Our neighbors to the WAY south, and by that I mean Ashland Oregon, may have a somewhat 'blue' was to attract more people downtown. From the Mail tribune: Ashland city ordinances allow nudity anywhere in town, but genitalia must be covered in city parks and the downtown commercial district.

Yea, yea, no local content. Just thought I'd share. 

Hello, I'm here specifically to distribute and request info for the purposes of opposing condo 'development' and gentrification in Olympia. we're one of the last cities of our type in the US and the last thing we need is to become another indistinguishable monoculture smear on the I-5, another bedroom community for white-flight refugees from Seattle or Portland or California. Please, please, please help your neighbors oppose the gentrification of Olympia. I love it here and i don't WANT to seee Oly become Bremerton, no matter what Matt Belcherdorf says.

So- stay tuned. I'll be posting weekly with whatever information i have about the battle against condo development. This will include dates, places and times to act, PDFs to download and whatever else i can bring you. For starters, i want the community at large to remember the date JUNE 24th. This is the date the City council will hold a town-hall style meeting to provide the public the opportunity to voice thier opposition to condo development. They haven't published a time or location for this event, but as soon as i know, you will.

thanks for your ear and it's a pleasure to finally join the conversation i've had so much fun reading over others' shoulders.

-InsertCondoHere

Last night I attended the quarterly membership meeting of the ODA. The theme was Olympia Goes Green in celebration of Earth Day. It was yet another zero waste event (something we're getting pretty good at downtown) and had quite a decent turnout. Several businesses were highlighted, including 510 Interiors, Eco-Lux, Radiance, Creative Office Supply and Casual Tee. 510 has made quite a name for themselves already, being honored at the Economic Development Coucil's annual business awards luncheon. Eco-Lux is on Washington St. had sells not only amazing organic body care products but also fantastic chocolate. Creative Office is a long-time downtown business and Casual Tee provides a highly needed service in a town like ours that prints more shirts per capita than we really need--environmentally (and economically!) friendly screen printing.

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I'm starting a separate thread because a discussion about the actual proposed PBIA budget, I believe, is important. However, the title of Emmett's post is misleading and a mistake made by many.

Alright,

as a downtown business owner and ODA member and someone in love with the city I started First Friday in Downtown this December with a few other businesses.

Every month we've grown. More stores have been participating and more people have been out and about, enjoying this regular event and the possibilities to meet people, walk around a city "alive", and shop and dine till late into the evening.

Now, so far I've been managing the event from my computer in the store and keeping everything electronic and simple, but now we're at the brink of growing this into a "funded" event as the PBIA and the ODA both have been approaching me, asking me to present the idea and let them help support it.

I've got some ideas of what this event could turn into, and am presenting those next week to both committees to see what they think, where they stand and if it makes sense for them and me to work together.

Here is my challenge for all of you:

Creative visionaries of Olympia - here is your chance!

Tell me what you would like to turn this event into!!

Give me ideas, dreams - help me color the rough draft and be a part of something that can and will be a huge hit for Olympia.

Even some testamonies or letters of recommodation if you will would be great, so I don't sound like a lonley voice, but "represent the people"!!!

Now, obvioulsy I sound way to excited for this blog and will receive alot of comments and responses about why this event will suck, fizzle and die. Why Olympia is a lost cause and why the ODA and PBIA are the devil. Save your breath, I know where you stand and don't care - because I still believe in this city and in the power of people to make a change for the better.

'Nuff said - now it's your turn!

mathias

einmaleins