There’s a certain odd balance this fall as the City of Port Townsend seeks to blend a dynamic future with an exceptional past.

We have battles over a $38+ million bond for an aquatic complex (AKA swimming pool), embarrassment about the Cherry St. low income housing mistake, uncertainty over the Evans Vista housing development, all while homeless addicts stand outside expensive stores on Water Street screaming at their demons.

It feels like there might be a message somewhere. To a newcomer, the classic architecture and high energy of Port Townsend feels both intoxicating and dangerous. It’s so easy to do wrong things for all the right reasons.

Fingers often point at government intervention in the market. The Cherry St. fail may be the most obvious example here, today.

But it’s not the only one. The history of Port Townsend surrounds us with others. Local residents know the story better than this newcomer, but the exquisite Victorian architecture we cherish is the result of busted dreams that Port Townsend would become the next San Francisco or Seattle. Capitalism has made its share of mistakes, too.

Will Evans-Vista provide local residents with affordable housing, or serve as a magnet for “outsiders” who would also like a space on this island of charm? If resources, even tax receipts, are limited, do we spend $38 million on a swimming complex or on rebates for those providing occupant-owned, low-impact housing in existing neighborhoods, or who create new neighborhoods that will still be beautiful decades from now?

A capitalist would calculate the return on investment of each, looking carefully at who will benefit and who will pay.

And what can we do for our disabled neighbors living in the “Fentanyl Forest” at the edge of town? Is there an investment that will truly help and not just prolong their pain, or do we make their lives even more miserable and hope they go away? Is there a solution that isn’t based on postponement of hard decisions? Do we have the courage?

We must also examine these issues through a lens that focuses the future as well as the past. This is an “old” community, and not just architecturally. Many of us won’t be here 20 years from now. We will be transitioning, as it were. What will that look like, in Port Townsend, and what will we leave behind? ~ ED