Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Gentrification, school closures, and mice

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Recycle your old computers and benefit Union Gospel Mission at the same time, this Friday and Saturday at 660 South Othello Street . Photo by Leif K-Brooks.
Recycle your old computers and benefit Union Gospel Mission at the same time, this Friday and Saturday. Photo by Leif K-Brooks.
Photos

A Beacon Hill autumn in pictures

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We’ve seen a lot of great photos of Beacon Hill lately. Here are some interesting autumnal views of the Hill. (Most of these, but not all, are from the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr, which welcomes your Beacon Hill photos!)

Photo by Matthew Rutledge.
Equality sculpture in Sturgus Park. Photo by Matthew Rutledge.
Mushrooms near Cheasty. Photo by Mahalie Stackpole.
Mushrooms near Cheasty. Photo by Mahalie Stackpole.

Several more cool photos, after the jump!
Continue reading A Beacon Hill autumn in pictures →

Local Business

Rainier Grocery Outlet to close

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We stopped in at the Rainier Grocery Outlet this evening and saw that entire rows of shelving were gone, the freezers were half-full, and a lot less “stuff” was in the store. I asked the checker if they were closing or just remodeling. He said they’re closing November 26th.

We haven’t been able to get more details yet, but we’re wondering if the store is a casualty of the lengthy construction of the Mount Baker light rail station that has made access to the store more difficult for the last few years. The building and property are owned by the University of Washington, with their laundry facilities next door.

Some time between March 31st, 2007 and June 19th of this year, Steve Christman took over from Steve and Debbi Mullen, operators of the Madrona Grocery Outlet. The Mullens stated in 2007 that, while the store had taken a 20 to 30 percent hit in business due to light rail construction, they hoped to tough it out until the rail station opened, running the Rainier store at “zero profit” until then and “didn’t want the store to close.” Looks like that plan didn’t pan out.

If your bargain-hunting regularly brings you to Grocery Outlet, you might want to get down there soon.

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Family planning, break dancing, and storm drains

Getting Around

What can Beacon Hill tell Capitol Hill about the light rail construction experience?

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The site of the future Capitol Hill light rail station is decorated with various artworks, including this face, while they wait to tear the old buildings down. Photo by Helen Cook -- thanks!
The site of the future Capitol Hill light rail station is decorated with various artworks, including this face, while they wait to tear the old buildings down. Photo by Helen Cook -- thanks!
While our light rail station is scheduled to open next summer, folks up on Capitol Hill are just embarking on their own period of light rail construction, and they want to know what to expect. Browsing the Southeast Seattle neighborhood blogs, they don’t see a lot of complaints at the moment. Of course, this could be because we are near the end of the process, and a lot of us weren’t blogging in the early days of Central Link planning and construction.

So, Beaconians, what should Capitol Hillers expect in the next few years as a large section of Broadway becomes a big hole in the ground? We’ve lived through it and ought to have some useful insights for our neighbors to the north.

Neighborhood Pride

Beacon Hill identity crisis: who are we?

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Writing these blog posts for the last month now, it has become apparent to me that we on Beacon Hill have a problem — one shared with a few other Seattle neighborhoods, and a small problem in the overall scheme of things, but a problem nonetheless. What do we call ourselves? Beacon Hillites? Hillians? Hillers? Or even… Hillbillies?

I looked through Seattle’s Beacon Hill and the term used there was usually “residents of Beacon Hill.” That’s a little too long, I think.

Some other Seattle neighborhoods seem to have settled on reasonably short and snappy names for their residents: Ballardites, West Seattleites (well, that one’s easy). Wallingfordians seems to have seen some use, though not much. Capitol Hill, our neighbors to the north, have used Hillites and Hillians occasionally, but Hillers seems more popular, according to Google.

Residents of Beacon Hill, what do you call yourselves? The headline writers of the Seattle neighborhood blogosphere need to know. If you’re from another neighborhood, what do you call residents of your neighborhood? We’re curious about that, too.

(We could always be… Beacon Hellions!)

History of the Hill, Photos

Viewing Seattle from Beacon Hill, then and now

It’s interesting that, when searching for pictures of “Beacon Hill, Seattle” online, you get a ton of pictures of the downtown skyline, from Dr. Jose Rizal Park. Frequently, our neighborhood gets defined by what it’s close to, rather than what it is. But we have to admit that the view from Rizal Park is pretty darned awesome. The view has changed over the years, of course. Here’s the view from the park, in 1986:

1986 Seattle skyline from Beacon Hill. Photo by Robert Ashworth -- thanks!
Seattle skyline from Beacon Hill, 1986. Photo by Robert Ashworth -- thanks!
And here’s the same view, from late last month:
Seattle skyline from Beacon Hill, 2008. Photo by Bridget C -- thanks, Bridget!
Seattle skyline from Beacon Hill, 2008. Photo by Bridget C in the Beacon Hill Blog Flickr photo pool. Thanks, Bridget!
Back in 1986 Downtown Seattle seemed pretty built-up to me (and probably to the folks who supported the CAP growth limitation ordinance), but in comparison to the modern pic, it looks like Podunk-ville.

(The new picture is from the Beacon Hill Blog Flickr photo pool. There are quite a few great pics in there — why not add yours?)

BH in the News, Local Events

Help define the future of Seattle golf

Seattle Parks and Recreation is having a series of community meetings to discuss updates and improvements to the four municipal golf courses and the city Golf Master Plan. If you’re interested in helping to define the future of Seattle golf and of Jefferson Park’s golf facilities, you’ll want to attend the Jefferson Park open house on Thursday, December 4, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, at 4101 Beacon Ave South. You can get more information from Susanne Friedman, at susanne.friedman@seattle.gov or (206) 684-0902.

Thanks to Chris Bailey on the beaconhill-announce mailing list!

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Glitter, architecture, and dancing women

Bling like this may await you at Goodwill this weekend. Photo by Rhonda Johnson -- thanks!
Bling like this may await you at Goodwill this weekend. Photo by Rhonda Johnson -- thanks!
Education, Local Events

African-American student achievement topic of meeting tonight at Cleveland HS

A town hall meeting about African-American student achievement will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 pm this evening at the Cleveland High School auditorium, 5511 15th Avenue South.

The Seattle Times reports that “a task force formed to study the African-American achievement gap wants to hear from parents, students, educators and other community members about their experiences and hopes for the education of African-American students.”

This is a state-wide task force, which will also hold town hall meetings in Spokane and Tacoma later this month, before making recommendations to the Legislature in December. For information, call Janet Hayakawa at 360-725-6503.