Oct

7

Great City’s Position on Council’s Backyard Cottage Legislation

Filed Under Great City, Housing, Neighborhoods, Zoning | Leave a Comment

Cottage Housing in South Seattle

The Seattle City Council’s Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee is meeting at 2:00 pm in Council Chambers at City hall this Thursday to discuss their proposed backyard cottage legislation. Members of the public are invited to attend and submit comments.

Great City has taken a position on the issue. We generally support the effort but would like to see a few improvements to the proposed legislation. Our letter summarizing our position on the proposed legislation to Council member Sally Clark who chairs the Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee after the jump.

Read more

Aug

20

This Weekend — aLIVe: a Low Impact Vehicle exhibit

Filed Under Bicycling, Environment, Gas prices, Great City, Neighborhoods, Public Art, Streets For People, Sustainability, Transit, Transportation | Leave a Comment

Saturday 10am-3:30pm
Seward Park, 5895 Lake Washington Blvd. S, Seattle, WA 98118

Attendees are encouraged to use less environmentally harmful transportation choices to arrive at the event such as transit, carpools, vanpools, bicycling and walking. Parking will be limited.

aLIVe

Please join us for a Great City event that promises to re-energize how we think about our transportation system. On Saturday, August 22nd a Low Impact Vehicle exhibition (aLIVe) will be at Seward Park from 10am – 3:30pm.

The term “low impact” has a dual meaning describing both the impact of a vehicle on a pedestrian, as well as the environmental impact. The implementation of low impact vehicles would generate a huge range of public benefits, including increased mobility for transit and freight.

A bicycle is a low impact vehicle, but what else can we imagine? Great City board member and artist Cheryl dos Remedios artists, inventors and community members to imagine a transportation system designed around the human body. Everything from poetry to prototypes will be on display!

Artists/Inventors:

Vaughn Bell, Susanna Bluhm, Clair Colquitt, Nicole Kistler, Joseph Kochanowski, Brian McAllister, meadow starts with p, Lucas Spivey, Peter Reiquam and Kristin Tollefson

Activities:

  • Sustainable Ballard’s Undriver Licensing Station
  • SvR Design’s DIY LIV table and Haiku Project
  • People’s Choice Awards

Performances:

  • Opening Ceremony by T’ilibshudub, 10:30am
  • Barefoot in the Park by Alex Martin, 1:00pm

Sponsors:

4Culture, Cascade Bicycle,greenmuseum.org, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Seattle Parks & Recreation, Anne McDuffie and SvR Design, in conjunction with “Healthy Parks/Healthy You”

Brought to you by Great City
Organized by Cheryl dos Remédios

Participate at http://seattlegreatcitynetwork.ning.com/group/alive

Event Press
Event Podcast

Weekend of Eco-Art activities in Seattle

August 22 and 23 is a great weekend to vacation in Seattle. There are several exciting grass roots events that promise to be both fun and meaningful. Start with aLIVe on Saturday morning. Join the Rainier Valley Sustainable Garden Tour. Then hook-up with the Bicycle Music Festival in the late afternoon or evening. Attend Arts-In-Nature at Camp Long on Sunday.

Rainier Valley Sustainable Garden Tour

Saturday 10am-4pm
www.rainiervalleygardentour.org

Bicycle Music Festival / Seattle

Saturday 10am-11pm
Various Seattle locations, including:

  • 10am at Waterfront Park, 1300 Alaskan Way
  • 3pm at Denny Park, 100 Dexter Ave N.
  • 7pm at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheater, Seattle Center, 305 Harrison Street

www.seattlebicyclemusicfestival.com

2009 Arts in Nature Festival

Saturday 11am-9pm and Sunday 11am-6pm
Camp Long, 5200 35th Ave. SW at SW Dawson St, Seattle, WA 98126
Suggested donation: $5 per person
www.naturec.org/festival

Transit: For Camp Long: Metro bus #21, Click here for a map of Camp Long and vicinity.

Questions?

