Four the Future - December 31

Part two of a two-part climate change focus: what's being done because of global climate change. You can find part one here. Go ahead and take a look, I'll wait. Go on.

• Obama drops plan to limit global warming gases (Federal Response, Part One)
  Source: Washington Post; November 3, 2010
  Summary: Due to political reasons, the Obama administration has dropped its proposal to regulate greenhouse gases through a cap-and-trade system. The proposal passed the House, but it was blocked in the Senate. Obama claims there are other ways to get the job done.
  Opinion: This is not a Democratic/Republican thing, or else it would have passed when the Democrats had a supermajority. This is a matter of whether the US legislative branch has enough statesmen to actually do their job. The answer is clear. But hopefully, the people in this next story will give Congresscritters some backbone....
  
• Climate scientists fighting back (Climatologists' Response)
  Source: Spokesman-Review; November 8, 2010
  Summary: Though traditionally scientists attempt to stay out of the political fray, many have decided that the threat of climate change is too great to be left to the politicians. Originally of the opinion that the truth would win out, they have seen two decades go by without sufficient action. They are now changing their strategy. The American Geophysical Union announced that 700 climatologists will be available to speak as climate experts to ensure that the threat is being conveyed accurately.
  Opinion: It's unfortunate that truth is not a respected commodity in politics, so it was inevitable that people with more credibility than politicians would be necessary to straighten this out. You'd think it wouldn't be that hard to find people more credible than politicians, but that's not actually how people think. Mostly, people believe people who tell them things that confirm their preconceptions. But, that's a topic for another time, and another blog....
  
• As nations dither on climate change, big cities step up (Cities' Response)
  Source: McClatchy; November 23, 2010
  Summary: Much of the world’s economic activity occurs in cities, so some large cities want to start playing a role in dealing with climate change rather than wait for their national governments. Consequently, several cities joined in the UN climate change talks this month.
  Opinion: This is effort is not new. Former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels initiated the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement that allows cities to commit to the goals of the Kyoto Treaty. As of December 20, 2010, there were 1044 cities ( map) which have signed on, including Spokane and Sandpoint. However, having the cities asserting themselves at the international level is new, and a sign that the US federal government is making itself irrelevant through inaction.
  
• Poor countries join the rich in agreeing to monitor emissions (International Response)
  Source: McClatchy; December 11, 2010
  Summary: The UN climate change talks were successful, but stopped short of a full treaty. All countries, including the major powers, approved what is known as the Cancun agreements. The agreements commit nations to cutting emissions, includes monitoring of the greenhouse gas emissions of emerging nations, such as China, and creates a Green Climate Fund to help poor countries adapt to climate change, $30 billion to start, and $100 billion annually beginning in 2020. The agreement buoys hope for a treaty at the next climate conference next year in Durban, South Africa.
  Opinion: It would be helpful for me if anyone could tell me the difference between an agreement and a treaty. I’m not sure how an agreement could commit a country to a task if it's not solemnized as treaty. I’ll put it on my to-do list, but if you happen to know, please let us all know!
  
• EPA to set pollution limits on power plants, refineries (Federal Response, Part Two)
  Source: McClatchy; December 23, 2010
  Summary: The EPA is adopting standards which will reduce allowable carbon emissions from new and heavily renovated refineries and fossil fuel burning power plants. This new regulation is made under the authority of the Clean Air Act. The new regulation does not affect current plants. Existing plants (about 500 coal-fired plants and 150 refineries) are unaffected until states adopt their own regulations under EPA guidelines to be published in 2015 or 2016. The current set of proposed regulations will be issued in 2011 and put into effect in 2012.
  Opinion: The Bush administration argued that the EPA did not want to regulate carbon emissions, but in 2007 the US Supreme Court said that it was required to determine whether carbon emissions were a threat before it could decide to do nothing about it. Two years later a proposed finding and a final ruling found that that carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride constitute a threat to public health and welfare, and that they had reached unprecedented levels due to human activity. With that finding, the EPA was obligated to issue regulations to treat them as pollutants. Which just goes to show that elections matter (as to whether science is respected or not).
  

