Posted inCarole Smith Downtown

Downtown Cherry Pits debuts as Salem satirical newsletter

Great news for humor lovers in Salem! We now have a local version of Silverton's Silvertongue Apple-Peal. Carole Smith has fashioned Downtown Cherry Pits -- Exclusive to the Slutsman Journal as our town's satirical newsletter.  After Carole told me that some copies were available at Lullu's (357 Court Street), I stopped by yesterday and scored the debut issue. It's more fun to read on paper, but here's a PDF file for general online consumption.Download Downtown Cherry Pits Dec. 2018 newsletter The newsletter also can be read in bite-size bits via the posts on the Downtown Cherry Pits Facebook page. Be…
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Posted inDowntown

Downtown Streetscape plan suffers from Salem’s parking space mania

I'm no mental health professional, but I'm prepared to diagnose a malady that is rampant in Salem: parking space mania. Some of the symptoms are: -- Feeling that something is seriously wrong if it isn't possible to park in a downtown block where your intended destination is located. -- Driving in circles around downtown looking for an on-street parking space even though a totally free parking structure with plenty of open spaces is close by.  -- Freaking out at the prospect that any number, even just a few, of on-street downtown parking spaces will be lost, even if this would make the…
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Posted inDowntown Salem Main Street Association

Salem Main Street Association is a failure

It's been almost exactly a year since the Salem Main Street Association kicked-off with high expectations, albeit with some valid worries, as I wrote about in "New Salem Main Street Association debuts with questions and concerns." These related to (1) secrecy, (2) use of Parking Budget funds, (3) managing of funds related to downtown Salem, and (4) current board members/leadership. About six months later, with essentially zero Main Street Association accomplishments to their credit, I discussed the City Council giving the group a $32,000 grant in "Here's why Salem needs a genuine downtown association." In that post I noted: Some…
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Posted inCity of Salem Downtown

Images of Salem’s Downtown Streetscape Project

If you love Salem's downtown -- I sure do -- you'll want to see these photos I took at last night's Downtown Salem Streetscape Project open house. There's some exciting improvements in the works for downtown sidewalks, alley entrances, and Front Street crossings to Riverfront Park. Traffic calming features got me especially enthused, since whatever makes downtown streets less freeway'ish is a very good thing.Click on the image below to see the Adobe Spark page I made. 
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Posted inCity of Salem Downtown

Streetscape open house shows need for downtown streets to lose lanes

Last night the City of Salem held a second open house on the Downtown Streetscape project. I came away enthused about emerging ideas for improving the downtown area, but in an advance post about the meeting the Breakfast on Bikes blogger encapsulated the Big Problem with this project: The second Open House for the Downtown Streetscape project starts tomorrow, Tuesday the 13th, at 5:30pm. The project team hasn't published any new materials, so there's not much to say yet - other than to continue to push the City for changes to carspace. Until we grapple with the disproportion and zoominess…
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Posted inDowntown

Nordstrom space in Salem Center mall should become a “town square”

The Nordstrom store in downtown Salem is closing on April 6, according to a Statesman Journal story, "Nordstrom to shutter its store in Salem Center mall." A Rapid Response question in the newspaper about what should replace Nordstrom elicited a bunch of diverse answers. Like, another major retailer; a lot of small shops; a bookstore; a new City Hall; a homeless shelter.  None of these ideas made me go WOW! But that's what downtown needs, places that have a Wow Factor. We shouldn't be content with simply replacing Nordstrom with more of the same. This is an opportunity to refashion the…
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Posted inDowntown

Thirty great ideas for streetscaping downtown Salem

This afternoon I took part in the Trees and Landscaping Focus Group for the Downtown Streetscape Project. About 20 of us, citizens and consultants, had a spirited 90-minute discussion in the Library's Anderson Room about downtown trees and other vegetation, though the discussion also included broader Streetscape topics. Here's 30 great ideas generated by the Focus Group: (1) Eliminate a lane of traffic on some downtown streets with three or four lanes so there's more room for trees and people on the sidewalks. (2) Define the personality of both downtown and the entire city, then make Streetscape reflect that personality.…
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Posted inCarole Smith Downtown

Carole Smith critiques the City of Salem streetscape project

I'm sharing an email message that Carole Smith, a downtown business owner and resident, sent to me recently. She isn't happy with how the City of Salem streetscape project is being conducted, to put it mildly. Well, neither am I, as I wrote about in "Downtown Salem Streetscape project will ignore streets." The whole emphasis is on sidewalks. As shown above, "alleys and roads not part of [project] scope." So they really should have called this a Sidewalkscape project, which is much more limited than a true Streetscape plan -- such as the one proposed for Salem several years ago.  This…
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Posted inDowntown Salem Main Street Association

