In the Enterprise of January 24th, his latest bizarre cause and effect assertion reads:
” . . . they tore down my old elementary school to make way for out-of-town farmers selling organic rutabaga . . .”
Well, the fact of the matter is that the building was taken down in September, 1966 because it could not meet earthquake safety standards.
And, on September 21, 1966, the Davis Enterprise reported that the building was to be replaced by an “Arden-Mayfair supermarket and a row of shops.”
But, that plan was never realized. Indeed, the lot was vacant and subject to delay and dispute for 34 years!
Only in 1990 was the block dedicated as an an extension of Central Park and the home of a new farmers market.
This was the last act in an enormously complicated political struggle featuring the iconic Maynard Skinner as the major mover and a vote of the people of Davis.
Of course, Bob will say he is not serious when he declares his school was take down for rutabaga farmers. He was only making a joke.
That claim is of course the problem: How literally/seriously should we take anything that Bob Dunning says?
John Lofland is a professor emeritus of sociology at UC Davis and author of many works on Davis history, including Davis: Radical Changes, Deep Constants.
Correction added at 8:46 PM on Thursday
1966 taken from 1990 is 24 not 34 years, which is an error in my comment.
What is worse, I took this number from page 142 of my book, Davis. That text was subjected to a parade of copy editors and fact-checkers and none of them, including me, caught it!
I suppose this suggests how hard it is to get things right and how careful we have to be.
John Lofland
dunning counts on noone but himself having been around long enough to remember what went down back then. nice to see someone call him on it.
does anyone remember which side dunning fell on the whole “plant it, don’t pave it” debate?
and even when dunning was growing up, most farmers were “out of town.”
dunning counts on noone but himself having been around long enough to remember what went down back then. nice to see someone call him on it.
does anyone remember which side dunning fell on the whole “plant it, don’t pave it” debate?
and even when dunning was growing up, most farmers were “out of town.”
dunning counts on noone but himself having been around long enough to remember what went down back then. nice to see someone call him on it.
does anyone remember which side dunning fell on the whole “plant it, don’t pave it” debate?
and even when dunning was growing up, most farmers were “out of town.”
dunning counts on noone but himself having been around long enough to remember what went down back then. nice to see someone call him on it.
does anyone remember which side dunning fell on the whole “plant it, don’t pave it” debate?
and even when dunning was growing up, most farmers were “out of town.”
this post points out of Dunning’s major weaknesses: his provincialism.
by and large, it appears that he has spent most, if not all, of his life in Davis, and even within Davis, circulates within in fairly narrow social circle (I engaged in a lot of activities when I lived in Davis, and I never saw him at one of them)
there is a benefit from having lived in a number of places and having worked a number of jobs, and while he has done this to a degree (KFBK and the Catholic radio station), he has always come across as Old Davis centric
that, plus his elevation to iconic status, has placed him in the predicament that he finds himself in today, someone who is socially and politically tone deaf, someone who is incapable of broadening the reach of his perspective, someone who is frequently insensitive to people of color (invariably characterizing them and criticizing them in a way designed to show that they are outsiders, not real Davisites like him, which is what the Heystek thing was about) and is too arrogant to notice it, much less admit it
after all, he’s writing about legal action against people who post on the Internet about him, that’s about as out of touch as you can get
–Richard Estes
this post points out of Dunning’s major weaknesses: his provincialism.
by and large, it appears that he has spent most, if not all, of his life in Davis, and even within Davis, circulates within in fairly narrow social circle (I engaged in a lot of activities when I lived in Davis, and I never saw him at one of them)
there is a benefit from having lived in a number of places and having worked a number of jobs, and while he has done this to a degree (KFBK and the Catholic radio station), he has always come across as Old Davis centric
that, plus his elevation to iconic status, has placed him in the predicament that he finds himself in today, someone who is socially and politically tone deaf, someone who is incapable of broadening the reach of his perspective, someone who is frequently insensitive to people of color (invariably characterizing them and criticizing them in a way designed to show that they are outsiders, not real Davisites like him, which is what the Heystek thing was about) and is too arrogant to notice it, much less admit it
after all, he’s writing about legal action against people who post on the Internet about him, that’s about as out of touch as you can get
–Richard Estes
this post points out of Dunning’s major weaknesses: his provincialism.