Four the Future - December 29

The first of a two-part 'Four the Future' to end the year in an attempt to influence your New Year's resolutions. Today, the effects of climate change; next time, what some people are doing about it.

• NOAA: Warming Arctic unlikely to return to how it was
  Source: McClatchy; October 21, 2010
  Summary: NOAA’s annual arctic report card states that the changes to the arctic are likely to be permanent, and the weather in the United States will be affected as a result. The melting of the arctic caused last year’s extreme cold in eastern North America, northern Europe and east Asia. Greenland had its warmest year on record, and sea level rise will be greater than predicted. Sea ice cover was one of the lowest on record.
  
  
  
  Opinion: Last year when climate change deniers like Senator Coburn (R-OK) were laughing about how last winter’s extreme cold in Washington D.C. (“Snowpocalypse”) was making a fool of Al Gore, they were actually observing the effects of climate change.
  
• If an island state vanishes, is it still a nation?
  Source: Yahoo! News; December 6, 2010
  Summary: As the sea level rises, nations such as the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu are on the verge of literally disappearing. When it happens, do those countries still exist? No nation has simply disappeared of the face of the earth. Consequently, international law is silent on the issue. And what of the people: are they stateless? And what of their exclusive economic zones owed them due to their nations’ existence? Do they lose the right to fish and prospect in those areas? And what of their seats in the United Nations?
  Opinion: We make assumptions all the time about what the world will be like in the future. The nature of sovereignty in international law apparently still requires the occupation of dry land. Is that necessary? Is the nature of sovereignty such that you must have dirt to exercise it? Of course, it may all be moot. Other nations might want to acquire the oceans that these atoll nations currently possess, so they may be sacrificed, along with these native people’s rights, unless there are other alternatives.
  
• Columbia dam plan ‘ugly,’ fish backers say
  Source: Spokesman-Review; October 30, 2010
  Summary: NOAA has been sued (again) for failing to deliver a salmon recovery plan for the Columbia River. They are charged with failing to offer a plan based on science. While NOAA’s plan does include information regarding climate change, the latest charge is that there is no plan to mitigate any of the anticipated changes.
  Opinion: This has been going on for years, and it appears likely to go on. The judge for this case has rejected earlier plans for lack of scientific basis, so if the charges are true, this will go on.
  
• International investors issue global warming warning
  Source: Los Angeles Times; November 16, 2010
  Summary: 259 asset managers and owners representing one quarter of the world’s capitalization urged the world, and especially the United States, to deal with climate change or face massive economic disruptions.
  Opinion: Asset managers are only interested in the financial success of the companies in which they invest. They see the world being less worthy of investment if the dire consequences of climate change are not addressed. They are now making the economic case for dealing with climate change. Next time, we’ll see what’s been happening lately.
  

Part two....

Four the Future - December 27

Today, a macroeconomic view of the national economy and a discussion of a real problem which begs for long-range planning.

• Many Americans are being more careful with their spending
  Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; November 12, 2010
  Summary: People’s spending habits are beginning to change. Looking for bargains is becoming a badge of honor. Bargain shops, including places like Goodwill, had a stigma, but those days have passed for many shoppers. One previously high-end shopper said, "My spending patterns will probably be a lot more conservative for the rest of my life."
  Opinion: Many people who lived through the Great Depression also had different spending habits from those who came after. When planners analyze economic growth projections, the prospect of a return of the ultra-consumerism of the last couple decades should not be accepted without significant evidence.
  
