Home » Why I Love Fremont, This Week: Beyond Comparison

Why I Love Fremont, This Week: Beyond Comparison

an editorial by Kirby Lindsay Laney, posted 10 March 2015

 

The fabulous community of Fremont has similarities with other communities around the world...  Photo by K. Lindsay Laney, Dec '09
The fabulous community of Fremont has similarities with other communities around the world… Photo by K. Lindsay Laney, Dec ’09

When traveling, I enjoy bragging on Fremont (heck, I enjoy bragging on the ‘hood when not traveling too, but the audience here usually has some familiarity with our eccentric and arts-filled character.)

For the uninitiated, the easiest way to describe the Center of the Universe is to use ‘similar’ towns and neighborhoods around the world, until finding one they already know.  After all, nearly everywhere has a place known for art, an alternative slant, ‘Hippy’-ish qualities, and/or outrageous people of strong character.  From 1960s Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco to the Montmartre of Paris, from 1970s Greenwich Village of New York City to Shijr City, Taiwan (home of the Dream Community,) places exist near and far that have something of the same feel…

A Visit To St. Kilda

St. Kilda, Victoria, has a similar feel, with small shops and people wandering among them on a warm summer evening.  Photo by Adrian Laney, Feb '15
St. Kilda, Victoria, has a similar feel, with small shops and people wandering among them on a warm summer evening. Photo by Adrian Laney, Feb ’15

Yet, during a recent tour of some of the ‘comparable’ communities, I realized that they really don’t stack up to Fremont.  For instance, my recent experience in St. Kilda, Victoria, in Australia, showed a city with many similarities, and a lot of differences, when examined closely.

I first landed in St. Kilda while traveling Australia as a backpacker about 20 years ago.  It was the place for youth hostels, and cheap eats.  It was also the first place where I met buskers – performers that paid their way around the world by passing a cap while making music or, in this case, juggling and clowning while on the sidewalk.  I met a trio of these performing for a huge crowd outside Luna Park.  It had

Today, St. Kilda still has all the little shops and cafes, plus small groceries, cramped housing, and quick transit to the city center of Melbourne.  It has its Sunday Market, selling arts and crafts.  It has a lot of the same spirit, and Luna Park, as when I first went there, but this time I saw more clearly that it isn’t Fremont.

The Vineyard Restaurant, a 25-year-plus establishment in St. Kilda, Australia, has the history and openness of a Fremont restaurant, like Swingside Cafe.  Photo by Adrian Laney, Feb '15
The Vineyard Restaurant, a 25-year-plus establishment in St. Kilda, Australia, has the history and openness of a Fremont restaurant, like Swingside Cafe. Photo by Adrian Laney, Feb ’15

Similar Problems, Different Solutions

St. Kilda is a city of its own, with a population of approximately 18,000.  Unlike Fremont, it has a council, laws and much more self-regulation than Fremont must do.  St. Kilda has a lot more density than Fremont (even as we add housing) and a larger population of residents and visitors.

The town has history, like Fremont does, and St. Kilda also has to solve the questions of legacy and improvement for the future – questions that Fremont can abdicate (for the good and the bad of it) to City of Seattle bureaucracy.

Right now, St. Kilda has an 88-year-old, heritage-listed theater – The Palais – which closed down last year.  Developers want the property, which stands near the beach and across the street from Luna Park, for apartments – and the city needs housing.  On the side of restoration stand a lot of people, including many musicians, and a government pledge for some of the money it could take to bring the theater back to life, maybe.

St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia, has public art scattered around the community, like this piece on Acland Street.  Photo by Adrian Laney, Feb '15
St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia, has public art scattered around the community, like this piece on Acland Street. Photo by Adrian Laney, Feb ’15

Finally, the city also regularly deals with the crime, graffiti and vagrancy that come with density – on a much larger scale than Fremont ever has to consider.

Fun, Without Responsibility

Last February, St. Kilda had their mid-summer music festival, similar to the Fremont Fair in its size and scope.  St. Kilda’s festival though is more controlled and contained, than ours, and definitely doesn’t have the outrageous, and controversial, Fremont Arts Council Solstice Parade marching through it.

Fremont has more overall events than St. Kilda, but we also have less need to grow its business, and tax base.  We can let our event impede access to businesses, and sometimes irritate residents, and let the City of Seattle step in to regulate.  Another way of looking at it – we have more fun and less responsibilities.  We can let the City of Seattle worry more about the policing and traffic problems our fun may create.

The future of the Palais Theatre, in St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia, remains in deep doubt.  Photo by the City of Port Phillip, 2012
The future of the Palais Theatre, in St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia, remains in deep doubt. Photo by the City of Port Phillip, 2012

Lately, many Fremonsters have also expressed profound dismay over the zoning and permitting of new development projects, particularly about the loss of character and the loss of off-street parking.  Yet, this also falls under the prevue of the City of Seattle, not Fremont.  In fact, when recently speaking with one alarmed resident, he baldly told me that there was nothing we could do – ‘the City will do what it wants,’ he said.

In my opinion, that isn’t true.  Fremont has a very loud, and determined, voice when it wants to use it.  Letting others determine our future is, however, easier than looking at the overall picture of density, jobs, population, traffic, and tax base in the City.

We don’t have to be everything to everyone, and we aren’t.  Fremont is a small community – significantly smaller than St. Kilda – and a unique one.

One glaring contrast between Fremont and St. Kilda is the Luna Park Amusement Centre located near the beach...  Photo by Adrian Laney, Feb '15
One glaring contrast between Fremont and St. Kilda is the Luna Park Amusement Centre located near the beach… Photo by Adrian Laney, Feb ’15

I love how our ‘hood stands alone in its character.  I also like knowing there are other, vaguely similar, towns that struggle with being alternative, artistic, and playful places.  It is heartening to visit these towns and see how they also value the characteristics we hold dear – and to know that, in my opinion, we still do it best!

 

 


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©2015 Kirby Lindsay.  This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws.  Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.

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