To set the scene, these photos were taken on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and it was Mother's Day to boot. That is to say, earlier TODAY. Plenty of reasons for people to be out and about, right? There was a Classic Car Show downtown, there's Nathan West's Boondoggle Beach, or maybe just some good old fashioned taking Mom out for a bite to eat or to do some shopping?
Right?
Thank goodness they closed off the street to handle the overflow crowd of...I count three people. (When I went to the gym one morning last week at 4:30 AM, there were at least six people there. Or, as the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce would describe it, an "overflow crowd.") Still, the lack of people at this event might help to explain...
...The plentitude of parking spaces left right next door. Ouch! Ah, but maybe it's just a case of no one wanting to pay for parking, right? Maybe that's why the lot is so empty...
...Except that...If we look a little further down the street, all we see is street. No cars to speak of (parked or otherwise), and no people, just street...
...And empty sidewalks. Maybe it's that people are just SO upset that someone was saying bad things about Dan Gase that they just stayed home and cried?
Or maybe...Just maybe...
...Part of the reason people say such nasty things about Dan Gase, and his Fluoride Four comrades, is because they're all part of a brain (free) trust that is perfectly willing to fritter time and energy away on completely unnecessary and unwanted things like, oh, say an expensive fake beach?
An expensive fake beach that can't seem to draw anyone to it on a sunny Sunday holiday. An expensive fake beach that is like a slap in the face to climate change, long and short-range planning and any sort of fiscal responsibility. In fact, just about the only thing such a beach might be good for is as a place to deposit a whole shitload of gaily painted rocks, such as the kind promoted on the front page of the Peninsula Daily News today.
But do you think you'll ever see photos like these in the PDN? Do you think they'll ever ask any hard questions about how things have been brought down to such a pathetic state?
Of course not. They'll ask no questions, and tell known lies. In their world, these photos won't be acknowledged, they never happened. Which, in one sense is true. If you need there to be someone in a photo for it to be somehow "real," then yes indeed, most of these photos never happened.
Because there was no one there.
Really stunning! Where else in the world would you see this? Sunny Sunday, and the waterfront town is empty.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable, except it is true!
In terms of economic development, maybe the city can offer itself up as a place to film end of the world movies, post-apocalyptic movies, zombie movies, etc. Need a ghost town? Call Nathan West.
DeleteI'm sorry I am still stuck on Elected Motherfuckers Day. I laughed so hard I peed my pants. Very fitting, very funny.
ReplyDeleteHallmark, the ball is in your court. Given the sorry state of affairs in U.S. politics, this is an untapped market. A LARGE untapped market.
DeleteI wonder if Tyler would be willing to travel to Poulsbo and do a similar photo shoot? He might not be able to find a convenient parking spot downtown but still worth it. :D
ReplyDeleteMore appropriate to the area is a trip to Port Townsend or Sequim.
DeleteToday's paper trumpets the upcoming "workshops" to find out what people want at City Pier.
ReplyDeleteHere's a thought: People. Would it be too much to ask that there be people there? Also, do you think anyone pondered the optics of having these "workshops" about our empty pier at an empty department store building?
Or maybe the heads of those planning this are empty too? Is this all part of our new branding effort? "Port Angeles: An empty, lonely place."
Empty heads, empty place. Just the way the local power wants it. No one around to ask any questions.
DeleteSo the question begged is how do you get people to come? Kind of like all the city workshops that are under attended, whether the comprehensive plan update or city pier. Lots of On line whining, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, but at last Planning Commission dealing with Comprehensive Plan update total public turnout - 1 person. Come on down. All welcome. No 3 minute public comment restriction.
DeleteWho owns the Maurice's building?
DeleteIs the owner offering the meeting space for free, or is the city paying for it? If the city is paying to use the meeting space, why? It already is costly and time consuming to have staff (and consultants) set up/take down and work off site.
If the topic is mainly about Holiday Beach and the pier, and there is no free space available at City Hall or the Vern Burton, why not have the meeting at the Fiero Center or the wonderful Gateway Center?
@ Anon 1:07
DeleteYes, you're right. Almost. The reality is, as Tyler points out below, that hundreds and thousands of people are delivered into downtown Port Angeles every day, via the Coho Ferry. The ONP brings millions to the area.
We don't have to figure out how to "get people to come?" We have to figure out what it is virtually all of them see, that makes them leave as soon as possible.
And the Comprehensive Plan Update? With the Fluoride Four as the ultimate deciders? We saw how that works, the last time around, with Grant Munro and a similar city council. Look where we are today, as a result.
