Last week end, the Vanguard ran a column on the other Davis. Emerging within the comments of that column was a discussion of the loss of The Wash Mill coin-operated laundromat.
On Friday, the Vanguard ran a more detailed column on the closure of the laundromat, that leaves the city with exactly one coin-operated public laundry facility.
What was remarkable was the extent that people were willing to diminish the importance of the closure.
The remarkable thing about this discussion is that, to a person, the people diminishing this closure were all people who own their own homes and their own vehicles. While I have been fortunate to have a vehicle for 14 of my 16 years in this community, I have had to rely on public laundry facilities up until August.
This is not a loss that should be shrugged off. It will deeply impact the residents of this community, those who rely on public laundry facilities – many of whom do not have their own vehicles and thus cannot drive their laundry across town, even to a central location like Laundry Lounge.
And while it is true that Laundry Lounge provides an excellent service of picking up laundry, a service we used a number of times with our busy lives and growing family, nevertheless it is not a service that everyone can afford. Instead of the $1.75 per load, they charge by the pound.
Whereas you could, with a large pile of laundry, pay $20 to $40 to use the machines, you would end up at nearly $100 to have the clothes picked up. That’s a lot of money for many people, especially during these times.
There are myths that need to be dispelled.
First, “If there is demand for another laundromat in town, one will open.”
There is no indication that The Wash Mill was anything but profitable for the owner. In fact, Soap City, which also closed, did so because the owner got tired of dealing with the Westlake landlords, not because of profitability.
So the idea that another laundromat will open may not be accurate. Morever, even if it does open, the people near East Eighth will undoubtedly end up with the same problem.
Some suggested that the facility was at the mercy of the month-to-month lease. First of all, that does little to reassure the clientele, if they lost their facility through an error by the owner. But, furthermore, it appears inaccurate. The owner attempted to get a yearly lease, but was denied. And even a yearly lease would not have provided the protection needed in this case.
Mark West wrote, “Old East Davis is not an inner city slum so we should stop thinking of it as one.”
Perhaps not. But it does have a large Title One population that Valley Oak used to serve. There are people in that area who do not have reliable vehicles. So where exactly are they to wash their clothes now?
Moreover, students have similar problems. Many do not own their own vehicles – they rely on public transportation. Many would not be able, as Mark West can do, to send their laundry to the Laundry Lounge, either because they do not have a vehicle or they cannot afford to pay by the pound.
Mark West also wrote, “Davis Manor is my neighborhood center and my family shops there on a weekly basis. Despite that, whenever I have needed commercial laundry service I chose the Laundry Lounge because they offered better service and a facility that was clean and obviously cared for by the owners and on-site staff.”
We question whether this is a comparable analogy to other families who live in the area and rely on the local services.
There was also discussion as to whether there are sufficient laundry facilities at apartment complexes to enable residents to survive without a public laundry facility.
One thing I can clearly tell people is that some apartment complexes have laundry facilities as required by city code. But often the facilities are in poor condition, often there are long waits to use the machines, and the facilities are sporadic in terms of having machines that work.
So, while our former complex had its own machines, we rarely used them.
Obviously, the fact that public facilities are profitable indicates that what apartment complexes provide is insufficient.
Steve Hayes wrote a letter to Goodwill Sacramento.
He writes, “If Goodwill intends to expand the former All Things Right and Relevant Thrift Store Site which it has recently leased at the Mall, it will disenfranchise The Old Mill Stream Laundromat, a vital resource that the low-income community has depended on for over forty years.”
He adds, “This result would not only be unfortunate, but would also appear to conflict with the Goodwill Mission Statement to be an asset to low-income people. As a good will gesture, we are asking Goodwill not to expand their recently leased site within the Manor Mall into the existing Old Mill Stream Laundromat site.”
The question is, what can the council do about this? In my opinion, the city needs to have more say about what vital services need to be offered in neighborhood shopping centers. The Davis Manor facility has been run very poorly for a number of years and, while the ownership seems to have stepped up to fill its stores, it has done so at the expense of providing a critical service to a community.
Rather than mandate that shopping centers provide things like laundry services, it seems to me that the owners that ought to be compelled to provide such are apartment buildings.
One thing the city can look at is whether their requirements for apartments is sufficient. Clearly, the current buildings do not provide sufficient or reliable services.
The other thing the city can look into is grant money to assist apartment owners to increase the number and quality of the laundry facilities they offer to tenants of existing complexes.
Those are two things the council can do immediately, and it is well within their authority.
This is an issue likely to greatly impact a huge segment of the population. Those who dismiss it are not able to put themselves into the shoes of those less fortunate.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
“The remarkable thing about this discussion is that to a person, the people diminishing this closure were all people who own their own homes and their own vehicles.”
