4 the Birds!!!

Remember Tippi Hedren riding into town in her sporty convertable wearing a silver mink and a distant look. The last thing she was thinking about is the towns bird population. By the time Hitchcock was through with her, we never looked at birds the same. The past couple of weeks have left me feeling a little bit like Tippi minus the fur, flash car, and beak bites.

Since I moved back to the big city(Seattle) from the small town I was living in(Tumwater), I have been attacked by birds, or so it seems. They are everywhere! on the ground, in the are, on the roof, on my CAR!! Every morning at 5am I here a symphony of birds outside my window on my neighbors roof. When I lived in Tumwater, a woodpecker would drill on my roof around the same time but I expected it out in the burbs. The urbanite in me wants to figure out a way to get rid of them ,however the environmentalist in me is starting to find them fascinating. Birds are probably the most visible wildlife species in urban environments. Humans seem to have a love hate relationship with birds. On the one hand we admire their physical beauty and ability to fly(who doesn't want to sprout wings and take off), on the other hand we mock their intelligence and hunt them for sport. Culturally we have decided birds should live in freedom and in the wilds of nature in the woods or on some protected land designated for wildlife habitat. The thought of a urban neighborhood as a wildlife sanctuary for birds to thrive in may seem revolutionary to some, but recent studies of city birds and rural birds are finding that city birds may have better survival skills than their rural kin. These skills may help them adjust to climate change and make them better candidates for natural selection in the future. Studies are showing that birds raised in urban environments are starting to develop biological resistances to noise and air pollution. They also seem to deal with physical stress much better than rural birds. Some scientist call birds 'feathered dinosaur's' and predict the urban species are going to be the ones that survive extinction. The ones who do will be in spite of us humans. Ornithophobia seems to be particularly high in cities, a fact Hitchcock exploited masterfully. People in cities feel more comfortable dealing with domestic birds in cages than wildlife in the streets. Unfortunately, most urbanites only notice birds when they are in their trash or pooping on their windshield, or as Rachel Carson pointed out, when they are extinct. My research is making more aware of birds and how they coexist in my city environment. Crows and pigeons are transforming from pests that need eradication, to noisy neighbors who have squatting rights like anybody else.

Seattle

Due to my lack of funding, I have decided to research parks in Seattle instead of Chicago. I plan to go to the windy city one day, I just can't afford to go now. Seattle is my hometown and the parks I plan to visit fit my research criteria. It will be interesting to see how the parks I have grown up with stack up academically. I will give a list of the parks I plan to visit in each city next week and I will be visiting the parks during the month of may.

More Urban Poetry

Here is one of my favorite poems by my friend Kristen. It was written when she worked at Freeway Park in Seattle.

Urban Poetry

Here's a poem written by my dear friend Kristen Spexarth. Kristen was my supervisor when I worked for the UW landscape maintenance department in 2003. She not only lives, works, and nourishes the urban landscape, she is a very talented writer. She has written a book called " Passing Reflections", here is a sample of her work:


Mirror — 2 November 12, 2006

The three of us stood
shoulder to shoulder
street corner, waiting for the light
each in uniform, different.

On my left a woman who reeked
of wealth, the kind of plenty
that lives in fear
rigid, bronzed exterior,
coated by an elegant patina
she slipped through space
as if fully greased
so anointed was her demeanor.

On my right the woman held a sign
requesting help or a dollar
or just a smile,
bent from a weight
I could not discern
her clothes, a patchwork of poverty.

And I was in full gardener regalia
rain boots and rain pants and
bright yellow slicker
basted in mud and leaf debris
the rain had glued on like batter,
garbage bag full of collected litter,
bent a little from the weight of the load
but trying to keep my humor.

I turned to my fellows, waiting
for the light, the one on my left,
the one on my right,
and on the left I was greeted by
pride so severe
she could not acknowledge me
standing there, inches away
with warmth to share,
to her I appeared invisible.

So I turned to my right and smiled
and was greeted by a gift of grace,
a warmth of heart, acknowledgement
of the journey shared,
this living in a human form
in such varied aspects
we become confused
forgetting each other a mirror.

Diversity???

As I research the parks I plan to visit and develop criteria for my research, the subject of diversity keeps coming up. I was born and raised in Seattle WA. in the cities Central District and Beacon Hill neighborhoods. Both areas are known for their cultural and racial diversities. The people I grew up with are from all types of races and cultural backgrounds. My religious background is equally diverse. Both my grandmothers are fundamentalist Christians, I went to a Lutheran school for 12 years,my father almost converted to Islam (a lot of his friends are Muslim), and I went to catholic mass with my stepmother regularly for ten years. On top of all of that, I,m Black/African American. I thought my life was a text book example of "Diversity". However, my diverse background is not economically diverse AT ALL. My research on diversity in parks in big cities has made it clear that real diversity involves economics. The goods and services in a community usually reflect the economic majority in the community. People who live in communities with money have better schools, stores, and access to the environment. People in poor communities usually have poor quality goods and services, and limited to know access to the environment. I'm realizing that even in big cities that are not geographically huge and most of the residents live relatively close to each other. The neighborhoods they live in are not economically diverse. Urbanites are some of the most economically segregated people in America.
Whenever I talk about cultural and racial diversity people are all over it. We have come a long way in the past 50 years in this country when it comes to respecting peoples differences. Race, gender, and sexual equality are a big part of our current national cultural debate and tolerance( I hate that word) for people who are different has become our politically correct societal norm. As soon as I start talking about people of different economic status living together, I can here the fingernails clawing the blackboard written all over their PC faces. The divisions between rich and poor in America is rapidly expanding and most people don't want to be associated with the poor side.The city of Seattle is turning what used to be lower income housing projects into mixed income communities. The idea is that people from upper to lower class income brackets will 'buy' homes in these developments to promote diversity and upward mobility. If the idea works, it could be a model of real ecological democracy. I had a conversation about this with my mother, who is a child of the civil rights movement, single mother, dreadlock wearing feminist, who ironically was raised in one of the projects being renovated." who really want's to live with poor people" she said as her eyes rolled . I couldn't believe that she actually said it even though her attitude is the prevailing one. From militant black folks to liberal college professors, many eyebrows have raised when I talk about the have and have nots cohabiting. A lot of people want to end poverty, but have no interest in poor people, especially living next to them.

