Leaving Seattle With The New Zealand Family Heading Towards Fort Worth

 A week or two ago I blogged about a New Zealand Family's Seattle Visit Reminding Me Of Fort Worth's Infamous Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

The New Zealand family had been on an RV trip up America's West Coast. I assume they began in Los Angeles, or San Diego. I only joined their visit once they were north of San Francisco, touring the Oregon Coast en route to Seattle.

Last night I watched a follow up video of the New Zealand Family's Seattle visit, titled We Had To Leave Seattle. That is a screen shot, above, from the video. The view of Mount Rainier seen whilst crossing Lake Washington on the I-90 floating bridge.



The New Zealand Family was quite taken with Seattle. The scenery, seeing mountains in any direction. All the bodies of water. Pike Place. The buildings. The stadiums. And more.

A Seattleite named Rebecca, a fan of their videos, was the New Zealand Family's tour guide. 

I don't think Rebecca took the New Zealanders through any of the tunnels under Seattle, either via vehicle or light rail. Or to West Seattle. Or to REI corporate headquarters. Or many other of Seattle's unique features.

The New Zealand Family reacted to Seattle the way I always have. And yet they only hit some of the highlights.

Before moving to Texas I'd only been to a few of America's big cities. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Phoenix, Vancouver and Victoria.

Well, those last two are in North America, but the Canada part of North America, not the United States part of North America.

So, when I moved to Texas, with the first home location being in the little hamlet of Haslet, located in the north end of Fort Worth, Fort Worth was my introduction to a new type of big city.

The big city downtowns I had previously seen, were big. Fort Worth's downtown was not big. The New Zealanders remarked repeatedly regarding Seattle's buildings and design looking so new and modern. I had the opposite reaction to seeing Fort Worth for the first time.

I'd never before seen a city with large areas being basically run-down slums. It was sort of shocking.

I early on was not shy about verbalizing my reaction. Eventually I made a website documenting much of my reaction. I particularly reacted with confused amazement when I repeatedly saw Fort Worth's newspaper of record, the Star-Telegram, have articles about some ordinary thing, making the claim that this ordinary thing was making cities far and wide green with envy about this ordinary thing in Fort Worth.

Soon upon my arrival I discovered the charms of Dallas, thus learning not all Texas big cities are of the Fort Worth quality level.

In the video where the New Zealand Family is leaving Seattle, the New Zealand mother is lamenting regarding what will they have to show Rebecca when she makes her promised visit to New Zealand, saying New Zealand has nothing of the level they'd experienced in America and Seattle.

I had the same concern when first in Texas, knowing I was expecting some visitors from Seattle to arrive about four months after the Texas arrival. By the time they arrived I'd discovered the charms of Dallas, like Fair Park, the Farmers Market, the Galleria Mall, the West End, Deep Ellum, the DART train, and more.

I remember when those Seattle visitors arrived taking them to downtown Fort Worth, telling them I was gonna show them something incredible. Way back then there were huge parking lots along the Trinity River. From those parking lots one could hop on the world's shortest subway. This rickety old thing which took you into a tunnel that opened up in downtown Fort Worth, with access to a now long gone vertical mall, and the downtown Fort Worth Public Library.

The world's shortest subway is long gone. Fort Worth allowed Radio Shack to build a corporate headquarters Radio Shack could not afford, built above the subway and on part of those parking lots.

Eventually the Radio Shack headquarters was turned in a college. I forget the name. Tarrant County College, maybe.

It was things like the Radio Shack debacle that helped me develop such a low opinion of Fort Worth. This was well before the debacle known initially as the Trinity River Vision, which began near the start of this century, with decades later little to show for the supposedly vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme.

Another thing which quickly bugged me about Fort Worth was upon first arrival I'd see signs pointing one in the direction of Sundance Square. I'd asked where the square was, to no avail. Eventually I learned this was the name given to a multi-block downtown Fort Worth renewal scheme.

After decades of confusing the town's few tourists with those Sundance Square direction signs, a couple parking lots were turned into a town square type thing, named Sundance Square Plaza.

This stuff is so goofy I've had people tell me they think I must be making it up.

Nope, it's all true, and I've only mentioned a couple items of the Fort Worth goofiness in this blog post. 

I recently learned that Heritage Park, a park at downtown Fort Worth's north end, across the street from the county courthouse, a park built to celebrate Fort Worth's storied heritage, a park with a unique, impressive design, is still a boarded-up eyesore. A sad state for at least a decade.

Fort Worth's Heritage Park got itself closed after multiple drownings in the Fort Worth Water Gardens, at the south end of downtown. The design flaw in the Water Gardens was obvious, a clear danger, which should never have happened. Heritage Park also had water features, shallow water features in which one could not accidentally drown.

And yet it was deemed necessary that Fort Worth's Heritage Park be closed, surrounded with a cyclone fence, with the park allowed to deteriorate into an eyesore.

Years ago, after I blogged about the Heritage Park scandal, a descendant of the well-regarded designer who designed Heritage Park, I think he was Japanese, contacted me, appalled, asking if it was really true, that this park had been allowed to be destroyed in this manner.

And all these later I recently learned from Elsie Hotpepper that Heritage Park remains a fittingly ironic homage to Fort Worth's actual heritage.

An eyesore....

Fort Worth Is Not One Of America's Nature Lovers Cities

I saw that which you see here via a Microsoft New photo gallery of the 15 Best American Cities For Nature Lovers.

I do not know if the link will work in all browsers.

Most of the towns on the list were the usual nature suspects, Denver, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Santa Fe and Seattle.

Some of the towns on this list just seemed odd, nature lover-wise. Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland, Boston and Atlanta.

How are both of America's Portlands not on this list, particularly the Portland in Oregon?

And, no nature loving towns in Texas? Shocking. Not even Fort Worth, with its nature loving inner tube floating in the polluted Trinity River? 

This nature loving article's description of Seattle seemed totally accurate to me...

In Seattle you’ll already feel like you’re in nature, even in the midst of skyscrapers. But despite the natural surroundings, including forests, water and mountains, there’s still a distinctly urban feel to the city with its innovative tech scene, a walkable waterfront full of shops and restaurants, and plenty of attractions. One highlight is the Seattle Center, where you’ll find the distinctive Space Needle and Museum of Pop Culture.

I wonder if Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision ever becomes something one can see, if upbeat verbiage might result about that sad sack of a town's imaginary waterfront, verbiage of the sort used to describe Seattle.

But, other than all that, what actually struck my eye about this Nature Loving Cities article was the photo of the Seattle skyline.

A time of two I have opined that I am not a fan of the distorted, zoomed photos of Seattle, showing Mount Rainier looking way closer and bigger than it actually is, sort of misrepresenting the view tourists might see if a cloud-free sky allowed such, as in, a view of Mount Rainier in the distance.

This photo, the one you see above, that photo actually looks like what Mount Rainier actually looks like, from Seattle.

Still totally impressive, and the likes of nothing I see on the horizon at my current Texas location...

Fort Worth Is Not The Most Laid-Back City In America

Yet one more sort of goofy item on the Microsoft News page I see via my Windows Edge browser.

Titled "This Is The Most Laid-Back US City"

I do not know if the above link works on all platforms, or just on the Edge browser.

Anyway, this was a gallery one scrolled through, listing the 50 most laid-back cities in America. By what criteria? I have no idea.

