Go local and buy

Make economic development happen — all on your own.
by Natasha Gorbachev
Mar 06, 2008

Unfortunately, dear readers, this week I’m gonna have to sock it to you with a tall soapbox because one thing is driving me absolutely nuts about this city:
Tacoma’s sense of entitlement regarding economic development.

I read Tacoma’s local blogs all of the time, I listen in on community meetings, and I watch what our local government is collecting feedback about. The one thing I hear so many of you constantly demanding is economic development.

I’m going to call you out and say that most of you don’t deserve it yet.

I read about people who want more businesses throughout the city, yet many of you barely support the small, wonderful, locally-owned businesses that are already here.

I notice people who are blogging all day long, talking crap about the businesses in Tacoma without ever trying a place out, or without providing feedback on poor experiences directly to the restaurant manager, opting to talk s*** online instead. I think all of the above is weak.

You say you want the Tacoma Link light rail to run later and you want a more efficient transit system, yet many of you never set foot on either.

You demand a vibrant downtown with all sorts of amenities and a 24-7 environment, but all foot traffic leaves the city center at 5 p.m.

Ladies and gentlemen, YOU are responsible for making economic development happen in our city!

First things first: Economic development will not occur in cities with high crime rates. What’s the best way to combat that? Tacoma must collectively raise its neighborhood standards relating to blight and crime. Bring your immediate neighbors together to create a neighborhood watch, report all crimes, and call Tacoma CARES to report properties in your area that need to be cleaned up, 253.591.5001. Follow the lead of the Hilltop Action Coalition. They understand that safe streets are not a right, they’re a responsibility.

If you want a vibrant downtown that’s open later, get your feet on the street after five to give the merchants there a compelling reason to stay open later. Good people on the streets quickly replace bad ones, and investors often make decisions based on things like foot and traffic counts, so do your part!

Transportation systems are only extended or improved based on ridership, so ditch your stupid car and get on the Tacoma Link or a Pierce Transit bus.

Get off your computer like I’m about to and actually EXPERIENCE Tacoma. Please understand that investors read your blog posts, and every time you talk trash about a place, it might appear that the Tacoma constituency is unsupportive of business and development. Booooo.

Gather your friends and family and support the local merchants like I do, as many as you can. They depend on you! Buying local means you’re improving our economy, and trust me, when our merchants start doing gangbuster business, other investors will notice and the economic development you’re demanding will indeed follow.

Tell me where you like to party at sceneofthecrime@hotmail.com.

User comments

submitted 10:02 on Mar 10, 2008 by Frinklin

Oh please, does your soapbox feature a sign marked “self-righteous gibberish” or do you have to hold that yourself? I’ll rebut your last point first, and hopefully shatter your sadly dated vision of bloggers as shut-ins who live in their parent’s basement. I’ve gone out and “experienced” Tacoma just about every night in the past week. My wife and I –along with several other bloggers – have pulled ourselves away from our unending bitchfest and patronized the Red Hot, Sushi Revolution, the Helm, PSP, Herban Café, Hello Cupcake, Satellite Coffee, and Comic Book Ink, and that’s just since Friday. We’ve gone to two local art shows and bought pieces at both. In fact, my continuously cranky friends and I make a point of utilizing locally-owned businesses as much as possible. So please, retire that particular stereotype and then maybe, just maybe we can pay any little bit of attention to you in the future. Do we bloggers clamor for economic development? Sure we do? Do we do our damndest to put buts in the seats when a business comes along? We do that too. Hell, if you bother to read the archives at Feed Tacoma, you’ll find that some have complained about us bringing too much business at once. Now, of that list I mentioned before, what do they have in common? None of them suck. And how do we know that? Because we’ve been there, and we make it a point do to so whenever a new business opens. You mention that you’ve seen bloggers “talking crap about the businesses in Tacoma without ever trying a place out”. Please, oh please point one out to me. If there is anyone doing that – and honestly, I’ve never seen it – than that particular blogger is beneath contempt. And until you can point that out to me, so is this column.

submitted 10:04 on Mar 10, 2008 by Frinklin

That was me in the above post. My name didn't seem to work. Sorry the paragraph breaks didn't seem to copy.

submitted 07:38 on Mar 11, 2008 by Frinklin

Why doesn't your name function work? That would be Frinklin leaving comments.

submitted 07:39 on Mar 11, 2008 by jenyum

What blogs are you reading? I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about, is it opposite day and nobody told me?

submitted 07:41 on Mar 11, 2008 by jenyum

That was jenyum in that last comment, who is cranky, on account of having spent an entire year saying nothing but positive things about local businesses, and finding a community of bloggers who largely do the same.

