Avioding big box thinking

I have tried to not cross a certain line with this blog. It has gathered dust for days, and then weeks, I may have even gone a month. I have tried to keep it positive (because that is the only way to BE) and not ramble about the details of my job. I don't think that I talking about my job would be neither very professional nor very exciting to people who don’t live or are familiar with Whatcom County. It is very interesting, political, controversial, meaningful (I keep trying to tell myself and coworkers this) and a job in a crappy economy.


Don't worry; this post is not about work, the county council, the current election results and what that means for our county, budget cuts..... Wipe your eyes NOW if they are glazed over already!

I want you to imagine a county that put the highest value on agricultural land, on open spaces, on the preservation of large parcels of land, on healthy drinking water, on future water demands, on watersheds. I can imagine here in Whatcom County, a five lane highway (atrocity) that is NOT lined with big box stores, commercial strip malls, fast food joints, PARKING LOTS (!). Whatcom County can be that county, the one to say NO to strip development. Just because there is a five lane highway does not mean there needs to be stores and houses bursting at the gills. I drove down the Guide here in Whatcom County. There is hope, it is not "too far gone for help" as some people say. We don't have to live in strip mall hell. We don't have to put ourselves through it, there are other ways!

Stepping down off my soap box! PHEW!

Planning and public

I am going to be brief, I know that many people would rather gouge their eyes out than talk about planning and policy issues in Whatcom County. Wait, I take that back, people don't want to talk about zoning or comprehensive planning until they have an issue. I understand. This is the crux of my job. How do we educate people before hand so they why we are doing what we are.
Good news, I lived through my first Planning Commission. One of the first steps in my effort to be a "planner."
Here are a few articles from the Bellingham Herald dramatizing, creating fear and and pandemonium in rural Whatcom County:

Poll: Residents think Whatcom County is growing too much
JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Whatcom County landowners could lose development potential
JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD