Horse and buggy owners once dismissed the first automobiles as smelly and noisy. It turns out they were right. The automobile has become one of the culprits creating global warming and certainly has become a nuisance in our overcrowded city. Our traffic woes date back to citizen refusal to develop a comprehensive plan for regional transportation. Monorail, viaduct, city tunnel, and commuter lanes were all suggested remedies as a piecemeal attempt to patch up our car-dependent problem.

Other cities provide subway systems, restricted automobile travel into the city, and monorail access to the suburbs within a comprehensive plan. But not greater Seattle. We are addicted to our automobiles, but we never wanted to pay the price for increasing traffic congestion and pollution.

At present, those who represent government in our city and throughout this state are in an all-out battle over the failing viaduct. We have waited so long that no matter what solution we choose, it won't be adequate and the price rises steadily.

Sightline Institute (formerly Northwest Environment Watch) has posted several alternatives on their website, one suggestion being to get out of the car and onto a bicycle. Even online skates would work. In most major cities people do not drive downtown. We had a New York visitor one summer who said she had never had a driver's license. Now I can hear you responding with, "But we don't have public transportation set up so that we can stop driving downtown. Not everyone can manage bicycling or skating."

Have the voters ever considered converting all the stadium property into more family friendly spaces? That alone would eliminate thousands of cars coming to corporate male sports events in our central city. I once fantasized converting the Kingdome to a multi-purpose family center. It would include health care centers, early childhood education space, counseling, and food centers where downtown employees could have lunch with their children. In the center, under the dome, would have been a display park with tall giraffes on view. Some of the property could have been used for multi-age low-cost housing with childcare and opportunity for oldsters to mingle with youngsters. This fantasy was disrupted by the Kingdome imploding and another stadium taking its place!

It is still not too late to take back our city but we can no longer settle for the quick fix. If we can finally face what we have to do to get rid of our dependence upon the automobile, automobile manufacturers would be asked to remove billboards showing sexy females draped over the hoods of their latest model cars. Then the city could mount local artists' posters showing families enjoying walking or bicycling on special pathways lined with flowers and shrubs. Families could once again feel welcome in downtown Seattle. They could walk on the waterfront without roaring automobiles drowning out conversation. Parents could commute to work without having to drive to a private sitter to leave the children before driving through smog to the work place. We are capable of using conflict resolution to whip up a recipe for renewing health and happiness in a city that needs to be family friendly once more.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer at gnkunkel@comcast.net or 935-8663.