Here’s some problems with the Salem Main Street Association

In April 2017 I wrote a blog post called "New Salem Main Street Association debuts with questions and concerns." Nine months later, those questions and concerns remain.  First, it's peculiar that this group remains so secretive, since the kickoff event had some lofty goals: (1) Advocates for downtown Salem businesses, property owners and residents(2) Implements marketing and promotion of downtown Salem (3) Manages funds related to the economic vitality of downtown Salem Yet the Salem Main Street Association still doesn't have a web site, aside from the one above. The small print says, "We're under construction. Please check back for an…
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Posted inDowntown

Downtown Salem Streetscape project will ignore streets

Last night there was an open house kickoff for the Downtown Salem Streetscape Plan. Held in the ground floor meeting room at Courthouse Square, I felt a lot of energy and enthusiasm from the good number of attendees,  City of Salem staff, and the consultants hired to oversee the project.  People could use stickers to indicate a part of downtown where they had an idea for improvements, where they customarily entered the downtown area, and where they thought the heart of downtown was. Not surprisingly, Court and Liberty got the most heart stickers. And you can see that many attendees…
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Posted inCarole Smith City of Salem Downtown

Here’s why Salem needs a genuine downtown association

Salem no longer has a downtown association. We need one. What happened at last night's City Council meeting is only one of many reasons why.  But before I explain what transpired at the meeting, a bit of relevant history about how downtown lost its downtown association is in order. I wrote about this in a couple of blog posts. My November 2013 post "Should Salem City Manager be known as Exalted Emperor Linda Norris?" explained how the existing downtown association, Salem Downtown Partnership, had its contract terminated by the City Council after Chuck Bennett (then a city councilor, now Mayor)…
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Posted inCity of Salem Downtown

New Salem Main Street Association debuts with questions and concerns

As reported by the Salem Breakfast on Bikes blog, a new downtown group has been formed -- the Salem Main Street Association.  On Thursday the 20th, the nascent Salem "Main Street" project is going to have something of an Open House at the Ike Box. I'm planning to attend the get-together at the IKE Box because I heartily agree with the bottom-line sentiment on the group's flyer: Here's to a vibrant downtown. However, I and others have questions and concerns about this latest attempt to form an organization that should represent the varied interests of downtown visitors, residents, businesses, and…
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Posted inCity of Salem Downtown

Open letter to Downtown Salem Streetscape Committee

TO:   Kristin Retherford        City of Salem Urban Development Director, and        Chair, Downtown Salem Streetscape Committee FROM: Brian Hines RE: Thoughts about transforming downtown Salem through a Streetscape Project Kristin, I'm super-enthused about what your Streetscape Committee is doing. Carole Smith, one of the members, has shared her synopsis of the committee's first meeting with me. You've got a big job ahead of you, and I'm one of many people in Salem cheering you on who both love downtown as it is, while also realizing how much better it could be through transformative streetscaping. …
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Posted inCity of Salem Downtown T.J. Sullivan

Salem City officials asked to explain $749,000 giveaway. Waiting for answers…

Do Salem's Mayor, Mayor-elect, city councilors, and other officials care about Truth and Transparency? In a few weeks we'll find out.  By January 6 I've asked them to explain -- in a simple, clear fashion -- why a $749,000 urban renewal grant was approved for the Park Front building on December 12. The applicant was T.J. Sullivan, a former city councilor and current vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce. I asked city councilors to say why they were going to vote "Yay" or "Nay" on the $749,000 when I testified in opposition to this giveaway during the public comment period…
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Posted inCity Council Downtown

Salem City Hall, let’s have some citizen JOY in 2017

Yesterday I wrote a blog post about Salem City Council goings-on that had "sad" and "pathetic" in its title. I don't enjoy doing this. I'd much rather be writing about the marvelous things City officials are doing that make almost everybody in town joyful.  But I can't do this, because such isn't happening. Under Mayor Anna Peterson's less than inspiring reign, she and her Chamber of Commerce-backed city council majority have chosen to focus on what pleases the already rich and powerful in Salem -- not on the needs and wants of ordinary people.  So, to offer up one significant…
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Posted inDowntown Police facility

Rumor: City plans to buy police facility site with urban renewal funds

A credible source has told me that, following the defeat of the $82 million police facility bond measure a few weeks ago, City officials plan to use urban renewal funds to buy the old O'Brien auto dealership site where the police facility was planned to be built. The budget for the facility showed $5.5 million for site acquisition. I believe the City of Salem had an option to buy the property, which apparently is owned by the Delon family, but the option expires before next year. Hence, the need to find a way to tie up the police facility site…
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