http://q13fox.com/2015/09/16/do-you-live-in-one-of-the-10-worst-places-to-live-in-washington/
Thanks to the poster who brought this to my attention. Now, let's take this with a grain of salt...But only if the endless boosters who see/hear/speak no evil about Port Angeles will entertain the notion that maybe, just maybe, the town needs a little work.
As in, some work, some jobs.
Oh, and more trees, and fewer junkies.
Oh, and better schools.
Oh, and what's that thing NOAA talked about? Quality of life or something?
Oh, and maybe a few elected leaders who aren't crooks or incompetents. (Or incompetent crooks.)
Oh, and...Well, you fill in the blanks.
Gee, I'd have thought that SOMEONE over at Fox News would have read Outside Magazine...
ReplyDeleteGee, yes. Port Angeles is the best town, ever.. because it is in proximity to Victoria?!?
DeleteGee, yes. That Port Angeles and Clallam County are deemed "distressed" by State and Federal agencies because so many are in need here? Yep! Best Town, Ever!
Oh?! Outside Magazine didn't have those factors of things to consider. Gee. How nice when you are affluent enough to tour the wilds as you walk past the needy.
If you believe the current poll over at the PDN (who will never ever ever cover this Faux News story) we also are practically swimming through used needles left littering he streets. Reality? Not necessary in Port Angeles!
ReplyDeleteThese "articles" and "survey results" are all highly suspect and shaded, to say the least. There's no nuance, no attention to details or the bigger picture. They just hyper-focus on one or two - good or bad - things, then run with it. Then the local boosters either run with it, or run from it, as though the "results" were actually attached to reality.
ReplyDeleteCentralia is worse than Port Angeles? Worse than ANYWHERE else in Washington state? That's crazy. I've been to most of the places on that list in the last few years, and Centralia is just fine. PA and Aberdeen need to be higher up the list of the low-down. Bainbridge is only on there at all for one factor, really, which is driven (pun intended) by its being an island.
In other words, whatever grains of truth are in there are covered with more than a little hogwash - the kind Port Angeles so regularly deals in.
I don't think these silly, self serving "surveys" or listings-by-issue are shady or suspect per se, I think they are lazy. They are the result of taking one or two issues, and doing flat-out statistical comparisons.
DeleteAs you point out, these "best EVER" polls and results are absolutely meaningless in real terms. Right, Port Angeles is a way better place than Hawaii? That is why so many dream of going to Hawaii, and the sidewalks of Port Angeles remain empty after 150 years of people passing by.
We will be subjected to another bout of chest thumping by the boosters in the near future. Statistics will show that the sales tax figures for this year are higher than last year. That more tourists came to the area. Again, statistics will be used to promote the boosters claims that they are successful in their efforts.
But, they will overlook the reality that tourism was up significantly, all over. That the increases in travel to the area were the result of other factors. That other areas had really significant increases in patronage, and by comparison, Port Angeles again lags behind.
And, the boosters will pooh-pooh any efforts to get them to face that reality. They will rally in their perceived successes, and continue doing what objectively continues not to be working.
This is the problem with tunnel vision. This is the problem with surveys and meaningless feel good polls. People have the ability to convince themselves about all kinds of things that are not true. Look at the water issues.
But convincing yourself things are wonderful doesn't actually make it so. Convincing yourself that rattlesnake is really a cute puppy isn't likely to have a good outcome.
Like McEntire telling his constituents that years of a pattern of increasing water shortages actually mean an "uptick in water supplies". Bad is actually good.
