Just saw a hit and run at the Ethiopian Cafe on Cherry (west of 23rd). Please keep an eye out for what looked like a good sized American car- silver side panels with blue roof and a hood that’ll be very messed up. This guy hit a parked cab and took off going South on Jefferson. 

Supporters of i-502, the marijuana legalization initiative on this November’s ballot, are beginning to believe that the measure may actually pass. New Approach Washington has marshaled a well funded and professional campaign in support of the initiative and the measure is polling well across the state.

http://www.newapproachwa.org/

The political landscape in Seattle looks particularly favorable as legalization is supported by the Mayor and eight of nine city council members.  But in the Central District, the physical landscape may not be so accommodating. Specifically, i-502 requires that marijuana only be available in stores that sell no other products and are located at least 1,000 feet from schools, playgrounds, and parks. This stipulation sounds reasonable, particularly in light of recent threats by the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries within 1000 feet of Seattle schools and parks. But how much space does that really leave in the CD? Our neighborhood is fortunate to be served by a great number of parks and schools. In fact, it’s pretty hard to find property that falls outside of the 1000 foot radius stipulated in i-502. If daycare organizations are figured into the equation, there’s even less real-estate. 

One commercial corner does appear to make the cut though-  23rd and Union. So as CD’ers envision the types of businesses we hope to see re-populate that corner, don’t forget to save a little space for the pot shop. 

It looks like several cars near our place had their tires slashed last Friday night. I don’t really know how to slash a tire, but it doesn’t seem like garden variety vandalism. Has anybody else in the neighborhood seen cars cut down recently?

UPDATE: The plan was passed by the redistricting committee. See press release at bottom of post.

It looks like the CD may find itself in a new Congressional District. The state’s bipartisan redistricting commission has publicized a plan to fold the CD into the 9th district as a “Minority District” including southeast Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Renton and on down to Northern Tacoma.  The 9th district is currently represented by Democrat Adam Smith. The Seattle Times has the story (linked below). Interestingly, the northern edge of the proposed 9th district appears to run down Madison, leaving Capitol Hill and possibly Madrona within the 7th district?

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A. RAYMOND/THE SEATTLE TIMES. Map used with permission.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017113778_redistricting29m.html

 

EDITOR’S UPDATE: According to the Times, the proposed new 9th District will be the only district in the state where racial minorities make up over 50 percent of the constituents (actually 50.33 percent):

That will happen by reshaping the 9th Congressional District, now represented by Democrat Adam Smith. The district will still include the north end of Tacoma, where Smith lives, but will now stretch north to include southeast Seattle, Renton, Bellevue and Mercer Island.

…

“The elected representative of this congressional district must fight to win our support by paying attention to the issues of our marginalized communities,” Nate Miles, of the United for Fair Representation coalition, composed of several civil-rights organizations, said in a statement.

UPDATE #2: Some people requested a more detailed view of the district boundary. Here’s a Google Map of the changes (via The Seattle Times). Looks like the commercial core of Madrona will be split, but most residents east of 35th will remain in the 7th District:

View Larger Map

UPDATE #3(1/2/2012): The redistricting committee passed the plan (thanks for the tip Joanna). Here is a map of the version they passed (there are a few small changes in the CD).

View Larger Map
Press release from the committee: pr_010112

The Seattle School District just released their annual school report cards documenting individual school performance and growth ( http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid).

The Seattle Times editorial board thinks the report cards are “promising,”  but the paper hasn’t offered much analysis beyond that ( http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2016792879_).

One exciting finding for the central district is that Leschi Elementary has jumped from a level 1 to level 3 in the segmentation rankings. That’s pretty outstanding! Our other local schools all maintatined their 2009-2010 levels (Madrona K-8: level 1; Stevens: level 4; Baily Gatzert: level 1). A graph of the 2009-2010 levels is attached to this post. The segmentation levels were discussed last year by the Times: 

“SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS unveiled a new rating system for its schools Tuesday that measures not just how many students pass state tests, but how much improvement students make from year to year. The schools all were ranked on a scale of 1 to 5, with a 5 meaning that a school had a high percentage of students passing state math and reading tests and students are improving. A 1 means that schools have a low passage rate on state tests and low-medium improvement. Here are the schools at each level”

Seattle tops the list of most walkable US cities according to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Walkfriendly.org has the run-down ( http://www.walkfriendly.org/communities/community.cfm?ID=53) with lots of interesting facts about municipal efforts to cater to walkers (parking management, pedestrian auditing, and over 1000 traffic circles). Other big cities making the list were Austin, TX, and Charlotte, NC. 

Just noticed a new service coming to Seattle: Rapid Ride bus service. 

Metro has just opened its first route (the A line running from Tukwila to Federal Way) with 4 more on the way, including routes for Ballard and West Seattle (http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/metrotransit/rapidride.aspx). The idea is to generate light-rail like bus service in high traffic corridors through a combination of 1) more frequent buses (every 10 minutes during rush hour), 2) giving buses some control of the traffic lights and priority lanes like HOV lanes, and 3) Great bus stops that are well lit and sheltered to encourage ridership. 

So are any of the 5 lines coming to the central district? Well No. 

But metro is advertising the Rapid Ride as a solution for high traffic corridors and the CD has the number one route, the #48 bus running the length of 23rd Ave (http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2010/08/10/lots-of-popular-frequent-buses-in-the-cd-upgrade-plz). There has been some rumbling about putting 23rd on a road diet (http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2010/05/25/city-says-stone-way-road-diet-worked-model-for-23rd). Perhaps a complementary idea would be getting Rapid Ride service on 23rd. As a resident of the Central District, I think some good arguments could be made including: 1) The #48 is the most frequently used route in town, 2) Rapid Ride on the #48 route could connect CD residents to the light rail at three points: Mt. Baker Station; The University Station (in a few years); and the I-90/23rd station for the East Side light rail link even further down the road.

So, maybe this is an idea to bounce around- Maybe someone out there is already advocating for it?