All those people coming to visit the park like live trees. When they drive through town all they see are dead trees. How long are they going to stay around for that sad irony? Why does Grant Munro have to stack all his dead trees right on the waterfront for all the tourist to see? Isn't there enough room at the airport. Stack them from one end of the runway to the other, no planes need the space. This town has to decide if it is going to cater to tree-huggers or tree killers. It really is that simple.
DeleteTree-huggers come to town to see live trees. When they drive through town they see dead trees headed for China. These highly mobile tourists can travel anywhere and spend where they feel appreciated. So long as we wave these dead trees in their faces they will buy elsewhere. It really is that simple. We need to decide pretty soon if we are going to be a city of tree-huggers or a city of tree killers. The tourists will decide if they want to spend their money where their intrinsic values are thwarted. Oh, by the way, it is the EDC that keeps the trees in your face. Their membership is highly reflective of the entrenched timber families. Ain't it good to know the county commission pays the EDC hundreds of thousands of YOUR tax dollars to kill the economy here.
DeleteAs misanthropes know, people equal problems. This looks like heaven on earth.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it sure looks like all the readers of Tom Harper's blog were downtown Sunday.
ReplyDeleteOuch!
DeleteI think the OP may be giving Tom Harper too much credit, if you know what I mean...
DeleteSo are these "workshops" part of a a "survey" of what the people want? What the "F" is the point. Didn't the last survey cost $10,000 and the city council ignored the results of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks CK. I keep taking these pictures to show anyone interested the results of all the work by the City, the Chamber of Commerce, the PABA, the City Council, local and state/federal politicians and all the various governmental agencies that have poured so many millions of tax dollars into Port Angeles.
ReplyDeleteI've been around long enough to have heard the sales pitch for a pretty long list of these "economic development" projects. I sat in the City Council chambers, saw the Power Point presentations, and heard the hired staff tell the audience all the wonderful things that were going to result from this project or that.
And, yes, I have been to Poulsbo and Port Townsend. And a lot of coastal towns more remote than Port Angeles. It is that personal experience that I draw upon, when I see the empty streets of Port Angeles, day after day, month after month, year after year.
And now the City is preparing to spend money on the City Pier?
The ever empty streets and now beaches are the "proof of the pudding". When are the decision makers going to see that these projects are not drawing in tourists or locals to shop downtown?
What is even more incredible is that thousands come through Port Angeles daily via the Coho ferry. Literally millions come through the area to visit the Park. And we have empty streets and failing businesses? Opportunity is handed to the town in a way few other towns have, and we still can't make a go of it?
There are a lot of reasons "why", but as the pictures keep showing us, spending millions on projects, having faux events, and cleaning up downtown doesn't stop any of the thousands passing by every day. Why? Maybe there is a place to start, if people want things to be different in Port Angeles?
Thank you for your efforts, and your comments, Tyler. This is a conversation that needs to be held in every home and every governing office in Port Angeles. (But STOP the spendthrift spending first.)
DeleteSpectacular weather, damn if I'd waste it shopping. After the third wettest winter, or something like that. And before the tourist crowds get out there. Somehow all these businesses keep surviving year after year, and even doing better.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget that yesterday when these pics were taken was also the first day of Esprit this year. That means that scores of Esprit attendees and their significant others would have been coming into town. Not that you see any evidence of that in these stark and depressing pictures. There's scant evidence of any sort of human habitation at all.
ReplyDeleteGood point - thanks!
DeleteEvery year you see fewer and fewer Esprit attendees in the downtown area and within the last few years PADA has been lukewarm about the Esprit convention. Obviously, if we can't get a major convention group to shop downtown, why should tourists or locals bother?
DeleteThese pictures are SO depressing.
ReplyDeleteOf course photos of Port Angeles are depressing. Port Angeles is depressing. This is the dying community our leaders have created.
DeletePort Angeles is SO depressing.
ReplyDeleteI continue to feel compelled to suggest that citizens DO SOMETHING other than wait around until the next municipal election in Nov. 2017. There's alot of people here. Come down to city hall once in a while and give them an earful. When they see only a handful at their meetings, they interpret that as "We're doing great, let's keep the corruption going!"
ReplyDeleteAnd dammit CK, we need THE LIST of powermongers around here so they can be harassed once in a while.
Looking for the power mongers? Look no further than the membership list of the Economic Development Council. They are the ones fighting to keep things just as they are because the old timber and associated businesses have done pretty good making fortunes off the back of low-wage, low-skilled, poorly educated citizens. The EDC will work feverishly to keep any new company from coming here if they pay a dime more than the entrenched slave-traders. Sadly, the county commission keeps dumping money on them and they keep driving away anyone who might challenge the status quo insofar as wages, improved training or anything that would increase the value of labor.