First off, you have no way of knowing that . Secondly, people weren’t diminishing its closure, they were basically saying that the mall owner was within his rights.
My daughter lives in San Francisco & chooses to ride the bus to a less expensive laundromat there, even though there is one one her street. In that city, there is one on every block, it seems…Anyway, I worry about her carrying her laundry basket because then she doesn’t have her hands available if someone were to try to steal her backpack or purse. And it is really no fun at all, when it is pouring rain. But at least she has a choice. The residents of South Davis have no choice. I’ve rented a few homes in Davis with no washer or dryer. It’s not an easy task, especially when one has two toddlers in tow. You are right, the people who diminish this situation are financially secure. It’s a shame that others can’t show just a tiny bit of compassion. Hopefully a brave entrepreneur will be reading about this problem and do something. Maybe install a nice wi-fi, coffee, laundromat place? Thanks for bringing attention to the “other Davis”.
1. Based on David’s definition, I’m glad to see that I’m not one of the individuals diminishing the closure. 🙂
2. The following comment is not helpful and creates an unnecessary and factually incorrect divide:
“That all may be and probably is true. But Mark West is not a Title One family. He presumably owns his own vehicle, just as he once owned his own business. He is not comparable to a number of the residents of that neighborhood who cannot afford to do what he can.”
Perhaps the comment is merely ill considered. Perhaps it’s reflective of an inner bias. Or the result of something else entirely? In any event, what the heck does owning a business have to do with whether one is concerned by the Laundromat closure or empathizes with Title One families? Indeed, what makes you think many Title One families aren’t business owners themselves? David, perhaps you can explain (keeping in mind you’re also a business owner)?
3. On a more pragmatic level, as a Davis Downtown co-prez, I would be interested in exploring opportunities for Davis Downtown to participate effectively in addressing the challenges faced by Title One families, particularly regarding the needs of the children of such families, and also participating in efforts to increase the community involvement of Title One families.
-Michael Bisch, Davis Downtown Co-Prez
Michael: Because I believe the comment to be ill-considered, I have withdrawn it and replaced it with a more benign comment: “We question whether this is a comparable analogy to other families who live in the area and rely on the local services.”
The reason the comment was there in the first place is that going to Laundry Lounge (and again, they are a good business and provide a good service) presents two problems as a solution: (1) transportation and (2) expense of the pick up service.
That being said, I completely support your No.3 and if there is a way the vanguard can help, let me know.
Cool, thanks! Regarding No. 3, this is the 2nd time within a week that I have extended this offer on the Vanguard. I’m hoping somebody takes me up on it. Davis Downtown and its individual member businesses have consistently provided tremendous support to worthy causes. If someone develops a program addressing No. 3, that Davis Downtown can support by leveraging its existing assets, I’m keen to learn more. [Please ignore the inadequate sentence structure!]
-Michael Bisch, Davis Downtown Co-Prez
This comment should be withdrawn also:
“The remarkable thing about this discussion is that, to a person, the people diminishing this closure were all people who own their own homes and their own vehicles.”
I wonder if there is a site in the retail center across the street from 7-11/Aggie Liquor, east of the gas station. I don’t think that is fully leased, and there is a large amount of parking there.
The Vanguard-tackeling first world problems head on.
rusty49
[quote]”The remarkable thing about this discussion is that, to a person, the people diminishing this closure were all people who own their own homes and their own vehicles.”[/quote]
If you can demonstrate that this statement is false, I would fully recommend its retraction. Otherwise, I would say that it is merely a reflection of the Vanguard’s opinion and since there is no individual attack or disparagement involved, it should stand as written.
I understand that the landlord is within his rights. But unless the laundromat was a poor tenant in some way and there is more to this, which does not appear at all to be the case, why does “Goodwill” have to be such a hog and not just use the available 5000 sq. ft. space, leaving the laundromat in place? They (Goodwill) are being hypocrites. Clearly to have to drag ones laundry across town is awful, even if one finds the means. To set up all that plumbing and infrastructure elsewhere is obviously cost prohibitive and also would be a waste of resources.
Medwoman. I do not own a home, the statement should be retracted. Any absolute like that should be recognized as not being factually possible given the number of people involved in the conversation. That being said, The Vanguard has proposed much sillier notions and no retraction was requested.
DON: [i]”I wonder if there is a site in the retail center across the street from 7-11/Aggie Liquor, east of the gas station. I don’t think that is fully leased, and there is a large amount of parking there.”[/i]
[img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Fu3kQFm88Y/UOnjymFUp2I/AAAAAAAAAzw/s8pWgkVA8MQ/s1600/5th+and+L.JPG[/img]
There is one big space open there. I think that was the space that the Davis Food Co-op used to be in, back in the days when they sold groceries pre-bagged.
