The This whole week has been cat themed and that was not planned, honest. And so, to keep it consistent, the last post of the week is also about a cat, Tacocat, a Seattle band with a video about new development on Capitol Hill. To be accurate, the song lyrics to Bridge to Hawaii (2014) aren’t really discernibly about development at all, but the video has this hook on You Tube:

Seeking an escape from dreary Seattle weather and a favorite neighborhood that is rapidly being torn down and condo-fied, Tacocat create a DIY Hawaiian vacation in Lelah’s rad Jeep in this new video for “Bridge to Hawaii” from Tacocat’s acclaimed album NVM, out now on Hardly Art records.

The Tracker in the video belongs to one of the most creative people I know, Tacocat’s drummer, Lelah Maupin. Maupin and I have talked before about the choices artists have to make in life in general but also in Seattle in specific to keep doing art. Housing is just one of many expenses artists face along with trying to find rehearsal an performance space. Visual artists, musicians, and theater groups, are very dependent on affordable real estate, and with growing demand for new housing and new commercial development options for bands and other artists are frequently limited.

The answer is not rent control. At a recent press conference I crashed, Councilmember Kshama Sawant was touting commercial rent control as a way to slow down the loss of space for artists. That’s the worse idea possible. Rent control would mean even higher prices as building owners and operators faced limited options for revenue to keep their space maintained or to improve space. The problem is scarcity, something created by bad legislation passed by the City Council (with the deciding vote cast by Councilmember Mike O’Brien) to limit retail space on the ground floor in new development in Capitol Hill.

The video has a sweet, funny, sad take on changes happening on Capitol Hill. Maupin in an interview describes the importance of humor to their music and lyrics,

“That’s been our thing the whole time, but maybe we didn’t know it until later,” says Maupin. “No one wants to hear anyone yelling or squawking ever again. It’s kind of a turn-off.”

“I think the way we communicate is to make jokes about things or be funny about it,” adds Maupin. “It feels like the best way to get our perspective out. Last night when I was going to sleep, I was listening to these Ram Dass lectures, and at the end of one he said, ‘I want to leave you with this: Don’t take yourselves too seriously.’”

Bridge to Hawaii does just that, taking a light hearted poke at growth on Capitol Hill but also at the endless drum beat of rain and dreariness in our city. Far from being an antidevelopment screed (“yelling or squawking”) the song offers a conceptual alternative: have some fun, even if it’s simply sitting a car and drinking fruity drinks with your friends. Just quit whining already about the inevitability of the damn rain — and growth. Seattle just needs to relax and have some fun with change.

And in one frame, the Tracker passes the iconic Bill’s Off Broadway, a beyond greasy spoon that has been the host of many late night come downs from people out on the Hill. Bill’s disappeared because of a new housing development that went into construction last year.

But guess what? Bill’s is back!

The new development included Bill’s back in and there is no reason we can’t find ways to be sure this happens with other redevelopment. We can have new housing and familiar businesses or spaces. Rent control for small retail spaces or other cultural hubs won’t work for the same reason it won’t work for apartments, it simply removes the incentive to create new innovative spaces. What the Council should do is undo the damage it did when it banned smaller spaces from the low-rise zones.

Seattle’s yellers and squawkers about growth could learn from Tacocat’s brand of optimism and humor: everything is going to work out in the end if we want it to. We do need a plan to create spaces for artists to do their work and to live. But there also needs to be some spontaneity and innovation in all zones of the city. Ram Dass also said, “Our plans never turn out as tasty as reality.”

Tacocat will be winding up their latest tour with a show at Neumos on December 13, 2015 at 8:00PM. You can get your tickets now at Neumos’ website.