When Seattle decided to brace and prepare for becoming a much larger city, it decided that more of us needed to live more closely in proximity with each other. Urban villages were to be created where mid-rise apartments and condominiums would be permited to facilitate this human density. It was a good plan then, and it is a good plan now.

But, like all plans, there needs to be some fine tuning. That need is becoming clearer and clearer here in Ballard where it seems the plans and the reality may have a problem synching.

Another of Ballard's mainstay businesses is preparing to depart for the more commercial-friendly Port of Edmonds. Jacobsen's Marine plans to be "up and running" in Edmonds "by the end of 2008." A secondary casualty will be next-door neighbor, Archie McPhee's, because it is on Jacobsen land.

Part of the problem is "complications with this property," says co-owner Terry McCartney, but the real reason is that the City of Seattle's policies have made running a business much harder than selling its land for a high dollar to developers of condominiums. A business must locate where it can best operate and it must dispose of its property for the highest income. That is basic in our economy

But the Seattle powers-that-be seem to forget that more people mean more need for jobs, and we cannot have a thriving community with everyone doing service jobs at minimum pay.

Ballard Oil Co. owner Warren Aakervik Jr. said it best in Rebekah Schilperoort's article on Page One.

"Seattle is not protecting its industrial areas and commercial areas that support industry," he said. "There's no protection for commerce and industry here."

Yes, we need condos, and more single family homes, and more affordable housing units. They should be permitted near the same area as industry. We should not create a world where the choice is to work at a low-paying service job or commuting long distances to where industry relocates.

One person told us last week that industry will always be here in Seattle because there is nowhere for it to go to. Oh? The Port of Edmonds seems to have found one place.

Is this really what the planners had in mind and, if it is, is this what we want our Ballard to become - a mass of expensive condominiums with no good jobs near?

- Jack Mayne