Several Texas cities showed up on the Laid-Back list. With Houston being in last place, at 50. San Antonio is #47, followed by Dallas as the 46th most laid-back city. Continuing on, expecting to see laid-back lazy Fort Worth show up, I came to the last Texas entry, Austin is the 29th most laid-back city.

And, the most laid-back city in America? Why, it is the big city in America about which I am most familiar.

Seattle.

Like I said, I do not know by what criteria it was decided a city's level of laid-backness is. As I have experienced Seattle, the town is way too bustling to be considered laid-back. The downtown area of Seattle has throngs of people bustling about. If a couple cruise ships are docked, with the cruisers off the boat, the Seattle waterfront is bustling, not remotely laid back.

The most laid-back city I have experienced, by my idea of what laid-back is, is Fort Worth, Texas, with the deadest big city downtown I have ever been in. A ghost town on the busiest shopping day of the year, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Fort Worth never shows up on these type lists. On the rare occasion something about Fort Worth is made note of, a big fuss ensues. Like the time a Washington, D.C. lobbying group, who were advocates of the Urban Village concept, had Fort Worth as one of the Top Ten American Cities with Urban Villages.

You likely will not believe this, but Fort Worth actually had a city-wide celebration celebrating showing up on this list.

I was in Tacoma a short time after this, talking to the guy who was Tacoma's Deputy Mayor at the time.

Tacoma was also on this list of cities and their urban villages. I asked the Deputy Mayor if Tacoma had a city-wide celebration after getting this esteemed honor. He laughed, and said, no, we just politely sent them a thank you message.

I then told the Deputy Mayor that Fort Worth had a city-wide celebration over this esteemed honor. You have to be joking, was his replay. Nope, not joking, said I.

I think the rarity of Fort Worth being the recipient of any sort of accolade is a big contributor to what seems like the town's civic inferiority complex. Part of that complex is caused by being linked to Dallas in a large metropolitan area known locally as the Metroplex. Dallas is the well-known, handsome big brother, whilst Fort Worth is sort of the homely sister, to use a metaphor.

My early years in Texas, living in Fort Worth, reading the local newspaper called the Star-Telegram, I made frequent note of the inferiority complex as manifested by what I called Green With Envy Syndrome, where that newspaper would opine that some perfectly ordinary thing would be causing towns far and wide to be green with envy.

Again, I am not making this up.

Years ago I made a webpage making note of multiple instances of Fort Worth's Green With Envy Syndrome.

I have been told that the Star-Telegram has dropped its Green With Envy nonsense. I know it has been years since I have seen an instance of the syndrome...

Is Fort Worth One Of The Most Breathtaking Skylines In America?

 

Another interesting Microsoft Windows Edge browser Start Page gallery of photos. This gallery purports to name The 30 most breathtaking skylines in America. I do not know if the link to the skylines works in all browsers or mobile devices.

The text at the start of the gallery of skyline photos...

The 30 most breathtaking skylines in America

The US is a wide and diverse land of intense and unique bursts of development, with higher buildings and more interesting structures popping up each year. These skylines emerge like a fingerprint of each city, revealing their characteristics through architecture, atmosphere, and culture. Check out this gallery to see the top 30 skylines in the country.

I assume the list of 30 is ranking the skylines in order, what with the list starting with Washington, D.C., a town which really does not have much of a skyline and ending with New York City at #2 and Chicago at #1.

I would have guessed New York City would be the town thought to have the most breathtaking skyline.

I am familiar with the skyline which was right behind New York City.

Seattle, WA

The combination of the Space Needle Observation Tower and Mount Rainer looming in the background makes Seattle's skyline hard to forget.

Seattle does get a bit of a boost, breathtaking skyline wise, what with there being mountains no matter which direction you look, east, west, south and north.

I am also familiar with the breathtaking skyline 5 spots below Seattle.

Dallas, TX

Dallas' skyline isn't extremely new, and although it has high-rises like the Bank of America Plaza (which reaches 921 ft), its best feature is the colorful, interactive lighting that adds a layer of festivity and celebration to this already beautiful skyline.

The Dallas skyline is impressive after dark. Nice during the day too.

Further down the list are two other Texas towns, Austin and Houston.

I was impressed with both Austin and Houston's skyline upon my first visit to both towns.

When I see lists like this, remembering my experience of living in Fort Worth, a town which has a kind of civic inferiority complex, due to being sort of the homely little sister to handsome big brother, Dallas.

Anytime there is any sort of positive mention made of Fort Worth, no matter how remote, the locals, well, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and others, make a big deal of it. 

Such as, recently a British travel writer wrote a column published in a UK newspaper touting Fort Worth as now being the coolest town in Texas, replacing Austin in that cool distinction. I read the article and found it rather delusional, and odd, real odd.

I wonder how long a list of America's Most Breathtaking Skylines would have to be before Fort Worth showed up on the list. 100? 200?

Zoomed Look At Mount Rainier From Texas

I saw that which you see here, this morning, on Facebook.

Anyone who has been to Seattle on a clear sky day knows that this is not what the view of Mount Rainier actually looks like from a Seattle vantage point.

Seeing this reminded me of something from way back on April 5, 1984. Well, it may have been April 6.

The reason I can sort of pinpoint the date is because on April 5 or 6 I was riding a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, with nephews Jason and Joey.

When we got onboard the ferry and made our way to the upper deck we saw a newspaper stand with a Seattle Times sporting a big headline, reporting the news that Kurt Cobain had committed suicide. I do not remember the exact headline.

What I do remember is nephew Joey being upset at this news, asking me why would Kurt Cobain do such a thing. 

A cousin of Jason and Joey's mother was Kurt Cobain's teacher in grade school, in, I think, Montesano.

Strange coincidence, way back on August 16, 1977, I was on another ferry, heading to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands, with Jason and Joey's dad, my little brother Jake. We were barely onboard when we heard on the radio and saw a newspaper headline announcing that Elvis Presley had died.

Back to the subject of seeing the Mountain. That ferry boat ride to Bainbridge Island was on a cloudy, foggy, rainy day. A few minutes after leaving Seattle a couple engaged us in conversation. Asking if we were tourists or natives. We live here, said we, in a valley about 60 miles north.

The couple then told us they were first time visitors to Washington and Seattle. The husband of the couple asked if we could point to where Mount Rainier would be seen if it was a clear day. All three of us pointed in the Mount Rainier direction.

So, that photo at the top, and others like that, cause me to wonder how many first-time visitors to Washington arrive thinking if the sky is clear that Mount Rainier is going to look as big as it does in photos which have taken a zoomed view.

I doubt many are disappointed. The real view is still extremely impressive. I remember a Wichita Falls local, having visited Washington for the first time, found seeing all the mountains to be mesmerizing, especially when she was taken by the friends she was visiting in Seattle, to their cabin near Mount Rainer. 

I can see how if one had lived in a flat place like most of Texas, that being in a mountainous zone might be a bit overwhelming.

Neither The Mountain Or Space Needle Is Out At My Texas Location

Saw that which you see here, this November 16 afternoon, on Facebook, with the verbiage in the posting saying, "Mountain was out...11/14/23".

In Western Washington Mount Rainier is usually referred to as The Mountain. If you say something like "The Mountain is out, clear and bright today", one knows it is Mount Rainier being referred to, even though Washington has many big mountains, five of which, including Rainier, are volcanoes.

But, what I was most interested in in the photo was the Space Needle. What is going on on top of the Space Needle?

Is a new observation deck being added to the top of the Needle? It costs over 20 bucks to ride the elevator to the top of the Needle. Is there going to be an option to pay a few more bucks to get to climb a ladder totally to the top of the Needle?

