Salem

My wife and I were early investors in Sustainable Fairview Associates (SFA), the group that took over the 275 acre former Fairview Training Center property. We had high hopes that a model sustainable community would sprout in Salem—which sorely needs some Green pizzazz to offset this not-so-fair city's deservedly bland image. As I said in my "We check out of Sustainable Fairview" post, about a year ago we sold our shares after a bittersweet and often frustrating relationship with the management of SFA. Nonetheless, we still had high hopes for the 246 remaining acres (one chunk was sold to Pringle…

George Suniga, a Salem (Oregon) developer, has this thing about beautiful large trees. He loves to cut them down. With or without a permit. Here's his latest piece of work. Until a few days ago these marvelous oaks were some of the few trees left on Suniga's Waln Creek Estates subdivision. My wife and I drive past the property just about every day. And for many years we had the Oregonian delivered to a paper box on the corner of Holder Lane and Liberty Road (we live too far out in the country for home delivery). So I got to…

Come on, let's do it: manifest a Trader Joes in Salem. "The Secret" says it's possible through the Law of Attraction. Thoughts become things. Now, I'm skeptical that The Secret really works. But if everyone who reads this post thinks, "There will be a Trader Joes in Salem, Oregon," hopefully your believing will overwhelm my skepticism and a local store will fill the TJ-gap between the Portland area (six) and Eugene (one). [See *** below for another approach.] However, I'll rain on my own parade. Rumor has it that Trader Joes researched Salem and concluded that our semi-fair city wouldn't…

Thank you, Paragon Construction, for helping to heal us. About ten years ago we had our downstairs bathroom remodeled by an incompetent company that just about drove us insane. As I wrote in our 1996 Christmas Letter: Laurel…was able to maintain her equilibrium during a seemingly endless series of delays, mixups, and screwups by using a time tested therapeutic tool for stress reduction: almost daily, she would calmly step into the center of the yet unfinished remodeling project, making a sacred space by pushing aside the myriad tools and pieces of sheet rock that littered the floor, then fold her…

Bet you think this will be the world’s shortest blog post, given that title. Hah! Dream on, overly proud Portlanders. This Salem resident is about to show you what you’re missing if you don’t live in Oregon’s capital. [Blog fact check: our address has “Salem” in it, but my wife and I live five miles outside the city limits. Nonetheless, we’re Salemites through and through, as evidenced by our bland dispositions.] What you're missing is: plenty of vacant free downtown parking spaces. Now, admittedly this photo was taken around noon today, a rainy Sunday, but this is a typical Salem…

Downtown Salem was gridlocked last Wednesday evening. Not exactly like New York City, but it was a pretty good imitation of gridlock for generally sleepy Salem. I’d parked on the right side of Court Street at 4:30 to go to my Tai Chi class. When I went outside at 6:15 I saw that traffic was barely moving. I went into Starbucks for my traditional post Tai Chi grande nonfat vanilla latte. The barista told me she’d heard there was an accident on Front Street. Plus, the windstorm had reportedly disabled some traffic lights. I told her, “Fortunately I’m heading south…

Salem’s State Street Saw Shop is a thing of beauty, isn’t it? Aside from the alliteration, consider what I enjoyed during my visit this afternoon. I parked fifteen feet from the front door. No trudging in the rain through a vast parking lot, then coming out and wondering, “Where the hell is my car?” I walked in and immediately saw what I was looking for—a Stihl BR 550 Backpack Blower. No wandering endless aisles searching for the one thing I wanted out of countless things I didn’t. I got immediate knowledgeable service from two mature guys who have forgotten more…

When we had no trouble finding a parking space yesterday just a few blocks from this year’s Salem Art Fair, I knew that Oregonians are indeed heat-weenies. And when Laurel started to complain about how hot it was even before we’d passed through one of the semi-voluntary gates, I knew that I was married to a true Oregonian (albeit one born in Illinois.) The $5 suggested admission fee this year is semi-voluntary because it would be easy to walk around the barrier. However, some pretty fearsome Girl Scouts were manning, or rather, girling, the gate. I wasn’t about to chance…

Beautiful girl with a sword: a great combination. God, I love to watch belly dancing. Even on a hot day. Here are some other photos taken yesterday during the Americanistan peformance at the Salem World Beat Festival. I went back to the Festival around noon on Sunday, hoping that I’d find it more upbeat than the desultory late Saturday afternoon vibe. It was. A few degrees of coolness seemed to make a lot of difference to both attendees and performers. These Samoan dancers were wonderfully colorful and enthusiastic. Audience members had just gone out and thrown dollar bills around, which…