DeleteI believe one way to encourage people to come downtown is to cut the price of at least a first year business license to almost nothing. I think lowering business and property taxes in occupied zoned commercial buliding and raising them for the owners of unoccupied and un maintained buildings also makes sense. The more diverse and interesting businesses you have in one area the more people it will draw. In many public areas and parks they either do not have benches or other seating areas, public bathrooms or other things catering to the comfort of the crowds of people you wish to draw. They have removed seating areas to discourage the homeless residents from making themselves comfortable.They think the discomfort will drive away the homeless and it drives away everyone. I personally believe if you can draw everyone to common areas and there is alot going on, most all problems or discourse will naturally resolve its self without much effort
ReplyDeleteI believe one way to encourage people to come downtown is to cut the price of at least a first year business license to almost nothing. I think lowering business and property taxes in occupied zoned commercial buliding and raising them for the owners of unoccupied and un maintained buildings also makes sense. The more diverse and interesting businesses you have in one area the more people it will draw. In many public areas and parks they either do not have benches or other seating areas, public bathrooms or other things catering to the comfort of the crowds of people you wish to draw. They have removed seating areas to discourage the homeless residents from making themselves comfortable.They think the discomfort will drive away the homeless and it drives away everyone. I personally believe if you can draw everyone to common areas and there is alot going on, most all problems or discourse will naturally resolve its self without much effort. The areas we already have that might draw people are not well maintained . The city will build an entire new man made beach for millions of dollars but will not fix pier railings, the tower on the pier, put up spy glasses for the public, paint the thing or help maintain the marine wildlife center that exists there. It's just stupid stupid stupid!
ReplyDeleteSecond time is the charm...
DeleteHey Bif,
DeleteI sure understand your frustration. A LOT of us are really frustrated with what has been going on here, for so long.
I don't think it is about lowering business taxes. Existing businesses are not being patronized. Creating an incentive to bring new businesses downtown doesn't mean any more people will be coming down town. Look at the pictures again.
People don't need incentives to sit on a beach on a sunny day. But the pictures show not a single person there.
People don't need incentives to go enjoy a park on a sunny weekend day, but we see not a single person enjoying the multi-million dollar the City built.
We don't even see people on the sidewalks. There are no cars parked on Front Street in those pictures, DURING a car show on the same street!
It is time to do some serious thinking. And, not the same old, same old.
THIS is Mayor Downie's "legacy". Tell him that.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has their issues, and legacy is his these days.
A city devoid of people. A city devoid of ideas that work. A city devoid of anything that attracts people.
DeleteA city that has leadership more interested in defending what isn't working, than looking to solve the ongoing problems.
But it sure works out great for the council's masters, eh?
DeleteWhoa. What time were you down there? When were these photos taken? I hate downtown but I love old cars – I was there from about noon till a little before 3. I had to park in the lot by Mathew’s Glass, as the closer spaces were all taken. (I did get to move up later) I suppose we all define these things differently, but this was a fairly good turnout for a local, Make Specific car show this early in the season. Certainly there were more people and activity than depicted in these photos.
ReplyDeleteSeems as though these photos were snapped to support a predetermined narrative, rather than to present factual data. (Gottlieb much?)
Had your intrepid photographer been on time for the event, the pictures would have shown a pretty good crowd… and the REAL story would not have been about nonexistent people, but rather the fact that not one downtown merchant made any sort of attempt to court this elusive foot traffic. I’ve noticed this with other events downtown as well. They act as though full parking lots and people on the sidewalks are an inconvenience rather than an opportunity. I’ve taken to calling this phenomenon The Edna Effect.
"Seems as though these photos were snapped to support a predetermined narrative, rather than to present factual data. (Gottlieb much?)"
DeleteLook at the pictures again. How many people do you see? Do you think the actual swarms of people and cars were somehow photo-shopped out, to create the "..support for the predetermined narrative"?
I wasn't there to document the car show. Being "on time" for it wasn't on my agenda for the day.
I was driving through town on my way elsewhere, and was so amazed that the place was so quiet, that I parked on Front Street, got out, and walked around taking the pictures you see.
And, we all know this is true. We all see the downtown in ghost town mode often enough to know it isn't unusual. I was amazed because it was sunny, warm , Mothers Day AND the car show was going on, and STILL there were so few people around.
It seems I did document exactly the issue you raise: "the fact that not one downtown merchant made any sort of attempt to court this elusive foot traffic". Except, I think the problem with Port Angeles is more than that, and what we see is the symptom, not the disease.
Tyler