by and large, it appears that he has spent most, if not all, of his life in Davis, and even within Davis, circulates within in fairly narrow social circle (I engaged in a lot of activities when I lived in Davis, and I never saw him at one of them)
there is a benefit from having lived in a number of places and having worked a number of jobs, and while he has done this to a degree (KFBK and the Catholic radio station), he has always come across as Old Davis centric
that, plus his elevation to iconic status, has placed him in the predicament that he finds himself in today, someone who is socially and politically tone deaf, someone who is incapable of broadening the reach of his perspective, someone who is frequently insensitive to people of color (invariably characterizing them and criticizing them in a way designed to show that they are outsiders, not real Davisites like him, which is what the Heystek thing was about) and is too arrogant to notice it, much less admit it
after all, he’s writing about legal action against people who post on the Internet about him, that’s about as out of touch as you can get
–Richard Estes
this post points out of Dunning’s major weaknesses: his provincialism.
by and large, it appears that he has spent most, if not all, of his life in Davis, and even within Davis, circulates within in fairly narrow social circle (I engaged in a lot of activities when I lived in Davis, and I never saw him at one of them)
there is a benefit from having lived in a number of places and having worked a number of jobs, and while he has done this to a degree (KFBK and the Catholic radio station), he has always come across as Old Davis centric
that, plus his elevation to iconic status, has placed him in the predicament that he finds himself in today, someone who is socially and politically tone deaf, someone who is incapable of broadening the reach of his perspective, someone who is frequently insensitive to people of color (invariably characterizing them and criticizing them in a way designed to show that they are outsiders, not real Davisites like him, which is what the Heystek thing was about) and is too arrogant to notice it, much less admit it
after all, he’s writing about legal action against people who post on the Internet about him, that’s about as out of touch as you can get
–Richard Estes
I don’t remember the demolition of the school. I remember it being there and having friends go there and then suddenly it being gone. It became an unofficial, and then official, gravel and dirt parking lot for the University. So a more accurate statement would be “they tore down my elementary school to make way for a dirt and gravel parking lot.” Expanding Central Park instead of building a commercial development on the site was brilliant.
I don’t remember the demolition of the school. I remember it being there and having friends go there and then suddenly it being gone. It became an unofficial, and then official, gravel and dirt parking lot for the University. So a more accurate statement would be “they tore down my elementary school to make way for a dirt and gravel parking lot.” Expanding Central Park instead of building a commercial development on the site was brilliant.
I don’t remember the demolition of the school. I remember it being there and having friends go there and then suddenly it being gone. It became an unofficial, and then official, gravel and dirt parking lot for the University. So a more accurate statement would be “they tore down my elementary school to make way for a dirt and gravel parking lot.” Expanding Central Park instead of building a commercial development on the site was brilliant.
I don’t remember the demolition of the school. I remember it being there and having friends go there and then suddenly it being gone. It became an unofficial, and then official, gravel and dirt parking lot for the University. So a more accurate statement would be “they tore down my elementary school to make way for a dirt and gravel parking lot.” Expanding Central Park instead of building a commercial development on the site was brilliant.
I certainly wouldn’t count on that mentality today. “Paved paradise and put up a parking lot” (restricted permit parking of course) is the way Saylor, Souza and Asmundson talk. Where’s the sales tax advantage to a park?! Where’s the housing supposed to go?! Thank gaud that got decided back then. It’d never happen with today’s council majority.
I certainly wouldn’t count on that mentality today. “Paved paradise and put up a parking lot” (restricted permit parking of course) is the way Saylor, Souza and Asmundson talk. Where’s the sales tax advantage to a park?! Where’s the housing supposed to go?! Thank gaud that got decided back then. It’d never happen with today’s council majority.
I certainly wouldn’t count on that mentality today. “Paved paradise and put up a parking lot” (restricted permit parking of course) is the way Saylor, Souza and Asmundson talk. Where’s the sales tax advantage to a park?! Where’s the housing supposed to go?! Thank gaud that got decided back then. It’d never happen with today’s council majority.
I certainly wouldn’t count on that mentality today. “Paved paradise and put up a parking lot” (restricted permit parking of course) is the way Saylor, Souza and Asmundson talk. Where’s the sales tax advantage to a park?! Where’s the housing supposed to go?! Thank gaud that got decided back then. It’d never happen with today’s council majority.
