Cascadia Rising

On the Road

2008-08-04T15:55:00.000-07:00

"The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream." - Jack Kerouac

So I'm off for a couple months to explore some of the other regions of this immense continent. Thanks for reading and enjoy the Cascadian Summer!

Seattle Staircases

2008-07-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

Seattle is certainly a city of hills. Local lore would have it that Seattle, like Rome, was built on seven hills, but as the city spread outward, many more were encompassed. In fact, outside of San Francisco, Seattle may be the hilliest city in the United States. Seattle's relatively recent growth put technology on the side of development and allowed urbanity to essentially disregard the area's topographical variation.

And yet, although it certainly doesn't feel like it, there was a time in Seattle's past when getting up and down these hills involved more effort than simply pressing harder on the gas peddle. The Queen Anne Counterbalance is probably Seattle's most famous mode of ascencion, but a much older and simpler mode, was the staircase. Just like, streets, lamps, waterpipes, and electricity, stairways were, for many years, part and parcel of the city's infrastructure. In some of the cities steepest areas, steps have been a necessary part of transportation.

Sadly, as car culture has consumed us, Seattle stairways have been neglected and underused and money towards continued building, or even improvement, has been altogether diverted. Nonetheless these wonderful pieces of construction still remain hidden away in every neighborhood of the city, each has it's own distinct feel and character.

And so, in an effort to revive the love of these foot-friendly passages, I give you a photographic Ode to the Seattle Staircase. Enjoy!

[ Mount Baker]

[ Horton Hill]

[Beacon Hill]

[Upper Queen Anne W.]

[Montlake]

[Golden Gardens]

[Upper Queen Anne N.]

Towards Carfree Cities

2008-06-22T22:54:00.001-07:00

The Question of Urbanity

2008-06-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

[5th and Madison]

I recently finished reading The Life and Death of Great American Cities. This monumental work, written by the Urbanist Jane Jacobs in 1961, is an informative, and almost poetic read. If you haven't read it, do! Here are a few exerpts in the meantime:

"So many people want to make use of [successful city areas], so many people want to work in them or live in them or visit in them, that municipal self-destruction ensues. In killing successful diversity combinations with money, we are employing perhaps our nearest equivalent to killing with kindness."

"Life attracts life."

"To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting it into a disciplined work of art, is to make the mistake of attempting to substitute art for life."

"Big-city government today is nothing more than little-city government which has been stretched and adapted in quite conservative fashion to handle bigger jobs. This has had strange results, and ultimately destructive results, because big cities pose operational problems that are innately different from those posed by little cities."

"Attrition of automobiles by cities is probably the only realistic means by which a better public transportation can be stimulated, and greater intensity and vitality of city use be simultaneously fostered and accommodated."

The fact that she argued so vehemently for the minimization of automobiles in 1961 is true evidence of here contemporary relevance.

Nonetheless, while her goal of a healthy, livable city (opposed to a town or village) still survives today, the obstacles and challenges are much different now then at mid-century. Preeminently is the debate of a sustainable planet. The issues of global climate change, dwindling resources, and overpopulation were not nearly as dire in Jacobs' days as they are in our contemporary world. With these problems in mind it is not only necessary to make cities livable, but also to minimize their impact on the global environment.

The dominant theme in Cascadia today is that density = sustainability. There are many obvious benefits from a more compact urban environment, specifically the increase in walkability and effective mass transit, thereby minimizing carbon emissions. But I think these arguments tend to miss a greater, and perhaps more important issue. Derrick Jensen, in his recent book, Endgame, points out the problem nicely:

"The story of any civilization is the story of the rise of city-states, which means it is the story of the funneling of resources toward these centers (in order to sustain them and cause them to grow), which means it is the story of an increasing region of unsustainability surrounded by an increasingly exploited countryside."

Jensen's point brings up a frightening question: Could it be true that cities themselves are inherently unsustainable? My soft spot for cities makes me answer, optimistically, no. But, at the same time, I know we are going to have to wholly redefine the way we visualize urbanity if we intend to save this planet. In any case, this daunting question is something I intend to explore constantly in posts to come.

Help our Parks!

2008-06-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

[Oxbow Park]

In 2000 Seattlites agreed to spend $198.2 million on green space in the form of the Pro-Parks Levy. Actually, the name is a bit misleading. Certainly the levy helped to acquire and renovate parks (Fremont Peak and MLK Memorial Improvements). But, oh, it did so much more! This Levy facilitated in environmental rehabilitation (Ravenna Creek Daylighting), community building (International District Community Center), walking/biking connections (Burke-Gilman Extension) and even historic preservation (Belltown Cottages). In total the park helped fund over 150 projects all throughout the city: North (Bitter Lake Open Space), South (Kubota Garden), East (Seward Park Audobon Center) and West (Me-Kwa-Mooks Natural Area).

Unfortunatley the Levy expires at the end of the year and, in spite of all its accomplishments, Mayor Nickels has decided it is not worth renewing. This relatively inexpensive Levy helped bring dozens of neighborhoods and communities together to make our city a better place. Not only should this Levy be renewed, it should be a permanent fund for social and environmental improvements.

Luckily, you can help! Attend the upcoming citizens' meeting and voice your opinions on why we need a Parks Levy and what it should be used for.

2008 Parks Levy Meeting
Tuesday, June 17th 5:30PM
Lopez Room, Seattle Center

For all the Pro-Parks projects check out the map.

Historic Preservation

2008-06-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

[Lusty Lady at 1st and University]

A few days ago, Knute Berger, a proud and longtime Cascadian who writes for Crosscut, wrote an article criticizing the green movement in Seattle. The article, entitled Unsustainable Seattle, argues that construction in the name of density or sustainability is simply cloaked consumerism, while historic preservation is the true key to limiting our energy consumption. Unfortunately Berger uses limited contemporary facts and his biases stick out like a Sasquatch in Seattle. But deeper down I think he does raise some valid points, however poorly communicated.

His main argument revolves around his criticism that the energy costs in constructing new buildings is far greater than saving already existing ones. Siting a talk given by Donovan D. Rypkema, a D.C.-based economic development consultant, he points out that old buildings were usually built with "brick, plaster, concrete, and timber" which are much less energy consumptive that contemporary building materials, generally, "plastic, steel, vinyl, and aluminum". Further, he points out that when tearing down a building, we not only waste all the material, but also the "embodied energy", or the original energy used to construct the building. Near the end he deounces "greens" for not fully supporting preservation by quoting Rypkema:

"When you rehabilitate a historic building, you are reducing waste generation. When you reuse a historic building, you are increasing recycling. In fact, historic preservation is the ultimate in recycling. At most perhaps 10% of what the environmental movement does advances the cause of historic preservation. But 100% of what the preservation movement does advances the cause of the environment."

Now, while Berger is right in saying that preserving existing structures is an energy-effective building method, his argument isn't completely coherent. First of all, criticizing the materials used in new construction is not an argument against new construction, it is an argument against how new construction is done. The best ways to build are constantly argued and discussed within the "green" circles and certainly many would argue that a return to better, stronger, less energy -intensive materials is a must. Second, materials can easily be reused and yet still be reconstructed into an entirely new building. Rollins Street Flats, in South Lake Union boasts 81% recycled materials. Similarly, the Sabey pain-stakingly donated tons of bricks to the community when it demolished the original Rainer Brewery Storage Facility.

[Rendering of the Ice House at Airport Way and Nebraska]

Berger also fails to account for renovation and restoration work needed for historic preservation. These buildings are old. Wood frames can rot and need replacing, stairwells and improved water systems might need to be added. Oftentimes, entire interiors are gutted and replaced with an new floorplans. These types of things certainly take some energy consumption. It is probably less than constructing new buildings but in no way carbon neutral.

But no matter how energy intesive new building may be, the fact is that Seattle is a sprawl city and without major redesigning the city itself will be unsustainable. There is only so much you can do with a single family home, the structure that makes up nearly 70% of the city's area. Berger blasts Sound Transit for destroying, "a slew of wonderful old Capitol Hill apartments". But what does he expect? Should we abandon any thoughts of a real mass transit system in the name of preserving a few apartment complexes? Truth be told, Seattle is a young city and even our oldest buildings are infants in the eyes of the world.

These arguments are so poor because Berger's real reasons for criticism are entirely different. The fact is that Berger can't come to grips with the fact that the 50's style suburban neighbors of the past are not going to be staying around much longer. He laments that current construction will "transform the city beyond all recognition". This statement is absurd. Cities are constantly changing and growing, just like the people that make up their populations. It is irrational to wish for a stagnant, unchanging Seattle cityscape. But, as unreasonable as this idea may be, it is statements like this that are truly detrimental:

"Pioneer Square and the International District will be squeezed by encroaching high-rises. And residential neighborhoods are feeling pressures from a building boom enabled by city policies allowing taller, denser, and faster-track development."

It is exactly this time of mentality that will prevent Seattle from becoming a progressive, sustainable city in the future. Pioneer Square and the International District are the two most historically preserved areas in the entire city, and this will not change. But without new development in the area these neighborhoods are doomed to remain underutilized and underpopulated. As I mentioned before, single family neighborhoods are abundant in Seattle and these relics of a car-centric past are the dominant obstacle in our efforts towards sustainability. As Berger says, "greens and preservationists need to be allied" and for this to happen he is going to have to acknowledge the problem with a single-family city.

[Sodo Park at 1st and Hanford]

But aside from Berger's personal reasons for preservation there is a valid argument to be made here. Adaptive use and preservation do need to be a major part of future construction. Adapting a new development to the existing buildings can foster a much greater amount of creativity compared to the cookie-cutter designs that are constantly being thrown together. For example, as North Aurora becomes less of a highway and more of a city it should embrace it's road-side past. Many of the hotels and motels can be converted into affordable housing or SRO's, things that are in dire need in this city. Similarly the Duwamish Valley's industrial past has provided a slew of large, warehouse like buildings. These can be utilized in many different ways giving the neighborhood a distinct flavor and character while maintaining a structural record of its manufacturing history. Sodo Park, used by Herban Feast is a fantastic example of this type of adaptation.

What we need to do, and what has already been done in other Cascadian cities such as Vancouver and Portland, is leverage historic preservation through height and density incentives. Currently Seattle has an incentive program that allows developers extra height in return for public amenities. This means that the developer writes a check to the city of which 60% goes towards future affordable housing (not necessarily near the development) and 40% goes towards "the community", a vague concept that generally never materializes in much more than a better landscaped sidewalk and a few more benches. What we need is a "menu options" program which includes very specific ideas such as: community center, park space, historic preservation, environmentally friendly building, etc. Frequently a number of these options can be combined in creative ways allowing a much more colorful city. Such a system was used to develop Portland's Pearl District and the result is internationally praised.

I am excited to watch Seattle mature in my lifetime. A denser, taller city, with better transportation is certainly the goal of our generation. But in our efforts to accomplish these aims it is important to be prudent and creative to ensure a city that is not only more sustainable, but beautiful and unique as well.

Joe Metro

2008-06-11T02:50:00.000-07:00

"Take six quarters out of the pocket
And drop it in the box, hop the 48.
Off to pay homage.
It stops often.
I jot my
observations,
watchin' citizens walkin' off the Joe Metropolitan.

Proletariats and wayward sons,
With old Filipino men speakin' in they native tongue.
And the day is just begun
Greeted by the smell of a bum,
smelling something like beer, bar, and dung.
A brother in repose in the back,
All alone
Marinatin' in a pair of half-broken headphones.
Muddled in Rhymes...

...The Northwest fills my lungs, kills the pain in my chest."

-Joe Metro, Blue Scholars

A Cheap Solution to the Viaduct?

2008-06-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of [Price Tags]

Seattle Stencils

2008-06-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

Seattle's intellectualism manifested in street art.

(Queen Anne Ave. between Aloha and Highland)

Seattle's Neglected Past

2008-05-28T22:42:00.001-07:00

The picture above is of the Historic Hotel Seattle. Built in 1890, directly after the Great Fire, the triangular-shaped building stood in the heart of Pioneer Square until 1961. In that year the hotel, possibly the oldest building in Seattle, was razed for a parking garage in the name of Urban Renewal.

Now, I don't want to dwell in the past here, and I will acknowledge that, in fact, the demolition of the Hotel Seattle did have its benefits. It initiated the development of the Pioneer Square Historic District. It also, arguably, helped motivate Victor Stienbrueck and others to stand up against a simlar "urban renewal" of the Pike Place Market, now Seattle's biggest tourist attraction. In addition, the constructed parking lot is probably as close to architectural beauty as you can get with a resting place for cars. It even has a nickname, The Sinking Ship.

What I do want to quibble over is the poor state of Pioneer State today. In the past half-century Pioneer Square seems to have remained stagnant as the rest of Seattle has bustled on. It is as if the Historic designation of the area has utterly baffled developers and property owners, who would rather leave the land as is and look to less permanent neighborhood properties for their far flung ambitions (ie. Belltown, Cascade).

Take, for example, Occidental Park.

Looking West this is probably one of the most beautiful areas of the city. The ivy-infested brick building hints at a classic European city, while the native Totem Poles to the left prominently say Cascadia.

But facing East the picture is starkly contrasted. The noses of parked cars creep uncomfortably close to the pedestrian's space and the uninspired buildings have their backs turned, as if the street, rather than the Park, is a better place to attract clientele (and unfortunately this is quite possible).

Why has nobody had the adventurous desire to take advantage of this amazing spot, to seamlessly integrate the square with the rest of the space? Perhaps adding some arched brick structures while removing the cars, refacing shops and cafes to pour out onto an extended square, and renovating or adding loft apartments, with balconies peering down into the contained activity.

This same problem of neglected beautfy typifies most of the Historic Pioneer Square District. While appointment-oriented art galleries and game-day pubs have flourished with cheap rents, fine dining restaurants and luxury condos are rare to say the least. With a lack of solid pedestrian traffic the soft red-brick streets and plazas are only utilized by the homeless and others, too busy looking out for the law to enjoy the charm underfoot.

Perhaps the relative infancy of Seattle has given rise to a set of architects who have only learned to create something out of nothing. Perhaps these developers have never been taught the prudence of working within limits. Whatever the case may be, as we Seattlites continue to cry fowl against sprawl and the creation of new suburban communities it may help us to look back into the heart of our oldest neighborhood and challenge ourselves to provoke a true Urban Renewal.

2008-04-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

Champoeg Street Corner, courtesy of Wikimedia

The history of Cascadia, (then known as Oregon Country) reveals a very ambiguous power structure. As one of the vestiges of the frontier, men (and women) made the long journey to the Pacific Northwest as a way to escape established institutions and try their hand and a better (and wetter!) life. For many years the lucrative Hudson's Bay Company acted as a proxy government for the Cascadian people, of which the vast majority were employed under. The governments of both Britain and the US had agreed to share the land, essentially seeing it as nothing more than an exploitable resource base for their affluent Eastern cities. But as the population grew, and in turn, diversified, Cascadians realized that a structure of governance was necessary. A series of meetings were held in Champoeg, Oregon (halfway between Salem and Oregon City), which culminated in the establishment of the first government of Cascadia.

On May 2, 1843, in the bustling prairie town of Champoeg, prominent settlers of Oregon Country debated about how to establish law. Finally, a line was drawn on the ground. All those in favor of establishing an independent government were asked to cross the line. The vote was close, 52-50 but the settlers decided on a new government. Thus, the First Provisional Government of Oregon was established. The government existed for almost six full years, providing a legal system as well as a common defense for the Cascadian pioneers. On March 3, 1849 the government was absolved as the Oregon Territory was established under the United States Government. Nonetheless, Cascadians did in fact rule themselves before anyone else got the chance.

To commemorate this historic event the Cascadian Commons is hosting a Founder's Day Event in Champoeg State Park. Although the town of Champoeg no longer exists due to a devastating flood, a marker has been laid down to mark the place of the Champoeg meetings. The Cascadian Commons intends to reenact the line in the ground and ask all who believe in an independent Cascadian Government to cross it. Find out more information at their website: CascadiaCommons.org

Still More Car Freeness

2008-04-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Sound Transit Train courtesy of Wikipedia

Apparently Cascadians have taken Peter Newman's advice to heart. In a new report released by the Sightline Institute, the combined states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho have decreased per capita gas consumption in seven of the last eight years. This means we are now using less gas per capita than at any time since 1966.

Of course, the news isn't all good. Increases in population almost directly offset the amount of gas that individuals are consuming, meaning that total gas consumption has pretty much remained flat since 1997.

