So what do independently owned food carts and generic multinational chain restaurants have in common? They are both forms of “fast food.” After placing an order your meal is served within minutes. One offers a great degree of culinary variety, “sidewalk spunk,” potentially healthy dishes, circulates money through the local economy more efficiently, and provides management and staff more tangible pathways to career advancement in the food industry.

The other is tightly managed and unimaginative, creates cultural dead zones in urban environments, causes diabetes, inflates the corporate consolidation of agribusiness, and promotes working environments that position employees to be a drain on social systems. I’ll let you guess which is which. Why would you want to scarf down this while you could savor that?

L: Burger King on PictureMyFood.com, R: Pop-Up Spokane

Distasteful as it may be, traditional fast food is not the only food cart-killing culprit in Spokane. Excessive regulation seems to be an issue as well.

To get a year long permit to operate on the street you have to go to the environmental health office and fill out the paperwork, bring approved plans by an engineer regarding your cart, get it approved, and pay the fee. Total turnaround time of about three weeks. Compared to other counties, Spokane is very expensive. A temporary permit that costs $15 in  Colville costs $130 here. To sell meat is four hundred eighty something. Prices double if you don’t get it in two weeks early.

-Local Food Vendor

It seems as if Spokane is determined to cram its entire food cart scene into one week of maniacal caloric consumption: Pig Out in the Park. What exactly is standing in our way of having a more sustained sidewalk presence?

The biggest factor is that the county requires vendors to have a state certified truck or trailer to operate with a mobile food permit.  Bathroom access is another hurdle along with the need to use a commercial kitchen other than the truck or trailer to prepare and store the food. The reality is that none of these necessarily rule out a larger street food scene in this town which leads me to believe that Spokane just lacks the people motivated enough to get it done.

The entire food scene is marked by one hard to ignore fact: we have a small percentage of chef-owned restaurants. Innovation and advancement of food culture in a community tends to be driven by people who have motivations other than just making money. Jeremy Hansen has been able to grab the city’s attention because he has not played to the middle.

The trend that will make the greatest impact on this community will be when more cooks get the entrepreneurial bug. Food carts are a less expensive way of getting this done but with an unproven marketplace, some worry whether they can cover the cost of a certified truck or trailer. The good thing is that change is happening, albeit at a slower pace than some of us might like.

-Chef David Blaine

Why should we care about the lack of food carts in Spokane? Because they indicate a kind of social environment that speaks volumes about our region’s chosen lifestyle and culture. Portland has almost 400 food carts, compared to less than a dozen around here. The Portland food carts are so vibrant they have garnered national attention. This is a tangible homing beacon to creative class types all across the world. This is not just about making people who already live in Spokane happier, it is about being competitive in a global marketplace. Note to any antsy vendors in the 503: Spokane is ready to embrace your business. Now pack up and move on over, we are ready for you! Or better yet, young local entrepreneurs, here is your chance!

• SpoCOOL covers Tacos del Sol.
• Taste of the Town on Jon Howard’s hot dogs.
• SpoCOOL on Pop-Up.
• Luke’s “Mobile Feasts” article, coincidentally written while I was away. The fact that multiple people are thinking about this all at once is just more proof that Spokane’s mass consciousness is shifting.
• Nifty Inlander food cart locator tool.
• Maybe the City could rip off this packet.
• “Food carts take the curse off Portland’s parking lots.”

Spokane College

The first non-native settlers pitched their tents in 1871, and barely twenty years later the bustling town of 1,500 felt that Spokane was permanent enough to warrant an institute of higher education. The first such school was Spokane College, founded by Civil War veteran and lawyer Colonel David P. Jenkins. After a donation of land on the north bank of the river and working with Methodist ministers in the area, Spokane College opened its doors on September 19, 1883 in what was then still the Oregon Territory.
Tuition was a staggering $15.

Photo from the Spokesman-Review, Thursday, April 24, 1969.

Death by Encroachment

The school grew slowly, gaining a maximum of 200 students by 1890, but by this point, new competition had risen. Gonzaga University, a Jesuit school, had begun admitting students three years prior in 1887.

The Morrill Act, a federal bill signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, had created a land grant university in Pullman that opened in 1890. This would become Washington State University, and it siphoned more potential students away from Spokane College.

A school to train teachers was founded in Cheney in 1882, eventually becoming a public school in 1937. This school, named State Normal School, was renamed Eastern Washington College of Education. By the fall of 1891 enrollment at Spokane College had shrunk to 60.The nascent Spokane College closed its doors in May of 1892. Too bad, so sad.

