The Seattle City Council is reviewing a draft plan to make Seattle a more pedestrian-friendly town. Appropriately enough, the measure is called the Pedestrian Master Plan. Very grand sounding, ain’t it?

I’ve lived in Seattle long enough to remember when Westlake Plaza was closed to traffic, and I’m still outraged that the city opened it. Westlake Center has never regained the vibrancy and foot traffic that it had when the Plaza was closed. And does anyone think that closing Pike Place Market to through traffic would detract from its appeal? There is no bad there.

The new plan, currently in draft and public comment stage, purports to focus on “safety, equity, vibrancy, and health,” through six stated objectives:

1. Complete and maintain the pedestrian system identified in the Pedestrian Master Plan
2. Improve walkability on all streets
3. Increase pedestrian safety
4. Plan, design, and build complete streets to move more people and goods
5. Create vibrant public spaces that encourage walking
6. Get more people walking for transportation, recreation, and health

These are great goals, and the plan (read it HERE or download as a PDF -low res or high res) does an admirable job of outlining strategies and tactics to meet them. The city has a funding levy of $60 million to fund pedestrian improvements over the next six years. Based on current programs, the plan projects that $47 million will go towards new improvements, such as sidewalks, curb ramps, and signals, while $19 million would pay for maintenance. The plan would require other funding to fully support all of the objectives, such as private investment.

And it’s this last part that has me worried: private investment.

The draft Plan includes stated strategies for meeting the objectives. Among the strategies for #5– “Create vibrant public spaces that encourage walking”– the single most important strategy is missing: car-free streets. Instead, “develop guidelines for car-free and shared space streets,” is the last item in the sidebar, under “sample of actions” that could possibly, perhaps, be considered to encourage walking.

Private investment does not like car-free streets. Private investment likes lots of convenient parking, preferably on-site parking. Pedestrians buy only as much as they can conveniently carry home or back to the office. Drivers buy as much as can fill up their SUV for the drive home to the suburbs. Car-free streets favor small businesses that serve local residents and employees. Parking lots favor ‘shopping destinations’ that serve tourists and visitors. National chain stores and big retailers wield the political clout and investment dollars that result in parking lots, narrow sidewalks, and through traffic. Neighborhood business owners, residents, and employees get screwed. Again.

It doesn’t have to be that way. As residents and business owners, we have a say in this process. The public comment period for the draft Pedestrian Master Plan has been extended to Friday, June 26th. You can read it at http://www.seattle.gov/mostwalkablecity.htm, or download a PDF from the same site.

Also, the Transportation Committee and the Special Committee on Pedestrian Safety will host a public hearing on the draft plan on Tuesday, July 21st, from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall (600 Fourth Ave.). This is your chance to be heard. Don’t blow it!

Other ways to comment:

Online webform: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/pedestrian_masterplan/contact.htm
E mail: mostwalkablecity@seattle.gov
Telephone: 206-733-9970
Mail: Pedestrian Master Plan Comments
Seattle Department of Transportation
P.O. Box 34996
Seattle, WA 98124-4996

Yup, it’s time for BarCamp Seattle 09, which kicks off Saturday morning at 10. Registration is closed, but that shouldn’t preclude you from coming (it just means you won’t have a name tag).

What’s BarCamp? Well, this handy paragraph I pilfered from the BarCamp Seattle site should help you understand:

BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees. It is an international network of user generated non-traditional social conferences— open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants — often focusing on early-stage web applications, and related open source technologies, social protocols, and open data formats. Oh and super fun!!

the bear, still courtesy siff. (see this!)

