The Fight for Tacoma’s Public Market
A citizen letter protests the impending removal of market booths, accusing city officials of prioritizing developer interests over public access.
Do the people of Tacoma want a public market, or do they want to see it abolished? The order from Mr. McGregor has gone forth to remove the booths this week, or he will have them removed; if the public market has any friends, they must speak up quickly. Anyone who has noticed the activity of certain city officials in straining at gnats and swallowing camels will easily discern the colored man in the woodpile. There seems to be back of all this agitation a bunch of narrow-minded business men who accredit all their troubles to the public market. I will say for the benefit of these gentlemen that such cities as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington and New Orleans have public markets, and yet their local business houses live and thrive nevertheless. How about that little item in your expense account for street cleaning, Mr. McGregor? Or is D St. below 11th not entitled to any part of this expense?
“There seems to be back of all this agitation a bunch of narrow-minded business men who accredit all their troubles to the public market.”
Public markets in Tacoma have long been flashpoints for civic identity and gentrification. The tension between supporting small-scale food access and the demands of nearby commercial property owners remains a core feature of urban planning discussions in the city.
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