In today’s Neighborhood Snackdown over at the Seattle Weekly, Columbia City takes on the Central District in a battle of cuisine. Hanna Raskin tries to defend Columbia City from the clear superiority of the Central District’s eateries, highlighted by Zibby Wilder:

Starting at one end of the spectrum, there’s the James Beard award-winning Crush, Anchovies & Olives–Ethan Stowell’s song to seafood, Marjorie‘s Southern soul, and Skillet–one of the most red-hot spots in all of Seattle.

Moving through the cuisines of the world you can find the city’s best Ethiopian at Adey Abeba, Mesob and Saba; Southern spice at Catfish Corner and Oprah’s favorite fried chicken at Ezell’s. Teriyaki fans can get a great, cheap dish from the small kitchen inside Union Market (which also boasts the city’s most diverse candy aisle–Pollo lollipops, anyone?) and authentic Mexican at the Tres Reyes food truck stationed at the car repair place in the old Shell station on Union and 21st.

For less-adventurous fare, there’s neighborhood favorite Piecora’s pizza and Central Cinema also makes a mean pie – nicely paired with with a hot bowl of curried popcorn. Beehive Bakery recently opened its doors at 23rd and Union, breathing new life to a sad location once considered cursed, and offering tasty, fresh-baked cookies, pastries, and cakes.

Go vote for the CD.

The Seattle Housing Authority has received a $10.27 million grant to begin work on a low-income housing building east of Boren at 12th. The building is the start to a planned large-scale redevelopment of the neighborhood approved by the Housing Authority in April.

The grant is a Choice Neighborhoods grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the project was competing with several other housing authorities around the country.

From the SHA press release:

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today the award of a $10.27 million Choice Neighborhoods implementation grant to the Seattle Housing Authority to be used for redevelopment of Yesler Terrace and the surrounding neighborhood.

“This is a great day for Seattle and the countless families who will benefit from the transformation this funding will bring to the Yesler community,” said Donovan.

The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative looks to transform distressed neighborhoods into sustainable, mixed-income communities by linking affordable housing with quality schools, public transportation, good jobs and safe streets. Seattle Housing expects to use the grant funding to begin the Yesler Terrace redevelopment by building low-income housing on a site east of Boren, and to work with partners to improve outcomes for neighborhood families.

As a “Master Planned Community,” Yesler Terrace’s full plan could take 10-20 years to complete. The plan includes 661 “extremely” low-income units to replace the 561 currently in the neighborhood as well as 290 “very” low-income units and 850 “workforce” units. In addition, the plan calls for 3,199 market-rate units, mostly in high-rise condo and apartment buildings.

Some have raised concerns about what could be lost in the redevelopment. See our feature from earlier this year for more (part 1, part 2).

Malory Graham has stepped down as Executive Director of Reel Grrls. A decade ago, Graham founded the youth media empowerment organization now headquartered at 21st and Union.

In a letter to the community, Graham said she was going to pursue her own development as an artist:

The decision to step down as Executive Director at Reel Grrls has been difficult, because I “heart and soul” adore this organization. And make no mistake, this is a transition for me, not a goodbye. Once a Reel Grrl, always a Reel Grrl! I look forward to staying involved with the organization in other capacities in the future. In particular, I look forward to a return to filmmaking and mentoring, as well as to helping develop a program to support the growing Reel Grrls alumnae network—supporting our graduates to get into the media industry and produce their first films as professional filmmakers. One of my favorite quotes from a participant rings loud and clear right now for me: “Reel Grrls isn’t just a film school—it’s a sisterhood!” I see my next role as expanding that sisterhood.

Serving as the Executive Director of Reel Grrls has been the most fulfilling thing I have ever done, and I am sure it will be a remarkable opportunity for someone new as well. I am so grateful to all of you who have supported the vision of empowering young women through media production — Viva la Sisterhood!

Reel Grrls used to be housed in the Oddfellows Building at 10th and Pine, but they moved to 21st and Union after the building was sold (see our profile of Reel Grrls from earlier this year).

The organization has had an interesting year. Comcast threatened to pull their funding after the organization sent out a critical tweet. After getting national support, Reel Grrls told Comcast to keep their money and raised even more through private donations.

Reel Grrls has launched a search for a new Director, and they’re looking for someone who can meet these requirements:

Our ideal candidate can: make a film, hire a new staff person, ask a donor for 10K, take out the trash, give a speech, help a teenage girl write a script, negotiate a lease, quote Maya Angelou, write a grant and bake a killer batch of chocolate chip cookies—all in the same week.

Videos from last week’s animation camp at Reel Grrls have been posted on the group’s workshop Vimeo page. The young filmmakers helped complete a series of short films with wonderful results.

The film below is by Anna C., Carleigh E., Kali P. and Shaalana B. It’s about a piece of toast that gets revenge on an evil toaster that has burned one piece of toast too many. Be sure to check them all out, as well as other great Reel Grrls films:

Toasted from ReelGrrls Workshops on Vimeo.

Registration for the next Reel Grrls animation workshop in November is not yet open. Other upcoming programs at the youth media empowerment organization based at 21st and Union include a video blogging workshop in October and other fall after school programs.

From Jamin Henderson at International Student Exchange:

A host family is needed for a High School Foreign Exchange student for the 2011/2012 school year. We are helping those areas in which the hurricane affected, and there are many students in need of a loving host family who will now be coming to Seattle.  A potential host family is needed for a boy from Germany who speaks German, French and English, enjoys basketball, soccer, swimming, martial arts, and baseball, and plays the drums, or a girl from Brazil who is very outgoing, cheerful and calm girl, she loves cooking, reading, playing volleyball, soccer and riding horses, or a boy from Vietnam who likes  playing volleyball, dancing hip hop, and going to the theater, he is an A student  is excited about learning about the American lifestyle, or a girl from Thailand, who loves camping, bowling, shopping, travel and baking. She loves spending time with her cat and enjoys animals, or a boy from China, who loves reading and collecting things, he enjoys school activities and going to the movies, swimming and playing ping pong, or a boy from Brazil who likes bowling, playing soccer, camping and loves younger children, he volunteers to help take care of children, or a boy from South Korea who likes soccer, swimming, bowling, he is a black belt in Taekwondo, also enjoys music and plays the clarinet, or a girl from Spain who is a likes to spend time with her family, playing tennis and basketball, reading and playing the piano, or a boy from Thailand who likes fishing with his dad, playing golf, basketball and soccer. He loves animals and hopes to be a veterinarian when he gets older or a girl from China interested in swimming, music and watching sports. She can’t wait to meet her new American family. 

Students come with good English skills, full health insurance and their own personal spending money, and mainly the desire to be a member of an American family. We ask our families to provide a bed (shared room is okay with similar age range) and meals eaten with the family. Host families do not need to have teenagers of their own; young families as well as empty nesters are excellent high school student hosts this year.

 

For more information about the students and the program, contact Jamin Henderson at 360-661-0552 or [email protected]  www.iseusa.com

  

Jamin Henderson

Regional Advisor

Bumps and cracks in Seattle sidewalks are nothing too out of the ordinary. But the sidewalk at 22nd and Cherry stood out as one of the more far gone sections in the neighborhood.

But not anymore. The city fixed the corner sections of sidewalk on the south side of Cherry at 22nd recently. They also repaired much of the sidewalk between 22nd and 23rd.

Before:

After:

In other neighborhood transportation-related photos, I spotted this outside SOHO Coffee at 20th and Yesler. Apparently someone does not like dogs leashed to bike racks (or barking dogs, at least).

A small brown dog, I think a Chihuahua mix, with a curly or kinked tail, pink collar and tags was wondering around 20th and E Pine at 12:30pm on Aug. 31.  It seems friendly, but would not let me get close to it.  It was last headed South toward E Union.

The number of gay couples living in the Central District increased significantly since 2000, according to 2010 Census data. Some census blocks within the neighborhood even saw a doubling of the number of gay couples, and the block that includes Jackson Place and much of Judkins Park saw an increase to 53 couples from just 16 in 2000.

Graphic by Justin Mayo and A. Raymond/The Seattle Times. Used with permission

Capitol Hill is still the largest center of the gay population in the region, but that is changing. Nearly every area in the region increased the number of gay couples living there. The CD, which already had a higher-than-average gay couple population, saw a surge. The percentage of couples who are gay is now above 10 percent for most of the neighborhood.

The Seattle Times created an interactive map displaying the same-sex couple data for the city.

The increases seen across the city may not be entirely due to increases in population. The census first started collecting same-sex couple data in 2000, and the increase could also be due to more people feeling comfortable declaring their relationship on the census form, as the Seattle Times noted:

Graphic by Mark Nowlin/The Seattle Times. Used with permission

Many factors account for the growth in numbers of same-sex couples over the decade.

Since 2000, Canada and several U.S. states have legalized gay marriage, and Washington has a domestic-partnership law that grants same-sex couples many of the same state-level benefits as married people.

At the same time, couples have become more aware that they can indicate their status on the census forms, and many are likely more comfortable than they were 10 years ago in doing so.

Bruce and Oran over at Seattle Transit Blog have gotten their hands on some internal Metro documents regarding potential revisions to the 2, 3, 4, & 13, and have dug into the implications of of these revisions in an illustrated post (including a map of the changes drawn by Oran).  Generally speaking, they combine separate infrequent routes into consolidated frequent ones.  These revisions are extremely preliminary, and no plan or proposal has been officially released.  The potential revisions assume no changes in Metro funding for these routes, and use only the resources currently committed to these routes.  Any implementation of these changes would only one small piece of a large set of route changes that would likely accompany the introduction of Rapidride C & D from Ballard to West Seattle next year.

Many of these routes haven’t seen significant changes since the streetcars were decommissioned nearly 100 years ago.  As the rest of the bus system has grown and changed around them, and cross-town routes like the 8 and 48 have been introduced, the unchanged routes start to stand out as arcane ghosts of the century-old streetcar system.

In the Central District, we would end up with a stricter E-W/N-S bus grid, where the 2, 3, 8, and 48 would all run at 15 minute intervals for most of the day.  The 2 would turn around downtown, rather than continuing to Queen Anne, in an attempt to increase reliability. The 3 and 4 would be combined into one route, which would have service every 10 minutes at peak times, with extra buses running along the busiest section of the route (Ezells to Downtown) every 5 minutes.  The 3’s time-eating I-5 crossing is moved from James to Yesler, freeing it from freeway onramp traffic and eliminating some of the route’s hardest left-turns, shaving 5 minutes off of the Harborview-to-Downtown leg.  There are plenty of changes on the Queen Anne side of the routes too, where 4 routes are consolidated into 2, with similar results.  

If these changes are implemented, many people in the CD may have to walk further to a bus stop, but will have a much shorter wait for the bus when they get there.  Bus-to-bus transfers would become more common, but much less time consuming.  Bus schedules on east-west routes would be more reliable overall.

If all goes according to schedule, Judkins Park could have a new skatespot by next fall. Design planning is underway on the project, which is planned for the grassy area south of Judkins Street and west of the tennis courts.

The first public meeting was last week, and the project manager said the idea has been well-received so far.

“People seemed excited about it coming to the area,” said Kelly Davidson, Project Manager with the Seattle Parks Department.

The project is budgeted $600,000 from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, and the site is part of the 2007 city-wide skatepark master plan.

The Judkins site is one of six larger projects recommended in the master plan for prioritized funding. As a “skatespot,” the plan calls for a medium-sized skatepark up to 10,000 square feet in size. “District” skateparks called for in the master plan would be up to 30,000 square feet, and a “regional” skatepark at Magnuson Park would be even larger.

The master plan also notes future plans for a skatespot at Pratt Park and a skatedot (often a single skateable feature) for the Medgar Evars Pool area.

The second community meeting will be held sometime in the fall, possibly in late September. At that point, the design firm will present some design concepts. The mostly-final design will be unveiled at the third meeting, likely in November or in early 2012. Construction could begin in February and finish in September.

For those interested in watching some nitty-gritty design details get discussed, the Skatepark Advisory Committee will discuss the Judkins park at their September 12 meeting, 6 p.m. at 100 Dexter Ave.

For more information, visit the project website. Here’s the Powerpoint presented at last week’s meeting, which includes images from other parks and some early project details:

Judkins Power Point