Norwegians to the Rescue

In 1906 a new school bearing the same name was founded by the Norwegian Lutheran Church, and built a building on the east side of Grand Avenue between 29th and 31st. The School severed ties with the church in 1908 and operated until 1929. After being vacant for a few years it was turned into Spokane Junior College in 1935. That too ceased operation in 1942, and was finally absorbed by Whitworth.

While Gonzaga and Whitworth thrived, the state of local public education remained barren until 1963 when the Spokane Community College was finally established. The Spokane Falls campus followed four years later in 1967. It was not until 1977 that Eastern was accredited to award four year degrees and the possibility of getting a complete local undergraduate public education became impossible.

In spite of this glaring historical absence, there is now hope that expanding medical programs on the Riverpoint Campus will further make up for lost ground. I read that Seattle has one of the highest concentrations of people with four year degrees in the country, with one in four residents having obtained a bachelors degree or higher. In Spokane County we are still lagging behind the state average of around one in five earning a four year degree.

Don’t get me wrong, the University District is a huge boon to this city and is a good start. But I think an independent research institution and facility headed up by one office rather than three would be better. Currently our U-District has all the charm and culture of a parking lot. I would love a large group of undergraduates in the area, so that things like hip bars and used clothing stores and coffee shops are more viable. Go fightin’ Marmots!

Bloomsday spirit down in Peaceful Valley.

One thing I love about Bloomsday is all the funny shenannigans people come up with to grab each others’ attention. For the majority of people doing Bloomsday it isn’t about setting a record, its all about getting outside to stretch your legs and be a part of something fun and kind of silly.

Many folks are on no kind of exercise routine whatsoever, and Bloomsday is an annual tribute to something they know they should be doing year round. It is humbling to walk through a river of imperfect bodies and be reminded that we all suffer from the same mortal ailments.

Home embankment on Doomsday Hill overlook.

Wouldn’t it be rad if the Spokane Arts Commission (or some other similar entity) obtained permission from the home owners to pay a local artist to do some kind of Bloomsday themed mural on this wall? It must be at least 10×50 feet in area. Just an idea.

Artistic Japanese manhole covers.

With all the attention paid to the recent idea of putting notifications near storm water drains for Earth Day, I wonder if the winning design will pay heed in some way to protecting the river. I think it would add some dimension to our local identity if the image ingrained in such a civic symbol did not include one of the stereotypical icons of the area. Marmots, Clock Towers, etc. etc. You know what they are. We love them, but we also overuse them.

Marmot mural by Tom Quinn

The tight age limit for this competition is another example of having too narrow of an understanding of what it means to support and recognize “youth.” Because a lot of services and programs are mediated through or significantly impacted by the school system, our culture has unintentionally created an arbitrary cut-off point at age 18.

Now that we are in a knowledge-based economy, functional adulthood is getting pushed further and further out, like it or not. If you are one of the many young Spokanites that are beyond “high school age” but did not make the immediate transition to college, good luck trying to integrate with your community. Many local youth serving agencies see the dire need of young people who are over 18, and thus regularly serve an audience up to around age 22. More on the cultural consequences of this mindset later.

For now I’d like to close with the language on a flier that was tucked in peoples’ utility bills (not so for those of us who prefer paperless billing):

The design should be welcoming and an enhancement to the visual appearance of the City of Spokane manhole covers. The design should appeal to a broad age range and should be uplifting and stimulating to the spirit, intellect and physical senses. The design should be reflective of the City of Spokane and communicate a sense of place. Designs can reflect the environment, nature, water, water quality or the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. Designs may not be offensive or serve as commercial advertising particular goods, services, or businesses.

]]> http://spovangelist.com/put-a-lid-on-it/feed/ 3 http://spovangelist.com/hey-spokane-fix-the-hotzone/ http://spovangelist.com/hey-spokane-fix-the-hotzone/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:27:00 +0000 The Spovangelist http://spovangelist.com/?p=1900

It’s official, it’s a mania. What started as an earnest effort on behalf of the City and some key partners has finally hit the mass consciousness of everyday citizens in a mad dash to impress before Friday’s finish line.  What is going on here? In case you live under a rock, Google is planning to install a large experimental high-speed fiber optic network and is pitting cities across the country against each other to try to attract their investment.

(Look past the wretched font choice, we’re good for you!)

Much remains unclear about how exactly this decision will be made. Most Federal grants include a detailed scoring system so that applicants have an idea how important their “project narrative” is compared to the way they spend money in the budget, for example. We’ll leave it up to the consultants to do the digging and speculation, but one thing should be obvious. The sole purpose of any company is to make money, and therefore factors like infrastructure, cost of resources and consumers’ ability to pay for service seem like they would be at the top of the list.

When was the last time you saw them all smiling at the same time?

Given these are all things that are completely beyond the control of everyday people, all the hijiinks to “get Google’s attention” seem all the more precious and embarrassing.

Another clip to add to the “So Cheesy It Hurts” collection.

Next up on the menu of publicity activities is a rally in Riverfront Park on Wednesday night at 5:30 in the Clock Tower Meadows. Now flash mobs are nothing new to our city, but don’t let the name fool you. These gatherings can take months of careful planning and promotion to pull off successfully. Without a robust communications infrastructure more often than not the effort will flop. But don’t get me wrong. Do I think you should get yourself on down to the park to see who else shows up? Absolutely. I will see you there.

• Become a fan of “Hey Google, Pick Spokane” on Facebook.

It is always a gamble with the Best of categories. Some are here today gone tomorrow, others are irreverent, random, or just blatantly designed to drive ad sales. But think of it from the newspaper’s perspective. You can only have so many titles under each meta-category, and you have to hit a sweet spot with things that aren’t a foregone conclusion that a decent number of folks are actually familiar with.

Artwork by ANeMonE

I find it telling that 6 out of 14 of the people topics are TV and/or sports related. Personally, I’d like to see more of the following:

• Best Community Safety Officer
• Best Environmental Advocate
• Best Public Health Proponent
• Best Social/Economic Justice Crusader
• Best Neighborhood Leader

I’m sure that some acknowledgment for these people exists in various nonprofit groups and professional societies, but it is a whole different ball game when probing the mass mind.

I attended my first GU match in 2008 and had to ask a lot about the teams and their players. My friend’s father, who had been patiently answering my questions eventually shot back, “Are you even from around here?”

Photo courtesy of the Spokesman-Review.

So it is with humility that I admit I wasn’t familiar with former coach Dan Fitzgerald before reading his bio in the “Best of” and learning about his untimely recent death. My grandfather died unexpectedly in his 60′s and it scarred my mom and her sisters irrevocably, so my heart goes out to Fitzgerald’s family and fans. Just to consider that he died in the line of duty while at a Ronald McDonald house fundraiser, this seems like a fitting tribute to someone who contributed so much on so many different levels.

Let’s try to narrow the conversation by a few degrees and consider how the issues are being treated in video messages produced by both the “Yes” and “No” campaigns. Maybe you don’t like how your stance has been articulated in these clips? Maybe you like some aspects of the amendments mentioned, but are leery of others? Maybe one of these stories or examples is a useful tool with which to discuss the issues? Let us know.

“Kitty Ain’t Kidding” by Young Kwak

Individuals and communities in our society got off track in the post war era when we embraced the ideology that the pursuit of more (possessions, land, territory, status) was more important than our quality of life and our ability to enjoy and preserve what we already have. We began to measure our selves and communities by the size of our holdings and our accumulation of possessions and traits that advertisers and mass media have awarded prestige to rather than our contributions to our families, communities and our own happiness. We chose to invest in a culture that demands more and more of what we truly value least just to remain “competitive”.

“God of Materialism” by Chen Wenling

That competitiveness caused us to fear becoming obsolete, de-value what is not “new” and invest in lifestyles and land use patterns that are neither sustainable nor spiritually satisfying, prizing novelty and individuality over quality and efficiency. These values affected everything from food to architecture to relationships. We spent less time with our families and more time working and commuting. We allowed our city centers to crumble, only to sprawl into auto-oriented isolation where a person must own everything they could ever need. And everything is at the other end of a long drive. So, sometimes we own things we don’t have time to enjoy. We have put ourselves and our communities into deep debt by over-extending our purchasing power and infrastructure, not for what was necessary for survival and well being, but what was necessary to compete in a game that we are all losing at the expense of our health, farmland, environment, natural heritage, and community values. We went from being community members, family members and neighbors to being workers, consumers, and commuters.

“House with Yellow Hydrant” by Robert Selwyn
from “The House That Sprawl Built” exhibit

Before we reach the end of this environmental and economic rope we will learn from this. People and communities have begun to reprioritize over the last two decades. We can look to both our past, and to green technology and new perspectives to put us on a more sustainable, healthy and fulfilling path; revitalizing our cities, restoring our environment, and re-investing in a shared future that values people, the earth, and our community well being over shallow and demoralizing materialism.

