Tag Archives: neighborhood

News

The Weekend Wrap: September 18-24

 

"Departed" (Photo: soapngeth from our Flickr pool)

Level 3 sex offender moves into Whittier Heights (My Ballard)
Big trucks busy on Beacon Hill (Beacon Hill Blog)
What Do You Think of the Human Waste Clean Up Program? (belltownpeople)
Imbibe at Liberty, plus new happy hour at Kingfish Café (MvB takes over Capitol Hill Seattle!)
Madison will be closed at MLK September 26-30 (Central District News)
Eastlake notes: Houseboat rescued; Romio’s closes  (Eastlake Ave)
Oktoberfest Time In Fremont This Weekend (Fremont Universe)
Mayor proposes funding for improvements at the Green Lake Bathhouse and the Lower Woodland tennis courts (My Green Lake)
Elliott Bay Brewing Moves In  (Lake City Live)
Phone Number For “Andrew the Knife Sharpener’s” Front Porch Service (Laurelhurst Blog)
More waterfront access for Madison Park? (Madison Park Blogger)
Mobile Food Rodeo tasty but bumpy first ride (Magnolia Voice)
Thornton Creek update: snails, chickens, beavers (Maple Leaf Life)
Chocolat Vitale opens at NW 65th St & 3rd Ave. NW (PhinneyWood)
Met Market project on track, market to close next summer (Queen Anne View)
Southeast Seattle Libraries to Host Urban Self Reliance Programs (Rainier Valley Post)
Achtung! Heidelberg House is hiring! (Ravenna Blog)
More than 500 turn out for Roosevelt legislative rezone public hearing (Roosiehood)
Images of the Rainier Valley: Shop local! (Southend Seattle)
Anti-gang funding not enough to stop county’s gang problem (South Seattle Beacon)
I’m on a (farm) boat!  (The Southlake)
Debut of food trucks in the neighborhood (My Wallingford)
Neptune Theatre Grand Opening (Wallyhood)
Solarize Seattle adding Northeast branch (Wedgwood View)
Nickelsville encampment marks 3rd anniversary (West Seattle Blog)
3rd medical-marijuana business for downtown White Center (White Center Now)

News

The Weekend Wrap: September 11-17

Up on Mount Rainier, the webcam shows clouds and rain today.

At Hurricane Ridge, it was 46 degrees mid-morning and staring fall in the face.

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14th Ave NW one step closer to a makeover (My Ballard)
Wall along trail is “graffiti hotspot” (Beacon Hill Blog)
Seattle is #6 for Top 10 Worst Dressed Cities! (belltownpeople)
Making a living as a band on Capitol Hill often means bartending (Capitol Hill Seattle)
Burglars make off with goods worth thousands from Madrona shops  (Central District News)
Latest I-5 noise panel readings: Little change from February  (Eastlake Ave)
Fremont’s Fleur De Lis Featured On CityStream (Fremont Universe)
Matthew Inman, creator of ‘The Oatmeal,’ gives a shout-out to Green Lake (My Green Lake)
Spiced Pear Sauce  (Lake City Live)
Laurelhurst Community Center Hours May Be Further Reduced (Laurelhurst Blog)
Honeybee swarm causes a ruckus (Madison Park Blogger)
Uptown Espresso to open next week (Magnolia Voice)
Additional debate over streets, sidewalks, $60 car license hike (Maple Leaf Life)
Free Electronic Recycling Event at St. Joseph Parish (Montlake.net)
Phinney Farmers Market extended by 2 weeks (PhinneyWood)
Seattle’s Park Community Centers Facing Tough New Cuts (Phinney Ridge Seattle)
Successful Schools in Action falls under budget axe (Queen Anne View)
Rainier Avenue Makeover Moves South (Rainier Valley Post)
A day in the life of a North Precinct patrol officer (Ravenna Blog)
U-District transforms into movie set for “21 and Over” (Roosiehood)
Big Leaf Maple: The Big Giving Trees of the Pacific Northwest (Southend Seattle)
A concrete way to liven up the garden (South Seattle Beacon)
Potential new home for The Center for Wooden Boats at North Lake Union  (My Wallingford)
3400 Stone Way (Wallyhood)
What’s happening with the Italian Spaghetti House? (Wedgwood View)
West Seattle roads: ‘Rechannelization’ decision for SW Alaska (West Seattle Blog)
Burien City Council still not ready to commit to moving ahead with annexation (White Center Now)

News, Transportation

Portland Has a Greenway They’d Like to Sell Seattle

"Ghost bike" (Photo: +Russ from The SunBreak Flickr pool)

“Greenway,” like “bike boulevard” is one of those terms that may hinder conversations as much as it helps–you always have to be on guard against tribalistic jargon. What’s wrong with just calling them family-friendly streets?

