Does Lacey Have a Downtown?by Mike Layton Back in the early 1960s as residents of the "Lacey area" were debating their community's future, small town chauvinism and greed were the prevailing sentiments. The question: whether to annex to Olympia, long assumed crouching in the west eager to gobble up Lacey, or to incorporate as a new city? Proponents of annexation cited inevitable higher costs of a duplicate new municipal government complete with city hall, police force and all the usual city departments if Lacey incorporated. Taxes would increase faster, they warned. But they were shouted down by a cabal of land speculators, developers, members of the Lacey volunteer fire department and others with a grudge against Olympia. Shortly before the vote a used-car salesman named Hap Kemp spoke at a pro-city rally at the old Lacey fire station. "If we play our cards right," roared Kemp, who became one of the new city's first councilmen, "we can become the Los Angeles of the north." The crowd roared back and stamped its feet. Indeed they could build a new LA, although the result more resembled Federal Way. Lacey has been searching for a downtown ever since. But it kept slipping away as the city grew every which way. Even old timers couldn't tell you where it was exactly or even approximately. Ultimately, Lacey could pose as the poster child of unplanned Anywhere, USA, conceived and built for commerce, with a nearly unrequited lust for industry. Residents, homeowners, were tolerated for their shopping habits, so long as they didn't ask for such wasteful amenities as green spaces and parks with benches. But a new day may be dawning. Prompted at least partly by loss of businesses, and business relocation to larger and glitzier Capital Mall and similar monuments to consumerism, Lacey is having a "downtown vision." For a week last month a Florida Consulting team with the enticing name Walkable Communities conducted meetings and presentations, including the usual "focus groups," to show what Lacey could be. At the final meeting some 100 enthusiastic Lacey residents gave the study a cheer. "Let's do it," shouted Gene Dziedzic, a neighborhood activist. The report by the consultants, which cost $18,000 plus expenses, was modest enough, with heavy emphasis on landscaping. Some new streets are proposed, to help unsnarl the city's traffic congestion. Huntamer Park would be the official city square, although that would still leave Lacey without a definable downtown. Walking would be easier in the area between South Sound Center and the City Hall-Library compound, chiefly because of installation of more sidewalks. Unaccountably, however, the consultants said Lacey already has "a good sidewalk system." That comment might lead a skeptic to wonder how much else they missed. The consultants, still basking in the illusion that mall parking is easier and more enticing than parking at curbside, break out of the status quo rut sufficiently to urge expanded on-street parking on those proposed new streets. But not much is said about public transit. In fact, nearly every transportation change mentioned, except narrowing Sixth Avenue from four lanes to two, goes against transit. And this at the end of the 20th Century. "Ma and Pa" stores should be encouraged along more attractive streets downtown, the report says. New buildings should extend to sidewalks and have many windows. "No blank walls within view." How that squares with Lacey's past mania for - or tolerance of - faceless buildings was not explained. Proposed transportation improvements are more conventional than inspirational. But new bicycle lanes, more sidewalks, on-street parking, a better street grid and improved traffic signing should be welcomed by every Laceyite. Probably the boldest innovation is the redesigning of Sleater-Kinney Street. "The shopping environment will be similar to a traditional main street with store fronts and ample sidewalks," the report says. That part of the plan is also likely to run into the most opposition. "Portions of the mall [the closest the team gets to mentioning South Sound] parking lot could redevelop with a new street grid which provides better access to existing stores and creates sites for future mixed development." The overall plan similarly invites participation in exchange for cooperation in other areas. Just how the plan will be received by the growth-at-any-cost group that has steered Lacey into an uncoordinated morass is still to be seen. Most residents of Lacey, as well as the rest of us in Thurston County, owe at least two cheers to those who sought this advice. Growth without thought for its consequences has for too long been the engine of change all through the county. What a beautiful irony if scruffy Lacey leads all the rest of us to sanity. Bon Voyage, Lacey. Better 35 years too late than never. Mike Layton is a staff writer for the Green Pages.
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