Off topic, but, Don, you might be interested in [b]this regulatory kerfuffle ([url]http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-la-jolla-stink-20130106,0,3396355.story[/url])[/b] going on not too far from your childhood home. I don’t know how long the problem has been going on. I don’t remember anything like that when I lived in La Jolla. But, of course, that’s been a long time.
A bit further away (.7 mile by my reckoning) there are three or four empty storefronts in the mall next to the Co-op where Ken’s Bike and Ski, Radioshack, Monticello Bistro (and a dry cleaner, the name of which escapes me). These spots have been open for quite some time.
I remember when the co-op was there! That was back when we first opened. The corner was occupied by the county welfare office, so we had a steady stream of job applicants.
It seems like it would be a good location, with quite a bit of rental housing nearby, good car access (egress around the back), and lots of parking. The property used to be owned by Don Miller and might still be owned by his heirs.
Michael Bisch, I see an opportunity for you here…
David:Thank you for reposting my comments as above. I still have not had a response from (Not So) Goodwill.
The City (and the City council for that matter) would not have been caught flatfooted on this issue if we had regional representation on the City Council. A Council representative from the East Davis area would be in the best position to anticipate the negative impacts of this forced closure, and suggest options to the Council in time to properly reduce/eliminate them. This is a prime example of why regional elections are necessary for equal representation on the Davis City Council
A recent conference hosted within the City of Davis successfully solicited examples of racism and sexism occurring to the “other (unobserved) Davis.” If this converence had solicited examples of “Right vs Wrong” or, “Rich vs Poor”, perhaps the Mill Run issue would have been on the radar screen.
JimmysDaughter wrote:
> My daughter lives in San Francisco & chooses to
> ride the bus to a less expensive laundromat there,
> even though there is one on her street.
> I worry about her carrying her laundry basket because
> then she doesn’t have her hands available if someone
> were to try to steal her backpack or purse.
In almost every apartment in SF the landlord pays for water and in quite a few of the (master metered) buildings the landlord pays for electricity. You can buy your daughter a new in unit washing machine for $199 (at Wal Mart or even less used on Craig’s List). If your daughter is real low on cash you can front her the money for the machine and have her pay you back in the money she saves not paying for laundry at a laundromat.
> I’ve rented a few homes in Davis with no
> washer or dryer.
Most homes have washer and dryer hook ups and used washer and dryers are very inexpensive (In the 90’s I got rid of a working “avocado green” Maytag washer and dryer for $20, and the last washer and dryer I sold was for $50 and the guy talked me in to driving them to Woodland in the back of my SUV to close the sale) so anyone with a home is just a day of babysitting (or some other odd job) away from a used working washer and dryer.
> You are right, the people who diminish this
> situation are financially secure.
I’m doing OK now, but for most of my life I was real poor. I spend a lot of time trying to get poor people to “think outside the box” to get to a place where they are not poor. Yesterday I posted that the people in East Davis should ask apartment owners/managers with laundry rooms in their apartments if they can use them (some are locked, but many are open to anyone that has laundry and quarters). I just remembered that back in the 80’s I had a landlord give me $20 off my rent every month for cleaning and dumping the trash in my apartment laundry room once a week. I’m sure that many East Davis apartment owners would pay twice as much for that service today.
> Hopefully a brave entrepreneur will be reading
> about this problem and do something. Maybe install
> a nice wi-fi, coffee, laundromat place?
I may have missed it, but I can’t believe that no one has mentioned that the closure of this (and probably other) laundromats probably has a lot to do with the increase in Davis water rates and the talk of water rates three times as high in the near future. Many apartment owners in town use laundry services for their apartment laundry rooms and at the typical split of 50/50 the landlords just about break even after paying for water and electricity. If water rates go way up to pay for a fancy new pipe connecting us to Woodland or West Sacramento many apartments will be getting rid of laundry rooms and landlords with landromat tenants (that don’t have lease language to try and recover the increase in water cost) will be losing money.
Mr. Obvious:
“Medwoman. I do not own a home, the statement should be retracted. Any absolute like that should be recognized as not being factually possible given the number of people involved in the conversation. That being said, The Vanguard has proposed much sillier notions and no retraction was requested.”
Medwoman:
“If you can demonstrate that this statement is false, I would fully recommend its retraction. Otherwise, I would say that it is merely a reflection of the Vanguard’s opinion and since there is no individual attack or disparagement involved, it should stand as written.”
Medwoman, I’m waiting for you to call for its retraction. It’s funny to me that you react negatively to Jeff Boone’s ‘moochers’ and ‘looters’ comments since it is merely a reflection of the Jeff’s opinion and since there is no individual attack or disparagement involved, it should stand as written. Others on here complain about blanket statements but then are somehow okay with David’s blanket statement?