• Iron fences just aren’t for everyone
  Source: Spokesman-Review; October 9, 2010
  Summary: The income gap between the richest and poorest increased to the greatest level ever. It’s not all bad: the rich seem to like it a lot. The top 20 percent of the population made almost 50 percent of the income. Those making $180,000 per year saw their incomes go up. Those earning $50,000 or less saw their incomes decrease. The 400 richest people in America made more money than the lowest 50 percent combined, more than 150,000,000 people. This is not new. In 1780s France, there was a huge gap in incomes. Of course, there were some bad moments for the rich including "several uprisings, a few guillotines." In the end, it all worked out (due, in part, to the guillotines).
  Opinion: We don’t even have to go that far back. The 1920’s demonstrated what was going to happen. Regulations were put in place to prevent another Great Depression. The plan was to separate commercial banking (which provided loans for things such as buildings) from investment banking (which takes higher risks to increase profits). There are other factors, but when those regulations were repealed in the 1990’s, they created the conditions necessary for the housing bubble. However, Congress doesn’t seem to have the statesmanship necessary to fix the problem this time.
  
• Make Gov Work Sayrs Call-in
  Source: MakeGovWork; December 17, 2010
  Summary: The taxpayers with the highest incomes receive all of the same tax cuts as the middle class, yet the tax cut bill gives additional tax cuts beyond that. It seems unreasonable that people making $250,000 should be considered middle-class. The wealth inequality in America is causing inflation even as wages are going down, in part because the richest people in America, with their excess wealth, invest it in various industries. These industries are not worth more, but their cost does up because of excess investment case. Consequently, there is has been a succession of bubbles: the dot.com bubble, followed by the housing bubble, then the petroleum bubble. The people who suffer from this are the lower and middle classes.
  
  
  
  Opinion: Now, in this context, see how it affects the local economy, and the Spokesman-Review's uncritical boosterism....
• Modest hopes harbored for commercial real estate
  Source: Spokesman-Review; December 12, 2010
  Summary: The River View Corporate Center in Spokane Valley lacks tenants. There is relatively high vacancy in the region, especially in the valley, making it a renter's market. Vacancy in downtown Spokane for Class A office space is 8 percent, but 17 percent for Class B space. More people will enter the market when it hits bottom, especially when they realize the stock market won't perform as well. The tax cut deal in Washington, D.C., is buoying hope that there will be more investment in commercial real estate.
  Opinion: Please note that it's a problem that it's a renter's market, but, apparently, that the problem will be solved when Congress puts us deeper in debt by encouraging the richest among us to continue with their distortionary investments. Seriously, is this our only alternative?

Four the Future - December 22

Changes, and their regional ripple effects, in and around Riverfront Park.

• YWCA’s riverfront land sold for $3.2 million
  Source: Spokesman-Review; December 17, 2010
  Summary: The land on the north side of the river where the YWCA used to be has been sold to Lawrence Stone. The property overlooks the north channel of the river.
  Opinion: This property is situated north of Anthony’s, west of the pedestrian bridge to Riverfront Park’s Canada Island, east of the future Native American museum, and two blocks from the Arena. Any function there would be well advised to take advantage of the high community and tourist traffic. Perhaps a mix of retail and some professional offices with upper level residential to overlook the falls would be profitable. A quick jaunt over to Spokane’s site selector would help determine appropriate long term uses. By all means, however, make sure you have good public access along the top of the gorge so that people can easily travel through your property to get between the arena, bridge, museum, and restaurant. It will give you the opportunity to sell something to them on the way without having to supply them with a parking space.
  
• Beware Of Falling Trees-- City Removing 26 Trees From Riverfront Park
  Source: KHQ; December 17, 2010
  Summary: After Expo ’74, Riverfront Park was deliberately overplanted. Now, nearly 4 decades later, they are in the middle of their lifespan. Some are diseased and many are crowded. Thinning them will give the remaining trees the chance to reach their full potential. The trees will be used for mulch or given to SNAP or other charities to help low-income families heat their homes.
  Opinion: It’s important to maintain a mix of trees, both in species and age, so they don’t all die at the same time. Maintaining the mix sometimes means direct action. There are over 1000 trees in the park, so this is less than 3% of the trees. I wonder if anyone would notice if it weren’t mentioned.
  
