Hinessight

This is pathetic. Salem apparently is so inconsequential in the eye of an Oregon-hype-deflater, this town didn't even merit a mention in her Daily Beast piece, "Hold Up Hipsters: Stop Obsessing Over Oregon." Now, I didn't find Nina Strochlic's observations about Oregon all that insightful. Or believable. She ends with: So, for those ready to pack up a U-Haul after gawking at the Oregonian’s real-estate section and skimming the gastronomy buzz, take a trip down the backroads to see if the state really lives up to all the hype filling your ears and, possibly, clouding your eyes. Most importantly of all:…

I can't believe it took me so long to visit the Salem Summit Company outdoor store here in Salem, Oregon. It's been open for, what, a year and a half?  Whenever I thought about stopping by, I was on my way to somewhere else. Hey, being retired doesn't mean I'm not hugely busy. I've got Tai Chi classes, coffee shop blogging, Minto Brown Park exercising, and so much else to do. Today, though, I finally did the deed.  Hugely impressed. Great store. Friendly staff. Excellent selection of merchandise in a compact space. Kind of like REI compressed down to the…

Like most long-time residents of the Salem, Oregon area, I've got a love-hate relationship going with my town.  I can't leave her. I adore her many wonderful qualities. But man, sometimes she drives me freaking crazy. When she's annoying, she really is hard to live with. Or rather, in.  My Strange Up Salem column in this issue of Salem Weekly is called "How Salem Can Become Happy Town." Check it out.  I talk about how good urban design can make Salem, or any town, into a much happier place. This simple appealing notion is the focus of Happy City, by…

The more I learn about how the Mayor, City Manager, and other public officials went about planning a new Police Facility for Salem, Oregon, the screwier that process looks.  In fact, it was backwards -- based on how the International Association of Chiefs of Police say things should be done in "Police Facility Planning Guidelines -- Desk Reference for Law Enforcement Executives." Download Police Facility Planning Guidelines Here's the key steps in what the City of Salem did, as documented under "Timeline of Council Actions" on the web page devoted to Public Safety Facility and Civic Center Seismic Need. (1)…

Over on the Salem Community Vision Facebook page, a great question has been asked: Members of Salem Community Vision are looking for some positive suggestions on how to make the Civic Center a more vibrant, people centered gathering place.If you have some suggestions how to make the Peace Plaza better, or the Mirror Pond more inviting, or even how to liven up the interiors of the Center, please post some of your ideas.SCV thinks that we can enhance what we already have without having to tear down our valuable assets. This reminded me of a night not long ago, Christmas…

Over on Salem Breakfast on Bikes, a must-read blog for anyone who cares about transportation and land use issues in our city, there's an interesting comment conversation. It is on this post about the City of Salem's proposal to spend $70 million plus on a new police facility on Civic Center property and seismic retrofitting of some or all of the Civic Center. The Breakfast on Bikes blog administrator chimed in with some comments and questions of his own. Geoff James, an architect involved with Salem Community Vision (recently formed group that seeks more and better community input into decisions that…

Thanks, guys, you who checked out the Salem Community Vision web site after I whipped it up recently in a flurry of Wix-inspired creativity and asked for feedback. I've become a believer in the Wix web site creation service. It's a winner for people like me -- those who feel comfortable doing some site designing, yet are about as familiar with HTML coding as with Sanskrit.  I'm also a big believer in the potential of Salem Community Vision to do some good for our fair city, which could be way fairer, in 2014. Here's a key reason.  If there's anything…

I made this post's title a question. But it easily could have been a statement: City of Salem trying to screw up downtown parking, given the evidence to support this.  Today Carole Smith, a downtown business owner and resident, told it like she sees it in a Statesman Journal guest opinion. I'm going to share the entire piece so it will be available when the newspaper moves "Council insincere on parking" to its archives. The parking petition mentioned by Smith was signed by about 9,000 people. It called for a ban on parking meters downtown and elimination of onstreet parking time…

