The latest 7-story building to be approved for Gateway construction includes a full-height climbing wall. The Planning Commission was quite pleased at the innovative interpretation of the Gateway Code's Community Benefits program. Rather than have something as mundane in Arcata as a "parklet" with outdoor seating, trees, grass, places to congregate and talk, a place to meet up with friends, and so forth, this climbing wall will satisfy the requirements of all citizens in Arcata to be outdoors in a healthy, engaging environment.

At their first meeting of 2025, on January 11th, the Planning Commission found themselves looking at what would be the largest apartment ever to be approved by the Commission in the history of Arcata. The Houston, Texas, developer Max Buildout had set his sights on little Arcata. Six stories tall, directly on the L Street Linear Park, and with 3 Texas-size parking spaces.

The classic Robert Crumb 12-panel masterpiece of a history of America, as seen from a single street-corner. Video 1 minute 12 seconds.

Partial build-out of the Gateway Area Plan. The Plan was finally adopted in 2031, following nine years of discussion and community input. A minor typographical error in the final version resulted in a 70-story maximum height, rather than the previously agreed-upon 7 stories. As anticipated, many developers opted to build smaller buildings than the allowable maximum.

Gateway Housing is here! Following five years of Planning Commission deliberations and a dozen local developers saying it couldn’t be done, Arcata’s all-female City Council has achieved the impossible in just six days of “taking care of business.” “We made it fun,” said City Manager Karing Dreamer. Vice-Mayor Merriment Usemath chimed in. “We’re vibrant, we’re ageless, we’re fabulous. We make decisions with a smile. Why be so serious? Everything takes forever when it's a drag. Or... it's a drag when it takes forever? Well, whatever."

HUMOR: Last Tuesday’s PlanCom meeting brought direction that impacts all future-oriented Arcatans, whether they are animal, mineral, or vegetable. In a 6 to 1 vote (with Commissioner Kermit Junn dissenting as usual), the PlanCom strengthened their determination to prohibit occupancy of ants from the Gateway Area. --- “This was always the intention from the start of this process, hundreds of millions of years ago,” remarked Elated Boya, Arcata's Community Development Director. “Possibly you missed those early meetings. For Arcata to have a micro-micro-grid of bicycle lanes, ants would only get in the way.”

“I got the idea after watching ‘Being John Malkovitch’,” explained Planning Commissioner Ivegotta Nyedear. “In the movie, a developer built an office building where the 7-1/2 floor has a ceiling height of just five feet. We did a market analysis.” He continued: “With housing in such demand in Arcata, we found that 78% of renters would live in an apartment with a five-foot ceiling if the rental price was under $750 a month.” ---- Splitting existing apartments into upper and lower units was the brainstorm. “In an evolving world, the renter population must evolve as well,” said Commissioner Achingho Mowner. “This solution is perfect.”

In a stirring turn of events, Gracelessway Plan decisionmakers resolved fourteen months of stagnation in under five minutes at last Tuesday’s meeting. "We haven't even started, and we're done!" Commissioner Eyefigueroa Dittout announced with a big grin. And suddenly the Commission has nothing to do.

For Arcata's "I Drank the Kool-Aid" contest, prizes include thousands of environmentally sustainable housing units that are affordable to people in all income ranges with both rental and owner‐occupied options. Full terms are outlined in the most recent draft Gateway Plan.

Is the Gateway Plan an example of how "the can-do spirit of the times that led people to devise a number of illogical schemes that would purportedly solve social and economic ills." ****** See Arcata on a fictional map from the 1726 satirical novel "Gulliver's Travels."

In Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, concerned citizens ask the City Commissioners for $250,000 for funding a BDSM dungeon.

The Open House for the Draft Gateway Area Plan was January 21 & 22 -- FOUR MONTHS ago. Here are the results from hundreds of comments and feedback from Arcata's citizens.

A single panel from "City of the Future" as imagined by Robert Crumb in 1967. "Everyone will be tuned in to everything that's happening all the time!" Note the captions on the buttons on the electronic devices: Economy, Politics, Science, Literature, Art, Facts, Fancies, Opinions, Ideas, Notions  -- just like a modern website news page.