“Changing Roles” by Know Hope

District 1: Amber Waldref

• http://www.voteamber.org/
• Amber Waldref Facebook Politician Page

District 2: Jon Snyder

• http://www.votejonsnyder.com/
• Vote Jon Snyder Facebook Group

District 3: John Waite

• http://www.votejohnwaite.com/
• Vote John Waite Facebook Group
  

The Spokane Society of Young Professionals (SSYP) is a homegrown network of mostly office going folk “that aim to stimulate business relationships, careers, the community and the economy.” Started back in 2004, the organization began much like Wonderground and the Shrinking Violets: a group of friends decided to roll up their sleeves, put on a party, and bring people together.

“Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”

-Margaret Mead

Anyone who instinctively dismisses Spokane’s yups should think twice before they snub. Walk into an SSYP event and you’ll be instantly welcomed (no matter how dirty or sweaty you are from riding your bike through the mud). Unless you’re a the shy type that suffers from social anxiety, you’ll immediately feel at ease with a hodgepodge of people of all ages and walks of life. While many SSYPers are in law, finance, insurance, real estate, marketing, business development and the like, a good chunk are also from a fairly random cross-section of the Spokane economy.

Membership costs are a low barrier to entry. For just $25 a year you get discounts on SSYP events and occasional member only specials, like a one time 1/2 off Spokane Club enrollment offer. Just think, what is your average tab for a night out on the town? As a scrounger I can attest to the value added catering at member events alone. Anyone looking for employment should seriously consider getting involved, these people just LOVE to network. They’re on Facebook, LaunchPad, and they even have a small group on MySpace as well.

SSYP gatherings are typically short, sweet and to the point. You show up, they get right down to business, and then they send you home. Unlike some other public or social gatherings, people are direct, audible and confident. The diverse scope of events is impressive as well. Their “Beer with…” series is like a miniature Leadership Spokane, providing Q&A access to top industry leaders from around the region.

The Young Professionals of Portland (also founded in ’04) has a similar event series, only it’s called “Bites with the Boss.” There is also “Breakfast of Champions” which is presumably an early morning version of the same kind of thing. While the YPOP event roster includes venues like the Doug Fir Lounge for which Spokane has no equivalent, (yet… that’s right, we’re looking at YOU Select Inn and Rooster Grill on Walnut & 2nd) SSYP has at least beat them to the punch on offering a membership directory. As with many social networking projects in larger cities, YPOP has managed to spin itself off into an intercity association called Young Professionals of America (see related sites below).

This brings us to a critical observation about Spokane. Our community is just big enough that we manage to create our own viable independent organizations, yet not so big that we reach the point of becoming the hub of a larger network. What does this mean for Spokane? Our people have to spend a greater amount of time and energy to “reinvent the wheel,” then run out of steam before reaching the point where we reap the benefits of packaging our product. Just imagine all the business that Portland siphons off their YPA member chapters when they migrate back to the mothership for annual meetings. (So maybe this is somewhat negligible, but still. What made Portland go the extra mile to replicate it’s network?)

Maybe we could snap up some of the Inland Northwest market share and spawn a PSYP (Pullman Society of Young Professionals). YPTC (Young Professionals of the Tri-Cities) already went ahead and did their own thing. We’ve established friendly relations with nearby KCYP (Kootenai County Young Professionals), but the population density gets thinner and thinner the further inland you go. This situation is just another one of the factors that keeps Spokane chronically “simmering below the radar”.

Then there is Seattle over there somewhere, a whole ‘nother beast unto itself. As a yuppie capital across the country, there is almost little purpose in examining their offerings for clues about the potential in Spokane. They have an entire ecosystem of young professional societies that are sometimes place-based, sometimes industry-specific, and sometimes just generally redundant.

Moral of the story? Same as it always has been: Spokane has all the needed ingredients to take off and realize its unique regional potential to the fullest. What does it take to catalyze that transformation? An intimate knowledge of the area, willingness to develop bold new partnerships and benchmarks, and undying dedication to the cause of celebrating our city.

Related Links:

• Young Professionals of Vancouver
• Young Professionals of Corvallis
• Young Professionals of Twin Cities
• Young Professionals of Bloomington
• Young Professionals of Seattle
• Young Professionals of Walla Walla