It was only five years ago when the City of Gig Harbor and the Downtown Waterfront Alliance collaborated to create the seasonal Downtown Waterfront Farmers Market. We are so excited for season to begin on the first Thursday of June!

Human-powered water sports have grown tremendously in the past decade; navigating watercraft via paddles, oars, poles, foot pedals or bare hands and feet, silently soaring across the water. Paddlers get to enjoy the benefits of activity, for their leisure, sport and health.

We were huddled up on the turquoise and grey checkered linoleum floor leaning our bodies toward the wood burning stove in an attempt to warm ourselves. I look up at the exposed turquoise-washed wood ceiling and over at the heavily troweled orange-sherbet tinted kitchen wall; it’s strikingly adorable and also uninsulated.

Did you know the oldest lending library in America was founded in 1747?

A community just isn’t a community with a library. Libraries promote our quality of life by protecting our public values, assisting in civic engagement and offering knowledge and skills. Nowadays, they even help job seekers gain employment in our own communities.

If you reside in the Pacific Northwest, you probably love the outdoors and communing with nature. You did choose to live in a rainforest!

Chances are that most of you will buy a different car in the next seven years.

According to R.L. Polk the average length of time a driver will keep a new vehicle is six years. Even if you are pondering keeping your vehicle longer, you may think twice due to the major leap in technological advancements such as better safety protection, navigation or automation and fuel economy or fuel alternatives. If you decide to give up the gas, you may choose to charge at home, at your workplace or a public venue.

Park(ing) day recap!!

Come and see what Park(ing) day is about!

Are malls over?

We connect through story. In fact, we create our collective identities through the telling and retelling of stories. They are so critical that human civilizations thrive and organize, or diminish and fail, by how we frame these narratives.

Whether you prefer to shop by visiting your local farm, farmers markets or you grow food in your own backyard or community garden, you are already contributing to the local food movement.

How strong is solar in the Puget Sound region? You may be surprised to hear that we receive more sunlight here, in western Washington, than the world leader in installed solar capacity. That’s right; Germany only receives 60% of our sun hours. And similarly, Washington gets 30% less sun than Southern California sun.

There are many types of shelter from single houses to multi-unit dwellings. However, the most common choice in America is by far the detached single-family home. (Note the keyword ‘choice’ as a step above mere survival.)

All living things on this planet need a form of shelter to survive. A fairly simple concept—shelter—something that forms a place of protection. Yet the subject is far from simple.

How do we meet our basic needs in today’s built environment?

“Nature doesn’t have a design problem. People do.” – McDonough & Braungart