Friends, it seems that we are almost at the end of another installation of the Seattle International Film Festival; hope you’ve all made it through! Suriving on little sunlight and lots of concession treats isn’t as glamourous as you’d think, but the rich tapestry of films make it worth the effort. So, some guidance from us, on movies to consider to get the last delicious drops out of SIFF’s final weekend:

No Age performs the Bear [siff] : So this is a buddy pic starring real live trained bears in the Canadian Rockies. The description leads me to believe that it’s about an orphaned cub and her grown-up, possibly gay, adoptive protector on the run from the ever-present hunters who occasionally take a break to get stoned out of their mind on mushrooms. Of course, it’s made by the French (I still regret not seeing the original version of March of the Penguins). As if the existence of this film isn’t amazing enough, tonight’s screenings will feature an original score performed by No Age, the art punk duo from LA, whose Nouns electrified last summer with the youthful optimism in the face inescapable sunlight and sweltering pavement. These dialogs between modern musicians and classic films are among the more exciting and unique productions that occur at SIFF; do your best to make it to one of these screenings. [josh] June 12, 7:00 PM & 9:30 pm (The Triple Door)

Adam [siff] : Explores the tricky issues in romancing an electrical engineer with Asperger syndrome in New York City; starring Hugh Dancy in the title role and Rose Byrne as his love interest.  [josh] June 12, 7:00 pm; June 13, 1:15 pm (Uptown)

Kimjongilia [siff] : To us, Kim Jong Il is zany dictator whose ambitions to send a nuclear weapon in the general direction of Alaska seems a little less terrifying than it should. This documentary, through the harrowing stories of thirteen escapees, reveals the bleak truth of life in North Korea under his reign. The producer and director are expected to attend; so expect thoughtful discussion to follow. [josh] June 12, 6:30 pm; June 13, 1:30 pm. (Pacific Place)

Talhotblond [siff] : A creepy true story of obsession and the internet in which “the lovers never meet face to face, but one person ends up dead, another goes to prison, and the families of all three are changed forever.” I’m almost certain that I heard this story on a show like This American Life, either way, this documentary sounds relentlessly fascinating. [josh] June 12, 9:15 pm; June 13, 4:00 pm (Pacific Place)

Once Upon a Time in the West [siff] : A gang of gunfighters attempt to steal land valuable to the railroad company from a widow who lives alone and only has two drifters to help her fight off the thugs who will do anything they can to defeat her. Slow, brooding, and sinister with Henry Ford cast against type as the villian, this classic Western is worth seeing any time, doubly so when you can see it on the big screen. [zee] June 13, 1:30 pm (Harvard Exit)

Amreeka [siff] : Muna and her teenaged son Fadi win a US Green Card lottery and leave Palestine to settle in Chicago with Muna’s sister and her husband. Adjustment is tough for them, made worse by their moving in just as the US goes to war with Iraq, and Muna’s years of skilled job experience mean nothing in her new land where she struggles to find a job. In the meantime, the usual stress of being a teen added to this massive change in his life leave Fadi struggling to find himself. [zee] June 13, 6:30 pm (Pacific Place); June 14, 4:00 pm (Pacific Place)

Every Little Step [siff] : Just like A Chorus Line itself, this documentary follows the casting for the 2006 Broadway revival of the musical about a musical. The meta doesn’t stop there, as the filmmakers also bring in archival footage from the staging of the original production. [josh] June 13, 7:00 pm (Egyptian)

Hachi [siff] : Richard Gere, a ridiculously cute dog, and a sad and sweet story of enduring loyalty that changes the lives of everyone it touches. Yes, of course it’s cloyingly sentimental and designed to manipulate you into tears and sniffling, but everyone needs a good cry now and again. [zee] June 13, 6:30 pm (Cinerama); June 14, noon (Cinerama)

Il Divo [siff] : Chatting with other SIFF addicts at the “SIFF Lounge” at Boom Noodle, we all agreed that this documentary about former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti was one of the most fun flicks we had seen at the festival. The political intrigue, backroom deals, potential criminal activities, and murderous mafia subplots are so thick that it may require a lifetime in Italy to absorb, but the direction is so assured, the characters are so colorful, and the performances are so compelling that the details become secondary. [josh] June 13, 9:15 pm (Cinerama)

Kaifeck Murder [siff] : A photographer and his young son travel the German countryside together and stop in Kaifeck, a small town with brutal mass murder in its past just in time for the annual Twelve Nights festivals during which some of the celebrants wear scary Perchten costumes in honor of ancient German folklore goddess Perchta. The photographer becomes obsessed with the story of the murder but no one in town will talk to him about it so he decides to investigate himself. This is when things get really weird. [zee] June 13, 10:00 pm (Harvard Exit); June 14, 4:30 pm (Harvard Exit)