Nonetheless in less than a decade per capita consumption has declined by a whopping 11 percent, making it the fastest reducing region in the nation. In fact, in the mid '90s Cascadia was one of the most gas guzzling areas of the country, but now we are at about 9 percent less than the national average.

As more people step out of their cars its our job to make sure that development and infrastructure promotes non-car use. Without some major investments in land management and public transportation we will see a major gentrification of our cities. The lower class will be pushed out of the urban and into the suburban; places that were built to to escape the poor in the first place! Oh the irony. The days of huge highways and suburban sprawl are over. Let us usher in a new era of public funding that is directed at healthy, livable communities for everyone.

Get Involved:
Seattle Great City Initiative
Bicycle Transportation Alliance (Portland)
Carfree Portland
Smart Growth BC

Car Free Cascadia!

2008-04-11T20:58:00.001-07:00

Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square, courtesy of Wikipedia

The Oregonian published this great interview with Australian Professor, Peter Newman. He studies what he has dubbed, "car culture" in America and Australia. Here are a few excerpts:

Q: We have a $4 billion proposal to replace a six-lane highway bridge on Interstate 5 with a new bridge that would have six highway lanes, plus six auxiliary lanes. It would also extend light rail to the northern suburbs and have generous pedestrian facilities. It's been billed as having a little bit for everyone. Is that kind of project worth pursuing?

A: Four billion dollars is what you're going to need for building these transit lines and subcenters.

Keeping the traffic moving is what you have to stop doing. VMT (vehicle miles traveled) reductions are not going to be promoted by that bridge.

There will be a whole series of freeways taken down when they reach the end of thei life in cities around the world. The one in Seoul (South Korea) came down. Now it's a beautiful river, and a park with transit. The mayor who did it is now the president.

Q:What's the difference between a sustainable city and your latest term, a resilient city?

It's moving more directly into this climate change and oil agenda. In many ways, the sustainability word is being made to mean "green." But the agenda of oil and greenhouse gases -- the consumption of resources -- is about resilience in the city.

Resilience means you can have options so that we can achieve a 50 percent reduction in VMT, so that we've got capacity in the transit system, you've got destinations clos by that you can reach biking and walking, and if you need to use a car you don't need to go far.

Suburbs on the fringe built with all the certainty of the future are now very uncertain, because people living there sometimes have to spend 40 percent of their household budget on transport, and 40 percent is not sustainable.

If you're going from $3.50 a gallon gas to $6 a gallon, which is the price of fuel in Europe ... many of these suburbs will be abandoned. They are not resilient.

Q:Every month or so, another magazine names Portland the most sustainable city in America. They tend to cite the renewable energy we use, the commuters who don't drive to work and the number of green buildings. What should the next challenge be for us?

On those sustainability ratings, it comes out on top, and I would agree with that. But on a resilience rating, it's not. New York comes out on top.

There are whole regions of New York that are just as bad as Atlanta. But the core of Manhattan is very resilient. It's got enormous ability to take people other than by car.

Portland now needs to lead the way in the exponential decline in VMT, and there can be no complacency anymore in saying, "Well, we're already there."

Check out the whole interview with some videos here.

Cascadian Drinking Song

2008-02-24T17:20:00.000-08:00

Blue Moon Tavern in Seattle, courtsey of Wikipedia.

Here's a short Drinking Song I came up with while bored at work the other day. There's no real tune for it yet. If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, or additions let me know.

From the Emerald City to Bridgetown down South
An Ode to Cascadia I sing from my mouth.

With it's mountains so mighty and its trees oh so tall,
We drink to Cascadia 'cause it's got it all.

Cheers! to Cascadia with all of it's green,
Where the women like it dirty and the waters are clean.

Cheers! to Cascadia let the rain fall outside,
We'll dance in the puddles while the foreigners hide.

We've got breweries a plenty, the best pot around,
and Autumn brings magical fruit from the ground.

In winter the snow piles high on the peaks,
and long summer nights let us stay out and drink!

Cheers! to Cascadia with all of it's green,
Where the women like it dirty and the waters are clean.

Cheers! to Cascadia let the rain fall outside,
We'll dance in the puddles while the foreigners hide.

We pour,
One for the Salmon who's homes all got dammed,
by greedy capitalists here in this land.

But now we have wisdom, we've learned from the past,
We must work with nature to make this land last.

Cheers! to Cascadia with all of it's green,
Where the women like it dirty and the waters are clean.

Cheers! to Cascadia let the rain fall outside,
We'll dance in the puddles while the foreigners hide.

BC becomes North Cascadia?

2008-02-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

Mt. Robson in BC, courtesy of Wikipedia

So I haven't posted in a while but this was too good to pass up. The Times Colonist, a major newspaper in British Columbia, recently held a renaming contest for British Columbia. Of course, the results are merely for fun but interestingly "Cascadia" and "North Cascadia" were the most common, with "Pacifica" close behind.

Check out the full story here.

Thanks to Sightline for the find (and for naming their post Cascadia Rising).

Bellingham's Sustainable Connections

2008-01-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

Check out the website here.

Geothermal under the Cascades

2008-01-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Mt. St. Helens courtesy of Wikimedia

By Les Blumenthal
McClatchy Newspapers
Jan. 24, 2008

Deep beneath the Cascades Mountains, where molten magma heats the Earth's crust and occasionally bursts through cracks and fractures in violent volcanic eruptions, lurks an energy source that scientists think could be tamed to help power the Northwest.

Though there's been little exploration, and no deep test holes have been drilled, the geothermal potential of the Cascades — which run from Washington state south through Oregon into Northern California — is starting to attract a buzz. In the next 10 or 15 years, some say, commercial-sized power plants could start generating electricity.

"As this area is predicted to contain vast geothermal resources, development plans for the Cascades are becoming an increasingly frequent topic of conversation," said a report late last year for the Department of Energy.

Behind Iceland, which gets more than 26 percent of its electricity from geothermal plants, the United States is a world leader in geothermal development, with plants pro
ducing more than 3,000 megawatts of electricity.

California is No. 1, and resources in such other Western states as Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Oregon are being developed. Nevada has been dubbed the "Saudi Arabia of geothermal."

A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that the amount of geothermal power that could be recovered from deep drilling would represent almost 3,000 times the amount of energy currently consumed in the United States.

Last year's Energy Department report said the Cascades contained "potentially significant" geothermal resources, but it cautioned that the effort to tap these resources — including drilling miles into volcanoes to tap "supercritical fluids" — won't be easy.

Even so, the hunt is under way, and some energy companies have zeroed in on certain areas.

Near Baker Lake, north of Seattle, an Oregon company is waiting for leases from the Forest Service and considering a 100-megawatt geothermal plant that could provide enough electricity for 100,000 people. The power it would produce would be cheaper than the electricity from a new natural gas-fired generating plant.

"We are very serious about this," said Steven Munson, the chief executive of Vulcan Power Co.

In the rough triangle from Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams in Washington state to Mount Hood, east of Portland, there's enough geothermal potential to develop 1,000 megawatts of electricity, the equivalent of three or four gas-fired generating plants, said Susan Petty, president of AltaRock Energy in Seattle.

The Cascades are part of the so-called "Ring of Fire" of active volcanoes and earthquake faults that surround the Pacific Ocean.

Southeastern Washington, eastern Oregon, southern Idaho, eastern California, Utah and Nevada are in a zone marked by deep fractures in the Earth's crust that tend to be pathways to the deep circulation of hot water.

Though that water is hot enough to run steam turbines, Petty and others said the temperatures of the geothermal water and hot rocks underlying the Cascades might be even better for producing power. And because magma is closer to the surface in the Cascades, the drilling holes there might not have to be as deep.

Honoring Dr. King

2008-01-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

Seattle Center Proposal courtesy of UW Libraries

From HistoryLink:

On November 8, 1961, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), the great civil rights leader, arrived for his only visit to Seattle. He spoke at the University of Washington and at Temple de Hirsch on Thursday, November 9, and at Garfield High School and the Eagles Auditorium on Friday, November 10, 1961. A reception followed at Plymouth Congregational Church.

In his lectures, the civil rights leader stressed creative protest to break down racial segregation and discrimination, and called on President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) to use the executive order to declare all segregation unconstitutional. All of his talks were inspirational and promoted the concept of brotherhood.

After the last lecture, he requested that McKinney take him to a barbecue restaurant in the Central Area where they spent several hours eating and talking and reminiscing. He left on Saturday, November 11, impressed, according to McKinney, by the progressive attitude he saw in the city, especially in the African American community.

Cascadian MLK Events:
Poetry Reading and Open Mic in Bellingham
Workshops, March and Rally in Seattle
Unity Breakfast in Tacoma
Rally and March in Spokane
March and Rally in Boise
Rosa Parks Monologue in Vancouver
Rally and March in Portland
MLK Health Care Forum in Medford
Buddhist Peace Walk in Salem
Bowl for Beans Benefit in Arcata

Cascadian Eco-Beer

2008-01-17T23:11:00.000-08:00

So at work today, enjoying the old Seattle Weekly, I came across Aimee Curl's article on eco-friendliness in the coffee industry. Although there weren't too many surprises (guess what, Starbucks doesn't recycle, aaah!) it's always interesting to see product comparisons with respect to greenness. Originally I thought I would just post a more generally Cascadian version of Curl's article, but then I got to thinking...

Coffee isn't the Cascadian, or even Seattle icon that so many claim it to be. Starbuck's may have started here but its popularity has little to do with coffee and much more to do with service and marketing. This is exactly why they went global and have been just as popular everywhere else. They had an effective business model that they perfected in Seattle and that's about it. Sure we like our caffiene fix everyday but were not a bunch of coffee connoisseurs who can determine the country of origin with just one whiff. In fact, if that were the case, I would expect that Starbucks would have done worse around here because people would realize that Starbucks' Grande Mocha is nothing more than the Big Mac of java.

But Beer. Now that's something that Cascadians truly take seriously. It's common knowledge that microbreweries prosper here like shrooms in a cow patty. In fact, the top five states with the most craft breweries are as follows:

1. California 200+
2. Colorado 101
3. Oregon 91
4. Washington 87
5. Michigan 69
(From Reelbeer.com)

And this is good beer too. As I mentioned in a previous post British Columbia dominated the show at the Canadian Brewing Awards. Likewise, California, Washington, and Oregon are first, third, and fifth respectively in most medals won from the American Brewer's World Beer Cup. Even in international competitions Cascadians show their talent. In the 2005 International Brewing Industry Awards the only winners from the entire North American continent all came out of Cascadia (Bridgeport Brewing, Oregon; Rogue's Brewing, Oregon; Sierra Nevada, Northern Cali; and Pacific Western, BC)

So, with inspiration from Aimee Curl and an added PNW twist, I give you the greenest beers in Cascadia!

If there was an award for greenest brew practices (which there sure as hell should be!) it would most certainly go to Anderson Valley Brewing Company. Based in Boonville, Ca, at the heart of the Emerald Triangle, this brewery is so eco-friendly I don't even know where to begin! Let's see, the company really took off in 1999 when they built their new, three-story, state-of-the-art brewhouse . They situated the building so that only one tree had to be removed, and they planted two more in its stead. The new facility boast a fully solar-powered brewing process as well as a three-pond effluent waste water treatment system. This means that water used to brew the beer is also used for heating and chilling beer, cleaning the facilities, and eventually irrigating all 30 acres of the company's property. The brewery also utilizes and supports its local community. All water used by the brewery is taken from wells on their property. The hops are all certified organic and grown in the Pacific Northwest. In addition, after using the grains for brewing they clean it, then donate it to local livestock owners. They estimate that they give away approximately 2000 tons of nutrient grains a year. These efforts have gotten them numerous awards from California's Waste Reduction Awards Program. In fact, AVBC is so environmentally conscious that they recently acquired four shire horses which they use to haul beer to local stores and pubs in the area (fed with the spent brew grains of course!).

Down in Oregon Country the Full Sail Brewing Company, based in Hood River, has gained recognition for its social responsibility. In 1999 after 12 years of brewing and 47 workers the company became an independent, employee-owned company, dividing the company between all workers. Under this ideology the company has been able to implement a number of innovative practices that have helped them reduce their environmental impact. For example, the company runs 4 10-hour work days which saves 20% on water and power consumption. 85% of hops and 95% of barley used in Full Sail Ales are grown in the Northwest and through various minor fixes they have reduced their water consumption to only 3.45 gallons of water for every gallon of beer (the industry average is between 6 and 8).

While nothing to date can compete with Anderson Valley, Olympia, Washington's Fish Brewing Company has been giving back to the environment since 2002. As their name suggests they try to promote the protection and rehabilitation of salmon habitat's throughout Cascadia. Their three main beers, amber, Pale, and IPA are all certified Organic. Their signature beer the Wild Salmon Pale Ale uses hops from a Yakima, Washington farm which was the first farm to producecomercially organic hops in the United States. A portion of the proceeds from this beer also goes towards salmon restoration and watershed protection. I also must mention the fact that all six-packs of Fish beer contain the proclamation, Brewed in the Republic ofCascadia. You gotta love that!

Of course, lets not leave BC out of this! Crannog's Ales has the dubious title of Canada's only certified organic farm brewery. Crannog's is similar to Anderson Valley, but on a smaller scale. They brew on a 10-acre farm which feeds and sustains the brewers as well as contributes to the brewing process. They also use water from their own wells and reuse grains for livestock feed. They claim to have created a harmonized, zero-waste system. While the brewery pledges to only deliver beer within driving range of the brewery this makes it difficult to secure outside of British Columbia. Nonetheless they deserve credit for standing behind their beliefs.

Juneau's Alaskan Brewing Company is also a committed green brewery. It is their goal to have a zero-net impact on the environment. To this end, in 1998 they were the first craft brewer in the country to install a carbon dioxide recovery system, which captures and reuses the greenhouse gas naturally produced in the fermentation process. Of course, they acknowledge that working in the harsh Alaskan environment they cannot be quite as eco-friendly as other places. Thus, they have pledged a portion of their proceeds to promote the health of the Pacific Ocean via their coastal CODE (Clean Oceans Depend on Everyone) Organization. The company has also recieved numerous awards for its outstanding health and saftey practices among its employees, thereby promoting healthy environments externally as well as internally.

While these five microbreweries have shown tremedous leadership in environmentally friendly beer making, their are many Cascadian craft breweries working to make their companies greener. Check out a full list of Activist Brewing Companies here.

References:

http://www.coffee.net/library/eco-conscious-green-beer.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_1_13/ai_82352630

The State of Jefferson

2008-01-16T18:26:00.000-08:00

Via Magazine
By Christopher Hall
September 2003

Barreling north on Interstate 5 in the late afternoon, with the Siskiyou Mountains before me slipping into shadow and lofty Mount Shasta glowing orange in my rearview mirror, I suddenly find I'm no longer in California. Not so strange, perhaps, except for one thing: Oregon still lies a good 20 miles ahead.

In a pasture just off the highway, the words STATE OF JEFFERSON appear, painted in eight-foot letters on a barn roof. A few minutes later, I pass a sign confirming that this stretch of road, traversing a 2,500-foot-high valley of hay farms and cattle ranches, is litter free thanks to the State of Jefferson Chamber. On the car radio, an announcer reminds me in his soothing baritone that I am listening to Jefferson Public Radio. Clearly, I have entered some real-life Twilight Zone called Jefferson.

A quick check of the history confirms that Alaska was the 49th state to enter the union. But if events had unfolded a bit differently, the State of Jefferson—carved from the border counties of Siskiyou, Del Norte, and Trinity in California and Curry in Oregon—might have beaten the northern giant to the punch.

Partly serious bid, partly publicity stunt run amok, the Jefferson movement spawned impassioned rallies, highway blockades by a self-appointed border patrol, and the election of a governor who posed for inauguration day photos with a bear named Itchy.

Today in these counties it's unlikely that you'll encounter serious secession sentiment, or even a tame bear. You won't be stopped by the border patrol—only by natural wonders like the rushing jade waters of the Smith, the last major undammed river in California. During my four-day drive through modern Jefferson, I pulled my car over plenty of times. I gawked at soaring bald eagles. I stood in awe before an army of insect-eating, cobra-headed California pitcher plants rising from a misty forest floor. I felt the spray of water where rivers meet ocean surf, and I ate salmon within view of the boat that caught it only hours earlier. And all along the way, I learned about this almost-state that was born in a small Oregon town.