submitted 07:43 on Mar 11, 2008 by jenyum

OK, here's the thing. This is in the print version of the Volcano, no? You see, that really kinda makes me angry since you've just bad-mouthed us to the non-web savvy portion of Tacoma and not actually even cited any specifics. Thanks for that.

submitted 11:03 on Mar 11, 2008 by intacoma

obviously she hasn't read mine and I even showed up to your love Tacoma event. sheesh

submitted 11:54 on Mar 11, 2008 by Broken

Man, what an non-journalistic b****fest. Normally, I enjoy reading your column - usually in print when I grab it at a local coffeehouse - as it shares what's going on or went on. This time there's no facts other than you congratulating yourself for being a blogger that goes out while stereotyping other on-line presences as being shut-ins. Hypocritical? When you get into the issue of crime, I have to ask "When was the last time you reported a crime, created a block-watch, and called into report a property?" This time your preaching, but you don't mention what your practicing. Come on. Let's see this column return to talking about what you know - what people ARE doing - rather than assuming what a specific portion of the population is not doing.

submitted 12:09 on Mar 11, 2008 by ensie

You can read my response at http://bothhands.mu.nu/archives/257504.php. I'm inserting the actual website because considering the fact that your "name" function doesn't even work, I have no idea if linking even works. ensie http://bothhands.mu.nu

submitted 05:22 on Mar 11, 2008 by Sassy McButterpants

OUCH. Some of the members of our local blogosphere are delicate apparently. Easier to dish it out than take it, huh kids?

submitted 08:09 on Mar 11, 2008 by ohfigureitout

Because WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT NATASHA IS TALKING ABOUT and she CITES NO SOURCES AND INCLUDE NO LINKS and this is a stupid mine is bigger than yours argument. I am so tired of the pseudonyms around the Volcano. It's all fake.

submitted 08:35 on Mar 11, 2008 by

Nick: Sheesh, this is the second Volcano associated post I've seen that lashes out at the Tacoma blogosphere. What's the deal? From my perspective (a non-blogger) the Volcano is emerging as a common deonminator of hostility towards the community it is supposed to be reporting to. Very unprofessional. Alienating your readers is just going to cost you in lost revenue. Grow up and write like an adult. Maybe even approach your writing like it's your job ... oh wait ...

submitted 08:40 on Mar 11, 2008 by

Hi OUCH - I'm going to call you that because the Volcano has a shitty system that doesn't allow for names to be posted with comments. I posted a fully articulated response on my website with links to back up my arguments. Natasha has a crappy article with no sources sited. The bloggers you are insulting have good reason to be upset as Ro..I mean..."Natasha" is talking out of her ass. ensie http://bothhands.mu.nu

submitted 08:58 on Mar 11, 2008 by

Wow, somebody needs to grow up. How old are you? 13? --> "OUCH. Some of the members of our local blogosphere are delicate apparently. Easier to dish it out than take it, huh kids?"

submitted 12:15 on Mar 12, 2008 by

Who asked for economic development? I didn't. I did ask the city to please focus on COMMUNITY development, because we could use a ton more of it. I haven't heard back yet.

submitted 11:15 on Mar 12, 2008 by b****fest

OUCH- I'm not a blogger, but I do read them & occasionally post. I guess I'm not even seeing the "dishing" on the blog side anyway. Guess it's more cited assertions. (nice use of the word "kids" to imply your superiority though.) -b****fest (not only are the names screwing but so is the lack of am/pm time stamps)

submitted 03:39 on Mar 12, 2008 by

We are currently trying to fix the name function. Sorry for the malfunction. The�� Weekly Volcano

submitted 10:29 on Mar 12, 2008 by lotac

Since moving to Tacoma I have thoroughly enjoyed following the local blogs. They have allowed me to learn about local events, restaurants, art shows, and have even helped me consider what makes a city a community. I have witnessed civil disagreements that were enlightening. I have read about kid-friendly restaurants and read savvy, locally flavored comics. And never have I, a newcomer and not quite a strong member of this blogging community, felt that these "others" were doing ANY of the things you claim. I'm tempted to stop reading the Volcano after the apparent lack of respect you and your colleagues have for those who aren't paid to write.

