Metroblogging Bama: It’s Kudzulicious
There are only a few things I really hate. One of them, obviously, is the tragic comedy of endless errors that has been the Dubya administration and his idiotic Iraq war that got my National Guard nephew nearly blown up twice by suicide bombers (another time, another blog).
But above that, the thing I hate the most? Cancer. It just won’t stop killing people I know, people I love. It doesn’t stop. You can try and prevent it, throw drugs at it, but it still keeps coming, like some charging grizzly you can’t seem to empty enough buckshot into.
And thus, instead of enjoying the cool of August (yes, you new kids in town, welcome to what we call “summer” in Seattle) and showing up to bolster Metblog’s trivia team that played a man down last night in the Seattlest-hosted game (where I could have helped them cruise into a tenth place finish rather than settling for sixth), I’m frying in 100+ degree heat in Alabama, shuttling my mother-in-law to and from the hospital for her chemo. A non-smoker who lived with a smoker until he quit back during the Carter administration, she is already down a lung and fighting odds that bookies wouldn’t even take your money out of sympathy.
But welcome to Alabama, the land that broadband forgot. This morning I was reading the Birmingham News editorial page. It’s always fun to read letters from people who think Ann Coulter is funny. Maybe that’s not “fun” as much as “pathetic.” But one of the letters caught my eye. For background, US 280 is this eight-laned parkway that carries SUVs from downtown Birmingham to the rich suburbs and big box stores southeast of the city, and the best way to describe it is I-5 at 5pm… with stop lights.
If elevated highways are such a benefit, why are more elevated highways being torn down than being built?
In March, the majority of voters in Seattle turned down a new replacement elevated highway. New York’s West Side Highway collapsed due to decaying so badly that it had to be closed permanently and taken down in 1982.
Elevated highways create more traffic problems than they solve. Will Birmingham, Jefferson County and the state spend the money to maintain an elevated roadway, which is more expensive to maintain than a ground-level roadway? I doubt they would.
Plus, the flawed design would create a major traffic jam from one end to the other. Just how smart is it to design a limited-access highway with only one entrance and exit at each end and nothing in between? How will police and emergency vehicles get to and from an accident; or have the designers and proponents developed a Star Trek transporter to get emergency personnel to and from an accident, bypassing the traffic tie-up?
Those people who want to make U.S. 280 more traffic-friendly should take a close look at the Glatting Jackson study for alternatives to an elevated highway. Don’t close your mind to better ways of doing things; study the alternatives, then make a choice.
Francis Taylor
Homewood
While I applaud her letter (and her oblique suggestion to putting some damn mass transit on 280), she’s making a suggestion I don’t think anyone here in Seattle would make — that the vote in March sent a clear message about anything, much less did anything. Last I checked, we’re still getting a new Alaskan Way viaduct, just as soon as the 23,517 focus groups are done and the 123,412 community groups suing everyone in sight have their cases thrown out and 186,450 page environmental impact statement is finished and the 6.5 earthquake knocks the dang thing down. Oh, and throw in some city council changes, a couple of new governors, and Greg Nickels’ coronation as King of Seattle upon the ruins of all the Belltown night clubs he’ll have turned into wine bars.
Am I wrong? Was voting “No and Hell No” anything but a colossal waste of time and money? Couldn’t we have just handed it to the Hutch for cancer research and come out better?
From a former Alabamian, now Queen Anne resident, let me reassure you that despite your current situation, you’re in one of the best cities for treatment and rehabilitation in the nation… if not the world. (Our beloved Hasselbeck was in B’ham just 2 weeks ago to get his joints in order for the ’07 season.)
I make the comment all the time that Seattleites and Alabamians are more alike than most might realize.
- We both have an undying passion for our outdoors and wildlife.
- We’re both very accommodating and extremely friendly (minus the occasional “Seattle freeze”.)
- And we both appreciate just how screwed-up traffic can be if the job isn’t done right the first time. (Nice I-5 comparison, by the way).
