Leschi Seattle

Experts predict the Puget Sound will grow by an additional 1.7 million people and 1.2 million jobs in just the next few decades. With our proximity to the economic heart of the region, we can expect increasing upward pressure on real estate prices in our idyllic community.

Can we slow or reverse the trend of our neighborhood elders and ethnically diverse communities moving away from the neighborhood? Can we protect the beloved, character-rich homes that buildings that make the built environment of our community?

Join the Leschi Community Council (LCC) for a public forum to focus on development concerns, issues, opportunities and ideas with experts in architecture, planning and political activism around development issues at the Central Area Senior Center (CASC) at 500 30th Ave So at 7:30 p.m. on November 5th.

LCC's panel of invited experts - John Cox, Coordinator of the Seattle Displacement Coalition, Lydia Heard, AICP LEED@AP, VIA Artictecture, David Rehfeld, Landscape Architect and Senior Urban Designer, BCRA Seattle, and Anindita Mitra, CREA Affiliates LCC, Urban Design/Neighborhood Planning for Sustainable Communities - will field your questions and our land use committee will record all comments, concerns, and creative ideas for steering our community's growth and development.

This forum is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there and have your support in envisioning the future of Leschi. - Nate Cole-Daum, Chair, LCC Land Use Committee

Disturbance: 9xx 29th Ave S. - around 11:00 pm last night, about 6 cop cars descended upon this notorious brown 4-plex after a neighbor placed a call to 911. A lot of screaming and yelling could be heard involving several people, with threats of violence and gun use. Things quieted down quickly after the police arrived. There has been at least one drive by shooting here which occurred in 2007 where several houses were hit.

Stock up on food and water.  Prepare your air raid shelter.   Get some earplugs for your dogs and cats.

The Blue Angels will be occupying our air space for four days, starting with two practice sessions on Thursday.   Sure, the show can be fun if you're watching it out on the lake.  But here in the CD we live right under the area where they make their tight turns to regroup in between tricks - usually just a few hundred feet above our roofs.  It's as close to a military invasion as most of us are ever likely to see.  

Here's the full schedule for practices and real shows.  Note that the I-90 floating bridge will be closed for each:

• Thursday 7/30 - 9:45am to Noon (Practice)
• Thursday 7/30 - 1:15pm to 2:30pm (Practice)
• Friday 8/1 - 12:45pm to 2:40pm (Practice)
• Saturday 8/2 - 12:45 to 2:40pm (Real Show)
• Sunday 8/3 - 12:45 to 2:40pm (Real Show)

 

Here's a couple cool things going on in the neighborhood this weekend:

On Saturday starting at 8:00am,  join your neighbors to help support a local school.   The community has received funding to replace the dingy old playground at Leschi Elementary, and they need your help to get it all put together.   We had a great conversation earlier in the week about local schools, and this is a good way for you to show your support for them by donating a few hours of your time.  Plus, you can meet some other neighbors and parents in the process.

And then on Sunday, my weather widget is forecasting an end to our dry spell, so how about settling into a comfy booth with a beer, some tasty food, and a showing of a classic Cohen Brother's movie (and one of my personal favorites):   Raising Arizona.   It's playing at Central Cinema all weekend, with showings at 7:00pm and 9:30pm.   If you haven't been to Central Cinema yet, take this opportunity to check it out.  It's really a fantastic neighborhood spot.

 

Do you have an event you'd like to publicize to your neighbors?  Tell us all about it by adding it to our community calendar.  It's quick, easy, and free.

There was a big fire response in the 800 block of 33rd Ave S shortly after noon today when a Leschi resident arrived home to find her house filled with smoke.  She quickly called the fire department, thinking she had left something on the stove earlier in the morning.  But when fire fighters arrived, they found a very different cause:  a old upholstered swivel chair had apparently ignited all by itself and was smouldering in the living room.

Fire fighters grabbed the chair and threw it out into the alley before dousing it with water.  The house was left with smoke damage and a ruined rug that had sat underneath the chair.

We're just getting word of a shooting that occurred overnight in an area directly over the I-90 tunnel at 32nd & Atlantic. Police say that it all began when the occupants of two separate cars got into an argument, ending with someone firing shots from one car into the other vehicle.

That victim vehicle quickly left the scene and ended up at a residence a few blocks away in the 1300 block of 29th Ave S. From there one of the occupants of the vehicle called 911 to report an injury, and when medics arrived they found a woman in the back seat who had a minor injury caused by either a bullet or shrapnel generated from the bullets hitting the car.

Gang units are on the scene, investigating the incident.

I received an email about the proposed changes the Seattle Housing Authority wants to make regarding applicant eligibility. I am really at a loss to understand the merits of lowering the requirements. This will allow a wide variety of individuals with past criminal histories into the Section 8 voucher program much sooner. While there may be a cost savings I don't think this has been very well thought through. There will be a greater impact on all of our neighborhoods and our safety.

In my little corner of the Central District, just north of the I-90 lid, we have a great deal of difficulty with SHA and Section 8 tenants. No not every one of them, most are quiet and want a nice place to live. Just some of them and we suffer a lot because of these individuals.

SHA has set a time and a place for the public to come and hear the various views on this issue and I think I will be attending this meeting.

Below is the copy of the e-mail I received.

Walt

Subject: Community Meeting on Section 8 Eligibility-March 20th
Hello,
I would like to invite you to a community meeting hosted by Seattle Housing Authority (SHA).
Seattle Housing Authority is considering new screening criteria with respect to criminal history information for applicants to the Housing Choice Voucher program (also known as Section 8). The Housing Authority is proposing to change the criminal background criteria to be less stringent with respect to an applicant's history of convictions. Currently SHA requires a variable waiting period after an applicant has been released from incarceration. This waiting period has ranged from 20 years for homicide to two years for burglary or criminal assault. The Seattle Housing Authority is proposing to change this waiting period to a uniform time of 12 months. This is the standard currently in use by King County Housing Authority, and would increase efficiency by instituting a uniform standard allowing families with vouchers the opportunity to move between the two housing authorities jurisdictional areas. Another goal of the proposed changes is to support the regional efforts of Committee to End Homelessness/King County in breaking the cycle of homelessness.
The new criteria would not affect the standards used to decide whether applicants are suitable to live in housing owned or operated by Seattle Housing Authority. People who received vouchers generally rent from private landlords, who would still have the ability to apply their own screening criteria to tenants.
Attached is a one page document with further information about the proposed changes.
At this meeting SHA will review the proposed changes and take questions and comments.
Meeting details:
Date: March 20th
Time: 6:30-8:00 pm
Location: Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S Alaska Street, Seattle 98118


Best,
Lisa Cipollone-Wolters
Director of Housing Advocacy & Rental Assistance Programs
PorchLight, Seattle Housing Authority
907 N.W. Ballard Way, Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98107-0439
(206)239-1520
LCipollone-Wolters@SeattleHousing.Org