- If you’re wondering where the expected “building boom” along the light rail route on MLK is, you’re not alone. The Seattle Times reports that projects are being delayed — sometimes permanently — by the current recession’s tight credit and overall economic malaise. The South Seattle Beacon recently discussed this issue as well, with representatives of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund and the city’s Office of Economic Development suggesting that the current situation is a “great opportunity” to focus upcoming development.
- Speaking of development near the light rail line, we meant to post this last week: a PDF of Sound Transit’s plan for the Beacon Hill light rail station area. The gray areas that say “future development” are not owned by Sound Transit and will be fenced off by chain link fence after the construction is complete. It’s up to the property owners to decide what to do with those areas, and their plans are unknown at the moment.
- Also in the Times, Kusak’s Cut Glass, at the foot of Beacon Hill just off Rainier Avenue on 22nd, was founded in Seattle nearly a century ago, in 1914. The company was named “the Northwest’s family-owned small business of the year” by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Seattle office last year. And now, in the recession, it is struggling, but determined, to survive.
On a positive note, the cherry trees are blooming! (A little late this year, aren’t they?)