I think I would pass on that option.

Fun fact. If you are ever in Seattle and an earthquake is pending, the safest place to be in Seattle is at the top of the Space Needle. The Needle will sway in the quake, in a big one the swaying would be carnival ride worthy. But it will not topple.

The bulk of the weight of the Space Needle structure is a HUGE base of concrete, to which the Needle's steel legs are solidly bonded. 

Supposedly the transit tunnels which go under downtown Seattle are also designed to survive a strong earthquake. I think I'd rather be at the top of the Needle, than underground, if that ground starts quaking...

Theo & Ruby Take Their Parental Units To See Taylor Swift In Seattle

Incoming email last night, with four photos.

Apparently, Theo & Ruby joined the throngs causing traffic jams in Seattle this weekend, with some of the traffic jamming caused by Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour playing where the Seattle Seahawks play football.

The four photos along with the explanatory text, with the first explanatory text referencing the above photo...

The twins and one of their besties plus Kristin and Dana and I joined 74,000 (give or take) of our closest friends for a little concert at Lumen Field last night. It was amazing.

They handed out wristbands with two lights that lit up at various times in many colors, all along with the music. Made the stadium look incredible.

The giant screen was also incredible. The quality of the image was mind-blowing.

And there were lots of special effects - the heat from these flames was startling!

We had a great time. Because you’ll ask: David is not a Swiftie and so he stayed home with the poodles.

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The Kingdome replacement sure is an upgrade from that long gone venue. I only went to a couple football games in the Kingdome, several baseball games, and one Seattle Supersonic game when they played in the Kingdome whilst their regular venue was being renovated.

I guess I will go to the Taylor Swift show when it comes to Wichita Falls....

Cruising To Alaska With Sedro Woolley's Beth C

I saw that which you see here, yesterday, on Facebook, in a posting by Miss Beth C of Sedro Woolley, taking a pre-boarding photo of the little boat she is cruising to Alaskan on.

I do not know if the Miss Beth cruise is cruising out of Seattle or Vancouver.

I suspect it is likely Seattle, but, the dock doesn't look right to me. Well, doesn't look right for either Seattle or Vancouver.

Then again, it has been years since I have seen either Seattle's or Vancouver's docks.

I don't know if it is back easy to cross the border in to Canada. COVID shut the border way back when that nightmare began.

Cruising to Alaska from Seattle is something which began happening after I moved to Texas.

I did not see the cruise ships with my own eyes til August of 2008 when I spent a Thursday in downtown Seattle. If I remember right there were two cruise ships in Elliott Bay on that Thursday in August. 

I don't know if it was the cruise ships causing it, or it was just a normal busy day during tourist season, but it was human gridlock everywhere I went that day in downtown Seattle. Pike Place Market was packed. The waterfront was thick with people. Westlake Center was also packed, as was Pioneer Square, where I spent most of the day.

I made a YouTube video of that August of 2008 visit to downtown Seattle. I shall see if I can find it.

Okay, I found it.

I did not remember that this video does not go to Pike Place, but instead walks through Westlake Center to the bus tunnel to ride back to Pioneer Square. A

s you will see in the video, Seattle buses have a lot of riders on a lot of buses. The buses no longer go through the Seattle bus tunnel.

Trains use it now.

Which seems so odd to me, because I remember when the bus tunnel was first announced its purpose was to get the buses off downtown Seattle streets.

And here is the video....

Madame McNutty Strikes The Homesick Chord Again

Once again Madame McNutty has struck, via Facebook, my homesickness button with a Washington mountain photo, with that photo once again being Washington's biggest volcano, Mount Rainier.

The comment from Madame M, which accompanied the photo...

"Here you go, Jonesy!  I miss WA so much!!!  Growing up there I never realized how amazing it is until I moved away.  It's hard to find another place quite as beautiful".

That is so true, the entire west coast, actually, from Vancouver to San Diego, is a scenic wonderland.

In the Skagit Valley, where me and McNutty grew up, you could go a few miles west and be at a saltwater beach, go a few miles east and be up in the mountains, go 50 miles north and be in another country, go 60 miles south and be in Seattle.

I remember in August of 2008 being in downtown Seattle. Two cruise ships had docked. The downtown was packed with tourists. Pike Place was human gridlock. It was slow moving on the wide sidewalk on the waterfront.

I remember remarking, when I got back to Pioneer Square, which is where I started my walk around downtown Seattle, that Seattle was seeming like being in a big theme park. I made a video of part of that walk around downtown Seattle. I'll put it at the end of this blogging.

The homeless problem in Seattle had grown way worse by August of 2017, which was my latest return to Washington. The homeless problem was not so much in evidence in 2008, where by 2017 you could not miss seeing the homeless camps because they were at the side of the freeway through downtown Seattle.

I have a friend here in Wichita Falls, a lifelong Texan, who, a couple months before COVID hit, flew up to Seattle to visit some friends. She had never been to Washington, or the west coast before.

She told me that she knew there were mountains in this world, but she had never seen one in person, that she couldn't believe the mountains she saw in every direction in Seattle, that it was mesmerizing.

 And then her Seattle friends took her for a weekend in their cabin near Mount Rainier, which had a direct view of the mountain. She told me looking at the mountain up close was sort of shocking. I remember telling her that always living where there basically is nothing but a flat landscape would turn seeing something like the scenery in Washington into a sort of culture shock, and that I had the reverse sort of happen when I moved to Texas.

I remember my last roadtrip back to Washington, a little more than a month before the 9/11 disaster. I did the drive solo, which I really liked. I remember crossing Snoqualmie Pass and during the descent towards sea level, and Seattle, the air began smelling like Christmas trees. By the time I got to where I-90 goes by Issaquah I began being struck by how shiny and clean everything looked.

I was used to grimy, litter choked Fort Worth.

I got stuck in slow traffic crossing Lake Washington on the I-90 floating bridge. I was not minding the slow moving because I too found myself being mesmerized by the scenery, by the clear blue water of the lake, by Mount Rainier to the south, by the glimpses of the Seattle skyline. Everything looked shiny, clean and new.

Madame McNutty has talked about chartering a yacht to float around the sound on when we are up in Washington next summer. That sounds fun, if I don't have to be the pilot. I do not do well floating boats. I learned that when I tried to drive a Lake Powell houseboat the same way I drive a car.

Below is the aforementioned video of a walk around downtown Seattle, way back in 2008. The buses you will see in this video no longer go there, they have been replaced by light rail going through what used to be the Seattle bus tunnel.

Linda Lou Sees UFO Flying Over Seattle

The above arrived this morning via Facebook from Linda Lou, purporting to show a UFO flying saucer type aircraft hovering over Seattle. This photo also appears to be photo documenting how bad the wildfire smoke is in the Seattle zone of Western Washington.

As we saw earlier this morning, the wildfire smoke in the Skagit Valley has cleared enough to allow a clear view of the Mount Baker volcano.

McNutty Inspired Iconic Commentary About A Texas Town & Seattle

I saw this last night, via Facebook, via a fellow ex-PNWer, Miss McNutt, who shares with me the frequent seeing of scenes from our old home zone which make us long for seeing a scenic wonderland when we look out any random window of our abode.

The above scene of Seattle and the Space Needle is just a tad hyper realized. As in this is not a totally realistic scene of the view from Elliot Bay, looking at the Seattle waterfront, the Space Needle, and Mount Rainier.

However, it is close enough to the reality to evoke that dreaded homesick feeling.

