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Today, One Reel canceled their Summer Nights concert series, which was to move from South Lake Union to Gasworks Park. The move comes after a group calling themselves Friends of Gas Works Park, but who we call a bunch of hippie assholes, claimed that the concerts would bring crowds, traffic and parking problems to the area. Boo-fucking-hoo.
The group sued the city and One Reel, causing One Reel to back out. We went to one of these Summer Nights concerts a few summers ago because a friend dragged us there. While white people in khaki shorts grooved to the tunes, we enjoyed being outside on a summer night. With the city skyline on one side and the sun setting behind the Olympics on the other, it made us excited that we lived here and not Indianapolis.
The Friends of Gas Works Park remind us of the Montlake residents who wouldn't let Paul Allen explore using his money to upgrade Husky Stadium and make it the home of the Seahawks. Instead they bitched and moaned about the ten extra days of crowds. Now we have two 70,000 seat football stadiums five miles from each other. Stupid.
This seems like a larger problem, that we as a city seem to be a bunch of giant babies. If you live in a major city, events which draw a large number of people are going to occur. If you don't like that move to the suburbs or some gated community in North Seattle.
We agree that the public should have ample time to comment on city proposals and that secret deals are not a way to make public decisions; however, shooting down ideas because, "I'll have nowhere to park my Subaru," and "I may have to walk around people when I take my golden retriever out," is annoying.
Yesterday on the Slog readers were upset that they had to wait in line for over an hour to get into the Seattle Metropolitan Magazine kick-off party. Although it seems that the party may have not had the best planning, the bigger question is who waits in line for over an hour to hang out with some Belltown hipsters, get free drinks, and then moans about it?
This wasn't a Red Cross relief effort; people didn't have to wait in line. You can go down the street and pay a few bucks for a drink without any waiting. God forbid an actual natural disaster would hit the city, hoo-boy, you would see some whining in the pages of the Seattle Weekly the next week (we would never actually complain while in line, aside from a few passive aggressive comments directed at no one in particular).
We love Seattle, we grew up here, moved away and came back. We just want certain residents to understand that things like noise and parking problems are going to happen, and it doesn't mean you have to ruin things for the rest of us babies.
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Where do you live David? Are you volunteering your neighborhood for the concert series?
I don't live in that neighborhood, but I'm happy to see it stopped. This is a small victory against the city and other groups trying to control the neighborhoods.
I live in Wallingford and I think the 'Friends of Gasworks' are ridiculous.
Aha! You've been called out, David. Time for a dance-off, old-school!
I hope you agree that people of a community ought to make their own decisions, regardless of what the big money private interests are.
The way I see it, the real babies are the ones who cry for their rich Daddys to make all their decisions. Its not just the mountains that make Seattle a great place to be David - It's the history of protest, independent thought, and resistance to becoming a pawn for private interests.
Allen's a bit of a baby too: sucking off the taxpayers teet. If I want to make a killing throwing a private party, I can't just use public land without getting permission from the public. That's what they tried to do, and I'm glad there was some resistance.
I live in the Central District and I volunteer my neighborhood for the concert series. Yes, a community gets to influence decisions about their neighborhood (they don't actually just get to "make" them), but when the hell did the Montlake neighborhood take ownership of a public park? And as for "big money private interests"-- Reel One is a non-profit organization, that's a very different story than the Paul Allen south Lake Union situation.
If you want summer nusiance and problems, try our Judkins park during the pee-wee football season. You people have no idea. And yet, I'd still welcome something like this in my neighborhood because overall it will be good for it in the long run. But since Wallingford is already full of such nice white rich people I guess a little additional culture is too much of a bother.
I live in Green Lake and I would have no problem if the city used it for a civic festival. When I lived in Fremont I knew that on the weekend of the Solstice Parade I would have trouble finding parking (they use city streets should we hold public forums or a vote for that?) This isn't about private interests controlling the city; it is about having a concert series outdoors or exploring other ways to use civic money. People are using tired clichés and the excuse of neighborhoods to halt projects for their own selfish wants. Cramming a parking garage down the throats of neighborhood residents is wrong, but to quote Allen Iverson, we're talking about a concert series...a concert series. Throwing your hands over your ears and not listening to others is babyish, not putting forward an intelligent protest.
Sorry, buddy. Maybe you've been to Gas Works for the Fourth, or various other events. It's a total pain, and essentially locks residents in for the evening. It's one of the reasons I fled the area for the East side. It's a great neighborhood when thousands of people aren't milling around and traffic isn't diverted by the po-po.
I'm sorry you have your panties in a bunch, but the people that live in Fremont put up with a whole lot of public festivals - on a weekly basis from Feb-Nov. Without going on about all that goes on there, you must admit it's a lot. Your "cry like a baby" routine better suits your own post.
Oh please Mat. It's a city. Wallingford is in an interior neighborhood of a medium-sized city where people like to get together in the summer, listen to some music, dance, have fun. There are going to be events. Sorry if that interferes with the parking for a few dozen condo owners, but it's true. The sooner the Friends of Gas Works follow your lead and exit for the eastside the better. It's where NIMBYs belong.
NEW RULE! Wallingford residents stay IN Wallingford for any entertainment, and we will stay out of wallingford for (?)entertainment . you want your own private gated community, have it... or move to spokane i guess. if any wallingford residents are caught enjoying themselves outside of their border, they have to pay retribution for disturbing us outsiders with their presence and traffic.
Some of you seem to think this is a fucking festival. Sorry buds, but The City gave One Reel the frickin' PUBLIC park so they can fence it off and charge you $30 to $80 to see a show. That's not consistant with even their own stated usage plans.
And just so y'all know, it was Nickels' idea to house the shows there, even One Reel did not think it was appropriate but the 7th floor left them no choice[s].
