Posted inCity of Salem Smart growth

Salem, it’s OK to reinvent yourself. Don’t cling to the past.

During my 40-year tortured relationship with Salem -- love you! hate you! let's never part! divorce time! -- here's one of the things that bugs me the most about the town I both can't leave and can't be totally happy with. Salemians (the obviously proper word for people who live here) tend to expect that our city's future should be like the past, only more so. Conservatism runs rampant, even when this isn't of the political variety. Bold visions of what could be are shunned in favor of sticking with an embrace of what has been. Individuals frequently reinvent themselves.…
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Posted inCitizen involvement National politics

Pluralism — fox’y rather than hedgehog’y — is what Salem (and the nation) needs

We live in a polarized political world, both locally here in Salem and nationally. This is extremely bothersome. There's no way a city or a country can thrive when roughly half the population is viewed by the other half as worthy of disdain, because they hold views opposed to a supposedly Obviously Clearly Correct position. Today I finished reading Stuart Firestein's book, "Failure: Why Science is So Successful." In a concluding chapter Firestein praises pluralism. Specifically value pluralism, a notion promulgated by philosopher Isaiah Berlin. He writes: Berlin's value pluralism was at once far more radical and more constrained than…
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Posted inThird Bridge

Salem Bridge Solutions “goon squad” roughs up West Salem NA meeting

Salem can't tolerate this. "Tough guys" trying to take over a neighborhood association meeting, pushing people around and creating an uproar.  I've gotten two reports of how supporters of the Salem Bridge Solutions group that wants the Third Bridge billion dollar boondoggle built disrupted last Monday's meeting of the West Salem Neighborhood Association. Read the mildly edited reports below. (I've taken out information that could identify the people who contacted me, given that the Salem Bridge Solutions goons are so nastily uncourteous.) I think you'll agree with me that this kind of behavior can't be allowed to take root in Salem.…
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Posted inThird Bridge

Third Bridge would harm enjoyment of Union Street Pedestrian Bridge

Here's one more of many reasons the Salem River Crossing (a.k.a. Third Bridge) is a really bad idea: An elevated bridge connection would pass about 10-15 feet over the west end of the Union Street Railroad Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail -- the way-cool non-vehicular bridge used by lots of people, including families with children, every day.  The No 3rd Bridge folks ask us to consider how the current pleasant experience of walking or cycling across the river will change when an elevated noisy multilane highway is right above people's heads. Here's their recent post about this: WOULD A HIGHWAY RAMP…
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Posted inCitizen involvement City of Salem

Salem needs some civic cheerleaders

I wish Salem had more cheerleaders. I'm not talking about the rah-rah pom-pom wielding variety (though I love them too; my granddaughter is one), but people who manifest these qualities: (1) They have an over-arching creative progressive vision for the marvelous town Salem can become.(2) They have the charisma and drive to draw others into supporting this vision.(3) They have the power, talent, influence, and resources to convert visionary dreams into reality. I got to thinking about this after someone thanked me for my blog posts about Sustainable Fairview, the project to redevelop the Fairview Training Center in south Salem…
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Posted inReligiosity

“Jesus loves strippers” sign gets Salem hot and bothered

Over on the Salem Community Vision Facebook page, a post about this illegal sign has gotten a lot of attention.   The sign is in the public right of way, which violates the City of Salem sign ordinance. So I'm wondering if Jesus loves illegal signs. Here's what the Salem Community Vision post said. THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU DON'T ENFORCE THE CITY SIGN CODEThere are hundreds of illegal temporary signs in the public right of way all over Salem, but this one on Mission Street really takes the cake! The signs proliferate because for years now the…
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