I see this type iconic imagery of my old home zone, Seattle specifically, and it activates my annoyance at the delusional nonsense I experience at my current Texas location, well, not my exact current Texas location, but my previous Texas location.

A Texas location where absolutely nothing is remotely iconic, as in remotely anything which one sees an image of and knows exactly what one is looking at. And yet this Texas town, via its various propaganda purveyors, ever since I arrived, has touted this that or the other perfectly ordinary thing as being something special, something so special it causes other towns, far and wide, to be green with envy.

Or that that perfectly ordinary thing is so special it is iconic. A signature iconic image representing the town to the world. Things like three simple little bridges built over dry land, which look like freeway overpasses, get promoted as somehow being special, unique iconic signature bridges.

Or, something like a sporting goods store will be propaganda-ized to the locals as destined to be the #1 tourist attraction in Texas, thus worthy of subsidies and tax breaks.

And then six months later, when another of the same sporting goods store opens in Texas, followed soon thereafter by yet one more of the same sporting goods store in the same metropolitan area as the one which was going to be the imaginary top tourist attraction in Texas, those who spouted the ridiculous propaganda turn silent, never uttering a mea culpa confession to being part of a what amounted to being a scam.

Or there was the time those same lame propaganda-izers spewed nonsense regarding a lame food court type enterprise opening in the town's sleepy downtown, touting it as being the first such public market in Texas, modeled after public markets in Europe, and Seattle's Pike Place Market.

Seattle's Pike Place Market is yet one more iconic signature reality which exists in that Pacific Northwest town. The quickly failing imaginary public market in the Texas town I am talking about was called the Santa Fe Rail Market. It was pitiful. Even more pitifully pathetic than the town's current three little freeway overpass type bridges being touted as being iconically signature structures.

This Texas town we are talking about has been working on building itself a water feature for most of this century. That's what the three little bridges being built over dry land are part of. To one day connect the town's mainland to an imaginary island, where there may be canals, and a lake.

Over the years of this century, that Texas town's touted imaginary lake has changed in size, at times as big as 33 acres, some times shrinking to less than 10 acres. 

So far, we have not made note of that Texas town's propaganda-izers claiming that lake will create a waterfront like Seattle's, where cruise ships dock, along with ferry boats. 

However, the propaganda for that town's future waterfront does claim there will be a Panther Island Houseboat District.

You reading this in modern, sane locations in America, we are not making this up...

Is Fort Worth The Biggest City In The World?

 

A few days ago in a blog post about Fort Worth Almost Being The Fastest Growing Big City In America mention was made of the fact that Fort Worth is unique among big cities in that the town has multiple wide open spaces within the town's borders, along with wide open spaces to expand to, unlike towns hemmed in by geography in the form of mountains or bodies of water, or surrounded by suburbs.

Last night, on Facebook, I saw a post from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy, he being the closest that newspaper has to an actual journalist, in which Mr. Kennedy wrote "We're #12: Fort Worth officially passes Jacksonville to become America's 12th largest city at 927,720 people..."

Some of Fort Worth's population growth comes from annexing territory previously not incorporated into a town. Doing this has seemed a bit bizarre, to me, at times. Such as annexing a narrow strip of territory all the way to D/FW International Airport.

I think the annexation actually includes part of the airport property.

Which renders it sort of ironic when landing at D/FW with the pilot welcoming those onboard to Dallas, whilst landing, sort of, in Fort Worth.

Fort Worth has a puny downtown, lacking things like department stores. I think there may now be a small grocery store of some sort downtown. There are few restaurants, and on the busiest shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving, downtown Fort Worth is a ghost town. We have made mention of this ghost town fact a number of times in various venues including Having Fun Looking For Black Friday Shoppers Today In Downtown Fort Worth.

Via the comments to Mr. Kennedy's Facebook post I learned I was not alone in realizing that Fort Worth's population size is a bit misleading when thinking the number of people in a town somehow relates to that town's, well, being an actual big city with an actual big downtown.

Two of those comments...

Michael Doran: While technically true, the area within the Fort Worth city limits is so huge -- 355 square miles -- that I'm doubtful that it makes for a fair ranking by population. I would argue that anyone from Fort Worth who visits Seattle (84 mi²), Denver (155 mi²), Boston (90 mi²), or San Francisco (47 mi²) would say that those cities sure *seem* bigger than Fort Worth.

Paul Allen: Those cities are more urban, vs a sprawling city like Fort Worth. I don't think that should change the rankings though. Just came back from Seattle and you are right, it "feels" like a much bigger city because everything is stacked up. You hardly see anything under 5-6 floors inside the city. Many more skyscrapers and high-rise apartments, real, mostly functioning public transit gets people around. It feels like a city. Fort Worth feels more like a big suburb with a few tall buildings in the city center.

______________________

I did not realize the size of Fort Worth was so huge.

355 square miles!

San Francisco is only 47 square miles. With Seattle slightly bigger at 84 square miles. Denver, at 155 square miles, is like Fort Worth, with wide open space to expand to. I have been to all those towns Mr. Doran mentioned, expect for Boston, and his opinion matches mine, in that San Francisco, Seattle and Denver sure do seem way bigger than Fort Worth. 

And Mr. Allen's observation that Fort Worth feels more like a big suburb with a few tall buildings in the city center, than an actual big city, seems accurate.

At 355 square miles in size, is Fort Worth the biggest city in the world? Likely not or we would have heard such bragged about, over and over again...

UPDATE: After hitting the publish button on this blog post I went to Twitter and what was the first thing I saw?

This...

Apparently we are in full on brag mode regarding Fort Worth's new population status. But, note the image included in this Twitter post. Photo documentation showing how puny downtown Fort Worth is.

Does not look like the downtown of a town with almost a million population, sprawled over 355 square miles...

Fort Worth Almost Fastest Growing Big City In America

No, this is not one of our patented posts about something we see in west coast news sources we would never expect to see in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about something to do with Fort Worth. Or Texas.

Quite the contrary, this particular instance makes mention of both Fort Worth and Texas.

It was in this Friday morning's Seattle Times this Surprise! Seattle was the fastest-growing big U.S. city in 2020 article was found.

I would think multiple other big U.S. cities would be growing faster than Seattle, population-wise. Seattle is totally hemmed in, geographically, in every direction. Unlike other towns, like Fort Worth, with wide open spaces on which to build, or annex to the city, to make the town bigger geographically.

Where do all these new arrivals to Seattle find to live? I know one answer is tents set up alongside I-5, and other homeless encampments. Are the homeless Seattle newcomers counted in the census?

Three paragraphs from the Seattle Times article...

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that between July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, Seattle had a net gain of about 16,400 residents, hitting a total population of 769,700. That pencils out to a growth rate of 2.2% last year.

And that means that among the 50 biggest U.S. cities, Seattle is — are you sitting down? — No. 1 for growth in 2020.

What about all those Sunbelt cities that everyone has been flocking to during the pandemic? Sure, they’re growing fast, but they were behind Seattle. Fort Worth, Texas, ranks No. 2, followed by Mesa, Arizona; Austin; and Tampa.

________________________

Well, there you go, Seattle is growing the fastest in the U.S., with Fort Worth growing the second fastest, and Austin, which is also in Texas, growing fourth fastest.

I am not too familiar with Austin. Is the capitol of Texas like Fort Worth? With wide open space to expand to? Or is it hemmed in, like Seattle? I have been to Mesa, Arizona. That town is like Fort Worth, with wide open space to expand to. I know zero about Tampa, other than the town is in Florida.

