese keep your grass mowed too. God Bless.
A Altered Chords May 17, 2010
Wouldn’t a goose fly away? Especially if he knows you will cook him at Christamas time?
J Jesse May 18, 2010
Hmmm… I put a vaccuum in the back of my truck at Tacoma Ave and 2nd for a month and hoped it’d get stolen. It didn’t. That actually gave me FAITH in Tacoma.