This blog reporter can sum up the first day of the 2006 Salem World Beat Festival in one word: hot! I’ll add some additional verbiage, but will let my photos do most of the talking. Longest line was at this booth. Not surprising. By contrast, this booth was deserted. Truthfulness, benevolence, and forebearance isn’t a big draw compared to shave ice. The spinning bunny is at the festival every year. I like his (or her) mellow attitude. Sadly for the main stage performers, Oregonians weenie out when it hits the mid 90s. Colores del Alma played some nice World Beat…

Yesterday I noticed that the south Salem Fred Meyer store had added a Family Friendly check out lane. Since I was by myself, and one does not make a family, I passed it by. I’m a stickler for check out rules. Always count the items in my cart before I turn into “Ten Items or Less.” I asked my cashier if what made the Family Friendly lane so FF was the absence of tabloids and magazines like the “National Enquirer” and “Cosmopolitan.” “Yes,” she said. She assured me that I could use the lane even if I didn’t have a…

White hail and red rhododendron blossoms. A haiku is in order. Man, that was one insane thunderstorm that blew through south Salem a few minutes ago. I’m glad my camera is water resistant. This photo was taken from inside the house through an open sliding door, but the wind was so strong, the rain blew right in on me. Our thunderphobic dog, Serena, survived the storm. Barely. After she frantically crawled into our bedroom closet, her usual first line of defense against thunderstorms, Laurel found her a new safe spot under a shelf in the pantry. Serena panted her way…

After I read the amusing Oregon State Barbies post over at Jack Bog’s Blog, the omission of a Salem Barbie was painfully obvious. Laurel and I gave it some thought: Salem Barbie comes with a bland wardrobe and sensible shoes. The navigation system on her white Jeep Cherokee is preset with her favorite destinations: Target, Big Lots, Tin Tin Buffet, Lancaster Drive, and the Four Square Evangelical Church of Jesus the Redeemer. Customize her ride with included bumper stickers: “Support the Troops,” “Stop Abortion Now,” and “My Child is a Honor Student at Christ the King Bible School.” Salem Ken’s…

The current issue of The New Yorker has a to die for article about Los Angeles shopping and fashion. By “to die for,” I mean that I’d sell my soul to the Literary Devil if I could write as well as Patricia Marx, author of “To Shop and Drive in L.A.” She captures the L.A. scene beautifully. My daughter and her husband live in Hollywood, so I have a passing familiarity with the vibrant southern Cal lifestyle that is poles apart from what passes for life and style here in staid Salem, Oregon (see my “Wide-Eyed on Rodeo Drive”). I…

On Monday the Salem (Oregon) city council rejected a demand from veterans and military personnel that the Peace Plaza be renamed Liberty Plaza or Freedom Plaza. The disgruntled peaceaphobes also were up in arms over the United Nations flag in the plaza, calling this “foreign flag” a slap in the face to military personnel. Late this afternoon, after changing out of my blogger’s pajamas, I decided to take a look for myself and see if the Peace Plaza was the radical hotbed of secular America-hating internationalism that the city council petitioners were making it out to be. The plaza sits…

I’ve got a thing going with Les Schwab. Not with the man—my tofuish sensibilities don’t mesh with Les’ “Free Beef” mentality—but with the chain of tire stores that he founded. Yesterday I bought four tires for our Prius at the south Salem Les Schwab Tire Center and, per usual, my experience with the company was exemplary. I wasn’t thrilled about getting a new set of tires after putting only 20,000 miles on the original equipment Goodyear Integritys, which, along with quite a few other Integrity owners, I can pithily describe as four rolling pieces of crap. But the Les Schwab…

Last night we talked about a favorite subject, Why Salem Sucks, during the monthly meeting of our Salon discussion group. While we found some good things to say about Salem, at least two-thirds of the conversation involved the bad and the ugly. The meeting was up in Portland, actually—at the home of Mark and Lynda, group members who recently moved to a beautiful condo on the Willamette River (see “Salem escapees head for Sellwood area”). So we had put some distance between us and Salem, which perhaps produced a clearer perspective on the town long-time residents adore and revile in…