[Vision2020] Doing Kai's work for him

[joanopyr at earthlink.net]

Dear Visionaries,

First, I apologize for calling Kai names.  Actually, I can't remember doing that, but if he says I did, then I probably did.  It sounds like something I'd do.  Ad hominem attacks don't win you points on the high school debate team (and I was president of mine, by the way) but they are often too fun to resist.  And fun was my intention.  But I'm sorry, Kai, if I crossed the line and hurt your feelings in any way, shape or form.  Really.  I'm amused by your dreadful taste in music, and I enjoy taking the mickey out of you -- in large part because you're a good sport.  I'm not trying to be rotten to you, I swear.  I do think, however, that you haven't done your homework on the NSA/zoning issue, and, as you're the editor of our one and only county newspaper, you can and should do better.  

In response to your assertion that: 

"The ONLY differences between the other schools and NSA are:

1. Mr. Leons and the massage school are 'doing business' as schools.  NSA is
recognized as a school.

2. Mr. Leons and the massage school are 'for profit' enterprises.  NSA is
not.  

3. NSA is a religious school, the others aren't . . . "

I believe that Ted Moffett and Mike Curley have answered your assertions both thoroughly and gracefully.  The Central Business District is, to quote Ted, "about doing 'business' which usually means making money and paying property taxes that help pay for the infrastructure that supports such business."  The only portion of NSA that falls within the parameters of current city zoning code is the Zume Bakery.  If we want to have a retail-oriented downtown, then Zume can stay; NSA (and Atlas Academy) must go.  

It really doesn't matter that NSA is a religious school.  If it were a secular school, it still wouldn't belong in the Central Business District.  The University of Idaho doesn't belong there.  Neither does St. Mary's School, Montrose Academy, The Alternative High School or The Church of Auntie Establishment's New Money-Spinning Pyramid Scheme.  In order for NSA to remain where it is, city code must be re-written to accomodate it, and I think re-writing city code for the convenience of a single entity is bad, bad policy.  The question we must ask ourselves is what we want in/from our downtown?  Do we want a retail-oriented shopping district?  Or do we want a come-what-may, anything-goes downtown?  Do we want people shopping and dining and socializing on Main Street, or do we want to locate those activities on the periphery of Moscow in a collection of wretched strip malls?

I've watched a downtown die, and I've seen that same downtown re-born at great effort and great expense.  When I was a teenager in Raleigh, NC, our downtown was killed by the poor planning of the 1970s.  Only now, with care and attention and great wads of development money, has downtown been revitalized.  It's a terrific shopping and dining district now, with theaters, bars and clubs, and (almost) adequate parking.  Unfortunately, Raleigh is still plagued by strip malls, but the downtown is back and competing with those malls.  When I was back home last November, downtown is where I spent my money -- rather than at the Crabtree Valley or North Hills malls.  And it was a pleasant experience.  The buildings were/are gorgeous, and the experience of walking up Raleigh's several hundred year-old streets is terrific.

Moscow's downtown also has a rich history.  I want to see that sixties/seventies crap scraped off the front of the old David's Dept. Store, AKA The Beach.  I want to see our old buildings restored to their former glory.  (And here's a rare word of praise from me for Doug Wilson and Company -- the restoration of the Skattaboe Building is beautiful.  Whoever did that did a fine job.  Now, just move NSA out and put a nice Nordstrom's in.  Okay?)  If you visit Tom Hansen's website, www.tomandrodna.com, he has several pictures up of historic Moscow.  Go take a look.  See what we're missing; what we have hidden under the later addition junk.  

The reason I mentioned Missoula in an earlier post is because we need to care as much about our historic downtown as they care about theirs.  One of the reasons I supported the school bond levy was because it called for the restoration of Russell Elementary and the preservation (and continued use, though in another form) of the 1938 High School.  A city *is* its downtown, and we need to be careful both to preserve what we've got and to ensure that it survives and thrives for the next generation.

Not being funny at all at the moment,

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com
  
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