Hurricane Sandy, the Cascadian Quake, and What we Value

With Hurricane Sandy in the news, it's a good time to reflect on the big and small infrastrucure we value.

The Historic Preservation League just came out with a report on unreinforced masonry buildings. Resilient Masonry Buildings: Saving Lives, Livelihoods, and the Livability of Oregon’s Historic Downtowns is more than a little relevant to Salem's downtown.

You may recognize one of our alleys, the one between Arbuckle Costic and Mary Lou Zeek.

Not long ago the City circulated a draft Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, and in it earthquake and flood damage scores very high.

Lots of our masonry buildings and critical infrastructure will likely collapse in a big earthquake.

Meanwhile we're screwing around talking about a billion dollars for a new highway and bridge.

If we don't think more and think hard about choosing, funding, and preserving what we value, when the big one hits, there won't be any traffic to go across that big new bridge.

Don't forget tomorrow at 9:00am, host Melanie Belle will have City Councilor Chuck Bennett and Cherriots board member Bob Krebs on her "Melanie in the Morning" show on KMUZ to talk about the Salem River Crossing. They'll be talking about the the Nov. 4th presentation on the bridge by the "No 3rd Bridge" coalition and the City Council hearing on the 5th."

The show will be archived as a podcast and made available on the KMUZ website, hopefully before the 4th.

For more on the River Crossing see a summary critique and all breakfast blog notes tagged River Crossing.