More Feet Off the Street

Many of us celebrated the groundbreaking earlier this week for the $5.1 million remodeling project to downtown's Pantages Theater, which will expand and improve the lobby and other welcoming areas--what you might think of as the "front porch" of this landmark performing arts venue. Patrons of performances and other visitors will enjoy a great new gathering area with the intersections of 9th, Broadway, and St. Helens providing a sweeping vista through enlarged window spaces.

Erik recently shared with us that his close reading of The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) reveals Jane Jacobs' emphasis on having many “eyes on the street”--encouraging people to move slowly, stop, talk, and “hang out”, among other things. He maintains that this intersection is the "100% corner" for downtown Tacoma--whether or not he's right about that, the Pantages renovation will be putting more eyes on the street, and that's a move in the right direction...