In a way, we're all artists. Or at least, have the potential to be. I'm not talking about being able to paint, sculp, make music, dance, compose poetry, or such. Being artistic is much more than that. It's an inner quality of openness, creativity, spontaneity, expressiveness and much else that can't be put into words.  You can be an artistic anything. Plumber. Bartender. Lawyer. Housecleaner. Pilot.  Or... Mayor. City Manager. City councillor. Department head. I wish we had more artists among City of Salem leadership. This would go a long way toward making Salem, Oregon a more vibrant place to…

Salem, Oregon often is referred to as So-Lame. At least when compared to Salem's cooler neighbors, Portland, Corvallis, and Eugene. But there is hope for our town, judging from the creative ideas that were shared at today's Salem City Club meeting -- "My New Year's Wish for Salem." Here's how it was billed: If you could have one New Year’s wish for Salem, what would it be? 2014 is just around the corner.  It’s time to close the book on 2013 and think about the future of our city.  We’ve assembled a panel of Salem residents to do just that. Our panel…

Talk is cheap, as the saying goes.

Conversely, not-talking can be expensive. This was my theme in the Salem Weekly Strange Up Salem column that hit the streets today. 

The current Salem Weekly issue isn't available online yet, so I'll share "Some talking could save $30 million" as a continuation to this post (see below). Here's how the column starts.

“We need to talk.” This can be an ominous-sounding statement. Like when your boss utters it after a bunch of co-workers already have been laid off.

But government officials should love to hear those words from the people they serve. 

For example, if taxpayers want to talk about being asked to pay $70 million for something that could cost $40 million, that’s a conversation worth having.

Which is what needs to happen here in Salem. 

After several years of mostly-secret meetings, City officials are running around town pushing a plan to build a new three-story Police Facility with expensive underground parking at the Civic Center.

Cost: $44 million. However, the City of Eugene recently remodeled an existing building into a similarly-sized police headquarters for $17 million. 

Salem Community Vision, a group working to improve local government decision-making through more citizen involvement, is asking why less expensive alternatives to the $44 million Civic Center Police Facility haven’t been seriously considered.

Below is a cost comparison worksheet prepared by Geoffrey James, an architect, and Gene Pfeifer, a designer and builder. Here's a PDF version:  Download How to save $33 million

James and Pfeifer have lots of experience with complex construction projects. They were instrumental in finding a much less expensive solution to fixing Courthouse Square, Marion County's problem-plagued building. 

The image at the top is a Site Plan prepared by the City of Salem. The City's June 2013 cost estimate for the new Police Facility and Civic Center renovation project is under the image: $70.5 million. Below that is a $37.5 million estimate prepared by James and Pfeifer that reflects a smarter way to go. (click to enlarge)

This isn't the last word, of course. It's a discussion piece.

People in Salem need to have an open, factual, and candid conversation about the best way to build a new Police Facility and seismically retrofit the Civic Center buildings. Like I said in the column, if talking can save $30 million, let's converse.

If you agree, sign the Salem Community Vision petition at Change.org. And give the group a Facebook like. 

For more info about why there is a better way than what the City of Salem is proposing, have a look at the Salem Community Vision brochure — presented as "inside" and "outside" images. (click to enlarge)

Here's the entire Salem Weekly column.

Coffee. Cocktails. Food. Looks like there will be something for everybody when Archive opens in the McGilchrist building next March or April. I learned about this bar/restaurant from a Salem Breakfast on Bikes post, "Hipster Baristas Add Booze and Bar, Invade Downtown."  Excellent news! The words hipster, barista, and downtown give me increased hope that Salem's core is on the way to being enlivened by some much-needed youthful energy. So says Breakfast on Bikes. It will be a great addition to the scene already set by Ventis, La Capitale, Amadeus, Maven, and the others. What feels significant about this, though, is the…