The general principle is to apply a little jiu jitsu to the bikes v. cars debate. Rather than trying to squish bikes and cars onto the same heavily traveled arterials all over town, you create stretches of family-friendly streets in neighborhoods by taking streets without much car traffic, and dedicating them to biking and walking first. Cars can still travel on them, but slowly, thanks to speed bumps.

It changes the whole personality of the street when it’s safe enough for kids to bike on. And it’s quick and easy, relative to other transportation solutions. On Thursday, September 22, you can get the details from Mark Lear and Greg Raisman, who are visiting the University of Washington (Savery Hall 264, 7 p.m.)  for a talk about Portland’s Neighborhood Greenways program.

In the span of just five short years, Portland will have transformed itself into a city where 80% of residents live within a half-mile of a “Neighborhood Greenway”–a special family-friendly street where it’s common to see families enjoying a bicycle ride together, kids walking to school or to the park, and even the occasional on-street basketball game.

Here’s a video that gives you a better idea of what it looks like.

Portland’s Bike Boulevards Become Neighborhood Greenways from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Anyone who’s lived in Seattle for very long knows that if you want to change something citywide, you have first to sell it to the neighborhoods. It’s heartening to see the bottom-up approach taking off. Here’s the requisite Facebook page for Seattle greenways organizers.

It’s also nice to have a City Council member who’s already been sold on the idea; Sally Bagshaw came back from a Portland trip having seen the greenway light. She’s created a whole page of information on how greenways work, and she underscores that greenways aren’t just about bikes:

Neighborhood Greenways are for all of us, not just for bicyclists. Greenways are for those who want to live in a quieter, calmer neighborhood. They are for those of us who want to let our children play outside safely, where neighbors like to walk and ride in front of their homes in relative peace. Greenways are for people who like green and flowering trees and want to recreate how their neighborhoods look and feel.

These family-friendly streets limit traffic speeds to 20 mph or slower, while reorienting intersection stop signs to give priority to cyclists traveling along them. (Someone must have suggested marking these streets Local Access Only, but so far as I can tell, that’s not implemented in Portland. It’s the speed of car traffic that’s being discouraged, not cars. As it turns out, that’s usually good enough at reducing traffic volume.

That still leaves, of course, work to do in areas where bikes and cars have to share the available road area, but if you consider how many people might prefer to bicycle around their neighborhood as opposed to across town, this seems to be a good low-hanging fruit approach.

News

The Weekend Wrap: September 4-10

Can't make it to the beach? zenobia_joy from our Flickr pool has got you covered!

Mayor McGinn to speak at Broadview Community Council (Aurora | Seattle)
Ballard Bridge painting – expect closures (My Ballard)
Beacon Hill: coyote country? (Beacon Hill Blog)
Unspeakable crime in Belltown (belltownpeople)
Is it legal to grill on a Capitol Hill apartment balcony? (Capitol Hill Seattle)
SPD confirms gunfire scare disrupted Saturday rally at Powell Barnett Park (Central District News)
Husky football, I-5 ramp closures will affect Eastlake this weekend (Eastlake Ave)
Aurora Bridge Jumper Decides Not To Jump, Crisis Averted (Fremont Universe)
Seattle City Ordinance requires permit for pruning or removing street trees (My Green Lake)
Recent Car Prowl and Car Vandalism On Labor Day (Laurelhurst Blog)
Residential construction alive and well here (Madison Park Blogger)
Magnolia Voice has new editor (Magnolia Voice)
Sidewalks, streets: Debate over $60 car tab hike on November’s ballot (Maple Leaf Life)
Greenwood artist contributes to CNN’s ‘Ripple’ project for 9/11 anniversary (PhinneyWood)
COOP 15 poised for Park-ing Day (Queen Anne View)
Mayor’s Office: Incompetent or Downright Dishonest? (Rainier Valley Post)
Rappeller gets stuck dangling from 2oth Avenue Bridge (Ravenna Blog)
What to do with all of those Blueberries? Start with a Tart! (Southend Seattle)
Seattle’s Brain Cancer Walk later this month (South Seattle Beacon)
City money available for arts and cultural events (My Wallingford)
Smash and Grabs at the QFC (Wallyhood)
Return to Hunter Farm Gathering Place – final touches (Wedgwood View)
West Seattle businesses: New ownership, name for Viking Bank (West Seattle Blog)
Letter-writing campaign to bring Deputy Jeff Hancock back to White Center (White Center Now)

News

The Weekend Wrap: August 28 – September 3

Not sure what's going on here. But it's at Bumbershoot.

