Could there be a better fall day to do some gardening?
The Central District Plant Swap is under way right now in the Copymaster parking lot at 20th & Union.
It’s an easy thing: if you need a plant, stop by and grab one. If you need to thin out your garden, just dig up some plants and come drop them off.
One of the garden club regulars is out of town, so there’s need for more plants than usual, so take advantage of it and make some room in your flowerbeds.
The swap goes through 2pm.
There is a lady who makes dolls and sells them at the Madrona Farmers Market. I think her name is Desiree and I am just looking to contact her to get a doll. We missed the last market today.
On September 20th 2010 I published a story on the Central District news as a hopes to promote safety and increase the health of our thriving neighborhood. The story was regarding a violent squirrel that was sighted many numerous people. Though the comments made light of this incident I do not believe anybody would like to be bitten by a violent squirrel.
The story was removed on September 24th with no notification to me or on the website. I find this disturbing. Even though the commenters were posting class-ist comments insulting the low income people of our neighborhood for not vaccinating their pets against rabies I think they should have the right to be idiots if they so please.
Please discontinue the blocking of the great CD squirrel debate.
Copymaster parking lot, 20th & E Union 10am – 2pm
It’s all FREE: trade plants. Divide or thin your perennials and give away cuttings and starts. Give garden tools, art, supplies. Ask your gardening questions, maybe get answers. Share a snack. Gossip and catch up w/ your neighbors. See old friends. Draw straws for the biggest Christmas cactus you may ever see.
We don’t keep score. You don’t have to bring something in order to take something. Our goal is to have nothing left at 2pm.
Bring your flyers to give and get info on projects close to your heart, for example:
Gardening-based Health Fair at 22nd & E Union (Lutheran Church) 12-6pm also Sat. 9/25.
CD Public Art Project public meeting at 22nd & E Union (those fine Lutherans again) 7pm Mon 9/27.
Pollinator Pathway (Columbia St from 12th – 29th Ave) planting parties Oct 16 & 17 Sat/Sun.
Today’s the last chance of 2010 for Madrona and Central District residents to score local produce in the neighborhood. The Madrona farmers market, on the corner of MLK and Union, will close for the season after today.
Chef Michael King of St. Clouds will do a cooking demonstration today at the market from 4-5pm. According to Seattle Farmers Market Association, you can find the first of the winter squash, shelling beans, wild mushrooms, apples and smoked halibut.
This season at the market brought a new layout and more vendors. What did you think of the expansion and upgrades? What would you like to see at the market in 2011?
Seattle Crime has the story of a scary home invasion robbery that happened Monday night:
The victim told police he’d been been sitting in his upstairs bedroom of his home on 20th and Alder around 7:00pm on September 20th, when he heard a noise behind him and turned around to see a man walking into his room.
The suspect had one hand behind his back “as if he were concealing something,” a police report says, and told the victim to hand over his laptop and camera, which were sitting on a desk.
The suspect told the victim he would shoot him if he did not cooperate, and after taking the camera and laptop, ordered the victim to head downstairs. It does not appear that the suspect ever actually displayed a weapon, but the report is categorized in SPD’s system as a robbery with a gun.
The suspect repeatedly told the victim he would kill him, as he led the victim through the house, stealing several other laptops which belonged to the victim’s roommates, who were not home at the time of the incident.
Officers and a K9 unit searched the area, but did not find the suspect. No suspect description was given in the police report.
King County is preparing to roll out a big group of changes to Metro bus routes, all as part of the initial launch of Rapid Ride, which provides new branded high-frequency service and upgraded amenities on select routes around the county. The first line will connect Federal Way and Tukwila, and “additional RapidRide lines debuting over the next three years will serve busy transit corridors in West Seattle, Ballard, Bellevue, Redmond, Shoreline, Burien, Tukwila, and Renton.” Note that our busy transit corridors are not currently planned to get any upgrades to Rapid status.
With Metro’s big revenue shortfall, any system expansions will have to come from somewhere, and it looks like our #14 route is one of those places. Service on that route, which runs up and down Jackson to Mount Baker, will be cut from 30 minute headways down to 60 minutes on weekdays and Saturday after 9pm. Some southbound trips in the evening will also be truncated at the Mt. Baker Transit Center, avoiding the traditional loop out to Hunter Blvd.
But it’s not all gloom if you live on the far west side of the neighborhood. The #7 route will get an increase to every 15 minutes on weekday evenings and weekend mornings. And the #60 route between First Hill and Georgetown will be improved to 30 minute frequency on weekends, possibly convenient for your Georgetown bar-hopping festivities.
Stay tuned for other bus route news in coming months as the county narrows down its options to close the gap between bus service and forecasted revenues.
Happy Friday from the streets of Seattle’s East Precinct:
We’ve got a new spot to listen to live music in the neighborhood starting tomorrow night, when The BottleNeck starts their new 60/60 music series (60 fans, 60 minutes of music).
The first band is The Glass Notes, a Seattle-based neo-country pop band that is “part Will Oldham, part Cave Singers and all poetry.” They’ll be playing songs from their debut album Dust and Hours.
It’s free, and all starts at 9pm at 2328 E. Madison. You’ll want to get there early to make sure you get a spot in BottleNeck’s cozy, intimate space.
John posted earlier about last night’s announcement of Neighborhood Street Fund projects that have been funded by the city.
Our neighborhood’s winning project will get $45,000 to make some pedestrian improvements on the west side of the Garfield campus:
It appears to be a worthwhile project as far as pedestrian issues go. We’ve walked that path many times and wondered why the sidewalk design there provided such an awkward transition at Terrace.
But looking at the full list of funded projects around the city, it’s pretty clear that our area came out on the short end of the stick. The next-smallest project was $112,000 in West Seattle, and other north-end projects got upwards of $700,000 each.
It appears that part of the blame here rests with the city. The Garfield Superblock proposal (attached at left) included many more components than just upgraded sidewalks at Terrace and Jefferson. It also planned for upgraded pathways around the Medgar Evers pool, upgraded street lighting, and a raised crosswalk on Cherry in front of the old Mann school. That original project estimate of that work was $210,000, much larger than the $45,000 sub-project that was finally funded.
Other projects in the neighborhood were proposed but did not get funded, including the $280,000 of improvements to 13th & Union that we discussed earlier in the year.
But a large portion of blame lies with us, the residents of the Central District and surrounding neighborhoods. There’s plenty of pedestrian, cycling, and transit issues around the neighborhood that need fixing, but we seem to be lacking the community ideas and leadership to plan them, propose them, and get them funded.
An example of a large-scale project that worked is the late-90’s were the improvements to Union between 20th and 22nd. It added wider sidewalks, curb bulbs, bus-stop seating, and pedestrian-scale lighting that made the area a friendly spot for local businesses to set up shop. Since then the area has taken off, with Central Cinema, 2020 Cycles, Hollow Earth Radio, and Katy’s Cafe providing a lot of new street life that didn’t exist before the improvements.
We’ve got other neighborhood business districts that could use a similar kind of love, whether it’s Cherry Street between 23rd & MLK, Jackson Street, or still-too-fast parts of MLK.
Wondering what you can do to help us have better success next year? Brainstorm projects with your neighbors, get involved with your community council to organize around them, and follow through to get them approved in the city’s processes.
But organization and persistence is key. Otherwise we’ll continue to see dollars awarded to better-equipped neighborhoods, and things that need attention around here will continue to suffer.
