Flashback
FC7 flashes by. For the non gear-heads among us, that’s a paint code. “Plum Crazy” purple was let loose upon the world’s retinas in 1970 as one of Dodge’s “high-impact” colors. It is a color so bright you can hear it. It says - I could really care less what you think. Thus, along with Ford’s Grabber Orange, it’s a favorite. When the Malin boys are traveling any distance we play a game of ranking the coolest car we see on the trip. Old Alfas, 32 Fords, mid 60’s Lincolns, Buick Rivs and Country Squires usually do well. But the most common winner is a Plum Crazy Challenger. Few things epitomize a joyous, freewheeling approach to life like a purple muscle car at speed.
This one slows for the River Drive speed camera. Freewheeling, but with some accumulated wisdom. In a politically correct world, every lifestyle is afforded neutral moral value. But joyous freewheeling (with accumulated wisdom) is a strong argument there’s a glaring hole in the politically correct mindscape. Some things ideas thoughts are actually better than other things ideas thoughts. A purple Challenger is better than a beige Vega Camry Prius. There. I’ve said it. Unleash the champions of enforced sameness upon me.
The morning’s second breakfast will bear this out, as does the first, momentarily. The 7:00 a.m. intergov with Dee, Decker and Denise strays into the public policy quagmire of grass clipping composting (I couldn’t make that up). Having once enjoyed a beautiful Little Bluestem lawn I only had to burn once a year, I suggest just letting the grass grow. Retribution is swift and I quickly retract my heresy, affirming all grass should be three and one quarter inches tall and every house should be beige. Decker mock-meekingly admits his house is beige. I let his joke stand, rather than admit the beigeness in my life.
The second breakfast is substantially less beige. It’s gold. The Downtown Partnership’s Annual Meeting is in the Gold Room of the Blackhawk. The opening slide of the powerpoint is a Davenporttoday picture, prefacing the presentation on screen while breakfast is underway. It’s a great picture (thanks Darryl) and a neat touch. I skip breakfast and take up position at a table in the back of the room. The pre-presentation chit chat at this table includes whether seeing the current Replacements tour is a good or bad idea. I picked a good table to sit at (with thoughts on the topic from last year here).
The presentation gets underway and Downtown Partnership Executive Director Kyle Carter carries the bulk of the speaking duties. A pdf of the presentation doesn’t do justice to Kyle’s enthusiasm, but it’s available here (a Dropbox update from yesterday's posting). To simulate the effect of Kyle’s gusto, you need to mix a Mountain Dew Big Gulp with three quarts of simmering hatred for one way streets. You go, Kyle. One way streets have few advantages, and many disadvantages. His call to two-way arms gets a healthy round of applause.
There’s much to applaud happening downtown. It’s the hottest investment address, and a cool, creative and prosperous template for the region. If you believe – as I do – that great cities are our best magic, the densest magic happens where the most people ideas thoughts collide. That the coolest car I’ll see today is headed downtown is no surprise. If you think of the early investors of the revitalized downtown we’re experiencing today, they’re the FC7’s of the redevelopment world. A terrific historic city, on a unique stretch of the Mississippi River? That’s anything but beige. And the folks who believe in and invest in it? They ain’t crazy.