Ballard’s newest micro-brewery opens soon (My Ballard)
Denise Louie Education Center receives literacy grant (Beacon Hill Blog)
Happy 1st Birthday, Belltown Pub! (belltownpeople)
Volunteer Park Cafe can stay, B&O Espresso will have to go (Capitol Hill Seattle)
Reel Grrls founder and Executive Director steps down (Central District News)
NOAA’s Lake Union base is up for sale; no price announced (Eastlake Ave)
Body Found In Carkeek Park Is Missing PCC Employee Jeff Johnson (Fremont Universe)
Gluten-free residents happy in Green Lake, talk about experiences (My Green Lake)
Summer Lake Washington Nutria Report (Laurelhurst Blog)
Our neighborhood Starbucks gets a nod from the New York Times (Madison Park Blogger)
Disaster drill in Discovery Park (Magnolia Voice)
New iPod robbery reported at Northgate Transit Center (Maple Leaf Life)
Art and Design Classes at UW Botanic Gardens (Montlake.net)
Suspect at large in Greenwood stabbing Wednesday night – attack not random Farewell Queen Anne View (Queen Anne View)
Girl on bicycle hit, injured by car while crossing NE 65th St (Ravenna Blog)
Nighttime construction along I-5 in Roosevelt, Green Lake through early 2012 (Roosiehood)
Seniors, Youth 180 & Seahawks Team Up for Senior Ball (Southend Seattle)
Corson Ave. detour changing in Georgetown (South Seattle Beacon)
Amazon names buildings, says “You’re welcome” (The Southlake)
Wallingford liquor store to offer free tastings (My Wallingford)
Wallingford Real Estate Update (Wallyhood)
Garbage collection normal, despite holiday (Wedgwood View)
Beach Drive slide fight: ‘Potential solutions’ being explored (West Seattle Blog)
White Center murder suspect Anthony Haroldlee Smith pleads not guilty (White Center Now)

News

The Weekend Wrap: August 21-27

Presumably all this "geofoam" will make for an incredibly smooth ride! (Photo: WSDOT)

Felix Hernandez greets hundreds of fans in Ballard (My Ballard)
Rizal Bridge repair work extended until Sept. 9 (Beacon Hill Blog)
Community Comes Together to Support Matt Hale (belltownpeople)
Impressive crowd of firms lines up for Broadway Station project  (Capitol Hill Seattle)
After shots fired, car crashes into building near 12th and Boren (Central District News)
Nettletown to close after this weekend (Eastlake Ave)
New Transportation Plan For Upcoming School Year (Fremont Universe)
Unidentified sound and mysterious shaking reported in north Green Lake (My Green Lake)
Lake City Public Safety Meeting Aug 31st  (Lake City Live)
All Seattle Public Library Branches Closed Next Week Due To Budget Cuts (Laurelhurst Blog)
A 520 lawsuit on the horizon? (Madison Park Blogger)
Interbay tapping sewer lines for heat and energy (Magnolia Voice)
520 Permitting – Information from the 520 Coalition (Montlake.net)
Local artist designs stone and glass sculpture for new Fire Station 21 (PhinneyWood)
Conan O’Brien spotted wandering Queen Anne (Queen Anne View)
Woman Stabs Would-Be Rapist in Mt. Baker (Rainier Valley Post)
Libraries CLOSED all next week, but still accessible (sort of) (Ravenna Blog)
TLDR Roosevelt: The “Grand Opening” edition (Roosiehood)
Distressed Property Primer – Part Deux (Southend Seattle)
City Council should drop car-tab efforts (South Seattle Beacon)
Does Asperger’s Syndrome explain the streetcar? (The Southlake)
Stoneway Village update (Wallyhood)
Hunter Farm Gathering Place – it’s done! (Wedgwood View)
More photos from today’s Orca visit (West Seattle Blog)
County Councilmember McDermott proposes moratorium on new dance clubs in White Center/North Highline (White Center Now)