After a little more research, I think we’ve found the perfect solution for the snowplow problem!

Photo by Flickr user AdonisPhotos

Hat tip to the CHS Blog.

Photo from Flickr user raisonettes

When the big snowstorm hit Seattle last week, the city had 27 snowplows available. Of course, this was less than adequate to plow all the main streets in the city, much less all the secondary routes and residential streets. On top of that, the city decided not to use salt on the roads out of environmental concerns. So, basically, the city was a mess for days and travel was brought to a grinding halt.

Now, of course having more snowplows at the ready would have solved some of this problem. This op-ed by Robert L. Jamieson Jr. at the Seattle P-I says that the city needs to start buying plows now, so they’re ready for the next storm. But not so fast, say others, The next big storm could be 10, 15, 20 years in the future. So why spend all the money to buy and maintain more plows, when they may not be needed until we’re all old and grey? Jamieson’s answer is that it’s similar to earthquake preparedness, and other forms of disaster readiness: it’s true that you may never need to use these things, but when you need them you really need them.

I’d say clearing the roads in a snowstorm is not quite the same level as making sure buildings don’t fall down in an earthquake. A big snowstorm is one “disaster” where everyone really can just wait in their houses until it’s over. And although those of us who live in places where snow is a little more common and snowplows are a familiar sight on the roads can make an easy joke out of Seattle not being prepared (27 snowplows? I keep 27 snowplows in my backyard!) the fact remains that Seattle almost never gets snow like this, and when it does it melts away quickly. How many snowplows do you think Los Angeles has in its maintenance yards? Would you argue they should be keeping a fleet at the ready, just in case?

So the snow crippled the city for a few days. So anybody who hit the streets did so at their own risk, more than usual. So the garbage wasn’t picked up for two weeks. This was not an emergency. The city could have done some things differently, of course, like plowing down to the pavement, and I think the salt decision in particular was a little silly. But getting a larger fleet of snowplows is probably the wrong response here. Maybe a good compromise would be to fit more trucks with chains and plow blades. The SDoT website seems to suggest that the snowplows they do have aren’t dedicated plows, but city work trucks that can be fitted with blades in the winter. Maybe they could evaluate if it would work to also fit out more trucks, maybe some smaller ones, so if another big storm does hit, they’ll be able to cobble together a makeshift fleet at a fraction of the cost.

Vintage Seattle is looking back at the year 2008, with a post rounding up some of the best photos and articles of the year. VS has quickly become one of my favorite blogs, not just because of the pictures but because of the context behind them, and the knowledge that’s in the comments. It’s kind of what I’m trying to do with the WNHPC blog, only a lot more successful. And updated more than once a month.

Golly, Seattle sure is purdy in the snow.

From: Capitol Hill Seattle Blog

Photo from Flickr user 1bluecanoe

So the latest side effect of the Big Snow is that nobody has had their trash collected for a couple of weeks now. Good news, though, that starting Monday the garbage trucks should be running again. This makes you realize how much a working city depends on the waste getting moved out of the way; otherwise you’re living like Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout.

Flickr photo by Kris Fields

The New York Times has a story about Edith Macefield, the lady who refused to sell her house to developers so they had to just build around her. Even though she’s six months dead, her house is still making the news.

The Microsoft office in Fargo, North Dakota, have been poking fun at all those wusses in Redmond that can’t handle a little snow.

Parking: Park as usual, the snow plow drivers will just plow around you. You’re all capable of driving on snow/ice so plowing will be limited.

Connectivity: You shouldn’t have any connectivity issues because you’re expected to be at work. We only had 10″ of snow and 40mph wind.

Area Roads: In light of the continuing snowfall and icy road conditions, most local roads are snow-covered and slippery and will remain that way until March. For information on current road conditions, please look out the window.

In other news, the Seattle garbage collectors have called a snow day.

I only gave it the briefest of links in the last post, but the story of the buses that slid down a hill and almost toppled down onto the freeway keeps coming back around. First there was the news story, but now there is an eyewitness report from a photographer who just happened to be at the scene and saw the buses sliding by him. As it happens, the only camera Bradford Bohonus had with him was a 360-degree fisheye lens that he uses to make VR panoramas, so of course he set up his equipment and made two panoramas of the immediate aftermath. He posted them at VR Seattle.com.

His blog post is here, and his two VR panoramas are below.

Hat tip to capitolhillseattle.com.

Photo by Flickr user lauragwinn

As I sit here in windy, but still snowless Nevada, I can’t help but be enchanted at the idea of the city of Seattle brought to its knees by 8 inches of snow. All over the blogs I’m hearing about a Sunday filled with makeshift snow parties. Hills all over town have been transformed into sledding runs as people leave their cars behind and bring out the toboggans, or the plastic sleds, or the trash bags and plywood. The entire city seems to be erupting in a solstice festival, but underneath it all is the definite sense that Seattlites have no idea what to do with this much snow. Today, being Sunday, was one big party. But tomorrow being Monday, everyone suddenly is going to have to get to work and is going to have a hell of a time doing it, and the buzz is quickly going to come crashing down. Especially with the trains shut down, the airport closed, and all the buses in ditches.

So I guess the moral is that snow is fun, but trying to carry on with your normal life in snow is not.

Bunch of links, from Magnolia, Ballard, Fremont, Phinney/Greenwood, Ballard (again), West Seattle, MetBlogs, Seattlest, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Central District, and too many others to link to.

Flickr user Seattleye has some pretty awesome photos, like this one:

And this one:

And this reminder of how the entire Puget Sound area seems to turn into a crazy place when the snow starts falling. You don’t see things like this anywhere else: