All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
Getting Around

Going places on light rail: Columbia City station

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(As the big opening day for light rail is this Saturday, we want to post a bit about the stations that aren’t on Beacon Hill. Much of the coverage of the rail line focuses on using it for commuting to and from work, and many of us will be doing that. But even more than getting to work, Link is going to be useful for visiting places throughout Downtown and Southeast Seattle without a car. With this in mind, we’ve created a few posts about some of the station areas.)

The pictogram representing the Columbia City station is a dove. (Courtesy of Sound Transit.)
The pictogram representing the Columbia City station is a dove. (Courtesy of Sound Transit.)

The Columbia City Station is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, just on the western edge of Columbia City. The station site itself is just south of a new development, Rainier Vista, a former public housing site originally built in the 1940s to house defense workers, and recently redeveloped as a multi-income community inspired by New Urbanist principles.

Walk from the south end of the station east on South Edmunds Street, and after about one-third of a mile you’ll emerge on the neighborhood’s main drag, Rainier Avenue South, just south of Southeast Seattle’s only full-time movie theater, the triple-screen Columbia City Cinema. Further north on Rainier is the recently-expanded Columbia Branch Library, a Georgian Revival-style Carnegie Library building from 1915. The library is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A train leaves the Columbia City station while Mount Rainier dazzles in the background. Photo by Wendi.
A train leaves the Columbia City station while Mount Rainier dazzles in the background. Photo by Wendi.
The wider Columbia City business district is itself a Seattle Landmark District (one of seven historic districts in the city) as well as a National Register Historic District, and includes a variety of interesting commercial buildings, houses, churches, and apartment buildings. The Seattle.gov website has a Historic Tour of Columbia City that you can print out and follow as you explore the neighborhood.

Restaurants in Columbia City are plentiful and you can choose from cuisines including Caribbean, barbecue, Neapolitan Italian, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, and more. There is also a brewpub, the Columbia City Ale House. (CC Ale House doesn’t actually brew, but they do have a fairly large selection of local and regional microbrews — Ed.)

The Global Garden Shovel sculpture is impossible to miss, on the northwest side of the station. Photo by Wendi.
The Global Garden Shovel sculpture is impossible to miss, on the northwest side of the station. Photo by Wendi.
If you feel the need to eat before walking to the heart of Columbia City, much nearer the station is the Japanese fast-food restaurant Maki & Yaki, serving teriyaki, sushi, bento boxes, and more just north of the MLK and South Alaska intersection.

Like the other light rail stations, Columbia City Station is surrounded by public art, including Victoria Fuller’s Global Garden Shovel, a giant bronze shovel molded with the shapes of fruit and vegetables. In Norie Sato’s Pride, the south plaza of the station is guarded by lions customized to reflect the diversity of the neighborhood. When you are riding the train north from Othello Station to Columbia City, look to your left between Dawson Street and Hudson Street to see Sound of Light, by artist Richard C. Elliott, made of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of reflectors arranged in overlapping, symmetrical patterns. (See this one in both day and night, if you can.)

Sound of Light by the late Richard Elliott, as seen at night, lit up by the lights of passing cars. You can only see this artwork while traveling north on MLK. Photo by Wendi.
Sound of Light, by the late Richard Elliott, as seen at night, lit up by the lights of passing cars. You can only see this artwork while traveling north on MLK. Photo by Wendi.
Getting Around

Going places on light rail: Rainier Beach station

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(As the big opening day for light rail is this Saturday, we want to post a bit about the stations that aren’t on Beacon Hill. Much of the coverage of the rail line focuses on using it for commuting to and from work, and many of us will be doing that. But even more than getting to work, Link is going to be useful for visiting places throughout Downtown and Southeast Seattle without a car. With this in mind, we’ve created a few posts about some of the station areas.)

The pictogram representing the Rainier Beach station is a heron. (Courtesy of Sound Transit.)
The pictogram representing the Rainier Beach station is a heron. (Courtesy of Sound Transit.)
The Rainier Beach Station location has an oddly rural appearance, due to its location near the Chief Sealth Trail and the large Thistle Street P-Patch. There is not yet any kind of high density development in this area, and the City Light power lines that rise over the trail and p-patch will prevent those areas from being developed in the future. This area was rural well-within living memory, and in fact, Seattle’s last working farm, Sferra Farm, is fairly close by.

Several blocks to the east is Rainier Avenue and Rainier Beach High School. Another few blocks get you to Beer Sheva Park on the shore of Lake Washington. Just over a mile’s walk south on the Chief Sealth Trail from the station will get you to the famous and lovely Kubota Garden.

The Chief Sealth Trail undulates down Beacon Hill to the Rainier Beach Link station. Photo by Wendi.
The Chief Sealth Trail undulates down Beacon Hill to the Rainier Beach Link station. Photo by Wendi.
Beaconians, still without any pizza restaurants on the hill (unless you count the Domino’s on the very lowest part of the hill on McClellan, but we don’t), might find the Link train to be their pizza express, since the Rainier Beach station is only one long block away from Vince’s, where they’ve been serving pizza and gnocchi and spaghetti for 52 years now. Dinner at Vince’s is like stepping back in time; dark, with Sinatra on the sound system and checkered cloths on the table, it’s a classic old-style Neapolitan-American restaurant, probably not much different from the way it was in 1957. Comfort food doesn’t get much more comfortable than this. (There’s a bar, too.) If Italian food isn’t your thing, there is a taco wagon about half a mile north of the station on MLK.

Dragonfly above the Rainier Beach Station. Photo by Wendi.
"Dragonfly" above the Rainier Beach Station. Photo by Wendi.
The station itself, like most of the other Rainier Valley stations, is a platform station. Metal panels by artist Eugene Parnell are embossed with hieroglyphics and other forms of writing and stand throughout the platform. An aluminum creature, “Dragonfly” by Darlene Nguyen-Ely, soars over the north entrance. Nearby is Buster Simpson’s “Parable,” meant to be pear halves that reflect the farming past of the Valley, with cables and rails to symbolize the encroachment by urban Seattle that changed the neighborhood. This, however, is one of the less-successful artworks at the stations, as at a glance, it just looks like a pile of rusty junk left over from the station’s construction. A better evocation of old farming Seattle is just across MLK, where the P-patch farmers continue an old South Seattle tradition.

Artwork by Eugene Parnell on the station platform. Photo by Wendi.
Artwork by Eugene Parnell on the station platform. Photo by Wendi.
Getting Around

Going places on light rail: Tukwila International Boulevard station

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(As the big opening day for light rail is this Saturday, we want to post a bit about the stations that aren’t on Beacon Hill. Much of the coverage of the rail line focuses on using it for commuting to and from work, and many of us will be doing that. But even more than getting to work, Link is going to be useful for visiting places throughout Downtown and Southeast Seattle without a car. With this in mind, we’ve created a few posts about some of the station areas.)

On Link maps and printed materials, each station has a symbol. Tukwila Station's symbol is a canoe, to refer to its history on three rivers and future as a transportation hub. (Courtesy of Sound Transit.)
On Link maps and printed materials, each station has a symbol. Tukwila Station's symbol is a canoe, to refer to its history on three rivers and future as a transportation hub. (Courtesy of Sound Transit.)
Of all the stations on the Link light rail line, Tukwila International Boulevard Station is the most frustrating, at least, from the perspective of anyone who doesn’t live or work in the area. Of all the stations, it has the fewest neighborhood attractions to visit. What it does have that none of the other stations do is one thing: a 600-space park and ride.

Even Sound Transit’s own promotional materials struggle to find nearby attractions for this station. The Discover Link Neighborhoods Interactive Map gives as this station’s nearby attractions Southcenter Mall (about 1.75 miles away), the Interurban Railroad (historically interesting, but there really isn’t anything left of it to see), and the Museum of Flight, a whopping five miles away on East Marginal Way. (If you really want to see the Museum, and you’re willing to hoof it a bit, don’t take the train to Tukwila — get off at Rainier Beach and walk two and a half miles to the Museum, which is less than a mile away as the crow files, but is on the other side of I-5.) Other “points of interest” mentioned elsewhere by Sound Transit include Fort Dent Park (a couple of miles away) and Boeing Access Road (several miles away near the Museum of Flight, and not an “attraction” per se). In other words, there’s not much there there, near the station itself. We could all use a little more walking, but if you are willing to take the train to Tukwila only to walk 5 miles to get to the Museum of Flight, you’re a more intrepid walker than I.

The Tukwila station as seen from International Boulevard. Photo by Wendi.
The Tukwila station as seen from International Boulevard. Photo by Wendi.
What there is to see at this particular station is the station itself. Larger than most of the other stations, its design is big, glassy and modern. The roof soars above the station at an angle for takeoff, and the tracks elevated high in the sky make you think of a monorail instead of an earth-bound light rail.

Like the other Sound Transit stations, Tukwila has its share of art, including a giant milk drop caught in mid-splash, A Drop of Sustenance, and a huge brightly-colored molecule, Molecule of Tukwila, both by Tad Savinar. Outside the station grounds, though, there is not much art, but instead a suburban auto-oriented highway-strip neighborhood of the type that grows up around all old highways (in this case, it was formerly part of US 99, then SR 99): a gas station, McDonalds, KFC, a former casino, a Pancake Chef, bars and strip clubs populate the strip. There are nearby halal grocery shops, and a post office that stays open until late at night to accept your packages. Until the SeaTac Airport station opens in December, there will also be a shuttle bus waiting here to get you to the airport.

Molecule of Tukwila, as seen from outside the station. Photo by Wendi.
Molecule of Tukwila, as seen from outside the station. Photo by Wendi.
Ben Schiendelman commented recently on one of my photos of this station that “It’s a terrible place for a station this year, but not in 20 years. And it’ll be around for 150…” With luck we won’t need to wait that long for a reason to visit.

Lost and Found

Do you know this dog?

This sweet dog was found on Beacon Hill. Is he yours?
This sweet dog was found on Beacon Hill. Is he yours?
While walking home Saturday afternoon, we met a neighbor walking this very sweet and friendly dog on 16th Avenue South. She said she found the dog recently and is looking for her owner. If this is your dog, please call 206-769-6425.

Photos

This is the last weekend before the light rail opens

Here are a few photos of the area around the Beacon Hill light rail station as the clock ticks down to Opening Day.

The art outside the station has begun to be installed. The work on the north side of the building is by artist Carl Smool.
The art outside the station has begun to be installed. The work on the north side of the building is by artist Carl Smool.
This flag marks the spot where the last part of the Big Blue Fence was until recently. In the background is El Centro de la Raza.
This flag marks the spot where the last part of the Big Blue Fence was until recently. In the background is El Centro de la Raza.
Until recently, this area was covered with machinery and construction supplies. Now, its a smoothly-graded field of gravel.
Until recently, this area was covered with machinery and construction supplies. Now, it's a smoothly-graded field of gravel.
In anticipation of increased demand for parking near the station, this formerly-free parking lot has sprouted a brand-new Diamond Parking sign.
In anticipation of increased demand for parking near the station, this formerly-free parking lot at Beacon and Forest has sprouted a brand-new Diamond Parking sign.
A close-up of Carl Smools cut-metal artwork on the north side of the station.
A close-up of Carl Smool's cut-metal artwork on the north side of the station.

It is getting close to being finished, but it still looks like they will have to work 24X7 to get it done by next Saturday.

Photos by Wendi.

Urban Planning

North Beacon Hill Council meeting Thursday

The North Beacon Hill Council‘s monthly meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, July 9, at 7:00 pm in the Beacon Hill Library community room, 2821 Beacon Avenue South.

All are welcome, and attendance at one meeting makes you a voting member of the council. The meetings are an important source of information and discussion about planning, events, and community issues in North Beacon Hill.

Here’s the agenda this month:

  • 7:00 Welcomes, agenda and introductions
  • 7:10  Brian Dougherty, Seattle Department of Transportation:  Proposed parking revision on 15th Avenue South, followed by Q&A
  • 7:30  Lyle Bicknell, Department of Planning and Development:  Results of May N. Beacon Hill Town Hall Meeting, Comprehensive Plan Amendments,  followed by Q&A
  • 7:50  Ad hoc committee report followed by Q&A – vote may be required
  • 8:00  South Precinct SPD or Shelly Bates
  • 8:10  Community Concerns, Upcoming Events
           

    • July 18, opening of Light Rail Tunnel Festivities
    • No Picnic and Pinata Party in the Park due to above (but we’ll be back with a great celebration next year!)
    • Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee update
    • Pedestrian Crossing at library
    • Lewis Park grant from King County – vote needed
    • Other?
  • 8:30  Closure
Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Garter snakes, restaurant inspections, and a Night Out against Crime

Snakes like this one are enjoying the view from Jose Rizal Park these days. Photo by Garrett and Kitty Wilkin.
Snakes like this one are enjoying the view from Jose Rizal Park these days. Photo by Garrett and Kitty Wilkin.
  • The new garter snake herpetarium at Jose Rizal Park was featured in the Seattle Times on Sunday. In the comments for the post, cheezybreezy joked, “Odds are good I will find a couple of ex-boyfriends residing here.”
  • The other day we saw the results of three local restaurant/food service inspections from June 30, and noticed that every single one had zero violations: El Centro de la Raza, the Beacon Avenue Shell Food Mart (this was a big improvement over last time), and… Culinary Communion? I thought they were gone.
  • Tuesday, August 4, is the annual Night Out against Crime. Local groups typically schedule block parties for that evening, and everyone gets out to meet the neighbors. Want to set up a block party? Find out more and register here.
Lost and Found

Lost dogs, found cat, and a loud rooster (Updated)

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Is this your kitty?
Is this your kitty?
We hope all of your pets are at home, happy and healthy after last night’s fireworks. Unfortunately, we’ve gotten a lot of reports of pets going walkabout lately, even before the July 4th noise.

This message was posted yesterday on the Georgetown neighborhood mailing list by seaofcarnage@yahoo.com:

Friday night July 3, a very well mannered and nice yellow dog appeared at
the 9 lb Hammer. He is definitely not a stray. No collar or tags were found,
I have taken him into my care until his owner is found. If you know of
anyone that lost a dog last night, he is at my home on Warsaw. I will
contact the shelter on Sunday to see if he has a chip and to report him,
however I will not be handing over custody of him to the shelter. Please let
me know if you know where this dog belongs, I believe he came down from
Beacon Hill.

Henry, a neighbor at 19th Avenue South and South Lander, found an adorable little black kitty in his yard on July 4. The cat has a pink collar and bell, but no tags. Is she yours? Contact Henry at hlouie1979@msn.com.

Have you seen Bruno?
Have you seen Bruno?
On Friday evening, a four-year-old brindle lab/pit mix dog, Bruno, was lost from the area of 19th Avenue South and South College Street. He’s 85-90 pounds, and has a black collar with ID tags. If you find him, please call 253-218-9635 or 253-332-6944.

One other possible pet was reported to be making its own noise — a rooster. Roosters are, of course, illegal in the city of Seattle (you can have three hens, though!). Rumor has it that at least one rooster is running wild in North Beacon, however, so the one that’s been cock-a-doodle-dooing this week near the area of 15th Avenue South and South College Street may be the that one.

Update, July 6: We are told that the rooster near 15th and College really does belong to someone (see the comments below) and has been living there for some time now. Also, we were apparently misinformed. Roosters are not illegal in Seattle. But neighbors can make noise complaints to Animal Control at 206-386-7387.

Overheard

In the Forum: Fireworks and more

Fireworks set off on Beacon Hill on July 4, 2007. Photo by Wendi.
Fireworks set off on Beacon Hill (and -- look close -- West Seattle) on July 4, 2007. Photo by Wendi.
In the Beacon Hill Blog forum right now is a question from reader alirjd:

“So this will be my first 4th of July on Beacon Hill. I know fireworks are limited this year in Seattle since Ivar’s cancelled their show, but I wondered if any of the longtime residents knew of a good spot to go sit somewhere up here and see if you can catch some of the shows around town.”

Other topics currently in the Forum include an announcement about Bible and Chinese Camp at the Beacon Lutheran Church, questions on the current status of the car wash at 15th and Beacon, discussion about a recent brazen burglary in broad daylight, and an introduction from Colin, a (relatively) new neighbor!

Do you have something to say, an announcement to post, or a question to ask? Join us in the Forum.