Thread by @andrew_ace_agh

Since I am clearly feeling some type of way I'm going to spill some tea around the concept of the Pike/Pine superblock, because why not.

Now a few months ago (pre-COVID) at the Pike/Pine Urban Nbhd Council we had an initial conversation around the idea of a superblock. This was spurred by me b/c as ambitious as the CM who proposed this is, as a PPUNC board member I wanted to ensure a process that included...

...the neighborhood and that we were able to self-determine the type of block we would like to see. A notable landlord and former board member (whose name you may know but I will not disclose) mentioned that a number of boutiques were concerned about street closures.

Now granted, there are a number of reasons to be concerned about street closures; the biggest reason being deliveries. (people order in bulk, things are heavy, etc.)

But that was not their concern. Their concern, of course, was parking.

Their concern was that they had a number of clients who lived in Magnolia who drove to Capitol Hill to come shop at their stores.

And I didn't ask this question, but I should have:

"If your clients are from Magnolia, what are you doing on Capitol Hill?"

Because if we're trying to get at the types of places that should be in the storefronts of our neighborhood, frankly they should be extremely queer and extremely accessible to the people who live in the neighborhood.

This is also why, when we talk about a "15 minute city"

Not "15 minute cities," not "15 minute neighborhoods," but

ONE 15 MINUTE CITY

that means every single people in the city lives within 15 minutes (***by means of walking, biking or rolling***) of all the things they need on a daily basis.

PERIOD.

So, with that said, we should be advocating for A 15 minute city so boutiques whose clientele lives in Magnolia can move to Magnolia so their patrons can easily get to their stores without furthering our climate crisis and continuing the displacement of our queer community.

/End