If I remember right I've annoyed a person or two when I compare something in Seattle to something in Fort Worth. It is only natural that I would make note of things that seem so different, to me, in the two towns, because they are the two plus-sized towns with which I am most familiar.
One really big difference between Seattle and Fort Worth is the way public works projects come about.
Currently Fort Worth's biggest public works project is building a little lake and an unneeded flood diversion channel, obliterating the historic confluence of the West and Clear branches of the Trinity River. This project goes by various names. Mainly, Trinity Uptown Project, Trinity River Vision or Fort Worth's Latest Boondoggle.
Fort Worth's Latest Public Works Boondoggle is using eminent domain to take property for this public works project about which the public has little say and no vote.
Meanwhile, up in Washington, on Monday the State Senate sent to Governor Gregoire SB 6292 for her signature.
This bill approves the almost $5 billion State Highway 520 Floating Bridge replacement. The 520 Floating Bridge is one of 2 that cross Lake Washington.
Seattle has a lot of lakes, so there is no need to have a public works project to build a fake lake. The existing 520 Floating Bridge is about 60 years old. It's near the end of its lifespan and needs to be replaced before Mother Nature sinks it. Mother Nature has previously sank 2 other Washington Floating Bridges.
The new 520 Floating Bridge is going to be quite a bit bigger than the current one and will fix several problems that have been a bottleneck for way too long. The final routing has yet to be determined. Eminent domain may need to be used to route part of the new road through the area made famous in
Sleepless in Seattle, that being an area on Lake Washington with a lot of houseboats.
Now, as I read the article about Washington's new Floating Bridge what is it that really popped out at me as being way different than the way things are done in Fort Worth? Well, in Seattle it's sort of a joke/truism, that before anything gets done, everyone who wants to have a say, gets to.
I'll copy a paragraph from the Seattle P-I article by way of illustrating the HUGE difference between these 2 towns.
"Critics from business and labor - as well as Eastside city leaders - have complained that the debate over how to replace 520 has already taken too long and it's time to move forward. Powerful Seattle neighborhood groups have hired an attorney as they continue to press their case."Did you spot what I am focusing on? "Powerful Seattle neighborhood groups...".
I can tell you what would have happened in Seattle if something occurred as absurd as a private company abusing eminent domain to run a non-odorized natural gas pipeline under a Seattle neighborhood. I can tell you, it just would not happen.
If Carter Avenue were in Seattle, in a Seattle neighborhood called Meadowbrook, the powerful Meadowbrook Neighborhood would have collectively come together to demand the pipeline project cease. The powerful Seattle Meadowbrook Neighborhood would have pooled their resources to hire legal help to help Carter Avenue.
I have seen time and again, in Seattle, where a group will band together in some common cause. Object to Paul Allen's plan to make a sort of Seattle Central Park running from Lake Union to downtown? Stopped by forcing the issue on to a ballot. Object to a voter approved plan to build a new monorail line? Force another vote. Five elections later the monorail is dead.
Is Seattle better or worse off than Fort Worth due to having all this citizen input and participation? Well, if you've ever been to Seattle you know the answer to that one.
No one could get away with shoving down the voter's throats, in Seattle, something as goofy as Fort Worth's Town Lake Boondoggle.
Did Paul Allen give up on his Seattle Central Park plan? Not really, it just sort of morphed into something else, as in a re-vitalized South Lake Union and things like SLUT (South Lake Union Transit). Fort Worth sent a task force to Seattle to check out some of those South Lake Union developments.
So, is it too late for the Meadowbrook Neighborhood to turn itself into a powerful Seattle-like neighborhood? It really is not just Carter Avenue that is under attack and facing the danger of a potentially explosive pipeline. The streets running parallel to Carter Avenue are also in harm's way. Streets like Bomar & Scott Avenue.
It would take a very small donation from the neighbors of the Meadowbrook Neighborhood to raise enough money to hire legal help. I really think this is the time and this is the issue where the people of Fort Worth buck it up and start exercising their rights like Americans in other parts of America do. Like Seattle.