Since I’ve been living in Seattle, I notice how often the phrase “it’s not what I want” is used. But when it comes to public safety concerning unstable structures and the lives of our fellow citizens (see: Viaduct at 5 PM) is it about what YOU want… or is it about what WE need?
God forbid the Viaduct end up on CNN after a tremor caused it to collapse during rush hour traffic. The carnage would make Minneapolis look like a fender bender.
The one comparison between Alabama and Seattle where there is a stark difference? Alabamians do what needs to be done. Too many times during my tenure in Seattle I’ve watched potential projects halted by a few individuals with a megaphone, some banners, and a day off of work to wander downtown yelling catchy chants. The government in this area gives too much precedent to the voices and opinions of the few. Afraid to awaken the already overpowering ACLU, our city chooses to rollover, until lives and/or dollars are at stake. In Alabama, we elect people whom we trust… people who get stuff done. Some times we like their actions and sometimes we don’t… but that’s what re-elections are for.
Yes, Alabama doesn’t have pro sports teams or renowned international festivals like Seattleites get to enjoy. But Alabama also doesn’t have a crumbling, waterfront eyesore that, at the tremble of Mt. Rainier, will come crumbling down right before the eyes of Duck-riding tourists and Bainbridge commuters.
The risk of many for the appeasement of a few… it’s quite sad that the nations’ most educated city is so often oblivious to the obvious.
On another note: Take advantage of your current situation in ‘Bama by treating your loved ones to one, if not all of the following: Dreamland Bar-b-q, Chick-fil-A, Milo’s Hamburgers, or the Fish Market Restaurant in downtown Birmingham (best fish east of Seattle and west of Maine). Your mother-in-law will thank you.
Oh… and careful with any ‘Dubya’ comments. We tend to like him down there.
Like I said on twitter: on a scale of 0 – 100, where 0 is collapsed and 100 is brand new, Minneapolis was a 50. The Viaduct is a 9!
NINE.
That is all.
Dreamland? When I married into an Auburn family? Them’s fighting words.
And I know it’s sport for Southerners to pile on the ACLU for all of society’s ills (Lack of sweet tea in Seattle? Clearly part of the ACLU’s sinsiter plan!) But Seattle’s problems are rooted in introversion, independence, and selfishness. Consensus is just the main hammer to stall the process.
And why, Landon, have you not opened a Chik-Fil-A outlet in Seattle yet? Do you know what it’s like when your pregnant Southern wife demands a Chik-Fil-A and waffle fries? The nearest location is in Sacramento, and you have done nothing about securing us a franchise up here.
You’re letting your god Bear down.
Oh man, I would be the happiest girl in the universe if there were a chik-fil-a here. I would also gain 3,000 pounds.
Sorry, Dylan, but MMMMMMMMMM Dreamland.
My sister and bro-in-law say, Roll Tide.
what the hell is a Chik-Fil-A?!?
sounds scary.
Dylan:
I hope this finds you back at home in Seattle and with your Mom on the mend. Trust me in this one thing — if she can be cured by “modern medicine” and world-class doctors with superior skills, it’s likely to happen here in B’ham. Our Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is one of the nation’s leading cancer research institutes.
Now on the barbeque issue — and this from the land that “broadband forgot”…why not order yourself some delicious Dreamland ribs online. Yes, the world’s most famous BBQ is available via the internet at, you guessed it, http://www.dreamlandbbq.com,
We’re working hard on that elevated highway issue, and hopefully we’ll come to a consensus from which everyone can benefit. Don’t believe everything a letter writer posts in the Birmingham News. It’s a haven for those who think their way is the only way. Ditto for talk radio here in Birmingham.
Finally, the kudzu. See, there’s this little problem. I usually carry some in my suitcase when traveling and, Johnny Appleseed-like, I leave it in places that need a little “greening up.” Funny, but I just know I had some the last time I was in Seattle and now I can’t find it anywhere. I hope it didn’t fall out while I was there — because if it did, you’ll be inundated very soon.
All the best, and when you’re next in town — for wahtever reason — give me a call at the Chamber of commerce. The first rib’s on me!