• Commission: YMCA ineligible for historic listing
  Source: Spokesman-Review; December 16, 2010
  Summary: The Spokane City-County Historic Landmarks Commission voted unanimously to find the YMCA lacking in historic value. The YMCA is expected to be demolished in February.
  Opinion: My recent experience has taught me that this is the correct ruling. The Avista building on Mission has a similar architectural style, and the testimony tended to indicate that the YMCA building didn't have a significant role in Expo '74. Preserving this building for historic reasons isn’t the right path. Preserving it, or replacing it with another structure, for its usefulness in providing functionality to the park would be the right decision.
  
• Editorial: Natural area acquisitions suffer from YMCA deal
  Source: Spokesman-Review; December 12, 2010
  Summary: The hasty purchase of the YMCA building by the Park Board, followed by Spokane City Council's acceptance of Spokane County's offer to bailout the board, has placed a huge burden on the otherwise popular Conservations Futures program. Worthy lands are being offered to the public in lieu of inappropriate development, but they will not be protected because of the purchase of the YMCA, which has taken up approximately one third of all the costs of the program.
  Opinion: Not to mention the failure to keep the property as a useful contributor to the tax rolls. The sale of the YWCA land across the river shows that there is interest in making the property work, and Mark Pinch's offer to keep the land along the river open to the public shows he understood this property's correct role. In the end, this property has been wasted, and the result will be additional sprawl on the lands not preserved by the program.
  

Four the Future - December 20

The current controversy over the construction of a new Spokane County Jail.

• King County faces glut of jail space
  Source: Seattle Times; December 8, 2010
  Summary: King County has such a large a glut of space in their jail that they are reducing their per inmate fees to the cities in order to stay competitive. This is despite increasing costs.
  
  
  In addition, there are several cities in south King County which are considering the construction of another jail. The council is considering a reduction in the corrections workforce, but the last time the King County Council reduced the number of corrections officers, their union sponsored an initiative to reduce the number of county council members to 9 from 13. If the number of inmates continues to decrease, they will consider closing the Kent jail.
  
• Medical Lake site chosen for jail in 2-1 vote
  Source: Spokesman-Review; September 29, 2010
  Summary: Spokane County Commissioners voted 2-1 (Mielke and Richard in favor, Mager opposed) to adopt the "Medical Lake" site for the new county jail and voted, by the same margin, to declare an emergency to exempt the necessary land use change from the normal comprehensive plan amendment schedule. The site at the I-90 Medical Lake exit was chosen despite two consecutive studies that recommended a site near the county courthouse. Operational costs at the downtown site are lower due to transportation costs. The comprehensive plan will still need to be amended to allow the jail at that location. Sheriff Knezovich said that the downtown jail is overcrowded and the Geiger Corrections Center is unsafe. Spokane County laid off 67 corrections officers this summer due to a reduction in inmate population. Spokane County Commissioners have scheduled a ballot measure for April to raise taxes to build the jail. A group called "No New Jail Project" has been formed to oppose it.
  Opinion: The first time the recommendation favored the downtown site, the same county commissioners (Mielke and Richard) didn't like it. So, they ordered a new study so they could get an answer they liked. But, the second study said the same thing: build it adjacent to the county courthouse. The are significant advantages to having the jail near the courthouse that can't be swept away by simply doing a new study. Not only is it better for transportation issues, but for providing services to the people who are being incarcerated and their families. Also, for those who are not incarcerated but can benefit from the same kinds of family- and community-centered services, having a downtown location is better for them as well.
  
