Daily Score Blog

The first time I celebrated Bike to Work Day, I didn't have a job (I was a recent college graduate in search of one) so I experienced the event as more of a Bike-to-Free-Food-Booths Day. Luckily, the sponsors only asked for proof of biking, not working, and since my ancient 10-speed was my main form of transportation at the time, I fit right in.

That was in 1988. Since that time, I've gained jobs and various commute modes (including hitch-hiking by pickup truck), but biking remains my favorite. I feel lucky that my home, Seattle, has bike racks, bike lanes (the Sammamish trail is a recent victory), and bike advocacy groups. And hey, I've only been doored once.

It's discouraging to note, though, that bike commuting is only slowly catching on in the US, despite that it's healthy, cheap, and the most energy-efficient form of travel. According to the 2000 Census, while the number of bike commuters increased slightly from 1990, the percentage was still very low--0.4 percent of all commute trips.

I'm trying my best to give a charitable reading of Knute Berger's Mossback column in the Seattle Weekly railing against urban density. But it's hard.

To summarize as best I can:  Berger doesn't like Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' plan to promote high-rise housing near Seattle's downtown because, well...I guess Knute liked the Seattle skyline just as it was in 1980, thank you very much.

Now, Berger makes at least one really good point -- that Mayor Nickels seems to want to do too much, and that some of his goals conflict.  For example, the mayor supports both massive new transportation spending that could suck life out of downtown, and massive new residential development in the urban core. 

But Berger saves most of his fury for the prospect of residential high-rises near downtown.  He'd prefer that the city follow the example of Copenhagen, Denmark -- which, according to him, means making Seattle's policies family-friendly, so more families with kids can afford to live within the city limits.  Encouraging families with kids to move into the city would increase the number of people per household--accommodating population growth without increasing the need to build more housing. 

And if we do have to increase the housing supply, Berger again prefers the model of Copenhagen and other European cities:  creating small-scale urban villages that are interesting places to live, but aren't dominated by highrises.

I guess I understand his instincts -- building residential high-rises might change the character of the city Berger grew up in.  And, without doubt, Nickels' high-rise plan would forever alter the priceless urban gem that is today's South Lake Union warehouse district (sarcasm intended).

But let's be careful holding Copenhagen up as a model, shall we?

Major props to Seattle mayor Greg Nickels who recently started the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. It is becoming something of a smackdown to federal leadership that refuses to take global warming seriously. The idea is simple: if the US government won't ratify the Kyoto Protocol, then the constituent parts of the nation will.

So Seattle made the pledge to meet Kyoto's standards (reduce greenhouse gas emissions 7 percent from 1990 levels by 2012); and then Nickels started rounding up other cities to join in. The response has been overwhelming, and not just from small-fry or blue-state cities either. The full list is here. Following are a few of my favorites:

New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Miami, Newark, Denver, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Little Rock, Louisville, New Orleans, Boston, Kansas City, Albuquerque, Austin, Portland, and Tacoma.

It's a surprisingly diverse list, drawing together nearly 31 million Americans from 36 states--everywhere from Cambridge, Mass to Macon, Georgia to Gary, Indiana. Nickel's initiative picked up some nice media coverage in the New York Times recently, among other places.

For Cascadia counters: The list includes 12 cities in Washington, 3 in Oregon, 2 in Montana, and 30 in California. None, so far, in Idaho or Alaska.

UPDATE: Some other non-Cascadian pledges worth noting: The states of New York, Massachusetts, and Maine have all pledged to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent by 2020. New Jersey has pledged 5 percent reductions by 2005. Taken together, these northeast state initiatives add up to more than 35 million Americans who are pledging to Kyoto-like carbon targets.

The Haida people struck a $5 million deal with BC's government that will apparently protect old-growth that had been slated for cutting. Unfortunately, the CBC article on the subject leaves much unclear.

Take the test:

"Say 'caught' and 'cot' out loud. If you're a true Northwest speaker, the words will sound identical."

Do you say "pail" or "bucket"? If you're a true Northwest speaker, you say "bucket."

Is your voice "creaky" or "breathy"? Northwesterners sound creaky (whatever that means).

That's all according to a University of Washington linguist, who goes on to say, "Everyone thinks the Pacific Northwest is too young a region to have our own dialect. It's discrimination."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has the story.