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Brandolini's law, also known as the B.S. Asymmetry Principle, is an internet adage that emphasizes the effort of debunking misinformation, in comparison to the relative ease of creating it in the first place.  It states that the amount of energy needed to refute B.S. is an order of magnitude larger (that is, ten times larger) than is needed to produce it. -------- The Gish Gallop is a rhetorical technique in which a person attempts to overwhelm their opponents by providing an excessive number of arguments with no regard for the accuracy or strength of those arguments.

"By his reckoning, only 8.5% of projects meet their initial estimates on cost and time, and a piddling 0.5% achieve what they set out to do on cost, time and benefits." -- "Over-optimistic time and cost estimates stem from both psychological and political biases: a reliance on intuition rather than data, and . . . “strategic misrepresentation”. This is when budgets are deliberately lowballed in order to get things going, on the premise that nothing would ever get built if politicians went around being accurate."

COME - PARTICIPATE - LEARN - ASK QUESTIONS - SHARE YOUR VIEWS **** A meeting with businesses, owners, workers, and all residents in the Creamery District Combining Zone on Tuesday, May 16th, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. There will also be a meeting of the Planning Commission on Tuesday, May 23rd, starting at 5:30 p.m. to "discuss this topic." *** Includes maps and the letter sent out by the City.

This just goes to show that almost anything can become controversial. Last year, Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton warned Fox News viewers that Democrats "want to make you live in downtown areas, and high-rise buildings, and walk to work, or take the subway, or ride an electric scooter" and "make us all poor."

Here is a list of the approximately 75 businesses located in the Creamery area. With maps and links to other articles on the Creamery and the L Street Corridor Linear Park.

How to contact Arcata's City Councilmembers & Planning Commissioners, and how to attend a City Council or Planning Commission meeting -- in person, via YouTube, via Zoom, or on the phone.

During the transition from discussion to final document, it seems that many issues raised by the Economic Development Committee are not included in the final document. Among what is absent was their stance on adequate parking for business and residential purposes. Also: "Don't presume that students, staff, or residents won't have cars needing to be parked somewhere. 80% of current students are non-local."

UPDATED WITH DRAFTS and the August 2, 2022 video ---- The Economic Development Committee's Recommendations for the General Plan update. From their August 2, 2022 meeting.

In recent years, windowless bedrooms have become somewhat normalized on college campuses. Students at the University of Texas, Austin and the University of Michigan are currently renting dorm bedrooms without windows. Sunlight in your bedroom could become a luxury as cities debate allowing landlords to rent windowless rooms in former office buildings to alleviate the housing crisis.

Videos and discussion of the City Council's process of selecting two new Planning Commissioners. Choosing a new Planning Commissioner for Arcata is an important task. The ideas and opinions and visions that are promoted (or withheld) by the two new Planning Commissioners in the discussions on the Gateway Area Plan will have the potential to change the look and feel of Arcata for the next 50 or 100 years. 

The Everett, Washington-based company "Pallet" is making $7,500 prefab tiny homes that can be setup in 1 hour to help solve the homelessness crisis. Its smallest $7,500 64-square-foot unit "Pallet 64" is now being used in villages across the US.

"It's very considerate of people to separate their trash." Perhaps require new construction to accommodate or have collection services for food-waste -- as is done in Korea currently.

Ry Cooder from his second album "Into the Purple Valley," 1972. The song is a Depression Era late-1930s song, in protest to California's "No More Migration" laws. Also here is the Sis Cunningham version from 1976,

A growing collection of non-local articles and links that pertain to Gateway, Arcata, Humboldt, California, national, global, and (perhaps) galactic issues.  Please send us links to your favorites so they can be added.

A growing collection of local articles and links that pertain to Gateway, Arcata, Humboldt, California, national, global, and (perhaps) galactic issues.  Please send us links to your favorites so they can be added.

Here you can read Arcata City documents. City Council agendas, Infill Market Study....

Links to other websites with photos, designs, and discussion about Accessory Dwelling Units.

Which words are repeated hundreds of times in the draft Gateway plan? And which words are conspicuous by their absence? Hint: You won't find the word "sun" or "sunshine" there. Or "solar shade" or "solar shadow" either. There are over 28,000 words in this document. "House" and "Home" do not appear even once.

Providing housing for working-class people does not involve rocket science. Major technological breakthroughs aren't required to create low-income housing. It is a matter of national will.

A density guide that shows the variety of types of housing that is suitable for different density levels.  Which types would be suitable for Arcata?

Arcata's Gateway plan could add 3,500 apartments to our town, as Cal Poly Humboldt expands. Unless more than 60% of all new apartments are owner-occupied condos, Arcatans will have small chance of owning their homes.

Sea Level Rise could affect plans for the Gateway area. See maps here of what Sea Level Rise looks like.

Arcata State of the City 2019 report. "“Other parts of the state are going to become uninhabitable,” David Loya said. “We aren’t going to prevent people from moving here; there’s going to be climate migration, so we need to plan for it.”

Here are some citizens' views, as expressed on Facebook. From April 9, 2022. Tom Wheeler, Chris Richards, Aaron DeBruyn, Meredith Matthews, Bonnie Carroll, Lee Torrence.

Excellent brief video about the background and basis of the Gateway plan. Date: January 16, 2022. 3 minutes 42 seconds

Transcript with added commentary. Includes misguided views on the cost of housing. Public comment from Carlisle Douglas.

A list of useful links, including links to the City of Arcata documents, Community Visioning workshops, and many interesting and valuable websites.

The July 11, 2023, 3rd draft of the "Draft Gateway Area Plan." In chapters for easy viewing. Also includes the 2nd draft from October 2022, and the 1st draft, from December 2021.