With its peaceful, slightly funky feel, Port Orford, Ore., hardly seems a cradle of revolution, but in 1941 it had Gilbert Gable at the helm. Gable described himself as the "hick mayor of the westernmost city of the United States" when he met Stanton Delaplane, the San Francisco Chronicle reporter who penned a series of Pulitzer Prize-winning stories about the Jefferson movement. Gable was actually a transplanted Philadelphia public relations man who had headed west with a wad of dough and big plans for extracting the region's timber and ore and for transforming his sleepy new hometown into a bustling seaport. One of the things that stood in his way was bad roads, many of which were no more than oiled dirt lanes that turned to sludge in rain and snow.

Perhaps hoping to get a good new road or two, Gable announced in October 1941 that Curry, Josephine, Jackson, and Klamath counties in Oregon might merge with California's Del Norte, Siskiyou, and Modoc counties to form a new state. "It was more publicity stunt than serious secession movement at that point," says Jim Rock, historian and Jefferson expert. "After all, under the U.S. Constitution, they had to get the approval of Congress as well as the legislatures of both states."

Port Orford today has a small fishing fleet and an unusual open-water port, where boats are hoisted out of the ocean rather than tied to a dock. The population is a mix of fishermen, old-time lumbermen and ranchers, and newly arrived retirees. A good number of artists live and work in the area, selling pieces at galleries and gift shops like Port Orford Pottery, which is open "most days" from April to October, "unless the fish are biting."

Drive slowly through town or walk the bluffs in Port Orford Heads State Park to take in the stunning views up and down the coast and you'll see that booming development, as Gable envisioned it, never came. "We get visitors throughout the year, but mostly in the summer," says current Port Orford mayor Gary Doran, who is as low-key as Gable was hard charging.

Visitors come to stroll along sandy Battle Rock Beach, the site of a fierce 1851 fight between pioneers and Rogue Indians, or to explore Rocky Point tide pools that brim with flowerlike anemones and deep purple and bright orange starfish.

Humbug Mountain State Park attracts scuba divers and windsurfers, as well as those who are up to the challenge of a hike through old-growth forest to the mountain's 1,756-foot ocean-side summit.

Full story here.

Learn more about this little rebel state at www.jeffersonstate.com

The Weekly Alternative

2008-01-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

Deschutes River courtesy of Wikipedia

Its that wonderful time of week again. This time let's do South to North.

[The Guardian]: San Fran Politicians have unanimously backed a $185 million parks bond called Proposition A. While many hail this as a uniting environmental pursuit some question the sum of this project. Many argue that the $110 million bond passed in 2000 only helped for repairs and didn't do much for additional green space. As well, a recent analysis identified at least $1.7 billion worth of backlogged park needs which the $185 million could only begin to puncture. The bond needs a 66 percent voter approval in February to pass.

[Editor's note: I just wanted to draw a comparison to Seattle on this issue. While Seattle has about 250,000 people less than San Fran, it passed a $198 million Pro-Parks bond in 2000 and many hope to see that renewed if not increased in the next year or so.]

[The Source]: The City of Bend has seen significant financial troubles as homebuilding in the area continues to slow. Wrestling with a $2.7 million shortfall this year the city decided to lay-off Pat Kliewer, historic preservation planner for the city. Historic properties are abundant in Bend and its neighboring cities and some fear that this could change with Kliewer as a "watchdog".

[Eugene Weekly]: What's better Bus Rapid Trasit or Light Rail? Eugene politicians claim BRT but some citizens aren't buying it.

[Portland Mercury]: While Oregon was suppose to allow same-sex marriages starting January 2, recent events have complicated the process. A number of legal hearings, as well as number of rallies, are now scheduled through February about gay rights issues. In related news, Dan Savage has endorsed Sam Adams for Mayor of Portland.

[The Stranger]: Class issues in Seattle come to the front again as the City of Seattle denies commercial space in Sodo. While the city claims it is protecting industrial companies and, in turn, blue collar jobs, the concentration of industry in South Seattle means a much greater percent of air and water pollution in the area.

[The Inlander]: Apparently news takes a while to get over the mountains because Spokane still seems to think they are immune from the housing slump.

[Boise Weekly]: A nice little preview of 2008 Idaho politics.

[Monday Magazine]: Some Langford residents are upset by a loan taken out by the city from the Province of BC for nearly $25 million to fund a new overpass. Citizens claim that the overpass will only cater to specific upper-class developments, namely Bear Mountain, Totangi Forestry, and Goldstream Heights. Further, people are questioning the city's bylaws which allowed the decision without any public meetings. Activists hope to get enough citizens on board to block the loan and the overpass.

[The Georgia Straight]: Does BC save enough agricultural land? Provincers weigh in.

[Anchorage Press]: A few Anchorage residents are lobbying to get Alaska a law school. Currently it is the only state in the Union without this higher educational facility. As Alaskan oil interest is on the increase, Wally Hickel and Craig Agliatti feel that Alaskans need to be more educated about their state's legal rights, environmental issues, and concerns about native peoples.

Ramblin' by Rail

2008-01-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

Trains came to Cascadia in the mid-1800's with the first real rail company, Oregon Steam Navigation, beginning in 1861. Throughout the rest of the century railroad barons held huge sway in the Northwest as their decisions could literally make or break a city. This was evident in the later 1800's as Tacoma and Seattle battled who would become the final leg of a short line from Portland that connected them to the transcontinental railroad. After the advent of automobiles trains fell out of favor since they could not provide the freedom of personal transportation. Many railroad companies went out of business and abandoned their rails leaving them to rust in their place (Many were later turned into walking trails, such as Bellingham's Alabama Creek Trail and Seattle's Burke-Gilman). Well, this morning I took the train from Seattle to Bellingham and I believe its time that we bring rail travel back, bigger and better.

Riding the train Northbound from Seattle is a truly relaxing experience. As historical happenstance would have it (or perhaps the fact that locomotives were invented over a century before automobiles) the existing rail lines have by far and away some of the best right-of-ways in all of Cascadia. Unlike I-5 which runs from strip mall to strip mall, the train runs almost directly along the Puget Coast, allowing unhindered views of the San Juans and Olympic Mountains. As the train chugs past Everett it heads inland, meanerding along the Snohomish River and then dropping into the farmlands of the Skagit Valley. Surprise relics pop up along the route as well, such as an old beached tugboat just north of Edmonds or a colorful Welcome to Mt. Vernon sign, tucked under an old 99 bridge.

Of course, the train isn't perfect. The typical journey by rail can take up to almost twice the time of driving and the price is not yet competitive to a car (unless those gas prices keep up their trend). Talking to some fellow Cascadian Independents we decided that Cascadia really needs to take rail travel seriously. Geographically it makes sense as we are much longer North-South, than East-West. As well, demographically, we are almost entirely concentrated on the already existing I-5 corridor, which railways already run the length. By putting in a high speed train, such as the Eurostar connecting London and Paris, we could have service from Vancouver to Portland in under three hours! And this isn't like 3 hours to an airport where you then have to wait for your baggage, wait for a shuttle or taxi, and then spend 15 to 20 minutes driving into town, this is literally downtown to downtown.

Plus, you get the benefits of being eco-friendly. In a recent press release from Eurostar it was approximated that traveling by train emits roughly 10 times less carbon dioxide per passenger than traveling by airplane. Not to mention that high speed trains run on electricity, and thus have the ability to come from renewable sources, opposed to burning jet fuel.

Well, as it turns out my friends and I weren't the only ones to realize how brilliant train travel would be in Cascadia. The Cascadia Center, a project started through the Discovery Institute, has been trying to increase efficiency in regional transportation since 1993. Although the Discovery Institute is continuously harassed (rightly) for their promotion of Intelligent Design, the Cascadia Center has actually worked hard on a few important transportation projects in the past, such as helping negotiate a second train between Vancouver and Seattle. Sure, they aren't always right and they haven't yet promoted a high speed train, but at least the ideas are out there.

So what can the average Cascadian do to help promote better train travel? Well, check out the Cascadia Center's webpage and send them a letter showing your interest for high speed rail. The classic letter's to your congressmen and women is also always good. But most of all get out their and ride the rails! Trains are expensive and there will never be financial support if there isn't any consumer support. So pick a destination, charge up your ipod, and go enjoy the Cascadian landscape from the big windows of the old steel pony.

Pictures:
Seattle's King Street Station painted by J. Craig Thorpe
Portland's Union Station courtesy of Wikipedia
Vancouver's Pacific Central Station courtesy of Wikipedia

Cascadia in Sports

2008-01-13T23:17:00.000-08:00

At the request of a fellow Cascadian living in Virginia Beach, Va I have decided to look at how Cascadia has been utilized in sports. I also feel that since the only Cascadian NFL team sucked it up pretty horribly in the playoffs yesterday, losing to Green Bay, we could use a little sports bolstering. So lets begin:

There are a number of teams who use the Cascadian name but the oldest has to be the Cascadians' hiking and climbing club based in Yakima, Wa. The group was founded in 1920 with 104 members and has been the eastside equivalent of the Seattle-based Mountaineers by popularizing snowshoeing, tobogganing, and skiing for all the outdoor lovers on the eastern slopes. They are currently involved in numerous trail restoration projects throught the Pacific Northwest and play, "an important role in the designation of Forest Service Wilderness Areas".

Another Cascadian team is the Zabinski Racing-Team Cascadia. Although I believe the team ceased after 2001, it was the only West Coast based American LeMans sport racing team. The team was headed by 5 time champion Ed Zabinski and their best overall finish was 4th place in the Sebring competition in 1998.

While maybe not a traditional "sport" (but just as fierce!) is the World Crossword Puzzle Championships. Yes that's right, Cascadian brains teamed up to create a team for this hard fought competition. Their results are here. (If anyone has any ideas on how to make sense of these scores, let me know, thanks.)

There are also a few competitions named in honor of our great region. The most prominent is the Cascadia Cup. This is a season long competition between the three Cascadian First Division Soccer Clubs: the Portland Timbers, the Seattle Sounders, and the Vancouver Whitecaps. Started in 2004 it has been won twice by Vancouver and twice by Seattle (maybe next year Portland).

In 2007 another Cascadia Cup was established in Bellingham, Washington. The competition, hosted by local biking club, Worms, involved nine events and had a premier showing of 35 bikers. They intend to make this a yearly event.

And finally, what Cascadian sports summary could be complete without mentioning the wonderful Cascadian Bike Porn Tour. This group of Porn/Bike Enthusiasts rode from PDX to Van City showing the world the wonders of bicycle porn. Their slogan: "We Intend to Offend". Sigh, only in Cascadia I guess.

Well, unfortunately that about sums it up for Cascadia in the sports world. Perhaps in the future we can get some more teams named after our unqiue region. If you know of a team out there, pee-wee soccer to club water polo, please post a comment and let us know about our Cascadian warriors.

Cascadian Myspace

2008-01-13T22:09:00.001-08:00

Thats right, Cascadia has joined the rest of the 13-25 year olds and gotten itself a myspace page. The offical page name is the Cascadian Independence Project (CIP) and was put up by Brandon Letsinger in 2005 as a way to promote his political movement. There was a wonderful article about the CIP in a 2006 edition of the Eugene Weekly, I highly recommend you check it out. The offical CIP site is www.cascadianow.org. (Editor's Note: The site is currently down and under repair) If you are a current a myspace user I suggest you befriend this group ASAP!

Most Livable City

2008-01-12T00:28:00.000-08:00

A Post to make Seattlites jealous.

Courtesy of NYC's StreetFilms. (If you have the time, check out the feature on Ciclovia, in Bogota. Probably one of the most creative intiatives any city has ever taken.)

Billionaires make Crappy Vids too

2008-01-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

You just gotta love local multi-billionaires who makes goofy ameteurish (aside from the ridiculous amount of celeb cameos) videos like these.

Cascadian Mayors

2008-01-06T01:56:00.000-08:00

San Francisco City Hall, Courtesy of Nick Shanks

Over half of the world's population resides in cities and this number continues to increase. Many cities are known not only for their large populations, but their high densities of wealth, culture, and diversity. As anyone from a small town knows, there is no experience like going to the city where niche markets flourish; they tend to be the last strongholds for small shops not yet strangled by the ever increasing chainstores. But these places, with so many different groups of ,can certainly be a challenge to oversee. The job of mayor is usually one of constant criticism and slow progress. But important nonetheless. Sometimes, when a mayor is successful in motivating these huge bodies of people, incredible things are achieved. Today I want to take a look at some of the major Cascadian mayors, their histories, achievements, and future agendas. As we continue to fight the federal government for more regional control mayors will become increasingly significant in political spheres. So, let's get to know some of our region's big-wigs.

Sam Sullivan

City: Vancouver
Hometown: Vancouver
Occupation: Non-Profit Organizer
In Office Since: 2006

Probably the most notable thing about Mayor Sullivan is that he has been a quadrapelegic since a skiing accident at age 19. Instead of looking at the accident as a hinderance, Sullivan used it for inspiration to acquire a BA in Business and subsequently start a number of non-profits for disabled people. He was recruited by the political elites and soon won a seat in city council. He won the mayor's chair in hard fought contest in 2005 against Jim Green.

Soon after becoming mayor Sullivan introduced EcoDensity (a term pantented by Sullivan himself). The intiative was designed to increase density in Vancouver through affordable housing, better public transportation, and other methods so that suburban sprawl would not destory the density of the lower mainland. As the Olympics come upon Vancouver Sullivan developed Project Civil City intended to reduce homelessness, panhandling, and open drug use by 50% by 2010. Many of criticized this policy for its lack of substantial help, saying that it is just displacing the impoverished and troubled.

Sullivan is also known for his academic achievments and is the first Vancouver mayor to learn Cantonese as well as Punjabi. There are large Chinese and North Indian populations in the Vancouver area.

Greg Nickels

City: Seattle
Hometown: Chicago/Seattle
Occupation: Politics
In Office Since: 2002

Although born in Chicago, Nickels was raised in Seattle from a young age. He graduated from the University of Washington with a Law degree and quickly became legislative assistant to Councilmember and future mayor, Norm Rice. He was elected to City Council in 1987 where he served until his mayoral stint in 2001. He beat incumbent Paul Schell who was flailing from his mishandling of the 1999 WTO riots.

The two biggest issues for Nickels have been the environment and transportation. He is nationally known for starting the US Mayors Climate Action Agreement which asked US Mayors to adopt the Kyoto Protocol even while the federal government did not. His allegience to public transportation led to the failed monorail scheme in the early part of the century, which wasted millions of taxpayers money for nothing. But, on the flip side, he did manage to start construction on a light rail system from Sea-Tac airport to downtown Seattle, projected to be complete by 2010. He hopes to increase its area by extending through some of the North Seattle districts as well. Another of Nickels' accomplishments includes giving equal rights to Seattle public employees in same-sex relationships.

In recent years Nickels has been criticized for his relationship with Seattle Police Department. He has stood fully behind the SPD in the face of numerous scandals and accounts of police brutality and has even pledged to add over 100 officers to Seattle streets over the next few years.

Tom Potter

City: Portland
Hometown: Bend, Or
Occupation: Police Officer/Chief
In Office Since: 2005

Potter is best known for his role at Police Chief. He worked as an Officer for over 20 years and was Chief for 4. During this time he gained a national repuation for his hard work in building trust between the Police Department and citizens. He was the first Portland officer to join a Neighborhood Association and helped develop a set of trading cards so that children could better recognize their public servants. As Chief he managed to reduce crime while the city of Portland was growing quickly. In addition he took a strong stance against prejuidice and discrimination. He dissuaded a number of African-American officers from filing a lawsuit against the city by starting a "Bias Crimes" unit to investigate hate crimes. He was also the first officer to march in uniform at the gay PRIDE parade in Portland. He was elected mayor in 2004 by an overwhelming majority.

Stemming from his experience in the police department, Potter's mayoral goals have focused on reconnecting city government to its citizens. He initiated Vision PDX which aims to build a 30-year strategic plan for Portland by listening to community and neighborhood input from all areas of Portland. Potter also aims to increase diversity in Portland's public workforce and help open communication for stronger shared goals.

Last year Potter announced that he would not be running for a second term even though his apporval rating remains high. He has not said what he intends on doing in the future.

Gavin Newsom

City: San Francisco
Hometown: San Francisco
Occupation: Restauranteur
In Office Since: 2004

Newsom has had an interesting career in an interesting city. He first grew to prominence after starting a small wine shop that eventually turned into a milti-million dollar company with five restaurants, a Napa Valley winery, a hotel, and two retail stores. In 1996 he was appointed by Mayor Willie Brown to a number of small governmental comissions. He gained public attention by advocating major reform for the city's beleaguered regional rail system, MUNI. He decided to run in 2003 for mayor as a Democrat against Matt Gonzalez of the Green Party. Many people believed Newsom, as a businessman, would be too sympathetic to big business. But with a number of national endorsements he was elected and took office in 2004.

Shortly after assuming office Newsom gained national attention for allowing same-sex marriages in the city of San Francisco. It was subsequently challenged by federal courts but remains a prominent issue in the city and has bolstered the criticism of President Bush. To add to his radicalism, in 2007 Newsom took a very liberal stance on illegal immigration, stating that he would do everything he could to discourage raids in the city. In 2007 he had a sexual scandal with an aide's wife as well as going into treatment for alcoholism but nonetheless, he was reelected for second term.

The 2007 San Francisco mayoral election was one of the most unqiue races in Cascadian history. There were 12 candidates including a nudist activist, a homeless cab driver, Josh Wolf, and the eccentric artist, "Chicken John" Rinaldi.

The Weekly (almost) Alternative

2008-01-04T21:35:00.001-08:00

Once again, a roundup from the Cascadian alternative newspapers...

[The Georgia Straight]: The Straight chastised a move by the Non-Partisan Association, with the help of the Vancouver City council, to spend public money on a private business program. The Downtown Ambassador's, who have been privately funded in the past, will now receive $872,000 annually for expanded security for downtown businesses. While the vote was close, Mayor Sam Sullivan has been called-out for casting the sixth and final vote needed for the measure to pass.

In other news, a new survey by Britain's Independent ranks Vancouver as the 27th greatest city in the world (fyi: other surveys have given Vancouver more bragging rights) (fyi2: The survey put London as numero uno, hmmm, perhaps not as independent as they claim.)

[Monday Magazine]: A new report that came out in December 2007 shows that pink salmon in Queen Charlotte Strait's Broughton Archipeligo have declined by 80% over the last four years and without any assistance, could be extinct in another four. The problem is sea lice, which can winter-over in fish farms and then be released onto small wild salmon, who don't have scales for protection. Alexandra Morton, co-author of the report says that the solution is easy: self-contained fish farms. Unfortunately, British Columbian politics could prevent this solution from becoming reality.

[Cascadia Weekly]: A dispute has erupted over the use of the "Black Forest Steak House" name as Herb Niemann running the so-named restraunt in Everson has sued his brother Jack Niemann who recently opened up an establishment in Bellingham. The court is currently deciding the legality and ownership of the title. While British Columbia, the home of "Black Forest" Restaurants, operates dozens of places by this name, apparently Whatcom County is too small for more than one.

[Boise Weekly]: This generally red state has something new this election season, a loud and proud Obama presence. Like Ron Paul supporters throughout the rest of the country, Idaho has seen a huge presence of Obama supporters throughout the state, engaging and encouraging people to pick the young black candidate. While Idaho may not be a swing state, Obamania may be a cultural shift for the potato lovers.

[The Inlander]: The Spokane City Hall reopened with the Mayor's office and the City Councillors moved to the same floor. This symbolic act will hopefully make communication better and work more efficient for the eastside city. Affordable housing is one of the major issues for 2008 and Mayor Mary Verner is trying to recruit Gov. Gregoire for the task.

[Seattle Weekly]: Bremerton and Bainbridge Island, while only seperated by a mile of water, are increasingly divided. As Bainbridge becomes a rich suburb of Seattle, with consistent and fast ferry service, Bremerton remains distinctly blue collar, with a sparse and slow ferry to the metropolitan area. A bridge between the two areas could help solve differences but the idea has been constantly rejected and looks to have no chance in sight.

[The Stranger]: Charles Mudede finds blasphemy in the new Bellevue City Hall. Built by SRG Partnership, based in Portland, the building has recieved much admiration and recognition from the American Institute of Architects. At the same time, Seattle's City Hall was a flop. Bellevue, home of shopping malls and chain stores, should never best Seattle in any cultural competition, claims Mudede. Perhaps Bellevue is starting to form its own identity apart from the Emerald City.

[Portland Mercury]: Oregonian righties are trying to prevent a new gay rights bill from becoming law in the new year. The bill, which takes effect this week, will allow gay couples to recieve the same rights as married couples for a mere $60. But a conglomeration of anti-gay activists have petitioned the state to put the bill on the November 2008 ballot with 62,000 signatures. But the Secretary of State determined that only 55,063 of those signatures were valid, 116 shy of the necessary amount.

[Willamette Weekly]: Longtime Portland City Councilmen Eric Sten will resign midterm this year after 11 years of vigilant service. Sten is best known for his accomplishments in affordable housing and decreasing homelessness in the Rose City. Of course, he also had his losses. After many years of battling PGE he failed to acquire PGE for the city, even after it fleeced ratepayers of nearly $1 billion. He did get PGE to agree to two dam demolitions. The first one took place last fall and was the first dam to be demolished in Oregon in over 40 years. Sten has not announced any future plans.

For Paul

2008-01-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

By Tom Paulson
Seattle P-I
May 20, 2005

Listen for the creaky voice, the strong "s" and the "low-back merger."

Most language experts believe the Pacific Northwest has no distinctive voice, no particular style or dialect. But some local linguists think that's wrong -- or at least a long-standing academic prejudice that deserves a good challenge.

Jennifer Ingle, a 27-year-old Ballard native and student of language at the University of Washington, is one of them.

"Language is part of our identity," said Ingle. Just as the Scandinavian heritage of Ballard distinguishes it from the rest of Seattle, she said, the evolution of language in the Northwest has progressed to the point where it can be distinguished from the rest of the country.

The question for the experts now appears to be whether our version of the English language has evolved enough to be considered a separate dialect.

"Linguists have generally assumed that the West is one dialect region," said Alicia Beckford Wassink, a UW professor of linguistics and mentor to Ingle.

"That may have been the case in the 1800s, when the West was being settled and there was a mixing of dialects among all the immigrants," said Wassink. But there's plenty of evidence now, she said, to suggest this region could have its own distinctive dialect.

Northwest speak.

Ingle decided a year ago to study her own neighborhood for evidence of local dialect. To some extent, she said, growing up in Ballard contributed to her interest in language.

"I used to hear people in my neighborhood speaking Norwegian," said Ingle, noting that despite her family's Scottish heritage, one of her favorite foodstuffs is lefse -- a Nordic flatbread made from potatoes.

But Ingle's study of language in Ballard was not aimed at identifying any of the neighborhood's Nordic influences. Participants were not asked to say, "Yah, sure, ya betcha." Rather, Ballard was selected as representative of the region because it is one of the oldest communities in the state, with a well-established population of native speakers.

"All the participants were born in Seattle and grew up in Ballard," said Ingle. She focused just on variation in vowel sounds because that is what most determines the different pronunciations in spoken American English.

Still, it should be noted that when Ingle presented her findings this week, it happened to be on the same day Ballard was celebrating Norwegian Constitution Day, May 17. Her study of Northwest speech in Ballard was presented in Vancouver, B.C., at the annual meeting of the Acoustical Society of America.

Among the findings: Many locals, especially women, speak in what experts call "creaky voice"; we've done away with a particular vowel used by Easterners; we really like to emphasize the "s" in words; we're not Californian and we're not Canadian.

Other determinants of dialect include differences in vocabulary and grammar, added Wassink, which are also being looked at in other linguistic studies at the UW.

"The Northwest is especially interesting because we have had almost nothing but immigration," Wassink said. "And there hasn't been as much racial or ethnic segregation as in the East. For a linguist, it's a very interesting place."

So, why do so many women talk creaky here? What's that mean anyway?

"Bill Clinton is a good example of creaky," said Ingle. Clinton's folksy speech, in which his voice sounds both scratchy and relaxed, is the opposite of "breathy" voicing, she said.

In the Northwest, Ingle's study indicates creaky voicing is popular -- especially among women. Breathy voicing, which in extreme form sounds like Marilyn Monroe's birthday song for JFK, is not big in the Northwest.

Wassink said the local popularity of creaky voicing could be how we compensate for another feature of our speech style. We've stopped using one vowel. Linguists work with 15 vowel sounds to describe spoken American English and we only use 14 of them.

Say "caught" and "cot" out loud. If you're a true Northwest speaker, the words will sound identical. Linguists call this the "low-back merger" because we've merged these two vowel sounds. On much of the East Coast, these same words will sound different. "Creaking is a way of making those distinctions that are being lost," Wassink said. Just as Bostonians tend to compensate in their speech for removing the "r" from many words, she said, we might speak creaky to compensate for refusing to use both vowels.

Another piece of evidence has to do with how Californians do something known as "fronting the vowel," Ingle said. This is considered standard to Western dialect and occurs when a speaker pronounces "rude" as "ri-ood" or "move" as "mi-oove."

"It's pretty funny sounding, actually," said Ingle, perhaps betraying a slight Northwest bias against all things Californian.

Full Article at the PIMC

From the Sightline

2007-12-27T21:31:00.003-08:00

As profesized by yours truly, here are a few awesome tidbits from the Sightline Institute.

First this incredibly depressing map on Grizzlies.

And now, some more inspring news. Check out this graph from Eric de Place:

Basically what Eric shows us here is that getting rid of low fuel efficiency cars is far better (not to mention easier) than building new more fuel efficient vehicles. He explains that the crux to understanding this issue is to stop thinking in "miles per gallon" and think about it in terms of "Gallons per mile".

Check out all his math and explanations here.

I would like to add here that not only does this math prove that getting rid of low efficiency is actually better, but also destroying cars is much better than producing more cars. Its much easier, cheaper, and in so many ways better to get rid of cars with low MPG than it is to waste money and energy creating more fuel efficiency.

I will throw in my opinion here and state straight out that minimizing our energy use is actually the only way we are going to stop global climate change. Technology has and will never be our savior (or saviour for BCers). Sorry to burst your bubble.

God's Country

2007-12-26T23:09:00.001-08:00

Mt. Baker is famous for three things. The largest snow accumulation ever recorded, The Legendary Banked Slalom, and the idolized Craig Kelly. Snowboarders outnumber skiiers on the mountain by at least 5 to 1 and I have a sneaking suspicion that the grooming machine is simply for show. Needless to say, Baker is a hot bed for snowboarding culture. In fact, Mt. Baker is to snowboarding culture, what ancient Greece is to Western culture. Craig Kelly and the rest of the MBHC founded a philosophy of sport and nature as one, a community that fostered the love of much more than capital gain (FYI: Baker's nearest town, Glacier, has the lowest per capita income in Washington State). That is not to say that Baker culture was an extension of the peace/love hippie era. In many respects it's a reaction to that as well. It is a much more fuck you kind of mentality that thrives on free spirit, but mocks the politically correct kind. Nonetheless while the ever popular Xtreme era continues to turn snowboarding into a show of ridiculous stunts and expensive gear, Baker retains the essence of what is and what will always be snowboarding; it is not about money, or style, or even skill, but rather the feeling of gliding over deep, pure, untouched snow.

When I was a child, growing up in Bellingham, Mt. Baker was simply where we went every Saturday between December and March. I didn't realize its place in the snowboarding world, I just went up, hung out with friends, loaded up on free breadsticks (oh man, those were the days...) and played king of the mountain with the girls before riding down 542 blasting Bohemian Rhapsody. Since moving to Seattle I only get up to Baker a couple times a year. But I have that distant perspective now. The understanding of how incredibly unique the Baker scene really is. Granted I don't ride many other ski areas very often (who the hell would when you got Baker?!?) but when you're waiting in line for Chair 7 to open its clear that the original community and spirit are alive and kickin'.

Going to Mt. Baker after a heavy snowfall is like a throwback to the days of the Gold Rush. With a report of "8 new inches with 12 new inches in the last 24 hours" most people simply leave everything (work, school, family, bong tokes) to get up here. Eyeing the crowd's gear, one finds a mish mash of hand-me-downs and dumpster finds. Mostly old, jackets that are too small, gloves with holes, boards that are delaminating. Just like the Alaskan miners, the typical rider has long unkempt hair and a full, thick beard. Anything for added warmth (and a confirmation that sex and love are far from the mind's focus). The gold in this wilderness is the white powder falling from the skies (an addiction much stronger for Baker Bums than the other type of white powder) and once the lift opens it's a mad rush to find every pocket of this white gold.

In a typical search for powder (aka: freshies, pow-pow, deep shit, good stuff) no one holds their opinions to themselves. Sitting at the top one can hear fierce debate over which routes will yield the most benefits:

"Let's hit up Gabl's."

"No way man! Gabl's will be all tracked out! Let's skirt Gunner's Ridge and drop in from there."

"Perhaps we should hike out Blueberry."

"Naw, that's too much work, lets just head over to the Pea Garden."

If you ride anything under the lift you are sure to hear calls of admiration as well as ridicule. Anyone considering a drop can count on yells of encouragement and the yells and claps are only louder if you biff the landing and tumble head over heals (sometimes called a yardsale).

Within the first few hours of the day most of the best stuff has been mined by the boards and the soggy, smelly community heads back to the lodge to smoke a few cigarettes and swap stories. They are generally a bit exaggerated. Some individuals boast about five feet of fresh snow where there was actually two. Others brag about their secret reserve that they intend to ride in the afternoon, but probably doesn't exists. Some older veterans tell stories of old to wide-eyed youngsters as they both share a few pieces of beef jerky and a 40 of OE.

On a Relativist's globe Mt. Baker's simplicity is truly refreshing. There are no fights over religion because all revere the gods of the weather. Nobody debates the methods of wealth distribution because each new storm cloud brings a fresh blanket of opportunity. While difference may exist, the community is united through the love and pleasure of their place and that perhaps is something we can all learn from.

Art Eco

2007-12-25T00:58:00.000-08:00

This painting of Sockeye Salmon was done by Cascadian artist, Julie Thompson. Her works are done on naturally-molted peacock wingfeathers. If that's not sustainable, I don't know what is!

Rudyard Kipling's Cascadian Journey

2007-12-18T12:12:00.000-08:00

Rudyard Kipling was an Englishman born and raised in India during the second half of the 19th century. He became a writer for Indian magazines at an early age and soon after, began writing stories about his travels and experiences in the Indian interior. He is most famous for his novel, "The Jungle Book" as well as his short stories, such as, "Riki-Tivi-Tavi".

But, what is little known about this historic writer is his travels to America. In March 1889, at the age of 23 and before his international recognition, he sailed from India, through Southeast Asia and landed in San Fransisco on a legendary journey through the American continent. From San Fransisco he headed north, through Oregon and Washington, then up to British Columbia. The notes and remarks that he has about the Cascadian region are undoubtedly interesting.

There is nothing like an outsider's perspective to really understand the history of a place. Kipling dissects the Northwest like an anthropologist, pointing out all of the quirks that make up this region and its people. I would highly reccommend a read, of the whole book, Sea to Sea, but for now you can enjoy some of these great excerpts about Cascadia and its history. Enjoy!

In the late 19th century, salmon fishing was still an incredibly popular and lucrative job. Here, Kipling writes to Indian fishers about the unbelievable abundance of fish in the Northwest:

I HAVE lived! The American Continent may now sink under the sea, for I have taken the best that it yields, and the best was neither dollars, love, nor real estate. Hear now, gentlemen of the Punjab Fishing Club, who whip the reaches of the Tavi, and you who painfully import trout to Ootacamund, and I will tell you how “old man California” and I went fishing, and you shall envy. We returned from The Dalles to Portland by the way we had come, the steamer stopping en route to pick up a night’s catch of one of the salmon wheels on the river, and to deliver it at a cannery downstream. When the proprietor of the wheel announced that his take was two thousand two hundred and thirty pounds’ weight of fish, “and not a heavy catch, neither,” I thought he lied. But he sent the boxes aboard, and I counted the salmon by the hundred—huge fifty-pounders, hardly dead, scores of twenty and thirty-pounders, and a host of smaller fish.