“Of course, Bob will say he is not serious when he declares his school was take down for rutabaga farmers. He was only making a joke.”
Good to see that y’all have a sense of humour.
“Of course, Bob will say he is not serious when he declares his school was take down for rutabaga farmers. He was only making a joke.”
Good to see that y’all have a sense of humour.
“Of course, Bob will say he is not serious when he declares his school was take down for rutabaga farmers. He was only making a joke.”
Good to see that y’all have a sense of humour.
“Of course, Bob will say he is not serious when he declares his school was take down for rutabaga farmers. He was only making a joke.”
Good to see that y’all have a sense of humour.
well, as another townie i don’t think that that aspect in particular is a problem, but rather the way dunning leverages it to make either snide putdowns of huge swaths of the community or misleading points such as the one referenced in the article.
i think that the town loses a lot from having a generally weak sense of oral history, in that it allows everyone on all sides of debates to make stuff up about the town’s identity or essence without basis in actual fact. that doesn’t mean that things shouldn’t change, but just that we’d be better off knowing what came before.
what is rather galling is that dunning’s main point these days seems to be that the people of davis are lame, stupid, embarassing, irrational, whatever. seems a bad hook for the paper to choose for a flagship columnist IMO.
well, as another townie i don’t think that that aspect in particular is a problem, but rather the way dunning leverages it to make either snide putdowns of huge swaths of the community or misleading points such as the one referenced in the article.
i think that the town loses a lot from having a generally weak sense of oral history, in that it allows everyone on all sides of debates to make stuff up about the town’s identity or essence without basis in actual fact. that doesn’t mean that things shouldn’t change, but just that we’d be better off knowing what came before.
what is rather galling is that dunning’s main point these days seems to be that the people of davis are lame, stupid, embarassing, irrational, whatever. seems a bad hook for the paper to choose for a flagship columnist IMO.
well, as another townie i don’t think that that aspect in particular is a problem, but rather the way dunning leverages it to make either snide putdowns of huge swaths of the community or misleading points such as the one referenced in the article.
i think that the town loses a lot from having a generally weak sense of oral history, in that it allows everyone on all sides of debates to make stuff up about the town’s identity or essence without basis in actual fact. that doesn’t mean that things shouldn’t change, but just that we’d be better off knowing what came before.
what is rather galling is that dunning’s main point these days seems to be that the people of davis are lame, stupid, embarassing, irrational, whatever. seems a bad hook for the paper to choose for a flagship columnist IMO.
well, as another townie i don’t think that that aspect in particular is a problem, but rather the way dunning leverages it to make either snide putdowns of huge swaths of the community or misleading points such as the one referenced in the article.
i think that the town loses a lot from having a generally weak sense of oral history, in that it allows everyone on all sides of debates to make stuff up about the town’s identity or essence without basis in actual fact. that doesn’t mean that things shouldn’t change, but just that we’d be better off knowing what came before.
what is rather galling is that dunning’s main point these days seems to be that the people of davis are lame, stupid, embarassing, irrational, whatever. seems a bad hook for the paper to choose for a flagship columnist IMO.
Expanding Central Park instead of building a commercial development on the site was brilliant.
in a sense, one could say that the expanded central park and farmer’s market was a shrewd and succesful economic development on the lot, while keeping the space public. i wonder if anyone’s ever tried to measure the economic activity of the market?
Expanding Central Park instead of building a commercial development on the site was brilliant.
in a sense, one could say that the expanded central park and farmer’s market was a shrewd and succesful economic development on the lot, while keeping the space public. i wonder if anyone’s ever tried to measure the economic activity of the market?
Expanding Central Park instead of building a commercial development on the site was brilliant.
in a sense, one could say that the expanded central park and farmer’s market was a shrewd and succesful economic development on the lot, while keeping the space public. i wonder if anyone’s ever tried to measure the economic activity of the market?
Expanding Central Park instead of building a commercial development on the site was brilliant.
in a sense, one could say that the expanded central park and farmer’s market was a shrewd and succesful economic development on the lot, while keeping the space public. i wonder if anyone’s ever tried to measure the economic activity of the market?
