The good news is that housing prices in the city will not plummet as low as those in the far-reaching suburbs. The bad news is there will continue to be a rush to provide housing for the huge number of people who will chose to live near their work and no longer drive until they can get a home loan approved.

We all know people who travel daily from Bainbridge Island or Vashon - when the ferries are not broken down - and even from Bonney Lake or Mount Vernon. With gasoline heading to $4 a gallon and gridlock approaching and bus service that doesn't go where people need to go, we see even more people will be wanting to live near their jobs. That will be good and bad for us.

West Seattle is close to downtown, and the once overwhelming idea of crossing the bridge and navigating the viaduct now seems like a snap. We predict the Water Taxi will become more and more popular and hope the powers that be can find a way to add to the water transportation of the area.

The city is working to upgrade neighborhood plans and zoning experts are making fixes to the zoning code so that inequities will be eliminated. But all of this is not enough if we don't have in place a viable plan that not just the experts in City Hall understand, but one that the entire city can understand and support.

Such a plan may indeed be in place down in the depths of City Hall, but information about it dribbles out only after some crisis happens.

Government exists to help the people survive in peace and tranquility while being able to provide for their families and give to the surrounding community. Often, our Seattle government appears to be hostile to people, even when it is attempting to solve our problems. To be told that your home for many decades will now be wedged in between two mega-houses or three townhomes while your taxes go up and up is more than a little frustrating. Then, when some well-meaning official says "it is all legal under the zoning code," or some such, makes people angry.

There is no doubt that many hard working, sincere city employees are struggling to help our city weather one crisis after another. We have found very few government workers who are wasting our money or our time, but often government assumes we understand.

The government serves us, and we should make it plain that they need to do a better job of explaining the problems to us. This city is going to grow and grow fast, whether we like it or not. We just hope we understand what our leaders are leading us toward.

- Jack Mayne