Welcoming the New Year

Dear Tacoma,

All told, 2010 wasn’t that bad.

At the beginning, maybe we felt that we needed to lower our expectations in order to avoid disappointment – as if we had to prepare for more endings than beginnings. Sure, 2010 came with its share of good-byes: Merende, Comic Book Ink, Russell, the Alt Heidelberg ghost sign, Never Never Land, Commencement Bay Coffee, library branches and more. Perhaps wiser folks could sift through such a list and find some kind of insightful pattern, or make some kind of mighty indictment. And then, as a gift to all mankind, they might magnanimously share with us their brilliant “if only we’d done things this way” or their skeptical “perhaps folks will take my advice for the future.” Villains could be identified and decried.

There were a lot of stern and grim words at the end of 2009. From what I can tell, they didn’t do anyone a lick of good. So my best guess is that it’s useless to wallow in righteously indignant analysis. By now, it’s clear to everyone that times have changed, and it’s unnecessary to reiterate. We all know that the best progress Tacoma can make this year will not be in construction projects or condominium sales, but in preservation of what remains in our care – whether it be buildings, communities, education, art, history or business. We all know that mere words cannot accomplish this.

We can’t deny that 2010 also brought us a lot of new and promising things: a new Satellite coffee location, Vertical Club Tacoma, Harmon Tap Room, Cheney Stadium renovation, many new community garden sites, a South Tacoma farmer’s market, pedestrian traffic on Murray Morgan bridge, a makeover for the Spanish Steps, Big Whisky Saloon, two tiger cubs, an Apple Store, an H&M, Amocat Cafe, Spaceworks windowfront art, paid downtown parking (have at it), three new cafes on 6th, the New Faces in Independent Film festival at the Grand Cinema, a Sonic Drive-In, construction at the Foremost Building and the Joy Building, the Center for Urban Waters, Dorky’s Arcade, a native welcome figure in Tollefson Plaza and more. Heck, Lady Gaga performed here instead of Seattle (for what it’s worth).

Again, I’m not going to attempt to divine a theme from this list, since I’m pretty sure our readers care less about my self-serving perspective than they do about their own. My point is this: Tacoma is still a dynamic, interesting city; and perhaps there is no theme to suss out from these endings and beginnings. Perhaps this all makes perfect sense in the historic arc of Tacoma.

Choosing a vision of what Tacoma ought to aspire to would only lead to frustration. Some might believe that a focus on business – similar to that of Bellevue or Kirkland – might provide the ideal future for the City of Destiny. Those folks are probably unhappy lately. Others might be concerned that in order to be a true haven for arts, Tacoma should have a similar narrative trajectory to places like Portland, Brooklyn, Austin or Seattle. There must be murmurs of discontent in such circles as well. Some might think mass transit holds the only key to a relevant future. Others insist it’s found on bicycles, or at the Port or in the schools. Such single-minded visions can lead us to believe that our efforts are wasted, our cries for progress fall on deaf ears and that seeds are falling in infertile soil.

If ever we feel immobilized, we should take a moment to consider what already makes Tacoma unique. Why is it so insistently pliable, genial, unassuming, unpatterned and inclusive? Perhaps in this odd combination of big city and small town issues, the influence we can have by simply caring should not be taken for granted. For most Tacomans, residing here means caring about Tacoma – not just caring about the lifestyle it provides. It’s more than just the setting for our lives – it is a part of our lives like family. We cannot remake it in our own image any more than we can compel our families to cease confounding us. The relationship is active and demanding.

So, instead of beginning 2011 with a sense of frustrated optimism or damaged survivalism, I hope we can embrace our collective heritage. I hope we can organize in meaningful ways to preserve the things we value. I hope we can continue to cooperate for the betterment of Tacoma without acrimony or antagonism. I hope we look at our odd city with pride instead of frustration. I hope that definitions for Tacoma remain where they belong – just on the tip of the tongue but never quite articulated.

Happy New Year Tacoma!

Sincerely,

George Washington

P.S. The most frequently read story on Exit133 this year was the article announcing the opening of Big Whisky Saloon. For reasons more numerable than I care to explain, that fact alone is proof of everything I wrote in this letter.