“in a sense, one could say that the expanded central park and farmer’s market was a shrewd and succesful economic development on the lot”
This was really more luck than shrewd planning. For more than 20 years the people of Davis tried very hard to get something built there. But after every attempt failed, the idea of expanding the park won out; and in my opinion, that is the best possible thing that could have happened.
What I think could fairly be called “shrewd” was the construction of the original Central Park, what is now the north half of the park.
That space was originally developed, much like any other block in the core area. Not only were there houses and so on at that site, but the northwest section had businesses, including at least one service station. Keep in mind that before the interstate was built, the highway used to go through Davis. It travelled from the Richards Blvd underpass to First Street to B Street to Russell Blvd and west out the Cactus Corners, before going south to Dixon.
So at the corner of Russell and B Streets, where the park now begins, service stations — I don’t know how many — were located, to serve the gas and mechanical needs of the highway traffic.
In fact, when I was a kid, long after Central Park was built, there was still a gas station at the corner of Russell and B Streets (the southwest corner). Sometime in the late 1970s, I think, that station was taken down, and the building that is there now was erected.
====
On something only tangentially related, is everyone aware that the city of Davis now plans on selling off Civic Center Park for infill development? I was surprised (and disappointed) to learn that. Not that I use CCP much, but there is a dearth of open space in the center part of town. Developing that lot will kill off about 50% of the park space in the part of town bounded by Sycamore Lane on the west, 14th Street on the north, L Street on the east, and 5th Street on the south.
Davis is known for its parks and greenbelts, and collectively they make this a much better place to live. But almost all of our green space is in parts of town built after 1970. So losing Civic Center Park would be, in my opinion, particularly detrimental to the people who live in the heart of our town.
“in a sense, one could say that the expanded central park and farmer’s market was a shrewd and succesful economic development on the lot”
This was really more luck than shrewd planning. For more than 20 years the people of Davis tried very hard to get something built there. But after every attempt failed, the idea of expanding the park won out; and in my opinion, that is the best possible thing that could have happened.
What I think could fairly be called “shrewd” was the construction of the original Central Park, what is now the north half of the park.
That space was originally developed, much like any other block in the core area. Not only were there houses and so on at that site, but the northwest section had businesses, including at least one service station. Keep in mind that before the interstate was built, the highway used to go through Davis. It travelled from the Richards Blvd underpass to First Street to B Street to Russell Blvd and west out the Cactus Corners, before going south to Dixon.
So at the corner of Russell and B Streets, where the park now begins, service stations — I don’t know how many — were located, to serve the gas and mechanical needs of the highway traffic.
In fact, when I was a kid, long after Central Park was built, there was still a gas station at the corner of Russell and B Streets (the southwest corner). Sometime in the late 1970s, I think, that station was taken down, and the building that is there now was erected.
====
On something only tangentially related, is everyone aware that the city of Davis now plans on selling off Civic Center Park for infill development? I was surprised (and disappointed) to learn that. Not that I use CCP much, but there is a dearth of open space in the center part of town. Developing that lot will kill off about 50% of the park space in the part of town bounded by Sycamore Lane on the west, 14th Street on the north, L Street on the east, and 5th Street on the south.
Davis is known for its parks and greenbelts, and collectively they make this a much better place to live. But almost all of our green space is in parts of town built after 1970. So losing Civic Center Park would be, in my opinion, particularly detrimental to the people who live in the heart of our town.
“in a sense, one could say that the expanded central park and farmer’s market was a shrewd and succesful economic development on the lot”
This was really more luck than shrewd planning. For more than 20 years the people of Davis tried very hard to get something built there. But after every attempt failed, the idea of expanding the park won out; and in my opinion, that is the best possible thing that could have happened.
What I think could fairly be called “shrewd” was the construction of the original Central Park, what is now the north half of the park.
That space was originally developed, much like any other block in the core area. Not only were there houses and so on at that site, but the northwest section had businesses, including at least one service station. Keep in mind that before the interstate was built, the highway used to go through Davis. It travelled from the Richards Blvd underpass to First Street to B Street to Russell Blvd and west out the Cactus Corners, before going south to Dixon.
So at the corner of Russell and B Streets, where the park now begins, service stations — I don’t know how many — were located, to serve the gas and mechanical needs of the highway traffic.
