I spent some time in Seattle in my childhood, and right now, I’m spending a week or two here. The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that the rift between the african americans and the european americans has undergone some significant transformation. With Obama being the favorite for the presidency of the usa, it seems to be giving black americans some hope for the future… and they are reclaiming their dignity. Still though, as I look around me, it seems to me that the city in many parts is dying.

The core thing that needs to change is that people have to take an interest in improving the aesthetics of their yards and neighborhoods. As a child, I always was fascinated with what happened to people when they attended a fancy party or visited a cosmopolitan tourist town. Their entire attitude changed. They became curious when they may have been listless before. Those who were accustomed to bickering would cease with that, and might even have an epiphany when it comes to seeing that they need to change their attitude. Non verbal communication is a very important part of our daily lives with people - and an aesthetic environment facilitates that, while a drab or dreary environnment hampers it. So why don’t people keep up their grounds? Well I can think of several reasons for it. One might be that they are renters, and they are deathly scared that improving the curb appeal of their house will send the appraised value up, and thus the rents will rise as well. Another reason might be that people are scared of crime - and a humble looking exterior is helpful in convincing potential burglars that there is nothing of value inside. There may be other reasons I’m not thinking of. Each cause would have to be discerned and dealt with. The only way I think the renters’ concerns could be addressed is if the city would do more to encourage and help people to buy and own homes. If property values fall considerably over the next couple of years, this will be possible. One could address the second concern by forming a community group, and getting to know your neighbors a little - making common cause with them about the future of the neighborhood. If everybody can agree that they care about where they live, then you can make a lot of headway in making the community a better and friendlier place. Also one could begin to, as a group, deal with the causes of crime in the area.

Given I am a skilled writer, one way forward that I saw for helping the city of Seattle would be to form a new citywide independent newspaper. I don’t have any money or resources myself with which to put that kind of agenda together, but if one did, there certainly would be the opportunity to improve the zeitgeist of the city dramatically. There are only two independent local papers - “the stranger” and “the weekly”… and neither of them are doing a very good job of nurturing the community. The Seattle Times is one of the more gentle and kind-hearted papers out there… but it doesn’t do much to offer Seattleites hope or guidance or direction or vision. I imagine that a new paper could get a pretty decent flow of advertising revenue as well, being only one of a handful of locally distributed publications.