• Jail site choice a crime
  Source: Spokesman-Review; December 16, 2010
  Summary: A letter to the editor by Bart Haggin. The jail shouldn’t be placed out on the West Plains. The transportation costs will be huge. Better, yet, don’t build it at all because "building more jails and prisons to prevent crime is like loosening your belt to prevent obesity."
  Opinion: Since transportation costs escalate faster than general inflation, and the indirect costs of sprawl is also well understood (after all, this new jail will need sewer and water services and new roads, etc.), the 40-year ROI that Mielke and Richard cites is actually not anywhere near that long. In the final calculation, Mielke and Richard are seeking the more expensive option.
  
• County Jail Populations Drop: So What Should We Do?
  Source: American Civil Liberties Union of Washington; December 14, 2010
  Summary: While several King County cities are considering the construction of a new jail and Spokane County will be asking for funding for a new jail in spring 2011, jail populations are going down and jails are experiencing a glut of space. The lessons here are: 1) population forecasts are unreliable, and are determined by policy changes not societal factors; 2) crime rates have been going down for decades, but populations have increased despite it; 3) alternatives to incarceration are working, so investments should be in rehabilitation programs, not new jails.
  Opinion: No one claims to know why there is a drop, but it's acknowledged that a large part is the increased use of rehabilitative programs, rather than merely storage of offenders in little boxes where they can turn bitter and learn the more advanced skills they could not out on the streets. It is easy to conceptualize that separating people from society makes them less connected to society, and less concerned about society's welfare. Keeping them with their families and in society could, for those who can be rehabilitated, reduce recidivism. Ironically, recent cuts reduced the alternatives program in Spokane County. So, who knows, perhaps the Spokane County Commissioners will increase crime enough to need the jail after all.
  

Four the Future - December 17

Today: Housing, casinos, panhandling, and community organizing. Theme? We don't need no stinkin' theme....

• U.S. Home Prices Face 3-Year Drop as Inventory Surge Looms
  Source: Bloomberg; September 15, 2010
  Summary: After the exuberant homebuilding over the past decade and the foreclosure crisis, the nation is facing a much larger inventory of housing than is necessary to house the population. Homebuyers sense that there’s too much inventory, and seem to be waiting for prices to keep coming down. The median price of a previously owned home is $182,600, equivalent to 2003 levels. Analysts are predicting a further price drop of 5% to up to 15%. In Nevada, 68% of homes were "underwater," or more money was owed on the mortgage than the house was worth.
  Opinion: Investing in sprawl real estate is a losing deal for multiple reasons. In addition to falling property values, the governments don’t have enough resources to provide services, either. Looks like it wasn't sustainable. The communities which bought into it weren't resilient enough to retain their value.
• Proposed Airway Heights Casino could have national implications
  Source: Indian Country Today; October 6, 2010
  Summary: Tribes are permitted to build casinos off of their reservations provided that there is some reason why the reservation itself is unable to host a casino. In the case of the Kalispel Tribe, a casino was built in Airway Heights, Washington, because their reservation "located on a flood plain with no potable water" met the criteria. The Kalispel is now arguing that the Spokane Tribe, whose aboriginal land the City of Airway Heights now sits, should not be permitted to build there, too, because the Spokane reservation is larger and already supports multiple casinos. According to Kalispel Tribal Business Council member Nick Pierre, "If a purely market driven desire becomes an approved exception to federal law regulating where a casino can be built, it will become a dangerous model for our communities and our tribes."
  Opinion: Echoes of European treatment of the tribal communities that preceded them. As tribes rightfully begin to assert their inherent sovereignty, there will be more and more issues like these. A great deal of work will need to be done to resolve these issues, and good strategic, communicative, and potentially advocate planning must have a major role in it.
• Millwood officials report sharp rise in panhandling
  Source: Spokesman-Review; October 16, 2010
  Summary: Spokane Valley passed a panhandling law. Now neighboring Millwood is experiencing a sharp increase. They are not sure what they are going to do about it, or even if it is a long term issue.
  Opinion: Spokane Valley’s ordinance doesn’t go to the root of the problem (poverty, joblessness, etc.) so it could not be expected to have done anything except move the problem. You can’t solve problems by treating the symptoms. You need to treat the disease.
• Neighbor group sues over parking lot
  Source: Spokesman-Review; December 16, 2010
  Summary: Families of Manito has appealed the hearings examiner’s decision to allow the construction of a larger parking lot for St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.
  Opinion: There is something going on in this area of the city where community members are taking on developments and the city. They community around Manito Park has already elected a couple of city council members due to its members networking activity. Whether you think there should be greater parking in this area or not, the existence of ongoing community activity is remarkable.