In fact, when I was a kid, long after Central Park was built, there was still a gas station at the corner of Russell and B Streets (the southwest corner). Sometime in the late 1970s, I think, that station was taken down, and the building that is there now was erected.
====
On something only tangentially related, is everyone aware that the city of Davis now plans on selling off Civic Center Park for infill development? I was surprised (and disappointed) to learn that. Not that I use CCP much, but there is a dearth of open space in the center part of town. Developing that lot will kill off about 50% of the park space in the part of town bounded by Sycamore Lane on the west, 14th Street on the north, L Street on the east, and 5th Street on the south.
Davis is known for its parks and greenbelts, and collectively they make this a much better place to live. But almost all of our green space is in parts of town built after 1970. So losing Civic Center Park would be, in my opinion, particularly detrimental to the people who live in the heart of our town.
“in a sense, one could say that the expanded central park and farmer’s market was a shrewd and succesful economic development on the lot”
This was really more luck than shrewd planning. For more than 20 years the people of Davis tried very hard to get something built there. But after every attempt failed, the idea of expanding the park won out; and in my opinion, that is the best possible thing that could have happened.
What I think could fairly be called “shrewd” was the construction of the original Central Park, what is now the north half of the park.
That space was originally developed, much like any other block in the core area. Not only were there houses and so on at that site, but the northwest section had businesses, including at least one service station. Keep in mind that before the interstate was built, the highway used to go through Davis. It travelled from the Richards Blvd underpass to First Street to B Street to Russell Blvd and west out the Cactus Corners, before going south to Dixon.
So at the corner of Russell and B Streets, where the park now begins, service stations — I don’t know how many — were located, to serve the gas and mechanical needs of the highway traffic.
In fact, when I was a kid, long after Central Park was built, there was still a gas station at the corner of Russell and B Streets (the southwest corner). Sometime in the late 1970s, I think, that station was taken down, and the building that is there now was erected.
====
On something only tangentially related, is everyone aware that the city of Davis now plans on selling off Civic Center Park for infill development? I was surprised (and disappointed) to learn that. Not that I use CCP much, but there is a dearth of open space in the center part of town. Developing that lot will kill off about 50% of the park space in the part of town bounded by Sycamore Lane on the west, 14th Street on the north, L Street on the east, and 5th Street on the south.
Davis is known for its parks and greenbelts, and collectively they make this a much better place to live. But almost all of our green space is in parts of town built after 1970. So losing Civic Center Park would be, in my opinion, particularly detrimental to the people who live in the heart of our town.
Rich, do you happen to know how imminent that sale is? The city recently made a stink about the King High basketball court crossing the property line. They said they were concerned because it might impact their ability to sell the land, but it didn’t sound like they had concrete plans.
Rich, do you happen to know how imminent that sale is? The city recently made a stink about the King High basketball court crossing the property line. They said they were concerned because it might impact their ability to sell the land, but it didn’t sound like they had concrete plans.
Rich, do you happen to know how imminent that sale is? The city recently made a stink about the King High basketball court crossing the property line. They said they were concerned because it might impact their ability to sell the land, but it didn’t sound like they had concrete plans.
Rich, do you happen to know how imminent that sale is? The city recently made a stink about the King High basketball court crossing the property line. They said they were concerned because it might impact their ability to sell the land, but it didn’t sound like they had concrete plans.
1966 taken from 1990 is 24 not 34 years, which is an error in my comment.
What is worse, I took this number from page 142 of my book, Davis. That text was subjected to a parade of copy editors and fact-checkers and none of them, including me, caught it!
I suppose this suggests how hard it is to get things right and how careful we have to be.
John Lofland
1966 taken from 1990 is 24 not 34 years, which is an error in my comment.
What is worse, I took this number from page 142 of my book, Davis. That text was subjected to a parade of copy editors and fact-checkers and none of them, including me, caught it!
I suppose this suggests how hard it is to get things right and how careful we have to be.
John Lofland
1966 taken from 1990 is 24 not 34 years, which is an error in my comment.
What is worse, I took this number from page 142 of my book, Davis. That text was subjected to a parade of copy editors and fact-checkers and none of them, including me, caught it!
I suppose this suggests how hard it is to get things right and how careful we have to be.
John Lofland
1966 taken from 1990 is 24 not 34 years, which is an error in my comment.