submitted 05:53 on Mar 13, 2008 by Natasha

Whew! I didn't get a chance to peep this feedback until today. It looks like this has spun out of control because so many of you are misinterpreting my true intentions behind these words. I encourage you to email me at sceneofthecrime@hotmail.com so you and I can open up a dialogue and you can understand that it was not AT ALL my goal to "launch an attack against Tacoma bloggers" or insult those of you who support T-Town so well. My email address is below every column that I write, and I'm always happy to receive and respond to feedback. Cheers! Natasha

submitted 08:22 on Mar 13, 2008 by ChefGordonNaccarato

In defense of Natasha G. I think she may have been referring to a lot of animosity towards certain restaurants on the Ed's Diner Blog from the News Tribune. Obviously the well-intentioned bloggers who actually DO support us downtown businesses she was NOT talking about. She was talking about complainers that do nothing but complain... If you are not among that group, then she was not dissing you. I would actually like to disagree with one thing that NG did say-- "...You demand a vibrant downtown with all sorts of amenities and a 24-7 environment, but all foot traffic leaves the city center at 5 p.m." I would disagree because at my restaurant, Pacific Grill, we have a fantastic Happy Hour that starts at 2pm and goes til 6pm every weeknight...and we are full almost every night! It seems to me it is the lack of downtown retail businesses that stay open after 5pm as the real reason we don't see busy sidewalks full of people strolling. Hopefully that will change when the condos downtown get sold, and a few more retail businesses take the plunge--open downtown--and stay open past 5pm. If you build it they will come.

submitted 08:49 on Mar 13, 2008 by ensie

Hi Chef Gordon, I'm so glad to hear that Pacific Grill is doing well. Your restaurant is fabulous and deserves all the success it is reaping. I can absolutely see where your defense is coming from. There are a lot of people who tend to get online and complain a lot about restaurants. It seems to be an accepted behavior when it comes to dining - to bash your experience even when one hasn't gone to the trouble of telling the manager about what may have occurred. I'll admit that this is a problem. However, I think that Natasha is savvy enough to know the difference between those who are local bloggers vs. those who are commenters on sites like Ed's Diner. As a professional journalist, she certainly should know the difference. I've emailed her asking for an explanation of her article, although judging from the number of comments, it would be wise of her to leave an explanation here. Or possibly address it in a future column.

submitted 10:49 on Mar 14, 2008 by Russ

I agree with the spirit of the article in that it is up to us, the collective of citizens in Tacoma, to create our own economic success. National chains have very specific demographics that must be met to locate in any area and Tacoma does not fit their models. We do not need to bang the drum louder to get them to come we just need to dance to the beat that is already building in most parts of the city. Vibrancy in a city is not built overnight it is a long process which we in Tacoma have just begun. "Shop Local" should not be blindly followed, but applied to those businesses that earn your support. I appreciate all the Tacoma cheerleaders and what they do for my business as well as all the other small start-ups in the area. Let each business stand on their merits, but definately spread the word of their existance.

submitted 12:18 on Mar 14, 2008 by Jenyum

It's really important to keep a few things in mind: 1. Bloggers and commenters are not the same thing. Bloggers write, commenters respond. Although bloggers sometimes comment on other people's blogs, a comment is not a blog, and a commenter is not a blogger. So, when you say "blogger" you mean people like me, Kevin, Ensie, Derek, etc, whereas when you say "commenter" you mean random person who has something to say about another person's blog. 2. We really need to grown up a little in our online culture, here in Tacoma. The more people come online, the more people will say all kinds of things. This is actually a good thing, an opportunity to be quiet and learn what other people think about your business, or engage in a constructive conversation. If you read forums and blogs in other cities you will find that we are all really very mild mannered and polite in Tacoma, by comparison. It doesn't help our image any to be overreacting and giving tremendous weight to one random person's reply on a forum somewhere. (Forums also are not blogs, and people who post in forums are not blogging when they do so.)

submitted 01:03 on Mar 14, 2008 by Jenyum

All the ways I find to procrastinate today... ...well, I just read through way more Ed's Diner comments than I really needed to right now, and I honestly don't see anything all that egregious. The three strings that stand out: People complaining about a restaurant in which owners verbally abuse staff in front of customers (Complaining to the management isn't really an option), people complaining about bad service at a restaurant that has closed, and Ed, the blogger, noting that certain elements of a new establishment weren't really quite right yet. I don't see any business facing irreparable harm from any of this, except maybe the first well-earned example. If our economy is so fragile that just talking about the things that need tweaking will cause potential business owners to run screaming, I think we have much bigger problems than cranky anonymous blog comments. Anyway, in conclusion: if you intend to write an article about overly critical anonymous commenters, then do that, but please do not refer to them as "bloggers" and please check your terminology next time. Also, please cite specific examples. The Tacoma Blogosphere will thank you, or at least stop hounding you with our own cranky comments.

Comment on this article