I have lived Shoreline for 20+ years. As a PCO for my Ridgecrest precinct I spent countless hours walking door to door contacting residents, and businesses about various local issues.
I have found the level of ignorance about issues that affect our lives, individually and collectively, to be abysmal. The level of involvement is even lower.
A handful of folks work hard to preserve Shoreline's way of life, but the largest majority remain complacent.
Each of us has a civic responsibility to inform ourselves and take an active role in contributing to this city in ways that are meaningful to each and all of us.
Preventing the clearcutting at Hamlin Park is just one of such crucial issues.
Gini Paulsen
Shoreline
Gini,
ReplyDeleteI would argue that the reason so many residents are complacent is because they see how developers and businesses are our city's priority. Preserving trees or green space does not generate revenue. Why should a working person spend their free time fighting City Hall when the fix is in? Case in point: Point Wells.
Expanding the Park Maintenance Facility to 4.5 acres at the Hamlin Park location hardly qualifies as "Clearcutting at Hamlin Park." (Hamlin Park is 80+ acres)
ReplyDeleteShoreline has great parks and wants to continue to expand on that legacy. This requires stretching and supporting necessary facility upgrades. Growing pains!
They are not clear cutting the entire park are they? Just enough for maintenance equipment??
ReplyDeleteThe misinformation is exactly what causes complacency. When one side is alarmist and says that they want to "prevent the clearcutting of Hamlin Park" yet the actual fact is that it is only 6% of trees to be removed to improve maintenance facilities, well, I can't trust what your group says.
ReplyDeleteShoreline is growing. We have growing pains right now. It's not because we don't care or think that the city has developers as its priority (how dare we build more housing for people!). It's because we are realistic. You no longer have the luxury of living in a sleepy 'burb within easy access to the "big city" of Seattle. You are living in an extremely desirable neighborhood and I, for one, am appalled at the gall of you not wanting to include others who want to live here.
I don't see how removing trees to make room for blacktop constitutes "expanding a legacy", especially given the cities supposed commitment to the health of the urban forest (as per this months Shoreline Currents newsletter) and the plethora of developed areas elsewhere in the city that could be used for vehicle storage.
ReplyDeleteHow about using the triangle at Westminster way for the maintenance facility? It's a central location and would put it in the open where we could keep an eye on it.
ReplyDeleteGini Paulsen,after reading the comments I believe you proved your point.
ReplyDeleteOh Pleeze Anon @12.52... stop spreading your fanatical urbanist lies and smears. Demolishing carbon sequestering, flood mitigating old trees is anti-environment. Now, I'd use your own tactics to smear you as a climate change denier with a hidden conspiracy, but I'm better than that, and I encourage you to to do the same. FOUR acres of old trees demolished is not hyperbole. Shoreline is going to go down in the history of urbanist ideology being turned upside-down, so brace yourself.
ReplyDelete"I don't see how removing trees to make room for blacktop constitutes "expanding a legacy", especially given the cities supposed commitment to the health of the urban forest (as per this months Shoreline Currents newsletter) and the plethora of developed areas elsewhere in the city that could be used for vehicle storage."
ReplyDeleteExactly anon 1:24... this is what these sicko neo-communists insist upon. Sorry, it's not mathematically possible to accommodate every person who wants to live in Shoreline. The ideology that these "urbanists" believe is absurd! Eminent domain for "affordable housing" YES! Eminent domain for "more density" YES! Ask them. They will concur.
The lack of a consistent forum for getting good information and participating in the dialog is a problem. Shoreline area news serves a good purpose, but we need more media in addition to the bulletin board.
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