What is worse, I took this number from page 142 of my book, Davis. That text was subjected to a parade of copy editors and fact-checkers and none of them, including me, caught it!
I suppose this suggests how hard it is to get things right and how careful we have to be.
John Lofland
“Rich, do you happen to know how imminent that sale is? The city recently made a stink about the King High basketball court crossing the property line. They said they were concerned because it might impact their ability to sell the land, but it didn’t sound like they had concrete plans.”
I don’t really know. It was just when the King High encroachment occurred that I ever heard about this possibility. It certainly is not a done deal.
However, I do know that the city has concrete plans to build athletic fields out near Ikeda’s Market. And I know that the thinking is this: once those new athletic fields are built, there will no longer be a need for the Civic Center Park. So the city would like to sell off CCP to a home builder and use the revenues to support other park infrastructure.
I would have no problem with that approach, but for the fact that the center of town (where I do not live) has so little open space, now. Also, it might cause some problems for the people who live in the nearby Old North.
“Rich, do you happen to know how imminent that sale is? The city recently made a stink about the King High basketball court crossing the property line. They said they were concerned because it might impact their ability to sell the land, but it didn’t sound like they had concrete plans.”
I don’t really know. It was just when the King High encroachment occurred that I ever heard about this possibility. It certainly is not a done deal.
However, I do know that the city has concrete plans to build athletic fields out near Ikeda’s Market. And I know that the thinking is this: once those new athletic fields are built, there will no longer be a need for the Civic Center Park. So the city would like to sell off CCP to a home builder and use the revenues to support other park infrastructure.
I would have no problem with that approach, but for the fact that the center of town (where I do not live) has so little open space, now. Also, it might cause some problems for the people who live in the nearby Old North.
“Rich, do you happen to know how imminent that sale is? The city recently made a stink about the King High basketball court crossing the property line. They said they were concerned because it might impact their ability to sell the land, but it didn’t sound like they had concrete plans.”
I don’t really know. It was just when the King High encroachment occurred that I ever heard about this possibility. It certainly is not a done deal.
However, I do know that the city has concrete plans to build athletic fields out near Ikeda’s Market. And I know that the thinking is this: once those new athletic fields are built, there will no longer be a need for the Civic Center Park. So the city would like to sell off CCP to a home builder and use the revenues to support other park infrastructure.
I would have no problem with that approach, but for the fact that the center of town (where I do not live) has so little open space, now. Also, it might cause some problems for the people who live in the nearby Old North.
“Rich, do you happen to know how imminent that sale is? The city recently made a stink about the King High basketball court crossing the property line. They said they were concerned because it might impact their ability to sell the land, but it didn’t sound like they had concrete plans.”
I don’t really know. It was just when the King High encroachment occurred that I ever heard about this possibility. It certainly is not a done deal.
However, I do know that the city has concrete plans to build athletic fields out near Ikeda’s Market. And I know that the thinking is this: once those new athletic fields are built, there will no longer be a need for the Civic Center Park. So the city would like to sell off CCP to a home builder and use the revenues to support other park infrastructure.
I would have no problem with that approach, but for the fact that the center of town (where I do not live) has so little open space, now. Also, it might cause some problems for the people who live in the nearby Old North.
Wow folks, Dunning obviously didn’t look at the comments when he wrote his column today.
Wow folks, Dunning obviously didn’t look at the comments when he wrote his column today.
Wow folks, Dunning obviously didn’t look at the comments when he wrote his column today.
Wow folks, Dunning obviously didn’t look at the comments when he wrote his column today.
I didn’t get his column today but was able to google some of the quotes to find this. Pretty deceptive that Dunning didn’t bother to point out that Lofland acknowledged his error and corrected it. –JT
I didn’t get his column today but was able to google some of the quotes to find this. Pretty deceptive that Dunning didn’t bother to point out that Lofland acknowledged his error and corrected it. –JT
I didn’t get his column today but was able to google some of the quotes to find this. Pretty deceptive that Dunning didn’t bother to point out that Lofland acknowledged his error and corrected it. –JT
I didn’t get his column today but was able to google some of the quotes to find this. Pretty deceptive that Dunning didn’t bother to point out that Lofland acknowledged his error and corrected it. –JT