Economics are a big part of diversity that our bling obsessed society loves to overlook. We think the best way to give poor people a voice is to eliminate poverty through charity or other subsidies. These efforts are well intentioned , but they do not facilitate true democracy. Whether we chose to see the poor people amongst us or not, their voices and needs are vital to real diversity and ecological democracy. We are diligently working for equal rights in this country and marginalize the poor at the same time, as if they don't count.

Yes I was born a poor black child to an unwed mother in the ghetto, but my upbringing is more middle class than impoverished. Seattle is home to some of the wealthiest people on the planet and the community's attitudes reflect that. More and more of the city is being designed for upwardly mobile residents, marginalizing the poor and low income. The fear of being "poor" is palpable these days so people run from it as fast as they can. When the poor have a place at our collective table and we acknowledge the real economic differences between us, only then will we achieve true "diversity" and maybe that will put us on a path to ecological democracy.

Sociopetal vs Sociofugal

             I have been trying to figure out the criteria for my research method for the parks I'm going to visit, and I came across sociopetal vs sociofugal design and found it interesting.
sociopetal: arranged so that each can see and interact with the others
sociofugal: arranged so that each can maintain some privacy from the others

         Being a student at Evergreen, I'm very familiar with sociopetal spaces designed to facilitate connectedness. Every time you walk into the library or use the computer center you have a full on sociopetal experience ready or not. Its interesting to stop and take a look around the public places you are at during the day and see how they are designed and what that design facilitates. Airports are notorious for being sociofugally designed. DMV's and traditional class rooms are frequent offenders of sociofugal design also. Public parks and open spaces are a mixed bag. Parks with athletic fields/courts and playground equipment usually uses sociopetal design to facilitate connectedness with people and others in their community(sociopetal). Large open spaces with paths and vista's usually facilitate connectedness with people and their environment(sociofugal). Each experience is important to us as individuals and collectively. I plan to visit parks in the urban environment that are sociopetally designed to connect people and activities that traditionally don't go hand.
             The "circle" or the "ring" is the basic sociofugal icon. When people are in a circle it makes it almost impossible not to make eye contact. When groups of people want to bond, they usually do it in a circle. Athletes huddle, campers gather around the fire, Knights strategize at the 'round table', having to look someone in the eye at close proximity brings out an honesty in people for better or worse. Even though urbanites live in densely populated area's, a lot of us don't really connect with our neighbor's. Neighborhood parks are a good place to bring people together and the way they are designed is crucial in determining socialpetal or socialfugal experiences.

Individual Contract STUFF

Good news and bad news. The good news is my Individual contract "Big City Sustainability Tour" was approved(YEA!). The funding I planned was not approved(BOOOO!). As I lick my wounds and figure out how to pay my travel expenses, here are my learning objectives for the contract
-Objective 1
To answer the question" Do urban municipal parks in Chicago, New York, and Oakland facilitate sustainable connectedness in terms of ecological democracy?
Activities
Visit municipal Parks in Chicago, New York, and Oakland. Visit four parks in each city and determine whether each park facilitates connectedness between community and environment, business and municipality, or a combination of all four.Use research methods based in ecologically democratic theory . Post my research on a blog.
-Objective 2
To create a dialogue between myself, people who work/represent the municipalities I have researched and plan to visit, and people in the environmental community about where and how communities become connected to form Ecological Democracies. Create a blog to post my past, current, and future Big City Sustainability research and work.
Activities
Communicate via internet(blog,email,etc) with people in my community and in the cities I have researched and plan to visit, about community connectedness and Ecological Democracy Theory in general.
-Objective 3
To compile my research and observations of the cities I have visited and write a paper describing my findings and how they relate to community Connectedness regarding Ecological Democracy theory.
Activities
Write a 1000-1500 word essay on my visits to each city(Chicago,New York,Oakland). The essay's will report on the entities/events in the cities and how they facilitate connectedness in their communities.
-Objective 4
To work with my sponsor and other instructors to improve my academic skills regarding research and writing.
Activities
Receive feedback and suggestions from sponsor and other instructors regarding academic writing and research methods. Work with writing center to go over drafts of essays.

If anyone has any good idea's on how to travel and stay in NYC, Chicago or Oakland, PLEASE let me know. Any academic critiques and suggestions I'm also open too( remember I'm thin skinned and have a huge ego..LOL). I'm pl

anning on traveling during May so I have got to get on it. I will keep you posted