Manhole Children [siff] : So bleak & miserable, in this Japanese documentary Ulan Bator’s impoverished seem less like fact than cruel fiction. Admittedly difficult to watch and a bit too long, but the surprising intersections of harsh lives exposed by this Japanese documentary are like few things I’d ever seen. [josh] June 14, 9:00 pm (SIFF Cinema)

Marcello Marcello [siff] : This Swiss film about a fictional island where young men woo eighteen-year-old girls on their birthdays is back for a fourth screening by popular demand as one of the final screenings of the festival. [josh] June 14, 9:30 pm. (Cinerama)

OSS 117: Lost in Rio [siff] : After twenty-five days of intensive festivaling, why not bid SIFF adieu with a farcical French spy uncovering and undertaking shenanigans in 1960s Rio? The screening is followed by a big party at the Pan Pacific, complete with food, cocktails, live music, and plenty of exhausted filmgoers and programmers. [josh] June 14, 6:30 pm (Cinerama)

Linguine seasoned with a teaspoon butter, dash of salt and fresh ground pepper. Topped with 1/6 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup sugar snap peas, 2 Tablespoon sauteed garlic spears, 1 slice crumbled bacon, 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper, and 1/4 cup sliced cherries.

Sugar snap peas, garlic spears, and cherries fresh from the Broadway Farmer’s Market, where you can also pick up fresh pasta, local cheese and bacon. If you’re looking to eat local, add more fresh vegetables and fruit to your diet, try experimenting with food from your neighborhood market.

photo by ChazWags via Creative Commons

Pinball’s one of those classic activities that’s never lost its appeal, no matter how many other fancy, flashy games have come along to compete with it. When I was a kid it seemed like there was a pinball machine or two everywhere you went. These days you have to put a little more effort into looking, but they’re still out there and people still play. If you’re one of those people, you’re going to want to spend your weekend at the Seattle Center at the NW Pinball and Gameroom Show

For a mere $20 a day (or $50 for the whole three-day series), you get to play over 200 pinball machines plus classic video games, compete in a tournament, attend seminars on classic gaming and take part in a series of prize-awarding raffles. The pinball machine list is staggering–a few examples include the 1979 Classic Stem Dracula, the 1969 Bally Joust, the 1950 Gottlieb Bank-a-Ball and the 1998 Williams Monster Bash. If the names of games don’t mean anything to you, let me sum it up simply: there are over five decades’ worth of games and it’s worth the price of admission just to get a look at this historic progression.

In addition to the pinball machines, there will be classic old school video games on hand. Asteroids, Space Invaders, Defender, Frogger, Joust, Galaga, Q*bert, Tempest (one of my old favorites), Centipede and Donkey Kong…well, you would expect to see all of these, wouldn’t you? Reading the list of games I was excited to see games that don’t seem to get the retro-love today, games like Crystal Castles which I would play for hours and hours at Chuck E. Cheese back in 1983 when the game was fresh and new. Gravitar, Popeye, Sprint 2 (from 1976, two years before Space Invaders), Zookeeper and the so-bad-it’s good Journey game, featuring the images of the members of rock band Journey inserted awkwardly into a totally silly game.

The NW Pinball and Gameroom show kicks off today and runs through Sunday at the NW Rooms of the Seattle Center; check the website for details.

7:00 PM – Books & Bottle: First Evening of Books and Wine
Fremont Place Books
Take a book and “an idea of a wine” that suits. Virtual booze. Hmph. Although, if you take Pride & Prejudice… and Zombies, your imaginary adult beverage could be Return of the Living Red. Heh.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Seth Grahame-Smith: Pride and Prejudice… and Zombies
Elliott Bay Book Co.
I saw this in the bookstore the other day, and I just don’t know. I love Jane Austen, and zombies are always a good time, and hell, if Buffy can do it, why not Elizabeth Bennett. And yet…
[LINK]

photo by Jill Rachel [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• It’s a near perfect evening for taking an arty walk through Captiol Hill for the launch of the neighborhood’s monthly Blitz , complete with galleries, DJs, and art on sticks. [chs]
• Timothy Egan writes about the flimsy case against Amanda Knox on the day that she’s scheduled to take the stand in this seemingly neverending nonsensical trial. [nytimes]
• I wish that I could go back to a time before I knew about the “facebook landrush” and Friday night parties to collectively claim URLs in public places. [lostremote]

Now that we’re three albums in, we’re all past thinking that Art Brut is nothing but irony and showmanship, right? Good. Their latest album, Art Brut vs. Satan is right in line with what you’d expect from Art Brut, songs about girls and bad jobs and music–and this time, it’s been produced by Frank Black.

But listening to Art Brut on an album is only about a quarter of the fun listening to them in person is. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them indoors and at Neumos, but the last time that happened I was honestly concerned that the dancing and jumping of the crowd was going to be more than the structural integrity of the floor could take. Frontman Eddie Argos works overtime whenever he gets onstage, bounding into the audience and rocketing around his bandmates all while keeping up a steady stream of speaking/singing.

Honestly, this quote, from The Stranger’s interview, sort of sums it up: “If you hate Art Brut, we hate you, and we think you’re Satan, and we’re going to get you. Anyone who doesn’t like Art Brut, I’ve decided, is Satan.”

If you’re not Satan and therefore do like Art Brut, we have a pair of tickets for Saturday’s show for one of you. Send an email to seattle.metblogs@gmail.com with a catchy subject about Art Brut and we’ll pick a winner by tomorrow afternoon. Bonus points if your entry includes a haiku.

For those of you who don’t want to take a chance, doors are at 8:00 and tickets are $13 at the door of Neumos, Saturday night. Black Night Crash and Miike Snow open.

(Image by Simon Plunket.)

2:15 PM – Alan Furst: The Spies of Warsaw
UW Bookstore, U District
The author will just be stopping in to sign stock, but fans are welcome to come say, “Hello!” and “Please sign my book.”
[LINK]

6:00 PM – Deborah Wood, Michael Day, Priscilla Long, & Bethany Reid: The Writer’s Craft
SPL Ballard Branch
“It’s About Time Writers Reading Series.” Between author readings, open mike time is available for three minutes per person.
[LINK]

6:30 PM – Michael Lewis: Home Game
Pan Pacific Hotel, $45
“Words & Wine is an author series created by book event maven, Kim Ricketts whose vision is to celebrate the written word through dynamic and unique literary events. Words & Wine events take place at the elegant Pan Pacific Hotel Seattle where guests mingle with the author while sipping award-winning wines from the Chateau Ste. Michelle portfolio and enjoying savory nibbles created by John Howie’s Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar Lake Union. For the highlight of the evening, the engaging Warren Etheredge of The Warren Report leads an intimate on-stage interview and conversation with the author.” –Press Release
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Joe Meno,: The Great Perhaps
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Meno debuts his novel, joined by Seattle author Ryan Boudinot (The Littlest Hitler, Misconception) and Seattle blogger Matthew Simmons, themanwhocouldntblog.blogspot.com.
[LINK]

photo by stacymariedavis [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Despite Nickels being America’s Greeningest Mayor, Mike McGinn won the Sierra Club’s endorsement. Being their former president probably didn’t hurt his chances. [strangebedfellows]
• Worried that you might run across a person in need of CPR and forget your skills? Plan ahead and load the free helper app from the University of Washigton onto your iPhone just in case. Even with 3GS speeds, waiting for an App Store download in an emergency could sacrifice valuable heart pumping time. Note, although that Apple wizards have mastered a digital compass, the built-in defibrillator hasn’t yet arrived. [learncpr]
• Check out a new track from Grand Archives! “Silver Amongst the Gold” provides a glimpse at this end of summer album, Keep In Mind Frankenstein. [mbvmusic]
• speaking of music, in my haste to recommend Noise for the Needy this morning I completely forgot to mention that Telepathe at Chop Suey and Bat for Lashes at the Crocodile are good causes in their own rights.
• Looks like PETA might have convinced the American Veterinary Medical Association that tossing around dead fish for the sake of teambuilding at their conference was tacky. And that’s saying a lot for an organization who chose “you otter be here” as the slogan for their Seattle meeting. [seattlest]