The circular trail around Gravelly Lake – paralleling Gravelly Lake Drive (GLD) – is, evidently, to be paved in gold.
Estimated at nearly $9 million to construct, the City of Lakewood has identified this path as a priority believing it will lead – somehow – to economic development.
In the council’s study agenda packet for March 9, 2015 there is a Household Income chart on page 27 where Lakewood acknowledges having “more households with earnings at the bottom.” More than Tacoma. More than Pierce County. More than the State of Washington.
Sixty-three percent of households in Lakewood led by moms without dads, and children under the age of five, struggle along in poverty (p.28).
“Poverty is a measure of extremely low income and does not mean the people living above poverty have enough money to meet their needs. Twenty-percent of Lakewood’s population lives in poverty.”
A 2014 survey of folks in the Clover Park School District indicated that “people felt poverty was the number one barrier for families.”
“Food insecurity,” defined as households “financially stretched to the point where they cannot be certain that all will not go hungry,” describes Lakewood.
Lakewood has seen “an increase in the number of people coming for food, including seniors, families with children and youth. These include people who are working but cannot afford to live” (p.29).
Into this “extremely low, low, moderate and middle income” mix, we’re led to believe that mixing concrete to build “trails and bike paths” – identified as “needed infrastructure” (p.67) – is a “high priority” leading, as it were, down a yellow-brick road to the fabled Emerald City and economic freedom where we’ll live happily ever after.
Following the yellow brick road made for a good story but Dorothy, in the end, despite the friends she met along the way, decided she liked her original neighborhood best of all.
Amy Liu and Owen Washburn co-authored a piece in the February 24, 2015 issue of “The Avenue – Rethinking Metropolitan America.” In it they take issue with traditional models of economic development.
“Economic development calls to mind longstanding practices of building housing, retail centers, and far-flung industrial parks—or attracting business relocations—to boost municipal tax revenue. These approaches are often costly, zero-sum, and do little to address yawning social gaps in metro areas.”
While sidewalks specifically are not mentioned by the authors, typical infrastructures which include sidewalks are. “The Avenue” that leads most directly to what matters most, the authors contend, has far less to do with following the yellow brick road most often laid out by economic theorists than rather by developing the skills, gifts, talents and abilities of the people themselves: a city’s greatest asset.
Circular is the path around GLD. And circular is the reasoning that promotes it. This, the City Council, cannot avoid. “The difficulty (with “trails and bike paths” – an admission in the Five-Year Consolidated Plan that will be before the council to study the evening of March 9, according to page 67) is “the prioritization of projects given limited resources and insufficient taxes to provide the needed infrastructure.”
Making ends meet is what a circular trail around GLD would do. Eventually you’ll come back to where you started. But going in circles is hardly the objective. The argument goes something like this: people need to get from here to there. The city does not have the means to do that. The solution? Raise taxes. From people who already cannot afford it.
Circular.
But making ends meet as in “lifting people out of poverty, increasing earning capacity, providing training/job skills/life skills” (p.67) is a whole different means to an end altogether.
Rather simply put, it’s not the direction where people are to walk but rather it’s the development of the people enabling them to work that deserves the primary attention of, and serves perhaps as the only reason for, government.
Typical Lakewood, another “make work” project. One can already make the 3 mile walk/jog around Gravelly Lake safely. I’ve done it many times without any problems. There are three, count ’em, 3, traffic-lighted crossings which can be utilized if needed. It’s currently safe and, best of all, FREE!
This 9 mile boondoggle is a transportation necessity? You’ve got to be kidding me. Didn’t council just raise our vehicle licenses by $20.00 to pay for a “transportation improvement benefit district”….another gobbly-gook parsing of the English language. How much has all the money spent on curbs gutters and sidewalks that no one uses increase the fiscal welfare of Lakewood’s residents? Apparently not much. This is all about throwing money at social engineering which hasn’t worked in the past and will not work in the future: the definition of insanity. This council needs replacement…..fast……and those who make these recommendations….fired….fast.
David, you need to add ALL the RETIRED personnel that make their home in Lakewood as well. They (we) are living on “Fixed” incomes…and trying to make ends meet. Most can barely walk down their streets, let alone around Gravelly Lake.
This is nothing but the worst kind of “bait and switch” so often employed by government. First they plead poverty for those primary functions of government (police, road maintenance, etc.) to get citizens to accept a tax increase….like a $20.00 car tab increase. Once that’s done, then suddenly they find all kinds of money to fund fluff projects….like a $9M Gravelly Lake Drive walking trail and this through one of the richest neighborhoods in the city. I understand the circuit is about 3 miles around Gravelly Lake….that comes out to $568.19 for every foot of the proposed trail…..or….about $155.17 for every man, woman and child who lives in the city limits. How many of them are going to enjoy this costly “amenity”? This is outrageous and an absolute waste of taxpayer money.
Isn’t it interesting that none of the city council members, or the mayor, take the time to comment about this topic either here or in the open?
OK! Here’s a challenge to Mayor Don Anderson. I believe that he still lives in Madera, an upscale gated community on Gravelly Lake Drive within easy walking distance of city hall………..
MAYOR ANDERSON: HOW MANY TIMES IN THE LAST 6 YEARS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ON COUNCIL HAVE YOU WALKED TO A CITY COUNCIL MEETING?????
For such projects to make sense there need to be several preconditions. #1: high density of population to make usage cost effective. This is not the case with Gravelly Lake Drive which is at best a low density suburban neighborhood. #2: relatively modest (poor) neighborhood which doesn’t have too many options for traveling to services. This is not the case with Gravelly Lake Drive: they can get in their Cadillacs and Jaguars and ride anywhere in comfort. #3: Significant public transportation to get people to and from the targeted economically developed center. This is not the case with Gravelly Lake Drive: can you just see someone from the gated Madera community trying to walk back a Safeway shopping cart full of groceries from the Towne Center? Or how about taking the bus home with a load of groceries? Yeah, right. #4: Close proximity to commercial and industrial centers where shopping and employment occurs. While Gravelly Lake Drive is within a mile or two of Towne Center how many if its residents shop or better yet are employed by Towne Center businesses? Very few I suspect. They certainly wouldn’t walk as far as 3+ miles to do what a short hop in their car could accomplish in minutes. This project is so off base with even just a cursory look compared to the real transportation and economic development needs of the city that it’s hard to believe than anyone on city council actually lives in Lakewood. Oh wait a minute…..the Mayor lives in Madera…no wonder…..might as well be Bellevue. Totally out of touch.
OK! Here’s another challenge to Mayor Don Anderson. I believe that he still lives in Madera, an upscale gated community on Gravelly Lake Drive but doesn’t work in Lakewood but rather in a law firm in downtown Tacoma:
MAYOR ANDERSON: HOW MANY TIMES IN THE LAST 6 YEARS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ON COUNCIL HAVE YOU TAKEN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO WORK ?????
Politicians typically require we the governed to put up with their incompetence from which they have excused themselves.
Sounds like this is a “News-worthy” topic. Channel 4,5,7?!?! What’s your flavor?
There’s nothing like heightened exposure to get public officials to re-think some of their decisions. It also grabs the attention of affected citizens who are otherwise too busy with their own lives.