Summary and Discussion of "Spatializing Culture"

What follows is a report I wrote on an article on two open spaces in downtown San José, Costa Rica, which may very well have bearing on Spokane's culture. --Brian

---

Two open spaces in downtown San José (see Map 1), Costa Rica, are compared by the way they were constructed and by the way they are used in extracts from an article by Dr. Setha M. Low in "Theorizing the City: The New Urban Anthropology Reader," published in 1999 by Rutgers University (CUNY Graduate Center PhD Program in Anthropology).


Map 1: Parque Central and Plaza de la Cultura, San José, Costa Rica (Google, Inc.)
Parque Central is marked, Plaza de la Cultura is one block north and three blocks east,
adjacent to the blue roofed building.

Parque Central

The Central Park ("Parque Central," see Figure 1) was established shortly after the founding of the city in 1751. Like many plazas of its time, the park was surrounded by civic and religious buildings and operated as a center for the exercise of political power. The cultural histories of Europe, expressed through elements of medieval bastides, and Mesoamerica, expressed through elements of plaza-temple complexes, can be seen in such colonial constructs. The very way they are constructed is a social statement made manifest.


Figure 1: Panoramic Photo of Parque Central from the southeast corner. The 1944 kiosk is on the left, Catedral Metropolitana is on the right (Redondo, Panoramica Parque Central San Jose Costa Rica image by delpierocr on Photobucket).

The park maintained its form into the mid- to late 19th century when an English fountain, iron fence, and wooden Victorian kiosk ("kiosko") were added. Apparently, however, some changes went too far: a protest ensued when a single tree was cut down in 1902. At this same time, a transition was underway. While there was still the perception that the park was populated by the elite, photographic evidence shows that workers and members of the middle class are evident.

The conflict between the elite and common folk is ongoing, as evidenced by the controversy over the removal of the original kiosk in 1944 in favor of a giant cement replacement. "The citizens who are attempting to reconstitute Parque Central in its elite turn-of-the-century image are not the daily users or the municipal designers but professional and middle-class residents who yearn for an idealized past" (Low, 2010, p. 286). The conflict is not over the physical structure itself, but over "the meaning and appropriate use of public space" (Low, 2010, p. 286).

Upper class families have left the urban environment, so Parque Central is left to the poor and working classes. The "informal economy is very visible in Parque Central" (Low, 2010, p. 287) with shoeshine men, vendors, salespeople, day laborers, sex workers, and fencers. The sign of what Low refers to as "middle-class businesspeople and nonusers" (2010, p. 287) is seen through increased police presence.

Different groups possess different areas of the Parque Central, but the geography does change slowly over time. The shoeshine men are located in the northeast corner and though they have no legal standing to do so, they intend to pass their locations down to their heirs. Real estate agents take up space on the benches. Pensioners spent their days in the southeast corner, but moved to the inner ring because of the odor from the buses. There are clowns, but they spend less time in Parque Central as the conditions at the Plaza de la Cultura are more conducive to receiving tips.

Plaza de la Cultura

The Plaza of Culture ("Plaza de la Cultura", see Figure 2) is a newer space, having been constructed after the demolition of a number of other privately held and, in some cases, historically significant buildings. The plan was to site a pre-Columbian gold artifact museum ("Museo del Oro") in the block adjacent to the National Theater, the Gran Hotel, and the Arcades (a shopping structure). In order to create a grand space, the gold museum was built underground (the gold and chrome pipes on the left side of Figure 2 are adjacent to its entrance).