I saw no mention made this morning in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about Fort Worth being the second fastest growing town in America. Usually such news would have the Star-Telegram crowing that this news was making towns far and wide green with envy, with calls for a city wide celebration.

The self deprecating first two paragraphs in today's Seattle Times article are of the sort one would never read in the Star-Telegram, what with its tendency to ridiculous hyperbole over something not worthy of being hyperbolized.

Those first two Seattle Times paragraphs...

Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been reading stories about people fleeing big cities for the suburbs, smaller towns, and rural areas. And, of course, here in Seattle, a lot of folks have talked about our city dying.

Well, it turns out, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Seattle’s death are an exaggeration. Not only did Seattle keep growing in 2020, but it grew by a healthy amount.

Tale Of Two Cities: Seattle Boon & Fort Worth Boondoggle

Last week a Fort Worth local emailed me asking what I knew about the current status of that town's three simple little bridges which have been stuck in slow motion construction mode for six years, trying to build bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

I replied that I had not been to the DFW zone in about a year, so have had no eye witnessing of the mess which has become such an embarrassing Boondoggle. I do not know if the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision still sends out quarterly slick propaganda brochures detailing the imaginary progress of a public works project the public did not vote for, which has been limping along for most of this century, with little to show for the millions of dollars wasted.

Those who foisted this Vision on Fort Worth tried to claim it is a vitally needed flood control and economic development project. Where there has been no flooding for 70 years, due to flood control already in place. Vitally needed, and yet not vitally needed enough to convince the locals to support a bond issue to pay for it. Instead begging for federal dollars, unsuccessfully. And giving a local congresswoman's son a job for which it is now totally clear he was not qualified, in order to, hopefully, get the mother to somehow secure those federal funds.

Also, last week, a fellow former Washingtonian asked me what I knew about the current status of the rebuild of the Seattle waterfront.

I replied that I had not read anything about the waterfront rebuild since the Alaskan Way Viaduct was removed. And so I Google searched and found a lot of info about the Seattle Waterfront rebuild. More on that later in this post.

For someone who might be wondering why we are looking at a public works project in Fort Worth, and one in Seattle. Well, these are the two big cities with which I am most familiar, and whose stark differences have been of interest ever since seeing Fort Worth up close and wondering how an American city can be so different from another American city.

The town's two public works projects both had their beginnings back near the start of the century. Seattle's was sparked by an act of Mother Nature known as the Nisqually Earthquake. This earthquake serious damaged a structure known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct, a double decker state highway built between the Seattle downtown and the Seattle waterfront. This viaduct was of a similar sort to the Embarcadero Viaduct which collapsed in San Francisco during the Loma Prieta Earthquake.

Also near the start of the new century a group of Fort Worth insiders foisting on the public a public works project the public did not vote for. At the time it was foisted it was known as the Trinity Uptown Project, later the Trinity River Vision, before many name additions, in total, the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision. The Fort Worth project claimed to be about vitally needed flood control and an economic development scheme.

After the Nisqually Earthquake it was quickly realized the Alaskan Viaduct needed to be replaced. Temporary fixes were installed, along with quake activated gates to stop traffic entering the Viaduct if a quake was detected. A long debate began as to how to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, after the Trinity Uptown Vision project was announced not much of anything happened. Some earth was moved around near Gateway Park. A quick to fail wakeboard park was built. A lot of signs were installed touting the wonders of the still not seen vision.

And then in 2014, with a TNT exploding ceremony, construction began on three simple little bridges, to be built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

Around the same time, up north, in Seattle, the solution to the Alaskan Way Viaduct began in the form of the world's biggest (at the time) tunnel boring machine, digging a transit tunnel under downtown Seattle.

Both Fort Worth's bridge building and Seattle's tunnel digging soon ground to a halt. No one has ever explained the long stall to the Fort Worth bridge building. The Seattle tunnel boring machine, known as Bertha, ground to a halt when Bertha hit a big steel pipe, stalling the project for a year.

When Bertha began boring again the tunnel project moved full steam ahead, was completed, with traffic flowing under downtown Seattle via a double deck highway tunnel. With the tunnel now handling the Alaskan Way traffic, the Viaduct could come down. Which quickly happened, so now Seattle is in the rebuilding of the Seattle Waterfront phase of the multi billion dollar project.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth

Six years after that TNT exploding ceremony Fort Worth still has three simple little bridges under construction over dry land, which had been projected to be completed two years ago, and now are projected to maybe possibly be completed sometime this current decade.

So, how does one town successfully manage a multi-billion dollar, complex public works project, fully funded, whilst another American town can not even manage to get three bridges built, along with other "promises" which the Trinity River Vision purported to see?

I have asked, more than once, is the Trinity River Vision still mailing those slick full color brochures quarterly? Detailing all the imaginary progress and wonders to come?

Now, in 2020, Seattle is in the midst of the final third part of its HUGE public works project. Phase One, the tunnel which began construction the same time Fort Worth started trying to build three bridges has long been completed. Phase Two, the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct has long been accomplished.

And now Phase Three, the rebuild of the Seattle Waterfront is well underway.

In addition to the Seattle project being fully funded, whilst the Fort Worth project relies on federal handouts hopefully secured by a local congresswoman motivated to do so due to the project hiring her son to do a job for which it is now obvious he was not qualified, the Seattle project, unlike the Fort Worth project, seems to operate with absolute transparency.

When Bertha ground to a halt a 24/7 camera was aimed at the fix-it operation, with constant website updates detailing the progress. For a short time Fort Worth aimed a 24/7 camera at one of its bridges under construction, but that has long been disabled due to the fact there was not much activity to see.

Just check out this Seattle Alaskan Way Waterfront Projects website ( screen cap at the top) and see the timeline of the waterfront rebuild part of this project, and you in the Trinity River Vision zone ask yourself why you never see anything this detailed regarding the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision?

How much longer are the people of Fort Worth going to put up with this bizarre Boondoggle mess which was foisted upon them without a vote? Taking property via abusing eminent domain, disrupting traffic flow for years, causing multiple businesses multiple woes.

Why is no one held accountable for this embarrassing mess? Are the voters actually going to re-elect Kay Granger again, after her part in this mess?

Well, if so, I guess Fort Worth gets what it deserves.

Ineptitude, incompetence and civic embarrassment...

Downtown Fort Worth Looks To Seattle For Future Lessons

That which you see above is a screen cap of part of an email from last month.

I do not know why, but each month I receive an email from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. full of information about what's happening in downtown Fort Worth during that particular month.

When I saw last month's email newsletter from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. it instantly amused me, and then I forgot about it til this morning of the second day of March.

Apparently last month DFWI's 38th annual meeting took place. With that meeting hosting a look into the future by looking at Seattle's lessons for Fort Worth.

I have long experienced Fort Worth locals getting cranky at me when I compare Seattle to Fort Worth. I have lost track of the number of times I have explained that I compare the two because they are the two big cities with which I have had the most contact.

I suppose it would be more accurate to compare Fort Worth to Tacoma, with Tacoma being another big city with which I am familiar. Tacoma is sort of to Seattle what Fort Worth is to Dallas, with Seattle and Dallas being the better known, bigger towns in their respective metro zones.

But, comparing Fort Worth to Tacoma would also not be pretty and would also likely make cranky those Fort Worth locals who are averse to mirrors and accurate reflections.

