Mike McGinn may have all kinds of transit ideas, but does he have a zombie infestation plan? We thought not.Taking a page from the Barack Obama playbook, Mayor-elect Mike McGinn started a Web site after the August primary called Ideas for Seattle. Citizens and non-residents, sane and crazy alike, can all give McGinn their best ideas for making the Emerald City a better place to live. Then we can all vote, up to 10 times, on what gets presented. The top of the list is mostly predictable Seattle standards–foot and bike cop patrols in high crime neighborhoods, expanding light rail, and bringing an anchor tenant (aka NBA team) back to Key Arena. After the campaign, much of this is likely on McGinn’s radar. But here are a few that might take a little longer to get to the top:1: And you thought the sand clogging up the gutters was bad. User Freeway doesn’t think going back to salt is such a good idea either. “There was an announcement that the city would use road salt this winter.. this is extremely disturbing to me having been raised in Illinois and seeing the devastation it causes. I’ve like to suggest two other alternatives: sugar beets and volcanic ash.”Votes: 12: Down with bolstering the local economy with out of town spenders!
Renee says: “from a 4th generation native – stop promoting tourism – we don’t need it/”Votes: 33: Give it to the girls. McGinn has said he’ll replace Grace Crunican at the Department of Transportation, but Peter Smith has some specific suggestions on what the new transit head should look like, specifically Janette Sadik-Khan. Why? you ask. “The person should, at a minimum, be female, because men have pretty much run every North American city into the ground. We need a woman, because they implicitly understand what raising a child and family takes — cities should be welcoming, not frightful.”Votes: 34: It’s like being unprepared for snow only much, much worse when the storm comes. Forget Swine Flu says Ry. “Seattle is not prepared for a Zombie epidemic. Zombies are a likely result from possible future chemical war-fare (releasing a type of Human-Rabies as an example) – In a worst case scenario, we have few escapes, shelters and response teams to deal particularly with zombie hordes – including traditional zombies that move slow to super enhanced Zombies that often possess super speed and a thirst for brains. It sounds far fetched but better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.”Votes: 1 (aargh…)5: An I-5 improvement that has nothing to do with traffic congestion. This one has the second highest number of votes, coming in ahead of improving the library funding system. From Brian: “I-5 creates a divide between Downtown Seattle/Lake Union and the densely populated Capitol Hill area. A lid should be placed over it (from Pike St to Mercer St or further) and have the lid contain a large open park with features such tennis courts, baseball fields and other related recreational facillities. [sic]” As many commenters have noted already, we aren’t exactly in the middle of the dotcom boom here. Maybe save this for when we climb out of the economic abyss, right after we finish McGinn’s proposed light rail line to West Seattle.Votes: 106