Rusty49
I am sorry that you had to wait while I spent the day with my visiting daughter, went to the movies, took down my Christmas decorations and had dinner. As I said, if it were factually false, I would favor it’s retraction. Maybe the first time I made the statement it wasn’t clear to you so now you need to hear me say it again ? Fine Rusty, this one is for you. As clearly stated previously, I favor it’s retraction.
S.O.D.: Thank you for your well meaning suggestions. My daughter rents a room in a bldg. in San Francisco that is too tiny for a washer. But your suggestion is good. Unfortunately, when I rented in Davis, one of my landlords had one washer & dryer in the garage of her duplex. There were 3 college students living in the other half of the duplex & my family, with 2 kids. If we were able to work out a schedule with the nice students (we weren’t, but we did try & they were very nice) it still would have been quite difficult to have enough blocked time for the amount of laundry we generated. After my one year lease expired, I moved to another duplex that had a very old, energy inneficient, washer & dryer in the unit. I tried my best to dry many of my clothes by hanging them overnight in my shower & getting up early to put them away. I rented several homes in Davis while saving for a down payment for my own home, but was never able to afford a home in Davis. So eventually we moved to a more affordable community where home ownership was possible.
I have a washer at home, but with kids, it’s always running load after load! If there was a nice place close by, I would probably load up the kids, go wash everything, dry it, fold it, and then take the kids for some treats. My Mom had 6 kids, and that was her solution to getting the Saturday laundry done and out of the way: take over nearly every machine at the lauderymat, and get past that headache!
I feel for those poor people whom are losing their neighborhood laundry.
If Goodwill does not make a good faith effort to help the Washmill stay where they are, then “Goodwill” will forever be “Illwill” in my mind.
For this issue, who is in charge of sizing up the impact and tally how many people are affected, and what their exact concerns are?
It is one thing for us to imagine how bad it could be for them, but how bad is it in [u]reality[/u]?
How many people here is actually affected?
How many knows someone who is actually affected (and does not yet have a alternate affordable way to deal with it?
For me, I am being empathetic. I signed the petition, but I am not affect, and I don’t personally know anyone who is affected.
[quote]who is in charge of sizing up the impact and tally how many people are affected, and what their exact concerns are?
[/quote]
I think that Edgar has asked the truly pertinent question here. This speaks to the issue of lack of accountability.
I do not believe that we, as a community, have an established mechanism for determining impact of an issue
once it is raised. We have a many strong opinions about problems, but most often little data. An issue that I was reminded of yesterday as I was out with my daughter is that of downtown parking. We had found parking spaces within one block of our destination immediately and I had noted a number of spaces within the surrounding two blocks. In the same shop was a woman talking about how “downtown parking” is “always a problem”. No discussion of distance walked, time spent looking. Just the blanket statement “always a problem”. If something like this is repeated often enough, and enough shopkeepers are hearing it, at what point does perception, even if demonstrably erroneous, start shaping people’s reality ? Knowing how many people are affected and what the actual impact on their lives will be would certainly be important for the city in deciding whether or not any action should be taken ( if indeed any action is possible at the city level).
The laundromat is still in operation until it actually gets closed. Sharon is going to the city council meeting tomorrow (6:30pm).
So far it seems that there are at least 4 groups working with Sharon:
1. Steve Hayes with the email to Goodwill
2. “The woman across the laundromat” (Sorry I forgot her name) who posted the petition pages
3. A man that was talking to Sharon tonight, who knew someone to help on civil cases
4. Potentially the City Council
I asked Sharon what she will do if she gets vacated. She said she can’t relocated because the hookups were grandfathered to her, and she can’t afford to pay for the water and sewage hookups again.
I asked if she can’t relocate, does that mean she will retire. She said it means she will be in a limbo because she will not be able to pay for her monthly medical bills.
Good coverage of this issue. I think it is interesting to see where the regular commentators on this blog fall on the issue. The percentage of people posting here that have actually depended on the Wash Mill seems to be very low.
I’ve used the Wash Mill many times over the last three decades, since it is close to my business, when our family has had intervals without working washer or dryer or both. I’ve been able to solve that problem each time, eventually, by buying a new machine. But not everyone can readily do that, and renters are stuck with whatever their landlord provides. Just having to rely on it for a few weeks at a time, on those several occasions, makes me realize how crucial it is to a neighborhood where many people have lower incomes.
Over those many years I’ve found the Wash Mill clean and well-managed, especially by comparison with the alternative available to me near Dixon. Sometimes a business provides an important neighborhood service and can’t readily be replaced. So if the community can help them relocate or exert pressure to retain their lease, that would be beneficial to the customers as well as the business.