Port Angeles is like many, many cities across our nation that is struggling to find its identity, from being the primary industrial location on the North Olympic Peninsula, to something ... (else?). Forest and Fish industries dominated our economy for over a hundred years, and neither industry is capable doing so anymore. Fishery because of changing regulations related to over-fishing in the ocean before migratory fish can even get back here and Forestry because of the incredible run-up in transportation costs making it unprofitable to manufacture wood products here to be shipped to domestic population centers, and the legislature's decision to prohibit the shipping of publicly owned (D.N.R.) raw logs overseas where cheaper manufacturing costs exist. Tourism is nice, but pay levels are low, and large volumes of customers are held back by transportation costs (again) and less than ideal weather for half the year. So...WHAT DO WE DO? That is the struggle that leadership has, it is something that is very hard to force, as public monies cannot effectively be used to prop up private business, and the business leaders (understandably) don't want more competition for their (limited) customers. We have one of the strongest "NIMBY" populations in the country, and THEY VOTE, meaning that all change is opposed strongly. Until and unless something happens to significantly reduce transportation costs, on and off the Peninsula (Barge Dock?, Star Trek transporter?), any industry that relies on getting (heavy) raw materials here and finished products to domestic markets is going to have 2 strikes against it before it even starts. It doesn't add any value to solving the problems to have the debate dominated by all the naysayers and haters that vent their bile in letters to the editor and blogs like these. Lets hear some possible solutions instead. Thanks.
ReplyDelete"It doesn't add any value to solving the problems to have the debate dominated by all the naysayers and haters that vent their bile in letters to the editor and blogs like these. Lets hear some possible solutions instead."
DeleteWell, you might spend some time looking into these topics, as you will see possible solutions are offered. The real question is: "Is anybody listening?" Or "Who is willing to take responsibility or action on needed change?"
We all could be seeking out and supporting local businesses. We could make buying local a priority. And, I'm not talking about the "junque" stores downtown. There are a wide variety of goods and services offered by our fellow residents. We could put money and effort into making access to all that as easy as shopping at Safeway or Walmart.
If we can learn anything from the last 10 or 15 years around here, it might be that waiting for some big outside business to waltz into town and save us from ourselves isn't going to happen. We can't keep doing what doesn't work, and expect somebody else to change our behaviors.
We were dumb enough, or too lazy, or whatever at the time to listen to the folks of Sequim First who fought against the "Big Box" stores being built in Sequim. Yeah, everyone wanted the joys of the Home Depot, Petco, Office Depot etc.
Now, most of the local dollars go to those national chains, and the small locally owned businesses struggle to survive. But, we got our Chinese made junk for cheaper, so what do we care. Right?
Vent bile? What kind of simplistic moron are you? With all the affronts and outrageous actions by our supposed leadership, we are supposed to be mindlessly happy? You really can say you see the criticisms leveled on this blog as "venting bile"? As if the concerns and criticisms are baseless or not valid? Really?
Let's turn this around, and ask what "possible solutions" you propose, given the situation as you describe it.
It is a shame that you offer little except another personal attack. Ask yourself, would you be happy anywhere? If so, its too bad you aren't there.
Delete@Anon 6:43
DeleteYou say: "It is a shame that you offer little except another personal attack." Hello? Did you read the reply you're referencing?
I said:" We all could be seeking out and supporting local businesses. We could make buying local a priority. And, I'm not talking about the "junque" stores downtown. There are a wide variety of goods and services offered by our fellow residents. We could put money and effort into making access to all that as easy as shopping at Safeway or Walmart."
Why? Because: "Now, most of the local dollars go to those national chains, and the small locally owned businesses struggle to survive."
Does that sound like a "possible solution", or "another personal attack"?
As I also said; "The real question is: "Is anybody listening?" Or "Who is willing to take responsibility or action on needed change?"
Your reply demonstrates this very problem.
And, we note you offer nothing but avoiding answering the very question you pose.
BTW, I've lived in a number of communities I've enjoyed very much. Circumstances result in my living in Port Angeles. I guess I'm not supposed to offer observations? Just shut up and "go along to get along" with the status quo?
Now, if you really want a debate, state something intelligent and defend it. Comments like "Ask yourself, would you be happy anywhere? If so, its too bad you aren't there." hardly constitute debate by anyone's standards. Only by identifying and analyzing problems AND THEIR CAUSES can one have any hope of actually addressing them.
To those few of us who already make a point of "shopping local", it seems to have very little positive effect on the whole economy, much less so than the large number of people actually put to work by the big box stores. So, "What kind of simplistic moron are you?" Isn't a personal attack?
DeleteWith a reply such as THAT, "simplistic moron" again applies. Not as the personal attack as you perceive it to be, but simply an observation.
