Spectator/Stephen Tuttle

Continued from page 3 bullied as a child or youth can result in mental and physical health problems. Bullying in American schools affects 15 to 25 percent of students. All public schools are mandated by law to have a framework and process to address bullying. Ask about bullying prevention strategies in your school. Practiced with fidelity, bullying prevention programs facilitate intervention when “red flags” of bullying or violence are detected and could prevent more student carnage.

Dianne Wittbrodt Keelan | Traverse City

Juneteenth

It was a wonderful Juneteenth celebration put on by the awesome E3 team this past Sunday on the campus of NMC. It was a time of fun and joy, remembering the day in 1865 when Federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the message of freedom to enslaved people, effectively ending slavery in the United States two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

It was great to be a part of the day, listening to speakers share their stories, hearing good music, and playing games with bubbles floating through the air. Juneteenth is a day to rejoice in freedom.

But of course, the ongoing battle against racism is not close to finished. While the arrival of the Federal troops in 1865 ended legal enslavement, the effects of slavery and ongoing systemic racism still impact virtually every part of life in our country and culture. Learning about the history of racism is vital if we are going to continue to make progress in bringing real justice forward.

We need to study Black history and the history of all people of color. We need to listen to the stories of pain and violence that have continued from 1865, stories like those of Emmett Till, George Floyd, and so many more. We need to understand the coded language of “Law and Order” and the scourge of what’s been called the “New Jim Crow” of mass incarceration. We need to learn and accept the reality of white privilege in all its subtle and not so subtle forms. We need to see the long-standing results of redlining, and we need to teach MORE, not less in our schools.

I had a good time at the Juneteenth event. But there is so much more to be done.

William Haggard | Lake Ann

Party Patio with Wing & Fries Let the good times roll

spectator

By Stephen Tuttle

Traverse City is looking to develop surface parking lots whenever practical or possible. There is no question those surface lots occupy incredibly valuable space that might be more productively used for other purposes. Such a purpose has been found, we’re told, on what is now Lot O on the southwest corner of State and Cass Streets. The proposal is for a four-story, mixed-use structure including “affordable” residential units.

They should be affordable because they won’t offer much in the way of amenities, starting with truly tiny studio apartments with no kitchens up to and including two-bedroom units. A “community” laundry and kitchen for residents will be part of the project.

The hope is that people who work downtown will be eligible for most of the units and plenty of taxpayer subsidies will be needed for both the builders and especially the renters. The two-bedroom units will be priced at $1,500/ month, which might be reasonable for the never-never residential land downtown has become but isn’t for most of us. That’s why up to half the rent will be subsidized for lower income earners.

What there won’t be is parking. One city commissioner said the residents of the new building won’t need cars because they will be living very near where they work. We’ll assume the comment wasn’t intended to be as dismissive as it seemed. (It’s not clear geographical workplace location can be part of the qualifications to live in the building but maybe.)

This notion of residential buildings downtown without adequate parking for the residents assumes much that simply isn’t true about Traverse City. Unlike dense big cities, which have been that way for a very long time, we do not have bodegas, bakeries, butchers, fishmongers, and vegetable stands every couple of blocks. Nor is there a fullservice grocer in downtown’s main stretch.

Aside from finding their daily necessities, these folks might want to enjoy some of what northern Michigan has to offer that isn’t within walking distance, and it’s a pretty long list, starting with the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, Leelanau County and Old Mission wineries, Mackinac Island, and so on.

The other missing element downtown with the no-cars-needed urbanism fad now afflicting our city commission will be children. Though some are forced to do so, the lack of a vehicle with the addition of children is extraordinarily challenging. There are practices and games and lessons and birthday parties and various appointments, and very few of those activities will be conveniently within walking distance or on a bus route.

Our city commissioners, who have bought into this notion of downtown residents without cars, should try a little experiment of their own. All the commissioners live within the city limits, and Traverse City is only 8.9 square miles. What if all were willing to give up their vehicles for just a week? Not just on ride-your-bike-to-workday, but a full seven days of not using their vehicles at all—you know, as if they had none. Every appointment, errand, trip, and meeting should be done walking, riding a

bike, or taking the bus. Everything. The experiment should be repeated in January because the commission, when blithely suggesting it’s no big deal for people to have no vehicle, seems to have little understanding of how that actually works. They should be willing to find out.

(And by the way, if they actually put a roundabout at the M-22/M-72 intersection, good luck to anyone on foot or a bicycle getting through it on their way to Tom’s for some groceries.)

A proposed development in the warehouse district, which could now be called the condo district, called for 80 residential units with parking for barely a quarter of that. It’s not clear where customers to the ground floor commercial entities will park or how long a walk anyone visiting a resident might have.

Not that far away is the Commongrounds cooperative development at Eighth Street and Boardman. Not only do they not have much parking—they have more spaces for bicycles than cars—they will also have a 150-seat performance venue. It seems unlikely everyone attending an event there will walk, bike, or take the bus. So they’ll park in the government center and on nearby residential streets.

For all of its various amenities, recreational opportunities, and cultural activities, Traverse City is not a big city and it’s unlikely to become one any time soon. Families aren’t coming here because they’re so fond of our population density and the vibrant urban lifestyle.

Expecting families living in multi-story, multi-family downtown residences to have no vehicle is a fantasy, a dream likely to be unrealized in rural northern Michigan. A downtown that excludes kids is more like a nightmare.

This notion of residential buildings downtown without adequate parking for the residents assumes much that simply isn’t true about Traverse City. Unlike dense big cities, which have been that way for a very long time, we do not have bodegas, bakeries, butchers, fishmongers, and vegetable stands every couple of blocks.

6 • june 27, 2022 • Northern Express Weekly Downtown Gaylord C Supported by the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, administered by Eastern Upper Peninsula Planning Commission. michigan.gov/arts /soofilmfestival GREAT LAKES, GREAT MOVIES September 14-18, 2022 Downtown Sault Ste. Marie, MI Info and tickets at soofilmfestival.org