From Portland, Kipling decided to take a little fishing trip of his own on the Clackamas River. The insurance man, "Portland", had gotten him a team and crew together for the short journey, but inevitably, it was not quite up to the standards that Kipling expected:

The team was purely American—that is to say, almost human in its intelligence and docility. The bystanders overwhelm[ed] us with directions as to the sawmills we were to pass, the ferries we were to cross, and the sign-posts we were to seek signs from. Half a mile from this city of fifty thousand souls we struck (and this must be taken literally) a plank-road that would have been a disgrace to an Irish village. All the land was dotted with small townships, and the roads were full of farmers in their town wagons, bunches of tow-haired, boggle-eyed urchins sitting in the hay behind. The men generally looked like loafers, but their women were all well dressed. Then we struck into the woods along what California [a guide] called a “camina reale,”—a good road,—and Portland a “fair track.” It wound in and out among fire-blackened stumps, under pine trees, along the corners of log-fences, through hollows which must be hopeless marsh in the winter, and up absurd gradients. But nowhere throughout its length did I see any evidence of road-making. There was a track,—you couldn’t well get off it,—and it was all you could do to stay on it. The dust lay a foot thick in the blind ruts, and under the dust we found bits of planking and bundles of brushwood that sent the wagon bounding into the air. Then with oaths and the sound of rent underwood a yoke of mighty bulls would swing down a “skid” road, hauling a forty-foot log along a rudely made slide.

Eventually they did make it to the Clackamas and here the scenery was a bit more tranquil:

That was a day to be remembered, and it had only begun when we drew rein at a tiny farmhouse on the banks of the Clackamas and sought horse-feed and lodging ere we hastened to the river that broke over a weir not a quarter of a mile away. Imagine a stream seventy yards broad divided by a pebbly island, running over seductive riffles, and swirling into deep, quiet pools where the good salmon goes to smoke his pipe after meals. Set such a stream amid fields of breast-high crops surrounded by hills of pine, throw in where you please quiet water, log-fenced meadows, and a hundred-foot bluff just to keep the scenery from growing too monotonous, and you will get some faint notion of the Clackamas. How shall I tell the glories of that day so that you may be interested? Again and again did California and I prance down that reach to the little bay, each with a salmon in tow, and land him in the shallows. Then Portland took my rod, and caught some ten-pounders, and my spoon was carried away by an unknown leviathan. Very solemnly and thankfully we put up our rods—it was glory enough for all time—and returned weeping in each other’s arms—weeping tears of pure joy—to that simple bare-legged family in the packing-case house by the waterside.

Next Kipling's American guide, California, took him North to see the boom town of Tacoma:

California was right. Tacoma was literally staggering under a boom of the boomiest. I do not quite remember what her natural resources were supposed to be, though every second man shrieked a selection in my ear. The rude boarded pavements of the main streets rumbled under the heels of hundreds of furious men all actively engaged in hunting drinks and eligible corner-lots. They sought the drinks first. The street itself alternated five-story business blocks of the later and more abominable forms of architecture with board shanties. Overhead the drunken telegraph, telephone, electric light wires tangled on the tottering posts whose butts were half-whittled through by the knife of the loafer. Down the muddy, grimy, unmetaled thoroughfare ran a horse-car line—the metals three inches above road level. Beyond this street rose many hills, and the town was thrown like a broken set of dominoes over all. A steam tramway—it left the track the only time I used it—was nosing about the hills, but the most prominent features of the landscape were the foundations in brick and stone of a gigantic opera house and the blackened stumps of the pines. California had gone off to investigate on his own account, and presently returned, laughing noiselessly. “They are all mad here,” he said, “all mad. A man nearly pulled a gun on me because I didn’t agree with him that Tacoma was going to whip San Francisco on the strength of carrots and potatoes. I asked him to tell me what the town produced, and I couldn’t get anything out of him except those two darned vegetables. Say, what do you think?” I responded firmly, “I’m going into British territory a little while—to draw breath.”

So Kipling set off for Vancouver, to relax with some of his fellow countrymen. He went by water this time, taking a long boat ride North, through the Sound:

I took a steamer up Puget Sound for Vancouver, which is the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. That was a queer voyage. The water, landlocked among a thousand islands, lay still as oil under our bows, and the wake of the screw broke up the unquivering reflections of pines and cliffs a mile away. ’Twas as though we were trampling on glass. No one, not even the Government, knows the number of islands in the Sound. Even now you can get one almost for the asking; can build a house, raise sheep, catch Salmon, and become a king on a small scale.

When Kipling docked in Seattle, the city was still in the process of recovering from the Great Fire of 1889. This heavily affected his attitude towards the city:

Have I told you anything about Seattle—the town that was burned out a few weeks ago when the insurance men at San Francisco took losses with a grin? In the ghostly twilight, just as the forests were beginning to glare from the unthrifty islands, we struck it—struck it heavily, for the wharves had all been burned down, and we tied up where we could, crashing into the rotten foundations of a boat house as a pig roots in high grass. The town, like Tacoma, was built upon a hill. In the heart of the business quarters there was a horrible black smudge, as though a Hand had come down and rubbed the place smooth. I know now what being wiped out means. The smudge seemed to be about a mile long, and its blackness was relieved by tents in which men were doing business with the wreck of the stock they had saved. Here were shouts and counter-shouts from the steamer to the temporary wharf, which was laden with shingles for roofing, chairs, trunks, provision-boxes, and all the lath and string arrangements out of which a western town is made.

In June of 1889, to Kipling's relief, he finally made it across the border into British owned Columbia territory, and the city of Vancouver:

Except for certain currents which are not much mentioned, but which make the entrance rather unpleasant for sailing-boats, Vancouver possesses an almost perfect harbor. The town is built all round and about the harbor, and young as it is, its streets are better than those of western America. Moreover, the old flag waves over some of the buildings, and this is cheering to the soul. The place is full of Englishmen who speak the English tongue correctly and with clearness, avoiding more blasphemy than is necessary, and taking a respectable length of time to getting outside their drinks. A great sleepiness lies on Vancouver as compared with an American town: men don't fly up and down the street telling lies, and the spittoons in the delightfully comfortable hotel are unused; the baths are free and their doors are unlocked. You do not have to dig up the hotel clerk when you want to bathe, which shows the inferiority of Vancouver. An American bade me notice the absence of bustle, and was alarmed when in a loud and audible voice I thanked God for it.

The peaceful beauty and gentility of Vancouver had a lasting impact on him, and 15 years later, with money from his novel sales, he purchased a number of plots in and around Van City. Unfortunately not all of these deals were totally legitimate. In later years Kipling found out that a large piece of property in North Van, which he had been paying hefty taxes on, was not actually titled to him! In addition, two small parcels he bough on the East side of Vancouver for $500, he sold over 20 years later for $2,000. This would have been a pretty good deal unless you count the $60 a year taxes he had paid. I guess Vancouverites were just as money hungry as Americans in the end. It was just the spirit of the booming Northwest. Profits were there to be had, but you had to work hard (i.e. lying, cheating, and stealing) to get them.

Kipling's writings about Cascadia give us an interesting insight into the boomtown years of abundant resources, big ideas, and a whole host of individuals looking to cash in. Our cities were built on these foundations, but we should use it as a wary lesson for future progress.

Sources:

[History and Literature in the Pacific Northwest]: Rudyard Kipling, From Sea to Sea
[History of Vancouver]: Rudyard Kipling in Vancouver
[History Link]: Rudyard Kipling visits Seattle
[Wikipedia]: Rudyard Kipling

Pictures:

[Oregon Trail] by Albert Bierstadt, 1869
[The Willamette River From a Mountain] by Paul Kane, 1847
[Mt. Rainer] by J. Sykes, 1792
[Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast] by Albert Bierstadt, 1870
[City of Vancouver] by Vancouver World Printing, 1898

The Scorecard 2007

2007-12-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

Surfing (or, more relatable to Cascadians, snowboarding) the web recently, I came across what might be called the Holy Grail of Cascadian affairs. The Sightline Institue, "is a not-for-profit research and communication center" working to, "bring about sustainability--a healthy, lasting prosperity grounded in place". And that place is Cascadia. The Institute manages two Cascadia-specific news blogs, The Daily Score and Tidepool (neither as good as mine of course), and also does specific research projects on Cascadian related issues, such as the impacts of highway-widening, relevant to Puget Sound's Roads and Transit and B.C.s Gateway Program. But the true goal (and treasure) of the Sightline Institute is their regional research on Cascadia that is comparable to other areas of the world. While I (and many of you I hope) feel Cascadian at heart, the fact remains that Cascadia is (as yet?) only cultural, not political. Therefore acquiring statistics and data specific to the region requires combining state, provincial, national, municipal, and other sets of figures; a monumental and time consuming task to say the least. Well, until I came across the Sightline Institute that is. I mean, just check out maps like this, or this! Perhaps you aren't quite as excited as myself about these random colorful pictures of Cascadia, but having been seriously researching Cascadia for the last couple of months, The Sightline Institute is bringing Cascadia into a whole new realm of genuine reality. I can guarantee that many future posts will use research and information from this premier Cascadian institution.

So, now that I am done raving about this glorious find, I can move on to the actual post, which is a summary of Sightline's recent publication, Cascadia Scorecard 2007: Seven Key Trends Shaping the Northwest.

"The Cascadia Scorecard, a project started in 2004 by the Sightline Institute, measures long-term progress in the Pacific Northwest. An index of seven trends shaping the future of the region, it is a simple but surprisingly far-reaching gauge. The scorecards indicators - health, economy, population, energy, sprawl, wildlife, and pollution - provide status reports for Cascadia and, by highlighting successful communities, offer a practical vision for a better Northwest."

If you want to read the full 68-page report, click here. Or, just trust that I did and read the following handy-dandy recap.

1. Health

Certainly one of Cascadia's strong points. Life expectancy is at 79.5 years, which would rank 12th if Cascadia were an independent nation. The Sightline Institute's model goal is 81.3 years, Japan's 2001 life expectancy, and thus, even at the currently slow pace, this goal is reachable within 11 years. Of course, it is important to note that gains in health have been uneven. British Columbia, "remains far and away the healthiest jurisdiction". The metropolitan areas of BC's South are some of the healthiest places on earth, while the healthiest places of Oregon and Washington aren't even standouts in the US. The healthcare system in BC as well as the compact communities of metro Vancouver both factor into its success. In 2007 Washington state increased access to preventitive health care which could help boost scores in the future.

2. Economy

The economy is a bit difficult to deduce. On the up-side Gross Regional Product grew by 72% from 1990 - 2005, while total personal income grew by 56% in the same period (inflation-adjusted). Yet, it looks as though medium and low-income households have seen almost no actual change in that 15 year period, British Columbia actually showing a slight decline. Other economic measrements, such as economic security and unemployment, have seen many ups and downs in recent years and there seems to be no set direction towards progress. The Sightline Institute concludes that without more regional research by policymakers, "Cascadia is flying blind" as far as its economy, tending to rely on national progress for improvements.

3. Population

The population growth of Cascadia has remained fairly constant over the past two decades with a birth rate of about 1.8. The target here is 1.7 (that of many Scadanavian countries) but unfortunately progress is going slow. The tendency is that more rural areas have higher rates (closer to 2) while metropolitan areas have lower rates (closer to 1). Thus, The east side of the Cascades (aside from Spokane) tends to be the area where the most improvement can be done. The most important issue is minimizing the amount of unwanted pregnancies. We are on the right track since recently both Montana and Oregon joined Washington and California in allowing for more equal treatment of prescription contraceptives. Another way to lower unwanted pregnancies is through economy as data shows that as income decreases, birth rates increase.

4. Energy

By far the worst-performing area on the scorecard. The Sightline found that Cascadia is region, "every bit as profligate with energy as it was three decades ago". Of course, not all the news is bad. Gasoline consumption has been falling consistently for the past seven years. Sadly, to offset this, electricity has seen a sudden jump in recent years. Sightline looks to Germany as a model for Cascadia where energy consumption is half and total standard of living is higher. Some measures that we can take to achieve this is carbon-based taxes, better city planning and public transportation, and probably the biggest, better awareness and concern for energy use.

5. Sprawl

While traditionally sprawl has been a bane of Cascadian communities, Sightline found that the compacted living arragements are making a resurgence in the area. In fact, the model for Cascadia overall is the metro area around Vancouver, BC. Although far from perfect, Vancouver has done a fine job with infill, protecting open space, and building close-knit communities where walking and public transportation are easy and efficient. In recent years Oregon has also been a leader in this area. Hoping to protect their traditional farmlands they have carefully channeled groth into urban areas. This is not to say that everything is on the right track. In 2004 Oregon's Measure 37 was a big set back for sprawl, allowing developers to gain compensation for developed lands. But, as a whole Cascadia seems to be slowly heading in the right direction, with speed picking up consistently.

6. Wildlife

Modest gains in wildlife numbers have been shown in recent years, mainly from Wolf populations in Idaho and Chinook salmon runs. Of course, even on the present course it would take 69 years to meet the Sightline's target goals, which themselves are only a fraction of historic population sizes. One huge target needs to be improving the waters of Puget Sound and the Columbia River, both areas full of toxic chemicals from idustrial endeavors. As well, creating protected wilderness areas for animals, such as wolves, to roam can be crucial. Wolves, who have rebounded from near extinction, play an unprecedented role in the ecological system of Cascadia. Allowing them the space and freedom to roam will help control and balance many other parts of the ecosystem within the region. Smart and managed building (such as dams and urban sprawl) will also play a large factor in the health of our future wildlife.

7. Pollution

Contamination in Cascadian bodies is high, just like much of the rest of the United States and even the world. Since data testing on this subject is still in its infancy, finding any solid trend is difficult. Luckily, governmental and popular awareness is increasing but the effects of our past mistakes are probably going to haunt us for years to come. Dealing with toxic waste sites, such as the Duwamish River, and making sure that future construction pays close attention to the environmental effects will be paramount over the next few decades.

Conclusion

There are four important lessons to take away from this publication. First, energy consumption is "stuck in high gear" and drastic actions need to be taken to decrease this. Second, British Columbia performs on average far better than the rest of Cascadia. BC's health care system is foundational to health, fertility, and even economic stability. As well, a comprehensive transportation plan, which has far fewer roads and highways than the Norhtwest States, stems sprawl, protect environment, lowers pollution, and increase health. Cascadians should be championing their own successes and looking internally to British Columbia instead of to the rest of the United States for future leadership. Third, while human inhabitants of Cascadia are doing fairly well, other most other creatures in the environment are barely holding on. We need to look critically at where we are building and growing and how we can maintain a wildlife that is abundant and healthy. As one of the last colonized places on earth, Cascadia's wildlife should be more intact than most elsewhere. It should be a regional goal to make this happen. Fourth, and finally, there is reason for optimism. While not all areas are showing significant improvement, few are showing rapid decline either. Awareness and understanding of the issues that plague our region at least give us the knowledge to do something about it.

The Uptight Seattlite

2007-12-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

If anyone has not read the Seattle Weekly column, Ask An Uptight Seattlite, you're pretty much missing out on happiness. Every week he answers reader questions with smart, hilarious answers. This week was particularly full of hilarity, and so I could not help but post it, enjoy.

When my friend from D.C. visited in the summer, I was telling him about my participation in the "100-mile diet." That's where, for the good of the environment, you eat only things grown within a hundred miles of Seattle. Not only did he decline to join me, he thought the whole thing was laughable. In fact, he thought our city was full of hilarity. How we march earnestly around Green Lake clutching bottles of water. The way we always dress like we're going camping. The way we get so comically worked up about transportation issues. Now he's coming to visit for Christmas, and I'm worried that he'll think we're laughable in a whole new way: the way we suck all the fun out of the holidays with our superserious "sensitivity." What can I do to show him that we know how to have a good time?

Take this Stick From My Ass

Dear Stick From My Ass,

Is it really so restrictive and dreary to live here? If you really think so, you should take a holiday of an entirely different kind. You know how Amish young people are allowed, for a set period of time, to drink, smoke, and otherwise break the rules of their community? Well, you, too, should take your own little rumspringa from Seattle ways. Show your friend you can "loosen up" with the best of them. Stop recycling. Drink macrobrews and watch NASCAR. Drive everywhere. Don't wave when someone lets you change lanes. Kill spiders in your house rather than trapping and freeing them in a silently improvised ceremony of karmic self-blessing. Do all your holiday shopping at Wal-Mart and have them double-bag everything. Go to Sea-Tac and innocently ask where the Christmas tree is. Say, "There is no Christmas tree? Why ever not?" Walk around with a cell phone pressed to your ear at all times, even if no one's on the line, and say things like, "Yeah, that's one sales forecast I'd like to see, let me tell you what, you crazy bastard! You still in for tonight, you miserable cocksucker? Shooters at Hooters, my friend, shooters at Hooters!" Do this at every farmers market in town. Put down your phone only long enough to tell the Vietnamese farmer that his organic tomatoes are lumpy and not as red as the ones at Safeway. Ask Grease Monkey for all their used oil and pour it into the gutter in front of your house while glaring defiantly at your neighbors. Rent a Hummer and tailgate Vespas. Lean on the horn as you call out, "Get a car, Fancy Man!" Finally, go downtown and, in your loudest, heartiest voice, wish every stranger you see a merry Christmas. If you find that that kind of thing makes you feel good, I suggest you take yourself to Houston for a permanent rumspringa.

