Page 24 RAIN October 1976 The Vancouver Book, Chuck Davis, ed., $10.95 from: ·· J. J. Douglas Ltd. 1875 Welch Street Vancouver, BC; Canada About five years ago I carried a suppressed love.to the open air and ·confessed that I loved maps and li~ts and catalogs and almanacs and directories. Since then I've ~ollected most every directory, almanac and catalog and list and map I could l~y . my hands on. . . · . . Chuck Davis wrote to me about a year and a half ago describing The Vancouver Book and asking me if I could-send · him a copy of Chinook Centrex, a "whole city" catalog I. · helped publish in 1972-73. . The table of contents to The Vancouver Book felt oddly like a list .I must have made sometime fo~ the ideal cataloging of a city. The Vancouver Book is a still shot of Vancouver,.freezing · (most) all the events, systems, senses and perspectives of a city into lists, descriptions, photos., statistics, addresses and anecdotes. . · Included is history (of each neighborhood), climate, soil, trees, birds, archaeology, architecture, lighting, bridges, sounds,. maps, tunnels, zoning, garbage, energy, legal resources, ·health care, magazines, comics, theaters, bowling and cemeteries. . Chuck Davis is a lover both of maps and lists. He is now, I hear, working on a book of maps and, in the introduction, relates this: · ''It all started because I'm a list freak. When I was a kid, I remember being more than usually interested in lists. I read, or made up, lists of the longest rivers, the tallest buildings, the oldest people, the widest bridges, and so on. I_recall my father · once telling me; "Charlie, one of these days you're going to make up a list of all your lists." I wish he were still.aro\lnd to - see how his prediction has come true-and in a book, too." · So what do you do with a 500-page book about Vancouver;, British Columbia, in Portland, Oregon? · · You can think about it. Imagine freezing all the hubbub . around you into one large comprehensive mural/aerial photo that allows you to see an entire cityfrom all perspectives (in- · eluding the turn of a century); maybe while it's sitting still for -IN THE_BANK OR UP THE CHIMNEY? The SeattleTrust and Savi~gs Bank this summer became one ofthe first in the country to offer lower loan interest rates as an incentive to energY conservation. The bank is offering .· home purchase, remodeling, car and boat loans at 1/2 to 3/4 percent below its normal rates if certain energy conservation or efficiency standards are met (it pays.to get a sailboat rather than a motorboat). The program, developed with ·the assi-stance of Wilson Clark, reflects the bank's concern for the impact of energy costs upo~ the monetary value of real and personal property. The :bank's officers state that a natural relationship exists between resource conservation and sound economic practi~es-that the desirable social and ec-onomic impact of rehabilitation and maintenance of the community's older housing stock is directly coimected with the ability of people to live in.the most efficient and economical manner. Wilson a minute you'll be able to pick out where youfit in. . · Catalogues and directories of cities of many sorts exist in . the United States, including over 50 ofwhat have become known as People's Yellow P<~;ges, but The Vancouver Book is some kind of new animal. Clark states that the conservationprogram could reduce fuel ·· needs by 40-60%.yearly and provide economic savings which . .would be paid back in four years or less. The prograrri complements the decision made by the .City Council to develop · .energy conservation programs iri lieu of developing new generating capacity. In my five years of looking at catalogues, lists, directories, . almanacs and rnaps, I've not seen anything that comes as close .· as The Vancouver Book to making sense out of all the parts of · a city. (SJ) For more information, contact: Mr. J. C. Baillargeon, Seattle Trust and Savings Bank, 804 Second Avenue, Seattle, .WA 98104. RAIN 2270 N.W. Irving Portla-nd, OR 97210 Address Correction Requested Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 1890 Portland, OR
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