Panoramic photo of Plaza de la Cultura from the northeast corner (Redondo, Plaza de la Cultura image by delpierocr on Photobucket). Note the blue-roofed National Theater on the left.

Again, the functional design of the space was a result of the culture of its time, that is, Costa Rica, 1982. "When the plaza was conceived, global capital was already fueling the Costa Rican economy" (Low, 2010, p. 289) and its development reflected the influence of North American money through the status of the Gran Hotel as a North American tourist residence, the National Theater and gold museum as tourist activities, and "McDonald’s, Burger King, and Sears" sited on the plaza.

The Costa Rican government employed three architects to design the space. People who visit get an "ambivalent experience" (Low, 2010, p. 290) due to the conflicting forces: the lack of a single architectural vision, street performers, religious expressions, politicians, teenagers, and gay cruisers. Unlike the Parque Central, vendors here are licensed and "the intensity of social and spatial control" (Low, 2010, p. 290) is more obvious with the presence of uniformed police and guards. Tourists and users of the space seem comfortable in its use, but nonuser media consumers believe it to be unsafe.

The Plaza is a place of culture, but much different from Parque Central. Whereas Parque Central is a place where the relationships between different classes of Costa Rican culture play out, in the Plaza de la Cultura:

North American culture is "consumed" by Costa Rican teenagers carrying radios blaring rap music, and North American tourists "consume" Costa Rican culture by buying souvenirs, snacks, theater tickets, and artworks as well as the sexual favors and companionship of young Costa Ricans. (Low, 2010, p. 284)

Even with these significant differences, both locations have a physical construction that expresses the culture of the time and a social construction that expresses the daily culture of the people who inhabit is. These spaces are both contended between the people who use the spaces, and the nonusers who consider them a threat in their current form and demand concessions to make them safer.

Discussion

Presumably, both locations experience the same overall social and economic pressures because of their location in downtown San José, yet the differences in the geography of these two locations are striking. While they are nearly adjacent, they take on a very different character due to the surrounding uses and the development of the local culture.

A similar contended space exists in downtown Spokane: the STA Plaza. The building was conceived as a 20-story multiuse tower including the transit center, urban park, retail, hotel, and condominiums. However, a lawsuit challenged the public/private partnership. While the court found the partnership to be legal, the resulting structure nevertheless included only the transit center, park, and a minor amount of retail. The urban park has some "usual characters" amongst the thousands of passers-through utilizing the surrounding transit center. Security is uniformed and highly visible, and the non-user businesspeople in the nearby businesses complain about the park’s users. This appears to be another example of the social conflict between users and nonusers over the proper use of public space.

References

CUNY Graduate Center PhD Program in Anthropology. (2010, July 27). Setha M. Low | Ph.D. Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from The Graduate Center, CUNY: http://web.gc.cuny.edu/anthropology/fac_low.html

Google, Inc. (n.d.). San Jose, Costa Rica - Google Maps. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=San+Jose,+Costa+Rica&sll=9.932985,-84.077618&sspn=0.009025,0.021136&ie=UTF8&hq=Parque+Central,&hnear=San+Jose,+Costa+Rica&ll=9.933096,-84.078197&spn=0.002124,0.005284&t=h&z=18

Low, S. M. (2010). Spatializing Culture: The Social Construction of Public Space in Costa Rica. In G. Bridge, & S. Watson (Eds.), The Blackwell City Reader (2nd ed., pp. 284-292). Singapore: Wiley-Blackwell.

Redondo, V. (n.d.). Panoramica Parque Central San Jose Costa Rica image by delpierocr on Photobucket. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from Photobucket: http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z223/delpierocr/100_2933pano.jpg?1291096605

Redondo, V. (n.d.). Plaza de la Cultura image by delpierocr on Photobucket. Retrieved November 29, 2010, from Photobucket: http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z223/delpierocr/100_2924.jpg?1291100657