… or me.

[This article is a bit of disclosure and a little bit encouragement. Although I am editor for the Pierce Prairie Post, it is not my income source, it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that is associated with the Spanaway Community Association to provide information useful to the local area. I gave up seeking advertisers long ago, what you may see in advertising is from the WordPress site itself. – Editor Lincoln]

Great neighborhoods begin with you

I was born in Summit and moved to a residential airport in Spanaway at age 10. My parents were often embroiled in the controversial aspects of land use, first because of the airport and secondly because Pierce County decided to take hundreds of acres near the airport as an industrial area they named Frederickson. I grew up learning about public hearings, land use disputes, rezoning, challenges to assessed values and, being in the Bethel School District, the impact of bonds and levies on my school.

As an adult, I became a community organizer, generating fun, local events for the public to attend so they could get to know each other. I ran for office and at one point, I was elected to the school board where I learned a great deal more about the inside issues of a school district. In the midst of all of this, our community grew, and grew, and grew. Pastures and horses became housing developments. Neighborhoods with kids riding bikes on country roads became traffic loaded neighborhoods with congested multilane roadways.

I graduated as a science major with computer programming experience. I had vocational teaching experience and considerable time spent working at places like Microsoft and Amazon. During the pandemic, I took a hard look at what I knew and decided to reapply my skills to real estate. After years of looking out for my community as the County and State applied growth management, it felt a little like joining the dark side. So much of the testimony in land use hearings that conflicts with local voices is from developers, construction workers and real estate associations. I decided I would seek out the other voices in their midst. People looking for homes want a pleasant neighborhood, a good school, places to shop and some nearby recreation. These are all infrastructure items that I regularly promoted. I was never anti-development, I just wanted the balance that makes a neighborhood a great place to live.

Sadly, convincing the county to spend money on infrastructure items is a hit and miss cause that is often successful only in the cases where a great deal of local support is behind the need. With all my experience in organizing and generating community involvement, perhaps it was time to reach out in a way that I could teach others the best practices I have learned over the years. Processes that include the value of knowing your elected officials who are more eager to get attention from assisting a great project than you realize!

So, in the midst of the pandemic, I studied and passed my real estate license exam. Here I am, learning the details of the paperwork, but knowing a great amount about what it takes to really get the place you live to feel like home.

Now, let’s make your new neighborhood a great place to live! And pass it on…