Want a better view of the issues? Read the goddamned suit before y'all spout off out the corner of your asses. (http://home.comcast.net/~benschroeter/Petition-FINAL.pdf )
Can you believe they hadn't even figured out a way to insure that the toxic chemicals that lay 12 to 18 inches under the soil won't be disturbed? Yeah - no shit. No plan. "We're One Reel - we haven't fucked up really bad yet." was their rally cry.
"Faith-based" mitigation is not only a stupid idea, it's fucking illegal.
Ben Jammin
206.228.2917
and oh yeah...
Dan?
I'd love to sit down with you and a bunch of your friends and debate the issues, something that i can't do online.
What you will learn, (which apparently you failed to learn when you were in college) is that if you are trying to argue a point, you have to use both facts and logic. If you possess neither, then you're...well...just another asshole because all you have is an opinion that's based on nothing more than beer and conjecture...
and oh yeah...
Dan?
I'd love to sit down with you and a bunch of your friends and debate the issues, something that i can't do online.
What you will learn, (which apparently you failed to learn when you were in college) is that if you are trying to argue a point, you have to use both facts and logic. If you possess neither, then you're...well...just another asshole because all you have is an opinion that's based on nothing more than beer and conjecture...
what
Do you live in Fremont? No? I guess that makes you a hypocrite.
As one of the students who advised the UW ASB to not support Allen's plans to upgrade Husky Stadium (You get a lot of opportunity when your best friend is ASB President) you miss out on a lot of the issues in this article. Obviously the article isn't about the proposed husky Stadium remodel, but there was more to it than just the Montlake residents not wanting traffic 10 days a year.
Mat, Jammin, I live in Wallingford and the people I talked to are pissed. When we heard news of One Reel's series in Gas Works we thought, "cool - if it doesn't suck this year maybe there can finally be some fun within walking distance around here," and went on with our lives. Other people apparently heard the news and thought, "what! let me see the fucking documents!" and those people flew together like little NIMBY minutemen. They got some lawyers and requested some more documents and sued and then started emailing the artists One Reel was trying to book for the summer with news of their suit (you, jammin. you did that one) and then it was all off.
You guys went and had a couple of beers and patted each other on the back knowing that the neighborhood walls had been well manned and we were left wondering, "who the fuck elected the Friends of Gas Works Park?"
So don't expect the poor, downtrodden neighborhood residents of Seattle to lift you up on our shoulders and parade you down the burke-gillman. We were looking forward to Summer Nights in Gas Works and don't remember ever appointing you to protect us from One Reel or the big, bad parks department. We'll call you guys the next time we need your professional wet blanket services, though.
There you go again, spouting off at the ass without anything to support your feelings.
Have you ever read SEPA Dan? Obviously not.
"Those babies...they used the law and now I'm mad. I hate hippies that use the law to defend themselves..." geez...
With arguments like that Dan, no wonder you got thrown off the debate team...
I think I'm going to start another Wallingford based group called "Enemies of The Friends of Gas Works Park" What a bunch of whiners.
You want "people of a community to make their own decisions"
Gasworks is a CITY-owned park. We're the community that owns it. If we vote to turn Gasworks into an 365-day-a-year rave hosted by DJ Fucking in the Streets, that's what will happen.
Wallingford Declares Independence
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men should have ample parking, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are parks open all hours so we can walk our Golden Retrievers, no more than 23 non-Wallingfordians in our neighborhood at once and the pursuit of complete isolation from anything unpleasant."
As a leading exponent of beer-based opinion, I feel compelled to chime in. (For the record, I live on Capitol Hill, which is where the rest of you would live if you were cool, but you're not.)
Sorry, "FofGP" you're NIMBYs. It's not about "fighting the man" or toxic waste. (Hey, since you bring it up, why *are* you friends with a toxic waste dump? How long have you been so concerned about that angle?) It sounds like a huge pain in the ass, it would disrupt your lives, and you don't want it: fair enough.
Other people (throughout the city, and even in Wallingford) wanted it. You screwed them by spiking the deal, rather than working with it. If they're upset, deal with it. You're *a* group of concerned city residents, not the *the* group.
I know I'm not going to persuade anyone, I realize. I just had the chance to be the 20th poster and jumped at it.
I want to be in with the 'enemies of the friends of gas works'
Too bad they had to ruin this for everyone
I think that the FoGWP should hold their meetings on Pier 62 and jump up and down a lot.
I live in Wallingford - many of us here in Wallingford live up at the top nowhere near the park and could care less about all the hoo ha.
That said, There are many great and varied venues both indoor and outdoor that we have spent a boatload of public cash on to hold paid events in. Why do we need to fence off public parks to do it? Can we just save those for kids playing and kite flying please?
I have been steaming about this for days, being a local musician i am pissed that the so called friends of gas works parks stopped the concerts. Yes I did read the entire lawsuit and it is complete and total bullshit. It states environmental issues? People go to that park everyday!!!! Why are concert go-ers more likely to disturb the soils with all the toxic waste under it? I thought they cleaned it all up a few years ago? If not then they should close the park. The lawsuit IS a whiny piece of crap citing noise and traffic issues. What about all the past events there which went fine????? I have been to some big concerts there all thru the 90's!!! I hate to tell you jammin but yes you are a whinning baby who cares only about YOUR own interests. I will definitely be organizing some very loud protests in the park for some of the eve's the concerts were to take place. After all the parks are for EVERYONE not just the friends of gas works (who by the way make it hard for peolple to reply directly to them). This is a severe case of abuse of the system to please a few neighbors, while ignoring the cultural impact on the city, musicians, and outdoor concert entusiasts. Let alone the loss of revenue for neighborhood establishments in that area.