After all, Tacoma is a town much smaller, population-wise, than Fort Worth. Yet, somehow, Tacoma manages to have streets with sidewalks, parks with zero outhouses, multiple public swimming pools, two HUGE waterfront developments (privately funded), one of the biggest city parks in the world, multiple bridges involving complex engineering (over water), built in a timely time frame, while Fort Worth struggles to build three simple little bridges over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

And somehow Fort Worth is taking a look into the future by learning some lessons from Seattle?

I can think of a few lessons Seattle could teach Fort Worth.

Such as do not begin a public works project which the public has not voted on, and which is not fully funded.

During less time than Fort Worth has been ambling along in slow motion with its imaginary vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme, known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, or more frequently, simply as the Boondoggle, Seattle has voted on and actualized multiple public works projects.

A four billion dollar floating bridge and road upgrades across Lake Washington. Another four billion dollar project to remove the Alaskan Way Viaduct, replaced with a tunnel, along with rebuilding the Seattle waterfront. And then there is the 54 billion dollar most recent Sound Transit measure passed by the voting public.

Meanwhile Fort Worth panhandles for federal funds funneled from more prosperous parts of America, to pay for the town's ineptly implemented Boondoggle.

Fort Worth could learn lessons in the concept of urban planning from both Tacoma and Seattle.

Just one example is the mess of bad planning one finds whilst driving Fort Worth's North Tarrant Parkway west to that road's inept juncture with Highway 287. You do not see this type ridiculous incompetence in Seattle and Tacoma. It would make the locals angry.

The same day I saw that Fort Worth was looking to Seattle for lessons for the future I saw that which you see in the second graphic, in the Seattle Times.

Now, becoming more progressive and liberal would be a mighty fine thing for Fort Worth.

Is trying to achieve such one of the lessons Fort Worth is learning from Seattle?

This would require amping up the education level of the Fort Worth population. Increasing the numbers graduating high school.

And college.

Improving the schools. Hiring better teachers. Spending more money on education.

You really can't have a progressive liberal population if the majority of your people are poorly educated with a simplistic understanding of the world.

Having a well educated liberal minded population may explain a lot of the differences I have noted between Fort Worth and Seattle/Tacoma.

Is being a liberal bastion the reason the Seattle zone is the home to so many successes? Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco, Amazon, Boeing to name just four well known examples.

Meanwhile Fort Worth is home to Radio Shack and Pier One Imports. And American Airlines, I think, though the AA corporate headquarters is a location I have never seen.

Last year I remember reading that some Fort Worth entity was working to attract multiple corporations to relocate to Fort Worth. This seemed a typical Fort Worth delusion.

Why would any corporation relocate to a town hosting America's Biggest Boondoggle? Among many other embarrassments. Such as the boarded up eyesore homage to Fort Worth's heritage, known as Heritage Park, a blight on the north end of downtown for over a decade.

Seattle has a park somewhat similar to Fort Worth's Heritage Park, called Freeway Park. Actually Seattle's Freeway Park is like a combo of Fort Worth's Heritage Park and Fort Worth's Water Gardens at the south end of downtown. 

Seattle's Freeway Park was designed as a solution to I-5 slicing through downtown Seattle. Freeway Park is a lid over the freeway, made into a large park with trails, canyons and waterfalls. Freeway Park eventually linked with the Washington Convention Center, and other downtown buildings, and a pedestrian tunnel, which, if I remember right, connects Freeway Park to Rainier Square.

At some point in time crime became a problem in Seattle's Freeway Park. I can't remember for sure, but I think there was a murder. But, unlike Fort Worth, instead of closing Freeway Park and surrounding it with barbed wire and cyclone fence and turning it into an un-used eyesore, solutions were found, such as better lighting, panic buttons, police patrolling. I forget what all. But the park was not closed. It was improved and kept open.

That is not the Fort Worth Way, you know, to analyze and improve something. Adopting the Seattle Way of operating really might be a valuable lesson for the future of Fort Worth, but I really don't see that happening.

Oh, and for those aforementioned poorly educated types, below is an easy to understand definition of what the term "liberal" actually means...

Sketchy Decade Long Look At Two Cities: Fort Worth & Seattle

As 2019 draws to a close let's amuse ourselves with a look at a couple examples from the past day or two of items I read in west coast online news sources, usually the Seattle Times, about something to do with Seattle, that I would not expect to read in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, about something to do with Fort Worth.

These looks at these type items have been among our most popular blog postings, for years.

And part of what renders these blog postings amusing is hearing feedback from Fort Worth locals expressing umbrage.

The Fort Worth locals expressing umbrage thing is always amusing. It always seems the same as someone getting all cranky because of what they see in a mirror.

Anyway.

The first article which struck me as something you would not see in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about something regarding Fort Worth is a Seattle Times article which has 10 sketches showing how Seattle has changed over the last decade.

Sketches showing things like the Amazon campus, the new Seattle waterfront with the now gone Alaskan Way Viaduct, the new tunnel under downtown Seattle, the hugely altered city skyline, a new floating bridge, trolley lines, link light rail lines and other stuff.

Meanwhile during the last decade in Fort Worth.

What could the Star-Telegram possibly sketch 10 instances of showing how Fort Worth has changed over the last decade?

Well, the Fort Worth skyline has not changed. Heritage Park remains a boarded up eyesore. The Trinity River Vision is now a nationally known Boondoggle, with three simple little bridges stuck over dry land. I guess sketching the ruins of three unfinished bridges would qualify as something which happened over the previous decade.

Oh, Rockin' the Polluted Trinity River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, that is something sketch worthy.

Did the pitiful solo Molly the Trolley public transit vehicle come to be the last decade? I don't remember when that embarrassment started up.

How about those Trinity River Cruises which the Trinity River Vision Boondogglers were hyping earlier in the year. Did that ever come to fruition?

I suppose the Star-Telegram could sketch the remains of the Cowtown Wakepark, what with it being something that came and died the past decade.

I just remembered an actual sketch worthy thing which happened in Fort Worth this decade. In the goofiest bond issue ballot I have ever seen voters passed three goofy ballot measures which somehow approved of the building of a new arena.

Dickies Arena is now open and has received nothing but positive reviews and has already hosted multiple events, and is likely going to be a big hit at the upcoming Stock Show.

If only Fort Worth's ongoing inept urban planning had managed to make an exception to its usual ineptness and had addressed the traffic problems which a town with urban planning would have anticipated with the building of a new venue.

Now, let's move on to the second article in the Seattle Times about something in the Seattle zone which one would never expect to read in the Star-Telegram regarding a similar thing happening in Fort Worth.

Seattle has been one of America's boom towns for most of this century, with the booming getting more so this past decade, hence the article saying Seattle's massive surge of new construction is causing a permitting backlog.

Fort Worth has no similar problem. Pretty much anyone wanting to build anything in Fort Worth can get the project approved. Often encouraged with tax breaks and other incentives. Even for an obvious con job, like a sporting goods store finagling to get breaks to build what they conned the locals into thinking would be the biggest tourist attraction in Texas.

The town manifests little evidence of what is known as urban planning.

A visit to where I first lived when I moved to Texas, to the hamlet of Haslet, in far north Fort Worth, is instructive. Back then, miles of open land was between my abode and development. The skyline of downtown Fort Worth was a distant little blip on the horizon.

And now, 20 years later, all that open land has been filled in, mostly with houses. And retail, such as malls, and Costco. With the roads basically the same as they were when I first drove on them. HUGE development allowed without the infrastructure upgraded. Just drive west on North Tarrant Parkway til you get to Highway 287 and you will see all you need to see to understand how ineptly Fort Worth's urban planning is.

