Duwamish River Festival

By Scott Price

Aug

18

The Duwamish River Festival will come back to the Duwamish River Park this Saturday August 23rd from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

The festival offers live music and dance, kayak tours, homemade tamales, recycled art activity, photos with Bert the Salmon, fun, family-friendly activities, prizes, and information.

Duwamish River Festival

Event Schedule:
11:00 a.m. – Welcome by Masters of Ceremonies, Penny LeGate / DJ Vector
11:30 a.m. – Duwamish Tribe’s Tilibshudub (Singing Feet) dance performance
12:15 p.m. – Pinata Party with Carmen Martinez
12:45 p.m. – Joyas Mestizas folk dance performance
1:30 p.m. – Stanley Alleyne Caribbean steel drums
2:30 p.m. – Recycled Art Parade
2:30 p.m. – Stanley Alleyne Caribbean steel drums

• Kayak Tours at 1:00 and 2:00 p.m.
• Raffle awards each hour – Mariners tickets, a sunset kayak cruise, & prizes
• Kids activities, bounce-house, and dunk tank all day

The following groups will perform:
• Master of Ceremonies: Penny LeGate
• Stanley Alleyne – Caribbean Steel Drum Music
• Mexican Folk Dance group Joyas Mestizas
• Duwamish Tribe T’ilibshudub “Singing Feet”

Duwamish River Festival parking map for Duwamish River Park neighborhood

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Extra Economic Value of Waterfront

By Scott Price

Aug

10

Bill Virgin, the Seattle PI’s veteran business reporter, recently wrote an interesting article about area economic development efforts behind capitalizing on community waterfront locations. His article’s opening remarks are worth repeating. The concept certainly applies to individual waterfront homes as well as large scale waterfront community development:

“Our ancestors may have crawled out of the water millions of years ago, but we haven’t traveled far since then. Even in our present, highly evolved form, if we’re not playing on or in the water, then we like to live, dine or work next to water, or just spend a lot of time staring at water.

No denying it, water still holds considerable allure for humans. People flock to cities on water. And when humans want something that is in relatively finite supply, then its value goes up.”

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Urban Waterfront Revitalization

By Scott Price

Aug

9

“Stodgy and industrial” Bremerton has been getting a reputation for thinking outside of its historical box in terms of how to best make its waterfront a centerpiece for the community and economic development. The Bremerton Naval Shipyard and the Washington State ferry terminal had long been the primary utilitarian focus along the shoreline. Now parks, residential condos, convention center, and more are already underway, all centered around the waterfront.

The mayor of Bremerton – who was previously the mayor of Bellevue – has been learning from the positive and negative experiences of other waterfront communities around Puget Sound, Lake Washington, and the entire country. As an outgrowth of his community’s efforts, the Urban Waterfront Revitalization Conference is planned for September 10-12, 2008 at the Kitsap Conference Center in Bremerton (brochure). This conference is also being used to spearhead formation of the nascent group called Urban Waterfront Alliance.

Urban Waterfront Revitalization Conference 2008 at Kitsap Conference Center in Bremerton

The program (or see the program brochure) has a very interesting and diverse line-up. Here is their summary:

“The program addresses core concepts from projects at all stages, from strategy to implementation and beyond. Sessions will feature stories from individual communities – large and small – transforming their waterfronts. The program will also cover key areas such as:

Celebrating and Marketing Your Waterfront
Public and Pedestrian Waterfront Access
Transportation Access Issues
Urban Waterfront Housing
Sustainable Waterfronts
Public Engagement
Financing Your Project
Design and Built Elements”

It looks to be an intriguing conference for anyone desiring to expand the community value of local large scale waterfront concepts.

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