I was delighted at the positive response to the new bench below the Millennium Tree at the Garfield Community Center. Now that it’s gone, here’s an opportunity for YOU to help create more public art in the Central District:

The CD Public Art Project has been awarded a grant from the Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund Program. No art has been chosen yet. Sample ideas are information kiosks, banners and publicly placed art, like the bench and the Tree. The field is wide open at this point. Location: we’re starting with the Squire Park neighborhood and hope to go CD-wide.

A planning effort is the first step, including but not limited to outreach, recruiting, and gathering ideas. WE NEED YOUR ART IDEAS! We need your OUTREACH. We need you to spread the word to your community association, block watch, church, knitting group, book club, wine-tasting pod, friends and neighbors. You get the idea.

The art is intended to reflect the pride, history and character of the CD, so we really want and need your participation. If you know someone who knows the history of the CD, the further back the better, please invite them. Let us know if we need to give them a ride to the meetings.

This is a matching fund grant, so your time will count for dollars. The 2011 Garden Tour will raise money and hours, too. Stay tuned for a link to our web page.

Information: Please come to the free Fall Plant Exchange on Saturday, Sept. 25, 10am-2pm at 20th & E Union in the Copymaster parking lot. Bring or take plants and get information on the CD Public Art Project.
OR,
Come to the first meeting on Monday, Sept. 27, 7pm at the Lutheran Church at 22nd & E Union. Subsequent meetings will be every fourth Monday, same time, same place. Please pass it on.

From Engineering News Record: In its latest hotly contested competition for federal aid, the Dept. of Transportation has awarded $293 million for 53 streetcar and bus projects around the country. Some of the funds will go for construction. 

Urban Circulator/Bus and Bus Livability Project Descriptions

WASHINGTON Project: Seattle Intermodal Hub (Bus and Bus Livability)

Sponsor: City of Seattle
Amount: $2,400,000

The City of Seattle will restore the historic King Street Station and improve the Westlake Hub,  creating two intermodal transportation hubs in downtown Seattle that connect rail, bus, streetcar, and pedestrian networks in Seattle’s Center City. Improvements to these two hubs are critical to implementation of Seattle’s Center City Access Strategy to revitalize 10 downtown neighborhoods, fight regional sprawl and build a sustainable economy and community.

Full list of all states here:

Remember, you get a free raffle ticket for your donation to NW Harvest collected tomorrow at the Garden Tour Ticket and Plant Sale. They need food between holidays, too!!

Our generous local raffle prizes include gift certificates from (in no particular order) Earl’s Cuts & Styles, Central Cinema, Cupcake Royale, Essential Bakery, EarthSystemsNW, and Zizi’s Variety Store plus Clean Greens’ greens!!, and a Garden Central planter. You may buy a raffle ticket for a whole dollar.

See you tomorrow at 23rd & Union between 11-4pm. GT10 tickets $7 Day of Tour.

Editors note: CDNews will be out with live coverage of the Garden Tour. We’ll see you out there!

Our heartfelt thanks to Kevin at Central Cinema for adding an online ticket feature to GT10, the CD Garden Tour. Our thanks to both Central Cinema and CD News who are GT10 sponsors. You may buy your advance tickets here for $5:

http://www.readyticket.net/webticket/webticket2.asp?WCI=BuyTicket&WCE=GARDEN+TOUR,052220101100,2,77182,,0

You will need to stop by the Cinema at 1411 21st Avenue to pick up your tickets. Check out the new menu (YUM!), have a cool one, a small plate or a killer dessert in a movie or out front at Cafe Noir while you’re there.

All advance tickets will be traded for maps of the Tour by stopping at the Ticket and Plant Sale at 23rd & Union 11am -4pm on Saturday, May 22. There, you may also donate to NW Harvest, buy a $1 raffle ticket for fun prizes donated by local merchants and meet local businesses and not-for-profits. You get a free raffle ticket with a donation to NW Harvest. All proceeds go toward creating public art in the CD.

Take a peek at the CD Garden Tour for 2010:

http://gardentour.centraldistrictseattle.org/overview-details/

The Central District Neighborhood Association (CDNA), a 501c3, Union Street Business Group (USBG), a 501c6, and Garden Central, the Central District garden club, are happy to remind you this year’s Central District Garden Tour will take place 11am -4pm May 22, 2010. The theme is urban gardens, water conservation and public art. Residential gardens, P-Patches, the James Washington House & Foundation, water conservation features, e.g., rain gardens and cisterns, and local art will be highlighted.

