Will a bright yellow pedestrian warning sign get drivers' attention? Photo by Wendi.We’ve heard neighbors complaining lately that it is sometimes difficult to cross Beacon Avenue South in front of Beacon Hill Station–cars just don’t see pedestrians, or just don’t stop for them. Sometime in the last week or so, the city added new signs to Beacon Avenue in an attempt to make this crosswalk safer, along with warning lights. With the opening of the light rail station, this crosswalk is even more heavily used than it was before, so this new signage has been needed.
A cyclist walks a bicycle across the crosswalk under the new signs. Photo by Wendi.
October is International Walk to School Month, and local non-profit organization Feet First is observing the event by forming “walking school buses” at Muir Elementary School on “Walking Wednesdays.” Families, students and teachers will meet at designated locations and walk together to school. Walking groups leave at 8:40 a.m. from Safeway’s parking lot (behind Silver Fork), 33rd Avenue and Bayview (north of McClellan), Hunter Boulevard and South Hanford, and the Mt. Baker light rail station.
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We hear that Yoga On Beacon, at 3013 Beacon Ave South, is two years old as of October 1st. Happy birthday!
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People came to last week's County Council Town Hall Meeting to protest recent bus route changes. Photo by Wendi.The King County Council Town Hall YouTube channel has posted video from last week’s public transit town hall meeting at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club — unfortunately, the video’s just a one-minute collage with music and not very much context, and doesn’t give more than a hint of what the event was really like, or of the anger expressed by many Southeast Seattle residents who spoke that evening about the way recent bus route changes have affected their lives. Update: Al Sanders and Frank Abe from the Council pointed us to the full video of the meeting now available on their website as of this morning. Thanks guys!
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Seattle Public Schools have posted the proposed new Student Assignment Plan. In the plan, students attending Beacon Hill International School would continue to Mercer Middle School, which would probably become an international School itself. Cleveland High School would become a math and science option school, open to students from the entire district — Seattle Times
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The city has released its updated snow plan, mapping which streets will be plowed in the event of snowfall. If you want to express your opinions on the plan, a neighborhood meeting to discuss it will be on October 20, 7:00 pm, at Jefferson Community Center. — Beacon Hill KOMO, West Seattle Blog
This guy is darned happy with his food from Marination Mobile. Photo by Daryn Nakhuda.Lots of Bits today, so here goes…
David Gackenbach reminded us of something we haven’t mentioned on the blog, but have via Twitter: Marination Mobile brings their truck o’ deliciousness to North Beacon Hill (near Amazon and Jose Rizal Park) most every Thursday around lunchtime. Check their web schedule, or follow them (curb_cuisine) on Twitter.
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Keyunda Wilson at Van Asselt Elementary writes to invite everyone to a Community Play Day at the new Van Asselt site (the former African-American Academy, 8311 Beacon Avenue South) on Thursday, September 24 from 3:30-5:30 pm. The event will feature active playground games, face painting, and environmental education. Everyone is invited to participate.
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Among King County’s new liquor license applications, we notice this one:
Notification Date: 9/18/2009
Business Name: JAVA LOVE CAFE’
Business Location: 2414 BEACON AVE S, SEATTLE, WA 98144-5035
Applicant(s): LATIN BROTHERS INCORPORATED; RODRIGUEZ, OSCAR; CESTRO,
GUADALUPE; PRICHARD, TIMOTHY; RODRIGUEZ, JOSE LUIS
Liquor License Type: SPIRITS/BR/WN REST LOUNGE +
Application Type: ADDED/CHANGE OF CLASS/IN LIEU
License Number: 085750
Street food finally comes to Beacon Hill with a new hot dog cart outside Beacon Pub. Photo of NYC hot dog cart by high limitzz.Willie Weir talks sidewalks in a new posting at his Yellow Tent Adventures blog. Specifically, about inverting the relationship where sidewalks yield to the street, and instead the street must rise up to sidewalk level –elevating the pedestrian, physically and metaphorically, to primary status, to match their position under the law for right-of-way. This sort of idea is being discussed and planned for the block of Lander just north of the light rail station. (By the way, there’s a great overview of various traffic calming practices hosted by the Project for Public Spaces. And Willie has posted several responses received from his challenge to our political leaders and candidates to “give it up” and go carless.)
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Michal spotted a new feature in the neighborhood: a hot dog cart!
Last night when I went to the Beacon Pub, I noticed there’s a new late night weekend dining option in Beacon Hill, right outside the Beacon Pub. Serves tacos, hot dogs, and burgers, they said they planned to be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and weekend mornings to serve breakfast items. There were a surprisingly large number of customers coming from seemingly nowhere, and not just from the pub.
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An afternoon round of chasing a little white ball around and hitting it with sticks is commonly accompanied by the consumption of a cool adult beverage. It is illegal to drink such beverages in Seattle public parks, unless there is a permit. So, is it legal to drink in a municipal golf course, such as Jefferson Park? Yes, as long as you buy the alcohol on site — Seattle 911
At the July North Beacon Hill Council meeting, Judith Edwards invited Brian Dougherty of the Seattle Department of Transportation to present SDOT’s possible improvements to the 15th Avenue South corridor from Beacon Avenue south to Spokane Street and on to Columbian Way. Neighbors along this corridor were specially invited to attend and share their views and opinions about what’s wrong and what’s right about traffic there, and to weigh-in on the potential improvements.
Q: What’s the difference between a bike lane and a sharrow?
A: Sharrows for wider areas of roadway that are not wide enough for a dedicated lane, or for downhill stretches where bikes are expected to maintain vehicle speed.
The changes are largely driven by the bicycle master plan which prioritzed routes along 15th Avenue South & 12th Avenue South from Jose Rizal Park to Columbian Way. The changes for bike facilities are planned for this year. Markings and traffic changes can be installed with relative ease with current configuration from Jose Rizal Park to Beacon Avenue. At Beacon, peak parking restrictions (7-9am, 4-6pm) cause problems for bike facilities. Neither bike lanes or sharrows work in current configuration.
Almost unanimously, the neighbors along 15th felt that traffic runs too fast for the street, and when combined with the parking situation and lack of well-marked and signalled crossings makes it very dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.
The slides of the presentation are below. If you’d like to share your thoughts with SDOT on possible traffic flow or parking improvements, you can email Brian at brian.dougherty@seattle.gov.
This crowd of folks was in Mount Baker watching the Seafair hydroplane races in 1965. Plan to do the same this year? Light rail can get you there. Photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.Going to Seafair festivities this weekend? Forget your car, and take Link light rail! Take the light rail to the Othello Station and catch a free Seafair Express Shuttle to the front gate, or go to the Columbia City Station and walk approximately one mile to the main gate.
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Roger Valdez of Beacon Hill writes in Sightline Daily about the long path to geting light rail in Seattle, and suggests steps the city will need to take to make it work in the long run, including smart land use policies that enhance and create transit demand by creating denser communities, and establishment of policies that will encourage and support transit ridership.
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City Councilman Bruce Harrell reports his involvement in securing federal funds for lighting, pedestrian, and transit improvements at the Mount Baker light rail station and the Rainier Avenue South and South Jackson Street areas. The Rainier project will provide buses with “queue jumps” and traffic signal priority, as well as adding 15 bus bulbs. These changes will allow buses to save time by bypassing traffic and avoiding merges into heavy traffic. The Mount Baker project will involve lighting which will link the station with Franklin High School, and provide safer crossing for pedestrians on Rainier Avenue and MLK.
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Nina Shapiro in the Seattle Weeklydiscusses issues of cultural disparity on Link light rail: is the train just “stuff white people like?” However, her article currently contains one big error — she suggests that riders of bus routes such as the #42 avoid Link because transfers from Link to the bus are not free. This is not true. Link tickets allow you to transfer to a bus for free. If #42 riders are avoiding Link for that reason, it is because of a misunderstanding of the fare system, and perhaps because Sound Transit/Metro haven’t yet done the best possible job of communicating how it works.
Mayor Nickels–give it up. Seattle City Council members. You too. As well as King County Council members, Governor Gregoire, State representatives and all candidates for the above offices.
I’m talking about your car. For a week. Just a week.
You see, my wife and I answered the call to help the region and the planet by giving up our car over four years ago. With climate change upon us, it was imperative that we transition out of our auto-centric society. Get on the bus. Get on our bikes. Get out and walk.
We were in a good position to give up our car. We don’t have kids. We live on Beacon Hill with frequent bus service (and now light rail). We have stores, restaurants, a library, and a park all within a ten minute walking distance of our house. We both do most of our work from home.
Easy.
OK. Walking up the hill from the grocery store with a 20lb Thanksgiving turkey in an excursion-size backpack wasn’t easy. Waiting outside in a 40 degree drizzle for a bus that never came wasn’t fun. And taking 4 buses and a ferry to get to Sequim wasn’t convenient.
It didn’t take long to understand that for someone who owns a private vehicle, our city and region’s public transportation, bike paths and pedestrian corridors are top notch. Because when it isn’t easy, fun or convenient… you take your car.
When I joined the ranks of the carless, I began an education in how auto-centric our green little region is, and how far we have to go to get to be a truly livable place … for everyone.
How many of my neighbors park their cars across the sidewalk. How cracked and poorly maintained those sidewalks are. How fast the cars fly by on our residential streets. How few cars yield to me in a cross walk. How few bike racks there are outside the businesses I frequent. How poorly signed (or not at all) the bike routes are throughout the city. How terrifying biking can be in downtown Seattle. How little park space we have downtown and how much space we devote to parking.
So many issues and problems invisible to me while driving in my own personal vehicle.
Now I’m asking you all to give up your car. Not for four years. Just seven days.
For seven days live the life that few have chosen and many have no choice but to live.
Believe me, no matter how long you have lived in or served this region, you’ll learn things that will surprise you.
I know I did. And I’ve lived here for 25 years.
The best decisions about transit and neighborhood planning will be made by government officials who have taken the time to live a life without a car as an option.
Garfield High School Class of 1969 is celebrating its 40th class reunion August 7-9, including bowling at Imperial Lanes, food and entertainment at Yesler Community Center, and a family picnic and potluck at Othello Park. The registration fee is $69 per person for the weekend. For further information, see the reunion website, and RSVP to (206) 499-9624 by July 15.
A.C.E. Summer Language Camps in Arabic, Urdu, and Persian language for kids 10-14 are being held on July 13-24 at Northgate Elementary School in Northeast Seattle. Classes are free (with a $25 registration fee), and all teachers are native speakers. For more information, contact Maka Janikashvili by email at makaj@cultural.org, call (206) 217-9644 ext 201, or visit www.cultural.org/wlp/camp.php.
The comment period for Seattle’s draft Pedestrian Master Plan has been extended to Friday, June 26. You can view the plan on the web, here. Comments on the plan may be made through an online form, via email to mostwalkablecity@seattle.gov, by phone (206-733-9970), or by mail (Pedestrian Master Plan Comments, Seattle Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 34996, Seattle, WA 98124-4996). There will also be a public hearing on the draft plan on Tuesday, July 21, from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue.
Atlantic Street Center is partnering with Seattle Public Schools in offering a Class of 2013 Math Academy this summer. The Academy will be at Aki Kurose Middle School, July 6-July 30, and is intended for “8th graders-rising-to-9th who struggle in math.” It will include morning math-focused academics, and afternoon enrichment activities. Cost is free to families. For more information, contact Samara Louton, Education/Activities Coordinator, 723-4073 x108 or samaral@atlanticstreet.org.
Is this your kitty?Are you missing a cat? This cute tabby was spotted at 13th Avenue South and South Spokane Street at around 11:15pm last night hanging out on a front porch. The neighbor who saw him didn’t bring him inside, but just wanted to get the word out where this cat is hanging out, in case someone’s missing their kitty. (Thanks, Robert!)
Tica enjoying Jose Rizal Park back in January. Photo by melissajonas.(Editor’s note: This is the first of what we hope will be many posts by Melissa, a new contributor to the blog. Please give her a hearty welcome!)
Howdy neighbors! I’m starting a new project on the blog, loosely based on my observations and adventures as I walk around Beacon Hill. We moved to Beacon Hill from the Central District in 2003. I grew up in Walla Walla and settled in Seattle in 1997. Our household includes me, my sweetheart, two cats, and a somewhat cranky 10 year old mutt named Tica. She’s been a major ice breaker in getting to know our neighbors. We’ve also met other dogs and the people who walk them from all around the neighborhood; there are lots of folks out there holding leashes and scoop bags. (There are also lots of cats watching all these dogs warily from living room windows, porch railings, and behind bushes.)
For six years, Tica and I have explored the neighborhood, from Pac Med to the stairs on Lucile Street, but we spend the most time between College and Spokane. The north-south streets are more gently sloped, but I also enjoy the east-west hills and stairs for the incredible views and great workout. We also frequently visit Blue Dog Pond (an off leash area on Massachusetts) and occasionally stop at the dog park at Jose Rizal or the informal dog run at Pac Med/Amazon.
Taking Tica for a walk is more than just exercise, for both of us. It’s a chance to check on construction progress at the light rail station, notice “for sale” signs, and admire gardens. It’s also a fantastic socialization opportunity for both of us. Often — especially on these sunny days — we wander slowly around a few blocks and stop to see neighbors in their yards. Tica is getting older and slower, and appreciates a chance to lounge in someone else’s parking strip while I stand at the gate and gab. She also looks forward to the treats and belly scratches many of our neighbors generously dispense.
When I’m with Tica, people smile and say hello. They ask what kind of dog she is (I don’t know, probably a Blue Heeler mix), where we live (McClellan), and how progress is going on our house (it’s coming along). These basic conversations helped established relationships in a neighborhood evenly mixed between old-timers and people who just moved in. Sharing pet stories opened doors — often literally. People will invite us in to see the latest progress on a project, or ask if Tica needs some water. Slowly, over time, these sidewalk conversations are turning into invitations to dinner and exchanges of phone numbers.
Walking the dog has given me the chance to see and appreciate my neighborhood in a way that I don’t take for granted. It’s a chance to catch up on the latest news (I get the latest void updates fresh from the source), get restaurant reviews, and celebrate (or commiserate) what’s going on in the lives of our neighbors. Even if you don’t have a dog, I encourage you to get out and walk a few blocks. Especially right now — all the flowers are blooming and everyone’s yard looks great!
I’m looking forward to sharing my pedestrian experiences on the blog. Thanks to Wendi and Jason for the opportunity!
Two sidewalk signs in the right-of-way at 15th and Beacon. The car on the right is about to enter the intersection (and crosswalk) and make an illegal right turn onto 15th. (The light was red by the time they made the turn, and the intersection is No Right on Red.) Photo by Wendi.The First Choice Car Wash at 15th and Beacon has been granted an extension on their compliance deadline for filing permits for the business. The new deadline is June 1. The building currently is permitted for a retail use, not for car washing, detailing, and stereo installation. However, as posted earlier, the building is also zoned NC2P-40 (Neighborhood Commercial 2, Pedestrian-Designated Zone, 40-foot height limit), which means that no drive-in or drive-through businesses are allowed. A change-of-use may not be possible in this location.
Beacon Hill cannot have these signs, legally, unless a Business Improvement Association, historic district, or Chamber of Commerce is formed here. The district group would then need to get 60% of the businesses in the area to sign on, carry $1 million in liability insurance, and then obtain a Street Use Annual Permit from the city. Who knew?
Even in districts that allow such signs, it is illegal to have more than one sign per business, and they have to be directly in front of the business. First Choice has had up to three signs in front of their shop, and one across the street.
Sidewalk signs are relatively harmless, but one can see why limiting each business to one would be a good idea. The signs are taking up space in the public right-of-way, after all. In the case of the car wash, the signs are right in the entrance to two crosswalks. This is probably not an ideal location for pedestrian safety. (Nor is their driveway, as can be seen in the photo with this post.)
Since Beacon Hill’s Chamber of Commerce has gone dormant, it’s not likely that sidewalk signs will be made legal on the Hill anytime soon. In the meantime, First Choice and several other local businesses are violating a law that most of us have probably never even heard of.
