'Go Local' Passport Program Supports Downtown Merchants

The “Go Local” Passport Program is a new initiative seeking to draw customers into downtown through use of a map that participating merchants stamp upon customer presentation/redemption.

"Go Local" is a project conceived by members of the Leadership 2007 Class, a thirteen-week program sponsored by the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber and Pacific Lutheran University. Selection and completion of a group project is required to graduate from the class.

Passports will be distributed to the public at the kick-off party on May 17th. Additional passports will be made available to the public through participating merchants all summer long. Fully completed passports (stamped by each business listed) will be collected through October 18th and then entered into a prize drawing.

The members of the Leadership 2007 class that created the "Go Local" Passport Program:

• Pam Brewer, Franciscan Health System
• Christina Kitchens, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber
• Donna Miller, Simpson Tacoma Kraft Co.
• David Printz, The Gurus
• Jean Smith, Venture Bank
• Carol Young, United Way of Pierce County

The World is Coming to Tacoma

Downtown Tacoma is hosting the first annual World Affairs Summit April 19th-21st.

The event will offer local and regional presenters on three themes: peace and social justice, the environment and education, all designed to broaden perspectives about how the global community impacts Tacoma and Pierce County. The concept of the Summit comes from Boulder, CO, where the community has held a Conference on World Affairs for more than 50 years.

The World Affairs Summit will have presentations and conversations in many venues in the Museum District and along the Link light rail line. All venues are free of charge and attendees participate on a first-come, first-served basis.

Another Opportunity to Investigate Parks Proposal

Merchants, artists and other downtown stakeholders expressed concerns last week about the proposal to transfer permitting processes and event management support to Metro Parks Tacoma, which currently is expanding its focus on special events in the community as a part of its strategic plan.

The City of Tacoma will be hosting another community meeting from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. this coming Thursday evening in the City Council Chambers (the first floor of the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St.) as an additional opportunity to share information and respond to questions or concerns in advance of the April 17th public hearing.

There's also a new page on the City's website with information about the proposal.

Public Meeting Update

City Manager Eric Anderson's second round of meetings regarding downtown parking issues has been postponed for about two weeks; the series of meetings will now begin on April 23rd in the Hilltop area.

Despite some rough sledding at the two public input sessions this past Monday, the Tacoma City Council will keep to its plans to hold a public hearing on plans to merge event permitting and planning responsibilities and transfer those operations to Metro Parks Tacoma. That hearing will be held on Tuesday evening, April 17th, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.

Wal-Mart in Downtown Tacoma?

Dan Voelpel's column about Wal-Mart's interest in downtown Tacoma in Sunday's edition of The News Tribune alarmed or angered some readers--those who didn't write it off as an "April Fools Day" piece, that is.

But Voelpel's information about the big box retailers reconfigured urban model for its stores is spot on. The need to keep investors happy and maintain revenue growth has pushed many retailers into exploration (at least) of the generally underserved urban market. If Wal-Mart will pursue major expansion in China (a move some wags point out is an Oriental version of "buying local"), then why not downtowns--especially when, like Tacoma, that geographic area is growing an affluent customer base?

Note the observation from White Plains that their "downtown business improvement district says Wal-Mart has brought a lot of foot traffic downtown". Many districts keep a regular tally of feet on the street, a prime piece of data for retailers. Given our BIA's theme, maybe we should, too.

Sound Off About Downtown Parking & Transit--Round Two

City Manager Eric Anderson will begin a second round of meetings regarding downtown parking issues in each of the six defined neighborhoods--the Theater District, the Dome District, the Stadium District, the Hilltop, the Thea Foss Waterway area and the UWT campus--beginning next Monday evening.

Members of the Chamber's Parking Advisory Committee--who have been wrestling with these issues for over a year on behalf of stakeholders--are also developing a set of recommendations to help inform the City's efforts. The end result may be a more systematic approach to this perennial downtown concern--which seems to have been under debate since cars began...

Seattle Cites Tacoma's Creative Revival

James Vesely, Editorial Page Editor for The Seattle Times, wrote a glowing piece on the Creative Cities initiative in his column in yesterday's newspaper.

Vesely gets it right, citing the effort as "an initiative to merge imagination and academia into a creative combination" by building on four key pricipals articulated by cultural guru Richard Florida, who has been part of the initiative from the start.

While the Seattle (dba "regional") press has been at times disdainful of all things Tacoman, its been consiostently supportive of the Creative Cities inititative. When will Tacoma's local press do the same?