The Program

2007-12-15T00:20:00.000-08:00

So I don't talk about music much but I had to throw this in there. Blue Scholars, a Seattle based hiphop duo, has recently gotten national recognition for their new album release, Bayani. If you've heard them you will know that they are not only incredibly talented but dedicated to promoting a Northwest style and a Northwest sound. And they are certainly succeeding (check out this song or this video)! Well, in an effort to bring about even more recognition for a NW sound Blue Scholars are hosting The Program. This 5-day set of shows has an all-NW lineup with artists from Vancouver down to Portland. It's events like these, building a cultural identity through regional art, which is really going to establish Cascadia in the hearts and minds of its citizens! Get your tickets soon!

Sasquatch Militia

2007-12-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

This little tid-bit is from the same early Cascadian era as The Tree Octopus, back when Cascadia was a fun fabrication (and part of numerous internet spoofs by Lyle Zapato). As I don't have time for a real post enjoy this little bit of classic history.

"Join the Sasquatch Milita...
Are you an able-bodied Sasquatch aged 10 to 150 who loves his or her country? If so, The Republic of Cascadia needs YOU to enlist in the Sasquatch Militia and defend our homeland against our many enemies, including such nefarious evildoers as:

Canadians

Southern Californians

Geoduck and Tree Octopus Poachers

Paraterrestrials

Americans

International Organized Crime Syndicates

Nosey Cryptozoologists

Besides serving your country, you will also be improving yourself. Sasquatch Militia will teach you many valuable skills that today's employers are looking for in Sasquatch. You will gain a sense of determination and confidence that will help you succeed. And you will also experience compatriotship with your fellow Sasquatch as you work together to secure the freedom of the Republic of Cascadia.

The Republic of Cascadia needs you now, more than ever, in these trying times. Do your part for your nation and don't let another Sasquatch take your place in the ranks of the Sasquatch Militia. Enlistment stations can be found throughout Cascadia's forests, just look for the poster of Uncle Sas."

Full info here.

The Weekly Alternative

2007-12-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

News from Alternative Newspapers across Cascadia:

[The Georgia Straight]: Gordon McAdams wins the "Whistleblower of the Year Award" for calling out city planners, and subsequently being fired, concerning a road through Groham Narrows Provincial Park.

[Monday Magazine]: Although Victoria's needle exchange program has undeniably good intentions, neighborhood complaints have gotten the program, run by AIDS Vancouver Island, evicted from its buidling, leaving addicts without a safe needle supply.

[Cascadia Weekly]: Bellingham's efforts to court NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, got a large boost this week as U.S. Congressman Rick Larsen gave his endorsement to the city. NOAA, currently based in Seattle, announced plans to move locations earlier this year. Bellingham hopes to give it a new home on the old Geogria Pacific waterfront, handed over to the city and currently in the process of redevelopment.

[Boise Weekly]: The 6th Annual Bad Cartoon Contest has commenced and this year, the winner is, well, pretty bad. Sifting through Larry Craig antics along with a number of talking poop stories, Elijah Jensen was declared the winner. His cartoons generally revolve around teeth. Look for Jensen's cartoons for the next 52 weeks in the Boise Weekly.

[Pacific Northwest Inlander]: Not a whole lot of news going on in Spokane right now but the Inlander did produce an ALL LOCAL Christmas (sorry, holiday) shopping guide for the area. In other news, Mary Verner, the liberal (hybrid driving) mayoral candidate, was finally sworn into office. Way to be progressive Easties!

[Seattle Weekly]: In typical Seattle fashion, the Weekly ran a feature about the meatheaded idiocy of Pullman (which no doubt is true). Kyle Schott, a top football pick back in 2003, recently went to court for sexual assault charges against a Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority girl. Apparently, Schott was originally waiting, "to hear from the U Dub". I think WSU was a better fit.

[The Stranger]: No real news from The Stranger this week (except the typical rantings about development and racial discrimination in the city). Currently the paper's annual charity, Strangercrombie, is the talk of the town (or at least Capitol Hill) Hurry over to The Stranger Online to bid on some incredibly unique packages, including a personally picked cover done by the Presidents of the United States, or your very own spot on The Slog for a week! (if anyone wants to "lend" me $600 I'll happily talk up Cascadia to all the Strangerheads.)

[Vancouver Voice] What is with Cascadians and dirtying up their rivers? (see my previous post on The Duwamish) Sure, we've banned the major toxic troubles from The Columbia, like PCBs and DDT, but now even our personal hygiene products are killing The River's ecosystem. Apparently making those teeth reflectively white isn't exactly environmentally friendly.

[The Portland Mercury]: Another big 'ol auction, this time for Stumptowners. This year's proceeds will go to Sisters of the Roads, an organization dedicated to helping feed the homeless around Portland.

[Willamette Weekly]: 10 years after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol and it looks like not much has been accomplished. While 130 nations take part in more climate talks this week, in Bali, WW wonders why the hell nothing is really happening.

[Eugene Weekly]: Also bitching about global warming, Eugene is criticizing a little more locally. Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy recently cast the deciding vote for a $500 million dollar regional freeway expansion project. While Piercy signed on to Seattle Mayor Nickels' US Mayoral Climate Action Plan, many see this as a huge step backwards. Of course, Seattle itself is having quite a few road disputes of its own these days.

Cascadian Communities: The Gulf Islands

2007-12-10T02:35:00.001-08:00

Welcome to another addition of Cascadian Communities. This time we head up into Maple Leaf Country to explore the abstract land pattern that makes up the Gulf Islands.

If any of you are scratching your heads, wondering what gulf these islands are in, don't fret, the name is a misnomer. It is a relic of the days when the unexplored Strait of Georgia was believed to be a gulf. With thirteen major islands and about 450 smaller ones, these wooded oases are essentially the Canadian half of the San Juans (see map below). Yet, their slightly different geography and proximity to Vancouver Island actually give them a unique ecology compared to the surrounding landscape. The area receives an average of only 30 inches of rain per year, far less than the Pacific and inland coasts. This has made the Gulf Islands one of the last refuges of the Garry Oak ecosystem, which supports around 350 different plant and animal species. Only about 5% of Garry Oak ecosystems are still in their natural setting and the Gulf Islands' late introduction to modernity means that much of that fraction dots the Islands' landscape.

Of coures, this does not mean that the islands have remained unpopulated. In fact, Coast Salish Natives had a host of settlements throughout the islands and many of them remain today. In the 1930's, as transportation methods improved, British Columbia began promoting the area as a regional tourist destination. The peace, serenity, and lack of infrastructure on the islands attracted many nature lovers who desired unobstructed exploration. In the 1960's the islands became a hot spot for American draft dodgers looking to hide out from the authorities. More recently, many wealthy celebrities have found the Islands' tranquil landscape the ideal place for large vacation homes.

All of this has added up to an increase in foreign species and pollution which was not realized until recent years. The unregulated development of the islands means that much of the endangered areas are in private lands and difficult to protect. In 1999, in an effort to stem the rising problems, the BC government, along with a number of NGO's, established the Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team, which works to promote conservation both on public and private lands alike. Similarly, in 2003 the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve was established, setting aside 35 square acres across 15 islands as a sanctuary. The goal is to eventually turn the reserve into a full on National Park but land disputes between private holders, First Nations peoples, and the state remain to be negotiated.

The hodge-podge mix of First Nations peoples, draft-dodging hippies, and urban weary nature lovers, has made the Islands famous for their alternative lifestyle. No where is this more prevalent than on Salt Spring Island. Salt Spring is home to over 10,000 of the Islands' 25,000 residents with its capital in the small town of Ganges. here, every Saturday, over 150 vendors gather in Centennial Park to sell everything from home-grown berries to hand-crafted benches. In its early days the market was a place for individuals strewn about the islands to swap books, or borrow cooking supplies without having to return to the mainland. But over the years, the market has grown in popularity, bringing in hundreds if not thousands of tourists every weekend. True to the Gulf Island style though, a rule was implaced in 1992 that allowed only Salt Spring residents to sell goods, and the vendors must, "make it, bake it, or grow it" to recieve a permit. In addition, the residents developed their own currency, called the Salt Spring Dollar which is accepted on-par with the Canadian dollar on the island. Many of the other islands cling to this simpler lifestyle as well. Many of the islands still lack electricity and the Galiano Island community of 1,100 residents has managed to survive on only 28 inches of yearly rainfall for all of their water needs.

Links:
[Wikipedia] Gulf Islands
[Canadian Geographic] Come to the Islands
[Gulf Islands Guide]
[Canada Parks] Gulf Islands National Park Reserve

Did You Know...

2007-12-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

...the Port of Vancouver is the #1 exporter of foreign goods in North America.

...Over 750,000 cups of tea are served annually at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC.

...Tacoma was rated the Most Stressful City in America.

...Point Roberts, Washington is a United States exclave; it can only be reached by land through Canada.

..."Old Man of the Lake" is a large piece of driftwood that has been bobbing upright in Crater Lake for more than a century.

...Portland's Forest Park is the largest urban forest in the United States.

...The world's tallest tree is The Mendocino Tree near Ukiah, CA standing at 367.5 ft tall.

...Oregon City, OR is the oldest incorporated city west of the Rockies.

...Over 25% of Bainbridge Island, WA residents take a ferry boat to work, the highest percent in the US.

...Fan Tan Alley in Victoria, BC's Chinatown is the narrowest street in North America.

... Mt. Baker in Washington holds the seasonal snowfall world record at 1,140 inches.

...The totem pole standing in Seattle's Pioneer Square was stolen from a Tlingit Village in Southeast Alaska in 1899.

Cascadian Flags

2007-12-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

The flag. This emblematic piece of cloth has been used for centuries across the globe as a means of identity and unity. Looking at a flag, one can find out what a group of people value and cherish within themselves. The contemporary Cascadia movement is still in its infancy, and thus, it is full of different meanings to different people. Just like the early days of the American Revolution, Cascadians have developed a host of flags in their attempts to represent themselves. Here I have collected all of the flags that I could find online and described their symbolism according to the designers.

Commonly called "The Doug" (for Douglas Fir) this is probably the most prominent flag of Cascadia. (They are featured on the Cascadian Wikipedia site). According to the creator, the blue represents the "unpolluted sky" and the plentiful water of Cascadia, the white represents the clouds and snow, and the green represents our natural vegetation. The conifer tree stands, "in defiance of storm, fire, and Man." This is the only Cascadian flag that you can currently order; smALL Flags in Oregon will do them by request. Some people are also working to try and get it produced in Hemp. Keep up on that and other info about this flag here.

This flag was developed for the Republic of Cascadia site. Similar to The Doug, the blue and white stripes represent water and snow, while the green is for the vegetation. The red in this flag is for, "the volcanism and tectonic forces that burn beneath us". The setting sun symbolizes our place at the Western edge of North America and the fir cone is for, "rebirth, renewal, and our natural forest resources". (I'm not sure but I would guess that this one was influenced at least a bit by the flag of British Columbia.)

This flag is for the Kingdom of Cascadia, designed by Andrew Rogers. Here we see the same green for vegetation and white for the snow-capped mountains. The seven stars (similar of coure to the "Betsy Ross" and the EU) stand for the Commonwealths, which Rogers identifies as: Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and The Yukon (yes I realize thats only six, dont ask me). Rogers has also developed some Cascadian governmental and military flags that you can check out here.

This flag, called the "Eight Stars" was designed by Nick Pharris. The two green triangles (the same green as the Washington State flag and representing forests and hope) stand for the mountains, as well as the US and Canada, which Cascadia bridges. The blue and white stripes, from the BC flag, represent water (loyalty) and glaciers (peace). Unlike the flag above this sun is actually rising above the mountains and represents the "rising regional consciousness". The eight stars represent the distinct Cascadian areas: Alaska, the Yukon, BC, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Western Montana, and Northern California. The gold color is used to represent prosperity as well as the croplands and deserts of the interior. More info here. (While this one has lots of meaning, I have to say its a bit too similar to the flag of Antigua and Barbuda.)

This flag was designed by the people over at the Cascadian National Party. The top blue represents freedom, while the bottom blue represents our water. The white wavy stripe is for hope and the green wavy stripe is for the environment and our resources. The two gold stars are for Oregon and Washington (pretty limited Cascadia view here).

This design was found by Rick Wyatt and is reportedly designed by David McCloskey, the founder of the Cascadia Institute and a well known name in Cascadian movements. Unfortunately the Cascadia Institute website has been taken down and I could not find any information about its symbolism.

And last but certainly not least is this flag. Although a bit amateurish, this flag holds a special place in my heart because a few friends and I designed this and painted it on the wall of small shack in Arembepe, Brazil. We didn't come up with any official symbolism but the mountain obviously represents the Cascade range, the geographical feature at the heart of Cascadia. The wavy lines were picked because of their prominence in many other Cascadian flags. The blue is for the sky and water, while the green is the lush vegetation between them. The grey was chosen for the mountain because we felt that it is the true color of the area.

Please feel free to post likes/dislikes, ideas, or concepts about these or any future Cascadian flags. If you happen to know of another flag email me a picture and an explanation of its symbols.

Climate Change Strikes Cascadia

2007-12-05T15:50:00.000-08:00

Cascadians have generally been lucky when it comes to disastrous weather. Although the '85 Helen's eruption has remained paramount in collective memory (not to mention the constant doomsday earthquake predictions) recent years have kept us safe from the calamities befalling other parts of the US (ie. forest fires, tornados, hurricanes, and snowstorms). Well, it seems our luck has finally run dry. This week devastating winds (up to 90 mph) and rain (up to 11in) wreaked havoc on Southern Washington and Northern Oregon. The storm has left 5 people dead, at least 150 stranded, many more homeless, and over 100,000 without power. To make matters worse a twenty-mile section of I-5 between Centralia and Chehalis, Washington was completely flooded, halting the main transportation route between Vancouver, BC and Porland, OR. It is estimated that $4 million are being lost to businesses every day due to the obstruction and to raise the highway could cost upwards of $400 million. Even optimists that usually look to storms like these for snow in the mountains were disappointed since the warm weather meant rain and winds destroyed the already limited snow-pack. Sadly, no matter what our future response to global climate change may be, our past irresponsibility means that this is probably not the last of these type of disasters.

See also:
[The Seattle P-I]
[The Oregonian]
[BBC News]

A Clear Cut Press

2007-12-04T23:31:00.000-08:00

Picture by Michael Brophy

Here's a straight up recommendation for all of you Cascadian loyalists like me. As an avid reader I have historically been disappointed with the recognition of Northwest literature. There are the New York writers (so depressing), California writers (too much for the screen), and the infamous Southern writers (racists!), but what about us Cascadians? Are we too satisfied dancing around in puddles and hiking up into the alpine to take out our pencils and jot down our thoughts? The answer is an emphatic no. And nobody says this better than The Clear Cut Press.

This independently run publishing company, based in Portland works to promote the beautiful words that flow from the minds of Cascadians (like me!). The company was formed in the early years of the new century by Matthew Stadler, founder of Nest magazine and a former contributor to The Stranger, and Richard Jensen, former executive of Sub Pop Records (Nirvana's label), and co-founder of Up Records. According to Jensen Clear Cut emerged through "conversations about economy and poetry" and as they say, because "traditional publishers may have lost sight of who reads and why".

Perhaps from Jensen's indy recording experience, the company works in true "punk rock" custom. All profits are split fifty-fifty between author and publisher. In addition, Clear Cut does not secure prohibitive rights in the 'text'. There company was not created to exploit writers and readers alike, but rather simply to bring a fresh batch of literature to a much watered-down industry.

The first subscription set from Clear Cut came out in 2005 and included short stories, essays, photographs, novels, and poetry from a host of Northwest Writers. I admittedly have not read the entire body of this work but I have put my hand in the jar, and the cookies are delicious! Here is a brief review of just some of the works from this collection.

The premier book in the series is entitled, A Clear Cut Future. The work is a conglomeration of short stories and essays that, "map the territory of interest to Clear Cut Press". Each work starts with a set of photographs that compliment the writings to follow. As a whole, this book embodies a beautiful perspective of the Northwest world.