Add to that the fact that drainage was not adequately upgraded. Which has greatly exacerbated flooding, causing deadly flash flooding downstream from the badly developed development.

Recently the Fort Worth city council embarrassed itself by disbanding the town's Ethics Commission. On Facebook I saw more than one person sarcastically comment along the line that doing so fits right in with the city's delusion of thinking that it is somehow going to attract multiple corporations to re-locate to Fort Worth in the coming decade.

I often wonder, have most of these Fort Worth locals, who apparently are okay with what is known as the Fort Worth Way, not been to other parts of America? Even other parts of Texas?

Very perplexing. And it is almost not only a happy new year, but a happy new decade, as well...

Tale Of Two Town's Waterfront Attractions: One Real One Imaginary

I saw that which you see above, this morning on the front page of the Seattle Times online version. The photo illustrating an article explaining why it has become easier than ever for Amazon tech hires to buy homes in Seattle.

That buying homes thing is not what I found interesting. It is the photo I found to be interesting.

Most photo views of downtown Seattle are either from Elliot Bay, looking east at the skyline, with the Space Needle on the left, and the sports stadiums on the right, with the Seattle skyscrapers between them. That and ferry boats and cruise ships on the waterfront, along with a giant wheel. Or the most popular view, that being from Queen Anne Hill, looking south, with the Space Needle looming tall above the Seattle skyline, with Mount Rainier hovering in the distance.

In the rare above view we are looking south across the south end of Lake Union. The Space Needle is that stick sticking up on the right. The towers you see are not the main part of the Seattle skyline, but are mostly what makes up the Amazon campus. Somewhere amongst those towers are the Amazon spheres my favorite Ruby niece took me to see a couple summers ago.

Anyway, looking at the above photo of part of downtown Seattle caused me to realize why I have such an automatic revulsion reaction when I read ridiculousness in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about that which has become America's Dumbest Boondoggle, the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

I think my revulsion at the ridiculousness began almost two decades ago when I read a banner headline on the front page of the Sunday Star-Telegram, screaming "TRINITY UPTOWN TO TURN FORT WORTH INTO VANCOUVER OF THE SOUTH".

I remember thinking to myself have these idiots never been to Vancouver? What can they possibly think could possibly turn this landlocked scenery free town into anything remotely resembling Vancouver?

Who could have dreamt that that ridiculousness would continue on for so long, soon to be boondoggling along into its third decade, with Fort Worth still not even remotely resembling Vancouver, or, actually, any other actual big modern city in North America, most of which have streets with sidewalks, city parks without outhouses, and no public transit of the Molly the Trolley sort.

Why would any sane city want to artificially turn their town into something it is not? Look at that view of downtown Seattle. See all that water? All that waterfront? And that is only part of it. To the left, out of view, is Lake Washington, across Elliot Bay, that land you see across the bay, is even more waterfront, as in West Seattle. To the right of the photo, out of Elliot Bay, is more waterfront, along the shores of Puget Sound.

All natural waterfront. With manmade attractions built on the waterfront, as in miles upon miles of private development, with not one inch of that waterfront being the result of some bizarre vision to create such out of nothing, under the guidance of some local politician's unqualified, inept, son, and expecting to do so via the largess of federal money doled out from the more prosperous parts of America, such as Seattle.

Let's take a current, 2019, look at the Vancouver of the South.

That wide creek is known as the Trinity River. Those buildings across the river are the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, someday destined to become the Vancouver of the South, just as soon as the Trinity River creek can be diverted into a cement lined ditch diverting water around an 800 acre industrial wasteland, creating an imaginary island, imaginatively already named Panther Island.

Since 2014 Fort Worth has been trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to that imaginary island. But that bridge building has been slow, now in its 5th years, currently slated to maybe be completed sometime in the next decade.

That is if you in the more prosperous parts of America can be convinced to send federal funding to Fort Worth to help with its imaginary (un-needed) flood control project and ineptly implemented economic development scheme where local delusionists conjure visions of riverwalks, waterfronts, lakes, canals, houseboat districts, thousands of residents and other never gonna happen nonsense.

All on what is currently an industrial wasteland still waiting on its EPA investigation which will likely discover epic levels of ground pollution costing a fortune to mitigate, which will likely be the final death knell of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. That or the digging of the ditch under one of those possibly finished bridges causing the bridge to sink or collapse.

Or, J.D. Granger reaching retirement age, with that bringing to a close the lifespan of the main beneficiary of what has become America's Dumbest Boondoggle.

I just had a thought which surprises me that it had never occurred to me before.

A thought which vividly points out the obviousness of the Fort Worth Vancouver of the South embarrassment. Can you imagine another city somewhere in North America, let's take Boise, Idaho for example, touting some project as a "VISION TO TURN BOISE INTO FORT WORTH OF THE NORTH".

No, would never happen, because there is not one single thing about Fort Worth any town anywhere in America would want to emulate.

And that fact is what the people who run Fort Worth in what is known as the Fort Worth Way might want to ponder.

A ridiculous project touted as turning Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South is not the solution to what ails Fort Worth.

I don't know if there is anything a town like Fort Worth could ever manage to do which would cause other towns to want to turn themselves into the Fort Worth of the North, or East, or West, but I do know for sure the solution ain't copying Vancouver, or San Antonio, or...

Grandpa Jake In Seattle Remembering Kurt Cobain & Elvis

Incoming to my phone this morning from Spencer Jack and Hank Frank's grandpa, who is also my baby brother, Jake.

Jake is currently escaping the warmth of Arizona's Valley of the Sun by enjoying the record breaking heat of the Pacific Northwest.

The text that was attached to this photo asked...

"When were you last here?"

Well.

I am not sure what location, precisely, Jake is referring to with the word "here".

I can see Jake is on a ferry boat, in Elliott Bay. Which would make that the skyline of downtown Seattle behind him. The Space Needle on the far left is a major clue.

If by "here" Jake is asking when I've last been to Seattle, the answer to that would be a couple times during August of 2017.

If by "here" Jake is asking when I've last been on a ferry boat in Elliott Bay, I think I may also know the answer to that question, precisely, even though the date is way back in the previous century.

April 5, 1994, to be exact.

Why would I remember that date?

Well.

On that day Jake's two sons, my favorite nephews Jason and Joey, took me to Seattle where we rode the ferry to Bainbridge Island. While on that ferry Joey saw a big headline in the Seattle Times.

NIRVANA'S COBAIN DEAD

Joey read enough of the story to quickly deduce Kurt Cobain had killed himself. Joey was particularly upset at this news, asking his favorite uncle why Kurt Cobain would do such a thing. I had no answer.

And then Joey and Jason told me something I did not know previously, or had forgotten. That being whilst their cousin Alan was a teacher in, if I remember right, Montesano, he taught Kurt Cobain in 7th grade.

And so this is why I know the date I last rode a Washington ferry.

And on another death of an American music icon note, with the news learned on a Washington ferry.

On August 16, 1977, before Jason, Joey, Spencer Jack and Hank Frank joined the earth's population, I ferried with grandpa Jake from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, on a product delivery run.

We were not long out of the Anacortes port when we learned Elvis had died. I do not remember if this was learned via a newspaper headline, or an announcement over the public address system. I suspect the latter.

Anyway, I hope this answers Spencer Jack and Hank Frank's grandpa's "When were you last here?" question..