DeleteYou honestly think that more people work in Sequim's big box stores, than all the small, locally owned businesses, the self employed service people, the farmers, fisherman, and others throughout Clallam County?
Once again, you prove thew validity of my question "Is anybody listening?"
I stated;"There are a wide variety of goods and services offered by our fellow residents. We could put money and effort into making access to all that as easy as shopping at Safeway or Walmart.". Twice.
Where do you shop for locally produced goods that is on the scale of Safeway or Walmart? Where you can go 7 days a week to buy local shellfish, seafoods, produce, chicken, beef, etc that come from area farms? Where you can browse all the different products being created by our neighbors from Forks to Sequim, and everywhere in between?
Step back from being so blinded by your ego, and see we both are trying to address the same problem. You point out how isolated, remote and otherwise challenged the area is. How "outside" salvation by some yet-to-be-revealed miracle is highly unlikely. I agree.
Why have our EDC spend out tax money for decades trying over and over to attract something that just isn't going to happen? Spend the money developing "local".
I appreciate the big box stores in Sequim like Home Depot and Costco for what they offer when I need something that I can't find elsewhere, but we shop first at Thomas or Hartnagel or Thurmans. I shop at Nash's Farm Store which is definitely going out of my way and I also purposefully stop at the Agnew store and any locally owned store first before going big box or online. I have never set foot in Walmart and never intend to. I was looking for something recently and exhausted all local possibilities. When someone suggested that I could find it at Walmart, I just politely thanked them and went home and ordered it from Amazon. So my order of preference is: local, then area big box, then Amazon, but NOT Walmart. Supporting the local economy is not a huge effort or burden and it's quite nice to get to know your local proprietors. That being said, the burden is also on the local stores to operate reasonably priced goods and services, offering the extra value of knowledge and personal assistance not found in the big box stores. I expect retail spaces to be clean, organized and decently stocked. If a business owner or their employees can't be bothered to clean up the dead flies and dust, shows an apathetic or surly attitude, or is price gouging, then it is no wonder if people choose to shop elsewhere. It's a balancing act that we can all participate to improve.
DeleteThe Revitalize folks are CONVINCED that every other town in Washington is buying their homeless population bus tickets for Port Angeles and wishing them well (what bus line runs to P.A. I do not know). If it isn't the free bus tickets then it's the amazing array of client services that is offered here they claim.
ReplyDeleteI hate to break it to them, but it's neither free tickets nor services but the amazingly superior smack that is available that draws them in. It's like flies to honey!
Yep. Fly high, super high, on the Peninsula.
DeleteIsn't this an old list? Seems like I was reading this about the time of the Best Town Ever ballot stuffing.
ReplyDeleteI also don't get Bainbridge. That's basically a suburb of Seattle for rich folks. It may be an island, but hop across the bridge and you're in Poulsbo, hop a ferry and you're in Seattle. It's not really in the middle of nowhere.
On thing I did find interesting is that most of the downtowns listed that have worse stats that PA actually better. Tall brick buildings with no dirt lots between them...
What the hell? Okay, should have read... "On thing I did find interesting is that most of the downtowns listed that have worse stats that PA actually look better downtown. Tall brick buildings with no dirt lots between them..."
DeleteThanks for the clarification. I was wondering.
DeleteI was the one who originally posted the link and I mentioned that it's just as trite as the "best ever" lists, but was just pointing out that while the revitalizers were super proud to jump on that bandwagon, you'll notice, as I suspected, that neither they nor the PDN picked up on this one at all. Of course it's meaningless, but it just goes to show how many refuse to acknowledge the real problems here.
ReplyDeleteYep!
DeleteShop local my ass. COPA is over $150,000,000 in new debt. How much of that was spent with local architects, engineers, contractors, electricians, plumbers, artists, wood workers, carpet installers, welders, craftsmen, laborers? Hardly any. What do we have to show for it. Torn up streets for two strait summers when the local businesses have a small window of opportunity to make a living. Two boutique beaches for depositing used needles, a bloated city staff who do none of the work but hire out of town consultants to tell us how to wipe our ass. Yeah, shop local is for the slogans but business is business--our business.
ReplyDelete