One novel, Shoot the Buffalo, by Matt Briggs, is a must for the generation who grew up with flower parents. The story is told from the perspective of a military private remembering his childhood in the lumber town turned hippie farm of the Snoqualmie foothills. Well written and full of anecdotes of an "alternative" childhood the story highlights the breakdown of the "peace and love" ideals when confronted with practical, real world problems.

Core Sample: Portland Art Now, traces the history and accomplishment that was a set of two dozen art exhibitions dotting the Portland landscape in 2003. The book is full of many great color photos, sprinkled with a few essays that explain this monumental phenomenon.

But my favorite work in the entire series is most certainly, Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture, by Lisa Robertson. Robertson, a creative writer/poet has developed a distinctly new perspective on urban studies. She walks the streets of Vancouver and surrounding British Columbia thinking very critically about how and why we build the way we build, and how that effects our lives, physically as well as mentally. I will end this blatant promotion for Clear Cut, at the risk of being incredibly long-winded, with the entirety of Soft Architecture: A Manifesto. Enjoy, and check out Clear Cut Press on the web for more info.

The Office of Soft Architecture came into being as I watched the city of Vancouver dissolve in the fluid called money. Buildings disappeared into newness. I tried to recall spaces, and what I remembered was surfaces. Here and there money had tarried. The result seemed emotional. I wanted to document this process. I began to research the history of surfaces. I included my own desires in the research. In this way, I became multiple. I became money.

The worn cotton sheets of our little beds had the blurred texture of silk crepe and when we lay against them in the evening we'd rub, rhythmically, one foot against the soothing folds of fabric, waiting for sleep. That way we slowly wore through the thinning cloth. Our feet would get tangled in the fretted gap.

We walked through the soft arcade. We became an architect.

The knitted cap on the wrinkled skull of the mewling kid is the first boundary. At the other tip the bootie dribbles. There are curious histories of shrouds. That is not all. Memory's architecture is neither palatial nor theatrical but soft.

Of course it's all myth. Beginning at grand rooms rankled in small stone Natufian couples co-mingled in kisses, the perspex galleries of pendant Babylonian dollies, the long halls of Egyptian cats that are sirens or dynasties, we amble towards the disappearance of godliness in cloth. Europe's lusty godlets start bending. Carved cloth connotes the wild swirls of the Christly sexual parts. Sprigged calico greets the renaissance of Venus. Prudery flows animate, clinging, vivid - we think it absorbs virility from naked Antiquity herself. Strolling from Byzantium we observe her teasing retreat. The mischievious and the sexy gods get dressed as patrons and courtesans and popes, crinolined in Fragonard's stiff satins, diminished to tiny petticoated players in painted enamel frolics. Finally invisible they loll in the latent conventions of canvas, or in the draperies and objets of the room themselves, such as the Frick's crushed mohair swags, the personified tapestry walls, the little petit-pointed chairs personified, the chamberpot, the silken floor personified.

We arrive at our long century. We note that the holy modernism of the white room is draped and lined in its newness by labile counter-structures of moving silk, fur, leather, onyx, velvet. The modernist inventors of the moot science of psychoanalysis raise its cold visage from the deep upholsteries and ruched cushions of the speaking invalid's couch. A contemporary describes the late Maria Callas's vibrato as "a worn velvet that has lost the evenness of its texture." As for us, we wear avant-thrift. We sit in spider-like chairs. But Soft Architecture expires invisibly as the mass rhetorics of structural permanence transmit: Who can say when the astonishing complicities of the woven decay into rote? The bare ruin of Bauhaus and the long autopsy of concepts serve as emblems of Soft Architecture's demise.

Yet our city is persistently soft. We see it like a raw encampment at the edge of the rocks, a camp for a navy vying to return to a place that has disappeared. So the camp is a permanent transience, the buildings or shelters like tents - tents of steel, chipboard, stucco, glass, cement, paper, and various claddings - tents rising and falling in the glittering rhythm which is null rhythm, which is the flux of modern careers. At the center of the tent encampment, the density of the temporary in a tantrum of action; on peripheries over silent grass of playing fields the fizzy mauveness of seed-fring hovering. Our favorite on-ramp curving sveltely round to the cement bridge, left side overhung with a small-leafed tree that sprays the roof of our car with its particular vibrato shade. Curved velveteen of asphalt as we merge with the bridge-traffic, the inlet, the filmic afternoon. The city is a florescence of surface.

Under the pavement, pavement. Hoaxes, failures, porches, archeological strata spread out on a continuous thin plane; softness and speed, echoes, spores, tropes, fonts; not identity but incident and the accumulation of air miles; unmarked solitude absorbing time, bloating to become an environment, indexical euphorias, the unraveling of laughter; a brief history of escalators; memory manifest, brindled, loosening; a crumpling of automative glass; the pornographic, the wrapped; Helevetica's black dust: All doctrine is foreign to us. The problem of the shape of choice is mainly retrospective. That wild nostalgia leans into the sheer volubility of incompetence. The nostalgia musters symbols with no relation to necessity - civic sequins, apertures that record and tend the fickleness of social gifts. Containing only supple space, nostalgia feeds our imagination's strategic ineptitude. Forget the journals, conferences, salons, textbooks, and media of dissemination. We say thought's object is not knowledge but living. We do not like it elsewhere.

The truly utopian act is to manifest current conditions and dialects. Practice description. Description is mystical. It is afterlife because it is life's reflection or reverse. Place is accident posing as politics. And vice versa. Therefore it's tragic and big.

We recommenders of present action have learned to say "perhaps" our bodies produce space; "perhaps" our words make a bunting canopy; "perhaps" the hand-struck, palpable wall is an anti-discipline; "perhaps" by term "everyday life" we also mean potential. We allude sympathetically to the lyrical tone of clothing and furniture since they clearly reveal to the eye, mind, and judgement the real shapes of peopled sentiment. Cravats gushing from collars, we agree with the Soft Architect Lilly Reich that "clothes may also have metaphysical effects by means of their inherent regularity, their coolness and reserve, the coquettish cheerfulness and liveliness, their playful grace, their sound simplicity and their dignity." From the vast urbanity of our counter-discipline we applaud the mercurial Miss Reich, who said, "One of my hearts is in building."

Soft Architecture will reverse the wrongheaded story of structural deepness. That institution is all doors but no entrances. The work of the SA paradoxically recompiles the metaphysics of surface, performing a horizontal research which greets shreds of fiber, pigment flakes, the bleaching of light, proofs of lint, ink, spore, liquid and pixilation, the strange, frail, leaky cloths and sketchings and gestures which we are. The work of the SA, simultaneously strong and weak, makes new descriptions on the warp of former events. By descriptions, we mean moistly critical dreams, morphological thefts, authentic registers of pleasant customs, accidents posing as intentions. SA makes up face-practices.

What if there is no "space," only a permanent slow-motion mystic takeover, an implausibly careening awning? Nothing is utopian. Everything wants to be. Soft Architects face the reaching middle.

Utterly Irrelevant News.

2007-12-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

The Spice Girls decided to once again take up the sing and dance routine with their first tour in nearly 10 years. And who was the lucky recipient of the first show? Good old Vancouver BC. Lucky dogs.

Gettin into the Alternatives

2007-11-30T20:42:00.000-08:00

News from Alternative Newspapers throughout Cascadia:

[The Georgia Straight] sticks to the hot (or should I say shocking, hehe) topic of B.C. at the moment.

Over in Victoria [Monday Magazine] voices fears about childcare (Oh, and taser stuff).

Learn about the high expectations for Bellingham's new mayor, Dan Pike, in the [Cascadia Weekly]. (Obviously the best named indy paper!)

Both the [Seattle Weekly] and the [The Stranger] team up for a little love to the dirtier side of downtown Seattle.

Spokane's now infamous tent city remains a thorn in the side of government officials, reports [The Inlander]

[The Vancouver Voice]: South Washington expats tell all.

Learn about Idaho's flailing newspaper business in the [Boise Weekly].

Where are Potland's cops? Let the [Portland Mercury] tell you.

The [Willamette Weekly] reports on Portland's upcoming mayoral race.

Looks like Eugene residents aren't ready for an urban renewal. Check it out in the [Eugene Weekly].

A Look into the Duwamish

2007-11-28T16:58:00.000-08:00

This week the Seattle Post Intelligencer published a 'Special Report' on the Duwamish River in South Seattle. The articles look at the history of the Duwamish and how it came to be an industrial wasteland and critically analyzes the clean-up efforts that have been going on since it was designated a a national Superfund site in 2001. It is a very good report and certainly needed. The environmental raping of the Duwamish has continuously been put on the back shelf by policy makers for a host of reasons, including costs and its geographic location in the poorer South end of Seattle. As Seattle's only river, its sad that its natural beauty go completely unenjoyed by humans and wildlife alike. From the report:

The Duwamish is Seattle's river. Seattle's only real river.

And it is among the largest and most complicated toxic messes ever taken on by the federal government.

It's a Superfund site five miles long. How wide? That's yet to be decided, but theoretically it could extend from the crest of West Seattle to the top of Beacon Hill, a vast swath of Seattle, more than 10 square miles.

This is the heart of industrial South Seattle, where the meandering and shallow Duwamish River was straightened and deepened into an angular canal, mostly between 1913 and 1918. After that, industry moved in where Japanese- and Italian-American farmers had grown some of the first produce sold at Pike Place Market.

Along the Duwamish an army of industry took over: shipbuilding, manufacturing, oil tanks, metalworking shops, rendering plants, cement companies, a steel foundry, on and on.

Much of today's pollution had its roots in World War II, when Boeing cranked out nearly 7,000 "Flying Fortress" bombers. At the height of the war, a plane rolled off the assembly line about every two hours.

It helped save our country, but today that plant is arguably the river's most noxious toxic dump. PCBs leaked out of the bottom of the main plant, without anyone noticing, for decades.

Other riverside plants produced parts for the Liberty Ships that delivered vital supplies to Allied troops -- often food and materiel loaded at Seattle piers.

By the war's end, the price paid was becoming clear: More than 20 pollutants were being dumped into or alongside the river, including muriatic acid, sulfuric acid, cyanide, arsenic, copper sulfate salts, copper ammoniate and chromic acid. Plus the raw or minimally treated sewage of 48,000 people.

Wrote investigator Richard F. Foster of the newly created Washington Pollution Control Commission in December 1945: "The expansion of existing factories and the addition of several new industries since the outbreak of war has increased the pollution load. ... The extensive and continued spilling of oil ... does not seem justified."

But substances much worse than oil were being quietly unleashed, and their volumes would grow.

A River Lost?

Part 1
- The Duwamish helped Seattle prosper. But along the way it became one of the nation's largest and most toxic urban sites.

Part 2
- Critics say the clean up plan doesn't do enough to protect local residents, wildlife, and the environment.

Part 3
- A cautionary tale about a whitleblower who paid the a steep price for his actions.

Check out the full report for photos and other mulitmedia.

Is Secession Legal?

2007-11-28T01:54:00.001-08:00

I thought this was pretty interesting:

[American Secessionist Project]: Dedicated to putting secession in the mainstream of political thought as a viable solution to contemporary problems.

2007-11-27T03:31:00.000-08:00

Rainy day, dream away
Let the sun take a holiday
Flowers bathe and I see the children play
Lay back and groove on a rainy day

Johnny Allen "Jimi" Hendrix
November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970

Happy Birthday Jimi.

Cascadian Communities: The Emerald Triangle

2007-11-26T17:05:00.001-08:00

I would like to make this a typical addition here on Cascadia Rising. It's a chance for you, as well as me, to learn about all of the quirky and interesting regions within Cascadia. After all, the greatest part about this pseudo-nation is that it is in fact, made up of so many unique communities. Some people live on the open coast, pounded by the massive storms from the mighty Pacific, while others are surrounded by the lush rolling yellows of wheat fields. Still others live in a disconnected world of islands, where traveling is a constant challenge. The myriad outlooks give everyone a different perspective, and yet, we all share a fundamental mentality; we all love, live, and are a part of, the land and nature which surrounds us. We do not try and find ourselves in anachronistic philosophies and historical misgivings. Rather, we depend on our environment to mould and shape our identities. That, I believe, is the true spirit that gives Cascadia its solidarity.

That being said let's head South to Northern California and the Emerald Triangle...

The Emerald Triangle is made up of the three Californian counties of Mendicino, Trinity, and Humboldt. Tucked away between the Pacific Coast and the Redwood Forest, this quaint piece of land is a world unto itself. The two major highways connecting the area are narrow, winding, and underfunded, and I-5 barely breaches the eastern border of the Triangle.

The total land area is 10,260 sq. miles with a population of only 225,835. Most of this population is spread out in the woody hills that make up the area. The largest city, Eureka is only 26,128 and the second largest, Ukiah, is only 15,497.

All of these factors make the Emerald Triangle extremely conducive to one thing, growing marijuana. Every year billions and billions of dollars worth of marijuana are grown on the hills of the region making it the runaway leader of pot cultiviation in the US. But it makes sense. The area's varied geography and climate make it difficult to grow much else, while pot seems to flourish in the high hillside soil.

Although it is technically illegal, the dismal amount of government officers in the area make it impossible for any type of local action. In 1983 the government started the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) and has since been working, unsucessfully to try and eradicate the "problem". In 2005 CAMP managed to destroy 1.1 million plants but this $4 billion project did nothing to stop the supply and prices even went down significantly over the year. Even many conservatives agree that CAMP is simply, "an exercise in futility".

But that is not to say that people don't care, it just that the solution has been coming from the wrong direction. In the 1960's and 70's many people had small farms run by the alternative flower children of the day. But as prices have skyrocketed many people have gotten into the business stictly for the money. That means that more environmentally damaging practices are being used, like pesticide use and extensive deforestation. Many people believe that legalization could help stem environmental degradation by setting up laws and regulations, much like other businesses. Not to mention that the area stands to gain around $250 million worth of taxes a year from the industry; for the most economically iimpoverished area in California, this could be a lifesaver.

Many of the small towns in Northern California, such as Eureka, were founded in the mid-1800's and were mainly set up to exploit the vast timber and fish resources. Since then those industries have drastically declined leaving very little work for income. Perhaps legalization could help bring a much needed boost to the economy while regulation could protect the already endangered Redwoods. But who knows, the War on Drugs, despite its evident losses, shows little sign of slow-down.

Sources:
[USA Today]
[Wikipedia]
[3am Politics]

Across the Cascades...

2007-11-23T17:40:00.001-08:00

Guess who's back? It's not shady.

The Blue Scholars put out a sweet new video for Joe Metro.

The beautiful game will finally hit the big leagues in the emerald city.

B.C. Brews swamp competition in Canadian Brewing Awards.

Is peaceful B.C. really a facist state? Oh sorry, province.

Portland continues to deal with some serious issues.

Capitalism isn't always bad for the environment.

Tent City a strain on Spokane.

Cascadia may be bike friendly, but its no Europe.

Tom McCall: The Natural Visionary

2007-11-19T01:51:00.000-08:00

Last week Audrey McCall died in her Portland home at the age of 92.

Audrey McCall, the First Lady to the late Governor of Oregon, Tom McCall, was an active and powerful patron of environmental issues in Oregon.

While Mrs. McCall deserves admiration in her own right, one must know her husband to truly understand the impact of the McCalls on Cascadian history. Under Tom McCall's leadership in the 1960's and 70's, Oregon became one of the most progressive places in the world for environmental awareness.

"Surely, we all can subscribe to the uniting thought: That our actions here --- and always --- be guided by a reverence for life and respect for nature."

At first glance McCall doesn't seem to have the credentials of a typical eco-friend. He was a Republican and a vocal supporter of the Vietnam War, which raged during his Governorship. Nonetheless he understood the importance of the natural environment in the Oregonian psyche. "Health, economic strength, recreation --- in fact, the entire outlook and image of the state --- are tied inseparable to environment," he proclaimed in his first Inaugural speech.

McCall first ran for governor in 1966 under the banner of "livability". Although his own party opposed him, he won the election and quickly passed the "Beaches Bill" which granted the public ownership of much of Oregon's beautiful coast, saving it from development. This would be the first in a long line of pioneering environmental measures. His most famous was the "Bottle Bill" passed in 1971. This law, the first of its kind in the nation, required all soft-drink and beer containers to be returnable for a small refund. This bill dramatically cut down on litter and has since been copied by many other states in the country.