Tale Of Two Town's Population Boom: One Horizontal One Vertical

This past week's news gave me an opportunity I have not enjoyed previously. That being the two big cities with which I am most familiar, Fort Worth and Seattle, sharing a piece of news.

Thus, for the first time ever I can directly compare how the same news is reported in Fort Worth compared to Seattle, as evidenced by the two town's dominant newspapers, those being the Fort Worth Star-Telegram vs. the Seattle Times.

Just the article titles and the photos used to illustrate are revealing. Above we see the example from the Star-Telegram's Fort Worth’s booming growth refuses to slow down as city becomes 13th largest in U.S. article, while below we see the example from the Seattle Times Big-city growth slows across U.S. — but Seattle still ranks No. 2 in 2018 article.

The Seattle Times article about this subject is detailed, factual, comprehensive, well-written, and long. And the article has generated dozens upon dozens of intelligent comments reflecting wide ranging points of view.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram article about this subject is simplistic, reads like propaganda, and is not long. And the article has generated only a few comments, and those comments are short, simple-minded, for the most part, and with most not intelligently reflective of any point of view worth reflecting.

Let's take a look at the first four paragraphs of these two articles for illustrative purposes, and then end with a doozy of an embarrassing propaganda paragraph in the Star-Telegram article.

First the first four paragraphs from the Star-Telegram article...

The boom shows no sign of ending.

Fort Worth is now the 13th-largest city in the United States, behind Jacksonville, Florida, and ahead of Columbus, Ohio, as well as San Francisco, according to the latest Census Bureau population estimates released Thursday.

“Fort Worth’s rapid growth speaks to our incredible quality of life, business friendly climate and affordable cost of living,” said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. “Of course, substantial growth presents both great opportunities as well as new challenges to strategically manage our growth without compromising what makes Fort Worth a unique place to live, work, and play.”

Last year, Fort Worth ranked 15th but the city added 19,552 people between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018, to reach a population of 895,000. It was the third-largest gain behind Phoenix and San Antonio.

And now the first four paragraphs from the Seattle Times article...

Seattle’s decade of record-breaking growth may be slowing down, but it’s not done yet. There are still a lot more folks coming than going.

Census data released Thursday shows that from July 1, 2017, to July 1, 2018, the city’s population grew by more than 15,000, bringing the total to 745,000.

That pencils out to a one-year increase of 2.1%, which ranks Seattle as the second-fastest growing among the 50 most-populous U.S. cities. We were just a fraction behind No. 1, Fort Worth, Texas.

Even so, Seattle is slowing down a little. One year earlier, from 2016 to 2017, the city added 19,000 people, achieving a growth rate of 2.7%. And the year before that, Seattle grew even faster, and ranked No. 1 in the nation. In fact, last year’s 2.1% growth rate was Seattle’s slowest since 2010, when the city was still feeling the effects of the nationwide recession.

Okay, before we get to that aforementioned paragraph of embarrassing propaganda, mention needs to be made of the idiotic statement from Fort Worth's recently re-elected mayor, one of Donald Trump's best friends, and rumored former girl friend, Betsy Price.

Betsy thinks Fort Worth's population is growing due to the town's incredible quality of life and friendly business climate? Have we mentioned previously the town has way too few parks for a town of its size, that those parks, for the most part, do not have modern facilities, but do have a lot of outhouses. That most of the town's streets have no sidewalks. And there are no (some claim there are three) public pools. This town with the friendly business climate fails over and over and over again when trying to attract a corporation to re-locate, or open a facility, despite big bribes and incentives.

Fort Worth's population is growing fast because the town has long had HUGE areas of wide open spaces, due to annexing HUGE areas of open prairie, expanding the town's city limits.

When I moved to Texas it was to the hamlet of Haslet, at the north boundary of Fort Worth. Across the street, in Fort Worth, as far as one could see one saw open land, with Fort Worth's puny skyline poking up like matchsticks way in the distance. Same thing to the west and east, except for the matchsticks. Now, two decades later, all that land is filled in with thousands of houses. And a couple large shopping complexes. Little was done to upgrade roads, add new parks, install adequate drainage, resulting in a mess of a bad urban planning not worthy of a modern American city.

This unlimited open land population growth factor was mentioned by a couple Fort Worth locals in comments on this subject on the Star-Telegram's prize winning star columnist Bud Kennedy's Facebook post about this article in his newspaper.

A couple of those cogent comments...

Don Wheeler: Fort Worth: Where urban sprawl apparently has no limits.

Dan Pariseau: Bud, do you think Ft Worth has thought out this growth and developed the City correctly? Or as I feel that the city has grown in a haphazard way, with not much serious thought given to existing neighborhoods and infrastructure, like flooding problems, crumbling streets, and sewers not able to handle the loads now.

So, clearly Fort Worth is not totally populated with propaganda purveyors lacking in common sense regarding their town's population growth and its resulting sprawl.

A town like Seattle has no open land to expand to. Seattle is surrounded by large bodies of water and other towns. San Francisco and several other big American towns also do not have what Fort Worth has, as in HUGE areas of undeveloped land. Towns like Seattle and San Francisco have to build vertical when their populations increase. Poorly planned urban sprawl is not an option in modern well-developed American towns.

And now that aforementioned paragraph of embarrassingly dumb propaganda in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram article about the town's population boom...

“The jump to 13th largest city in the U.S. will boost Fort Worth’s recognition worldwide as a formidable city in its own right and help draw more visitors and business investments,” said Bill Thornton, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. “The Dallas-Fort Worth region, now fourth-largest metro, and the Texas brand continue to attract business and top talent to fuel our economy. When people see that Fort Worth is larger than San Francisco, it should pique some curiosity about what’s going on here.”

Oh my, where does one start on this nonsense? Okay, you living in the rest of the world, has Fort Worth's population jump caused you to recognize the town as a formidable city?

Within the last year I recollect an article somewhere in local Fort Worth media lamenting a study which had used some sort of analytical criteria to determine that while Fort Worth, at that point in time, was America's 17th biggest town, it was at #48, or #49, in being recognized. I assume people were asked what they knew about a particular town. And with Fort Worth the answer likely usually was that it was near Dallas, with nothing else about the town on the nation's, or world's, recognition radar screen..

Luckily few people outside the town know to answer that Fort Worth is that town that encourages its people to go inner tubing in the town's e.coli polluted river while listening to music playing from an imaginary island. Or that the town is the biggest in the nation with the fewest sidewalks. Or parks. Or that the town is the outhouse capital of America.

An increasing number of American's are becoming aware of the fact that Fort Worth is the host to America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Being the 13th biggest city will draw more visitors? To see what? To visit Heritage Park at the north end of Fort Worth's downtown? That park, celebrating Fort Worth's heritage, has been a boarded up eyesore for over a decade, in that town about which imaginary curiosity is piquing, wondering what is going on in this American boomtown.

Heritage Park overlooks America's Biggest Boondoggle. Does any legitimately booming American town sport something like a boarded up city park overlooking a public works disaster mucking up a huge area of their town's landscape with bridges being built in slow motion over dry land?

Is there no limit to the delusions? Fort Worth's population boom is not fueled by booming business coming to town, by corporations re-locating to Fort Worth, or by an imaginary incredible quality of life.

The population boom is fueled by people coming to the Dallas Fort Worth Metro zone needing a place to live, while Fort Worth has wide open spaces upon which to build new homes. That is the one and only actual factual explanation for Fort Worth's population increase...