December 2008 Archives

On Saturday I was at Hamm Creek on the Duwamish, for the last People for Puget Sound habitat restoration work party of the year. At lunch I was sitting with Bruce Clifton, a long-time Sound Steward, talking about this and that, but mostly about people driving cars, and what cars deposit on the streets that is then washed into the Sound. I had to keep qualifying my marks disparaging car usage with "and she says, after she drove here". Driving to work parties at the restoration sites are some of the rare occasions that I use my car. Bruce doesn't drive and doesn't have a car. He provides instructions for people to get to the restoration sites by bus, but there is usually a pretty good hike involved. We lost a volunteer Saturday who was trying to get there by bus and couldn't find the way.

We discussed the Puget Sound Partnership Action Agenda that was just approved by the legislature. The studies done as background for the Agenda confirmed that stormwater runoff, much of it carried by roads, is the largest source of pollutants to the Sound, contributing the lion's share of the 52 million pounds of pollutants going into the Sound each year. Not all of that is from cars, but a huge portion is, including some of the most potent toxics. Hybrid and electric cars are a better choice than standard combustion engines, but they are not a solution. A set of car tires will deposit 7 or 8 pounds of hydrocarbons on roadways in their normal span of use. Leaking lubricants are a big source of hydrocarbons. Copper is one of the pollutants that causes the most harm to salmon, even in small amounts, and most of it comes from brake linings. One of the recommendations, besides reducing driving, is to use brake pads made of hemp instead of copper. David Dicks, Puget Sound Partnership executive director, had a good laugh over that one at a presentation last Thursday, saying that college students would be fully supporting that measure.

I drive my hybrid car rarely, but have not completely given it up yet. Better cars will help, but will never be a solution. That's why I favor, in bailout plans for the Big Three, having them retool to produce mass transit vehicles, not just better cars. Streetcars and railcars are not produced in this country any longer and have to be shipped from overseas. 

Many other toxics in the Sound are generated by individuals in daily practices involving pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Phthalates, a potential endocrine disruptor, are a cheap, convenient plasticizer found in a multitude of products, even though it is not listed on any label. Personal choices are important and can make a big impact; the sources of toxics are so widespread, endemic, and non self-evident, however, that regulation will probably be required to prevent the contaminants from being included in products in the first place.

I volunteer for habitat restoration on the Duwamish because, in the larger sense, that is my watershed. I actually live on Elliott Bay, on a "combined system" of pipes that drain into the sanitary system for treatment under normal circumstances, but cause untreated sewage overflow directly into the bay after major rain events. It's hard to think of this invisible system of pipes as a "watershed", which makes it hard for individuals to envision how their actions impact the local and greater watersheds. As an old-time Bioregional Congress participant, accustomed to actual, visible, watersheds that residents can identify with on an up close and personal level, I find it hard to identify with pipes in the street. I would like to understand the system better, however - to have maps of how my streets are draining, and where the end-of-pipe is out in the bay. I imagine taking a kayak out there in the rain to take water samples, to know exactly what my streets are contributing. I would like to engage community involvement, as is done around creek watersheds, but it is difficult to imagine a community organizing around these invisible pipes. What would community involvement look like? We might encourage better control of pet waste, get more of the locals to drive less - but in our urban neighborhood most of the people in cars are driving through, and don't actually live here - like the people who love the elevated viaduct. Perhaps we could raise enough interest to convince SDOT to install true Green Street stormwater infrastructure, instead of the current improvements that, although lovely, don't mitigate any of the stormwater in the street. Perhaps we could interest more urban property owners in contributing to improvements such as the Swale on Yale.

For some time I have been wondering about this vacant building, with its intriguing terra cotta tile imagery, including a version of that mysterious illuminated pyramid that also appears on our dollar bill. The mystery is now clear. The building, most recently known as the William Tell Apartments and owned by affordable housing provider Plymouth Housing Group, has been bought for redevelopment as a hotel or hostel. It was first built as the Lorraine Hotel, so reuse has brought it full circle. Plymouth Housing Group will build a new affordable housing building with the proceeds, on the site of a current surface parking lot. It is certainly a much higher and better use. Here are some shots of auto fluid leaks washing from that parking lot into the storm system at the start of our winter rainy system. Stormwater is the largest source of pollutants entering Puget Sound.

The Lorraine Hotel was emblematic of Belltown's former history in the film industry. Another historic aspect of Second Avenue in Belltown is these large cedars planted as street trees. The tree wells are in the middle of the sidewalk, with maples planted at the corner ends. Bradford pears are planted in tree wells on the street edge of the sidewalk, leaving the cedars in the center. It forms an allee, a double row of trees to walk through. Although this, in combination with sidewalk cafes, makes for a crowded sidewalk, walking beneath the cedars is a very aromatic experience, especially in the fall when the seeds fall from the cones, and the leafs are falling from the maples, and the sidewalks are not regularly swept in front of the buildings that are vacant. The fragrances are very sweet, like the scent of memory.

I have a fear of cyclists. It's hard to admit to. I fear some people on bicycles more than I fear drivers in cars. Irrational? Maybe - but cars don't drive on the sidewalk, usually. I fear those cyclists who whizz through pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk, who pass me by a hairbreadth with no warning, no care. I fear cyclists who blast through a crosswalk when pedestrians have the light, although admittedly not as much as I fear drivers who do the same. The need to preserve momentum at all costs seems to be an overwhelming need for some cyclists.

Conditions that make it easier for cars to speed also invite cyclists to speed - smooth pavements, wide turning radii on curves. I've walked amidst hordes of cyclists in Copenhagen and not felt this fear. For some reason fewer cyclists there show a need for speed - perhaps because of rough cobbled pavements? Because they have no concerns, confident that they can safely get where they want to go, on their bike? Perhaps they just have to slow down because of congestion - there are crowds of cyclists on the tracks, and throngs of cyclists mixing with pedestrians in some of the public plazas. We don't yet have that "critical mass" of cyclists, and our serious bicycle commuters are forced to ride with auto traffic. They behave accordingly, even when inappropriate. Cyclists are "soft" and should be treated as such, not treated like automobiles. They need their own space.

Our Market has rough brick paving, and cyclists do slow down. Too many still try to ignore pedestrian presence. I watched this cyclist driving into the market while a crowd was gathered for the holiday lighting ceremony. He seemed to have an overwhelming need to keep on the bike, wheels rolling, until it was absolutely impossible to proceed through the throngs of humanity. He finally stopped and looked around, acknowledging the "critical mass" of pedestrians.

From the Heart of the City...

and the Soul of the City...

Seasons Greetings from Seattle