Advance tickets are $5 and available now at Central Cinema, City People’s on Madison, Cortona Cafe and Madison Market. Day of Tour tickets are $7 at 23rd & Union. There will also be small businesses and not-for-profits showcased, a NW Harvest donation barrel and a raffle for great local prizes.

The proceeds, both funds raised and matching grant monies, go toward creating public art in the Central District. That project will begin in late 2010 or early 2011 and recruit local artists, including students and kids, to create kiosks, banners and/or public art pieces to be placed in the Central District. Pratt and/or Coyote Central may be involved. Art project sign-up sheets will be available!

Here’s a thoughtful, thought-provoking piece by Larry Phillips, King County Council, on the trolleys and the future of Metro.

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2010/05/13/the-facts-about-trolley-buses-and-metro-service-cuts

On another note, the Daily Journal of Commerce has a column noting that the ‘First Hill’ streetcar route extends to Pioneer Square, a bit I missed in previous news. That means we could get to the stadiums with only a walk to Broadway…hmmm.

Got or need extra starts, divisions, bulbs and/or garden supplies? Come share at the FREE CD Spring Plant Exchange this Saturday, rain or shine, 10am-2pm at the Copymaster parking lot at 20th & E Union.

You don’t have to bring something in order to take something: no one keeps score. Our goal is to have fun, exchange plants, share gardening tips, and have nothing left at 2pm.

Also available: information on the May 22nd CD Garden Tour, the 2011 CD Public Art Project and Smile Train fundraiser (last year we raised enough for one life-changing cleft palate surgery, huzzah!!)

Questions? Post a comment and we’ll respond.

March 25 Community Forum: Contract with City & Broadstripe Hurts South Seattle Neighborhoods

The advocacy group Upgrade Technology for Underserved Neighbors (UTUN) announces a forum Thurs. March 25, 2010 5:30 – 7 PM at the Central Area Senior Center, regarding a contract between internet and cable provider Broadstripe and the City of Seattle. UTUN includes multiple south Seattle neighborhoods who advocate for immediate improvement to substandard cable and internet services in certain areas. If you live in the Beacon Hill, Leschi, Judkins Park or Central District neighborhoods, please join us when City of Seattle and Broadstripe officials report on the 2010 Work Plan that is designed to monitor and document improvements for local cable and internet services.  The forum is at the Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Ave. South 98144,  5:30 – 7 pm. Refreshments are provided by a key sponsor Central Area Development Association (CADA).

 Speakers include Broadstripe’s recently appointed Northwest General Manager David Irons and City of Seattle Chief Technology Officer Bill Schrier.

The UTUN group started in 2008 and works closely with the City of Seattle and Broadstripe for specific improvements to internet and cable services in underserved neighborhoods. The group uses the term “underserved” to describe sections of neighborhoods where the sole technology services available is determined by a contractual arrangement between the City of Seattle and most recently, the company Broadstripe (formerly Millenium). UTUN leaders contend that this arrangement originated as a type of redlining. The  term redlining originated in the 1960s – the practice of denying or denying access, or increasing the cost of, services such as banking, insurance, or even supermarkets to residents in certain, often racially determined areas. UTUN seeks special attention for improvements and changes as soon as possible. The underserved neighborhoods are sections of the Central District, Leschi, Judkins Park, Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill.

For more information about the forum, or to receive email updates, please contact Tracy Bier at 206-227-2369 or [email protected]. UTUN supporters and members include Leschi Community Council, Central Area Development Association (CADA), 30th Ave. S. Neighbors, 28th Ave. Neighbors, representatives from the King County Council, and Beacon Hill neighbors.

Hey neighbors, please remember to pot up/divide/start plants for the upcoming

Free Plant Exchange Saturday April 24th and the

“CD Public Art Fundraiser Plant Sale” at the CD Garden Tour Saturday May 22nd.

The May 22nd Garden Tour is shaping up nicely and we’ll post details closer to the event. The CD Public Art Project will mostly happen in 2011. Stay tuned.

Come to the Central District Fall Plant Exchange, rain or shine. Here’s a little advance notice so you can think about what you want to share, divide, or get rid of, I mean, pass along to the next gardener.

WHO: everyone! you do NOT need to bring something in order to take something. Beginner gardeners welcome. Gardening questions welcome: we may or may not have answers and we’ll give it our best shot.

WHAT: FREE plant exchange

WHEN: Oct. 3rd, 10am -2pm

WHERE: 20th & E Union SE corner, Copymaster parking lot

WHY: plants and garden-related items FREE exchange, neighborhood news, meet your friends and neighbors