McCall also worked hard to clean up the Willamette River, which runs through the center of Portland and had virtually become an industrial wasteland by the end of the 1960's. The Harbor Drive Task Force which McCall organized in 1968 aimed to replace an old section of the Route 99 freeway, which spanned the Willamette River in downtown Portland, with some type of public space. In 1974 the highway was demolished and the area was developed into the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, a beautiful, historic park in the heart of downtown Portland. (Hmmmmm, maybe tearing down a decrepit viaduct on the water CAN have good results!)

But more than just environmental issues, McCall saw things from a greater perspective of sustainability and quality-of-life. He is well-known for his blunt message to non-Oregonians: "We want you to visit our State of Excitement often. Come again and again. But, for heaven’s sake, don’t move here to live." Even in a post-WWII environment, where growth of the West was seen as an integral goal of the United States, McCall understood the necessary balance needed between humans and other life. Under his leadership Oregon implemented the first statewide land planning system, which introduced an urban growth boundary to many of Oregon's metropolitan areas.

In 1983 Tom McCall mournfully succumbed to cancer. From that day forward, Audrey McCall carried on her husband's ambitions until her unfortunate death this year. The McCall legacy is one that all Cascadians should remember and commend. It is people like this that have made our small region of the world one of the best. In 2002 Oregon Governor Ted Kulungoski summed up McCall's character; it is one that has greatly influenced the Cascadian ethos:

Non-conformist. Fiercely independent. Plain spoken. Tolerant. And above all, in love with—and determined to protect—natural beauty.

Sources:

Oregon Historical Society: [Governor Tom McCall]
Oregon Biographies: [Tom McCall (1913-1983)]
Oregon State Archives: [Tom McCall's Administration]
Wikipedia: [Tom McCall]
Wikipedia: [Oregon Bottle Bill]

Towards Carfree Cities: Rethinking Mobility, Rediscovering Proximity

2007-11-19T01:38:00.000-08:00

The dream is still alive! The 8th Annual Carefree Conference, put on by the World Carefree Network, will be held in Portland next summer. Check it out, or get invovled.

2007-11-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

Very badass, classic Cascadian poster.

If you find this random, click here.
If you find that random, click here.

For more Cascadian designs, click here.

Seattle, a Vancouver Perspective

2007-11-15T04:46:00.000-08:00

"The amazing thing about Seattle and Vancouver is how different we are, considering our near-identical climates and bioregions, similar hybrid ethnicities and parallel histories. Look at a satellite photo of Puget Sound to Howe Sound, and it’s clear that there is now a border-straddling megalopolis from Lions Bay to Tacoma: seven million people in one virtual city, with the insufferable anomaly of an international border down the middle. With two heads but one conjoined body, Vancouver and Seattle are Siamese twins. Yet we are fused not at the head, but at the back—forever looking in different directions. We may share the same flesh, but our outlooks are, in many ways, starkly different." - From the Seattle Series

The April 2007 edition of Vancouver Magazine had a special series examining Seattle. You can learn a lot from an outsider's perspective, so check it out.

The Seattle Series

36 Hours in Seattle: Where to eat, shop, sightsee, and take five.

Bed Check: A look into 3 different hotels

Culture Crawl: Vancouver's selected music, books, and independent coffee.

The New Seattle: What Vancouver can learn from its Pacific Sister

A Tale of Two Cities: A Column Comparison

Thanks to [Rain City Guide] for the find.

Frisco Bay Oil Disaster

2007-11-13T23:20:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, November 8th, during heavy fog, the 902-foot long container ship Cosco (China Ocean Shipping Company) Busan hit a post of the Bay Bridge, causing 58,000 gallons of oil to spill into San Francisco Bay and the surrouning areas. Although not comparable to the Exxon-Valdez spill in volume (nearly 11 million gallons) it will likely be incredibly devastating to the area's unique eco-systems.

Oil has been found as far north as Marin County and as far south as Pacifica, a 40 mile stretch of coastline. At least 22 beaches have been closed including Point Reyes National Seashore, the only marine wilderness area south of Alaska. In addition 1,000 oil-soaked birds have been recovered, 550 of which have already died. The marine damage has not yet been assessed but Governor Schwarzenager has suspended all fishing and shellfish harvesting.

Paul from horsesass.org, a recent witness to the catastrophe said this:

"Think of it this way: If inner Puget Sound was coated with brown gobs of sticky goo, if beaches were closed to the public (even to volunteer cleanup), if boats at local marinas had tarred bathtub rings marring their hulls, and if waterfront property owners had days of cleanup on their hands"

While there are at least 1,500 workers and volunteers, as well as 53 vessels working to contain and clean up the disaster, a recent analysis of the area says that the remaining 40,000 gallons of oil are most likely unrecoverable. Although city officials are quick to reassure tourists that the problem is under control there is no doubt that this disaster will have a lasting negative impact on the region.

Other News Reports on the Spill:

[HorsesAss]: Incompetence is the Strategy

[Wikipedia]: Nov. 7 SF Bay Oil Spill

[Brisbane Times]: Oil Spill pollutes San Fran Bay

[Environment Service News]: Most of San Fran Bay Oil Spill Not Recoverable

[USA Today]: Oil Spill Kills More than 550 Birds

[The Guardian]: Oil Spill Gets Hairy

[BBC]: Inquiry into California Oil Spill

International Representation

2007-11-13T00:31:00.000-08:00

I would like to direct your attention to a recent article posted in the BBC:

A US man has injured himself in both legs after attempting to loosen a stiff wheel-nut by blasting it with his gun.

The 66-year-old man from Washington state was repairing his car outside his home when the accident took place.

Shooting at the wheel from arm's length with his 12-gauge shotgun, he was peppered with buckshot and debris.

The man - whom police say was on his own and not intoxicated - was taken to hospital with severe, but not life-threatening, injuries.

The man, from South Kitsap, 10 miles (16km) southwest of Seattle, had been repairing his Lincoln Continental for two weeks, according to the police, and had removed all but one of the nuts on the right rear wheel.

Frustrated by the one remaining nut which refused to budge, he resorted to fire power in an effort to shift it.

He sustained injuries from his feet to the middle of his abdomen, with some pellets reaching as high as his chin.

Now, after you have a nice chuckle at this poor dumb bastard, think about this shit again, this is serious. BBC is the most popular news site in the entire world. This article, was the most popular article on BBC's website. Thus, today, more people learned about this bumbling (sober!?!) Cascadian hick, than about parlimentary elections in Denmark or the IMF's decisions on Liberia.

It's not that I'm upset, just disappointed. The goal of this blog is to help present Cascadia to the world as a progressive, caring, and intelligent pseudo-nation. But its idiots like Kitsap Karl over here that fuck this mission up. Thanks buddy, thanks a lot.

The Mountains

2007-11-08T03:43:00.001-08:00

At its southern end the range is about 30 to 50 miles (50 to 80 km) wide and 4,500 to 5,000 feet (1,370 to 1,520 m) high and 80 miles (130 km) wide in northern Washington. At its northern apex at Lytton Mountain (2,049 m) in Canada, near the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers, the range is only 10 miles (16 km) wide. The tallest volcanoes of the Cascades are called the High Cascades and dominate their surroundings, often standing twice the height of the nearby mountains. They often have a visual height (height above nearby crestlines) of one mile (1.6 km) or more. The tallest peaks, such as the 14,411 foot (4,392 m) high Mount Rainier, dominate their surroundings for 50 to 100 miles (80 to 160 km).

The northern part of the range, north of Mount Rainier, is known as the North Cascades. It is extremely rugged, with many of the lesser peaks steep and glaciated. The valleys are quite low, resulting in great local relief, and major passes are only about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high. The southern part of the Canadian Cascades are included in the North Cascades, and have the same geography and geology. Usage differs as to whether to include the Coquihalla Range, which reaches up to the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers, and which has very different terrain and geology, more resembling the plateau country which extends north and east from the range's terminus at Lytton Mountain.

Because of the range's proximity to the Pacific Ocean, precipitation is substantial, especially on the western slopes, with annual accumulations of up to 150 inches (3,800 mm) in some areas—Mount Baker, for instance, recorded the largest single-season snowfall on record in the world in 1999—and heavy snowfall as low as 2,000 feet (600 m). It is not uncommon for some places in the Cascades to have over 200 inches (5,500 mm) of snow accumulation, such as at Lake Helen (near Lassen Peak), one of the snowiest places in the world. Most of the High Cascades are therefore white with snow and ice year-round. The western slopes are densely covered with Douglas-fir, Western Hemlock and Red alder, while the drier eastern slopes are mostly Ponderosa Pine, with Western Larch at higher elevations. Annual rainfall drops to 8 inches (200 mm) on the eastern foothills due to a rainshadow effect.

Beyond the foothills is an arid plateau that was created 16 million years ago as a coalescing series of layered flood basalt flows. Together, these sequences of fluid volcanic rock form a 200,000 square mile (520,000 km²) region out of eastern Washington, Oregon, and parts of Northern California and Idaho called the Columbia River Plateau.

The Columbia River Gorge is the only major break in the American part of the Cascades. When the Cascades started to rise 7 million years ago in the Pliocene, the Columbia River drained the relatively low Columbia River Plateau. As the range grew, the Columbia was able to keep pace, creating the gorge and major pass seen today. The gorge also exposes uplifted and warped layers of basalt from the plateau.

From "Cascade Range" on [Wikipedia]

Cascadians talk Climate

2007-11-07T01:03:00.000-08:00

Willamette Valley, Oregon

Taking the Lead
By Eva Sylwester
November 1, 2007

"Global warming: A problem that requires the cooperation of the world to solve.

Action at the state level and collaboration between states is still an important part of the solution — even though measures taken at the different levels of government involved can conflict with each other.

Speakers at the "Combating Climate Change on the Regional Level: West Coast Policy and Litigation" symposium at the UO School of Law on Oct. 19 addressed these issues. The Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, which UO law students produce, and the Bowerman Center for Environmental Law sponsored the symposium.

State Sen. Brad Avakian (D-Beaverton), one of the symposium's keynote speakers, said Oregon's government has a historical record of acting for the betterment of society, as in the 1967 Beaches Bill and the 1971 Bottle Bill.

"We lost that in the last couple of decades, but the last legislative session was a turning point," Avakian said. "It was the beginning of a cultural shift back."

Accomplishments of the 2007 legislative session Avakian noted include expanding the Bottle Bill; requiring recycling of consumer electronics; and the Oregon Renewable Energy Act, which mandates that 25 percent of Oregon's energy will be renewable by 2025.
The level of thought toward climate change in the Pacific Northwest is unique, and so are the Northwest's challenges for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Northwest does not have the number of methane-producing cattle that the agricultural Midwest does, and it also benefits from hydroelectric power. Therefore, the Northwest has a greater share of its emissions coming from transportation than the U.S. does as a whole, said Spencer Reeder of the Washington State Department of Ecology, and transportation emissions are harder to reduce than other types of emissions."

Read full article in the [Eugene Weekly]

Election Time!

2007-11-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

Its that wonderful time of year when Cascadians get to voice their typically-so-polite opinions by choosing the candidates and propositions that matter most. Here is a quick look at some of the most important issues this time around.

In the time of carbon footprints and LEED design, transportation and its environmental impacts is ALWAYS a controversial topic. Pierce, Snohomish, and King Counties in Washington are voting on an $18 billion dollar transportation packet that couples new road construction with extended light rail. The proposition has been criticized for trying to reconcile car users with transportation riders and many groups, including the Stranger newspaper, and the Sierra Club, as well as King County executive, Ron Sims, have denounced the measure. Governor Gregoire and the Seattle PI both endorsed the plan but it seems it did not satisfy enough voters.

In the Bay Area a similar battle rages as two Propositions, A and H, will decide the fate of sustainable transportation in the San Francisco area. Proposition A looks to pump $26 million more dollars a year into the bay area's MUNI system which has been plagued with problems and slow downs in the past few years. Proposition H, an indirect rebuttal to A, wants to increase off-street parking spaces within the city limits. The majority of publications, as well as the current mayor, Gavin Newsom, have endorsed Proposition A and not H, but the influential and popular San Francisco Examiner has taken the other stance as well as the Small Business Owner's Association, a group with substantial funds. A populist campaign has been sparked to deter more money for public transport.

In Oregon a special election has been called for two measures that typify the free spirit of the Oregonians. Measure 49, which is almost certain to be approved, would restore property rights to rural and suburban land owners. It adds a number of restrictions to commercial farm and forest lands, but also gives private property owners many rights taken away in 2004, including the ability to build up to 10 homes on one piece of land. Measure 50 would implement an 84 cent tax on cigarette packs which would go to into a fund to help low income children receive better health care as well as tobacco prevention programs. The issue has been incredibly divisive and won the record for most campaign money on any single measure with $12 million dollars being spent by supporters and opponents together. As righteous as this measure is, it seems that Oregon voters are not ready for more taxes.

There are also a number of mayoral elections taking place throughout Cascadia.

In Bellingham, WA Dan Pike won the mayoral election with an emphasis on saving Lake Whatcom and quickly but responsibly developing the old GP waterfront.

In Spokane, WA it looks like Mary Verner will be the new mayor. Verner studied the environment and resource management and has focused on sustainable, healthy growth for the eastern city.

In Boise, Idaho incumbent David Bieter is facing a close race against retired police chief Jim Tibbs.

And finally, in San Francisco a show of a mayoral race is taking place with 12 candidates battling against incumbent Gavin Newsom. The candidates come from all walks of life including a nudist activist, a homeless taxi cab driver, the infamous Josh Wolf, and an artist named "Chicken John" Rinaldi (pictured). While Newsom enjoys incredibly high approval ratings and is almost certain to win, the Bay Area's Guardian endorsed Quintin Mecke, a young social worker involved in homeless shelters and violence prevention.

For more information about Cascadian Elections, see these informative articles:

[The Guardian] Endorsments and info about San Fran Elections

[The Stranger] Endorsments and info about Washington Elections

[NWCN] Election Coverage in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho

Click here for a wonderful FOX interview with "Chicken John" and the nudist.

Cascadian Quality of Life

2007-11-06T05:27:00.000-08:00

Mercer Human Resources Consulting, an international advisory firm, has concocted a global ranking of the most livable cities. The results are based on 39 comparable "quality of life" issues that range from political stability to school quality and media outlets. Gathering data from 215 different cities, New York City was given an index rating of 100.0 and each city was given a score in relation to this.

All of the ranked cities in Cascadia managed to make the top 50. The highest rated Cascadian city was Vancouver, BC (pictured), tying for 3rd with Vienna and behind (1) Zurich and (2) Geneva. The other Cascadian rankings were as follows:

San Francisco
Rank: 29
Score: 103.2

Portland
Rank: 46
Score: 100.3

Seattle
Rank: 49 (tied with Milan, Italy)
Score: 99.9

To see the full report, click here

Where is Cascadia?

2007-11-06T02:52:00.001-08:00

This blog is dedicated to the going-ons of the greastest world region to grace this glorious globe. That is, Cascadia. But, before this wonderful adventure into Cascadia begins, there is one incredibly pertinent question that must be addressed: What exactly constitutes the borders of Cascadia?

Ernest Callenbach, author of the 1975 novel, Ecotopia, and one of the founding father's of the Cascadian ideal, thought mostly of the coastal regions. Callenbach envisioned Cascadia, or as he called it, Ecotopia, as Washington Oregon and Northern California. Coming from an older generation he centered in the South, with San Francisco as the capital. More recent Cascadian nationalists have tended to look north, generally including Canada's British Columbia within the parameters (see Republic of Cascadia). It is also important to note that due to the original boundaries of the Oregon Territory, the eastern side of the mountains has long been politically bound to the west and therefore shares a common historical tradition. Scholar and historian Carlos Arnaldo Schwantes, considers the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho to be the most historically and culturally homogenous, and, thus, has influentially dubbed this region as the Pacific Northwest.

But regardless of where you draw the lines, the fact remains that these recently colonized lands shelter a distinct identity that exists nowhere else on earth. In 1925 Almira Bailey traveled to this region and his comments about Seattle reflect a greater embodiment of the Cascadian spirit.

"Old cities forget that they were once-trees. In those cities they love old "musky, tusky" houses where the regicides once hid or Paul Revere stopped and supposed a cup of tea. But in Seattle, it is as though the trees changed to house shapes, still keeping the essence and benediction of earth-contact"

So without further ado, I bring you Cascadia Rising, the first and only blog dedicated to news and information about this greatly underappreciated, but not under-watered (sorry, a little NW humor for you) region. Viva Cascadia!