Questions are welcomed! Please contact Cheryl dos Remédios, exhibition organizer atcheryldosremedios@gmail.com. This is a volunteer position, so please anticipate a response within 1-3 business days.

Aug

5

Seattle Planning Commission Reality Check

Filed Under Neighborhoods | 3 Comments

The Seattle Planning Commission wants to know how your neighborhood is doing.


Take the Questionnaire here http://www.cityofseattle.net/planningcommission/

(DEADLINE is August 12th)

If you live, work, own a business or property, attend school of regularly visit one of these 24 neighborhoods we want to know what you think.

Admiral, Aurora/Licton Springs, Belltown, Broadview/Bitter Lake/Haller Lake, Capitol Hill, Central Area, Columbia City, Crown Hill & Ballard, Delridge, Eastlake, First Hill, Fremont, Georgetown, Green Lake, Greenwood/Phinney, Lake City, Morgan Junction, Pike/Pine, Rainier Beach , University Community , Upper Queen Anne/Uptown, Wallingford, West Seattle Junction, Westwood/Highland Park

***Please spread the word and forward liberally***

And just for a little extra push right now Ballard is way ahead of every other community in how many questionnaires they have turned in….so tell your friends and neighbors to take the questionnaire.

Mar

3

Comments needed for a safer Nickerson Street

Filed Under Bicycling, Community, Neighborhoods, Pedestrians | 2 Comments

A safer Nickerson Street is in the works to connect Seattle neighborhoods- but your comments are needed to make it happen. The City plans to add bike lanes and create better conditions at intersections that will create a far more comfortable – and less nerve-racking – ride for both commuters and recreational riders.  This is an important connection to the Fremont bridge and the Burke-Gilman, the new Chesiahud trail along Lake Union, Queen Anne, and points west in Interbay and beyond.

Please stop by the open house  this Wednesday, March 4 between 5 and 7 p.m. to comment in favor of a better Nickerson for bicycling, at Seattle Pacific University’s Demaray Hall, at 509 West Bertona St.

Thank you for your advocacy!

Mar

2

Father knows best?

Filed Under Neighborhoods, Politics, The Bottom Line, Uncategorized, Zoning | 1 Comment

Friday night some friends and I went out to dinner to one of our favorite local spots.  The talk turned, inevitably, to the economy and to housing prices.  This dinner was kind of a goodbye to a friend who was making a career change brought on by recent economic changes.  Part of the changes included how to deal with paying her mortgage she acquired a year ago.

About two years ago I was trying to convince my dad, a renter almost his entire 64 years, that buying would be a good idea.  Twenty some years from now, I told him, you might want to move into a top of the line assited living set up.  Selling off that house would guarantee enough cash to live well until the end.

All my dad would say is “neither a borrower or lender be.” Was he right all along?

The national debate has turned to saving the American dream.  Some people including my friend are very frustrated with the idea that people who couldn’t afford mortgages in the first place are now the focus of another in a seemingly endless series of bailouts.  The Santelli rant certainly reflects the frustration of people still making payments on an asset that isn’t worth what it was.

American’s have about $10 trillion in mortgage debt.  It was only about 2 months ago that I suggested to someone that the best stimulus for the economy would be to pay off everyone’s mortgage–until I saw that figure.  But whose mortgages would we pay?

On the other hand some, like Richard Florida, suggest that we are seeing a silver lining in the darkening clouds.  Perhaps we will see the end of the suburb.  As experts like Nouriel Robuini (or Dr. Doom) continue to issue even more dire predictions about the economy one wonders if we might not see what we have been hoping for: a return to urban life.

There is a really great movie called Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse.   Its the story of Mr. Blandings (played by Cary Grant) who moves his family from their cramped Manhattan apartment to Connecticut.  The scenes of them struggling over space (modern cliff dwellers!) remind me of my own home–minus the maid, fireplace, kids and big closets.  But we can always dream.

Put it on your Netflix list and watch it.  Then watch it backwards.

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