posted 08/26/09 03:19 PM | updated 08/26/09 03:19 PM
Views: 776 | Comments : 7 | Community

Choose your own development: Redesign Broadway block by block

By jseattle
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The Capitol Hill Design Charrette will be a one-day workshop where community members work in small teams to examine the development possiblities and realities for every block of Broadway. Unlike some community meetings, the charrette should be a creative and collaborative experience -- and, best of all, it's the kind of thing Capitol Hill needs to start working on now to be ready for what comes next with the massive changes happening on Broadway.

When it comes to community involvement with the 'transit oriented development' process, Sound Transit hasn't been exactly clear with how it will use community feedback. When asked what his agency was going to do with survey data collected in this recent community meeting, Ron Endlich, ST's deputy project director for the Capitol Hill station and University Link said, "The survey was an attempt to reach a broader audience. There's some good info in there." Thanks for your input.

What we do know is that Sound Transit owns prime commercial real estate in the heart of Capitol Hill. By 2016, there will be a new burst of retail and housing activity around the station. In between now and then somewhere around 2012 or 2013, an important process will be played out when Sound Transit assembles a framework for taking bids on developing the land that will be part of the Capitol Hill station. The request for proposal (RFP) will ostensibly set the guidelines for what kind of transit oriented development happens at the site. The Capitol Hill 'community' -- you and me, that is -- will need to be ready to shape that RFP process through communication, information, ideas and good old fashioned political pressure. How do we prepare ourselves in the meantime?

September's charrette is an opportunity to begin muscling up on our collective community development strength. It's a chance to work with community members and community experts like architects and developers to create a vision for how Broadway should be on the best of all possible Capitol Hills. It's also an opportunity to set some of the vision for the Capitol Hill light rail station's retail and housing development. And it should also be a creative and fun Saturday afternoon.

Capitol Hill Design Charrette
Saturday, September 12th, 1-5pm
Seattle University community room at Marion and 12th
Please RSVP

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SU building
Here is the pic of the building where the meeting will be:

http://capitolhillhousing.org/12thave/?p=638
Comment by kstineback
2 months ago
( +1 votes ) Recommend this
...all this in....
Going to be there , but, really, all this in four hours.

Whew, starting 6-7 years before decision making and we get - 4 hours to decide the 100 year future fate of central Broadway and hence, central C. Hill.

Boy, oh boy .... four whole hours.

They will not be prepared for the 200 people who will show up, and after hearing the blah blah from Sound Transit staff, bet, we get a whole hour to group think.

No mention of this on the Cap. Hill Chamber site, and they get the money and are sponsors of the event.

THANKS CHS for the info. Hope you are getting paid for the outreach.
Comment by Mike with curls
2 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
RE: ...all this in....
Your satisfaction is my reward, Mike. I can't ask for more.

When Sound Transit and the TOD community group discussed, the workshop was to include several teams, each focused on a specific section of Broadway. I want to be on the Jade Pagoda team.
Comment by jseattle
2 months ago
( +1 votes ) Recommend this
RE: ...all this in....
Yep... four hours. At least for now. I was at the last community outreach meeting and ST seemed pretty unprepared for even the modest showing. Their approach at that meeting smacked of hoop jumping and this sounds like more of the same to me. But, I do hope that a good showing and strong opinions make them realize the importance of the area under consideration. So I encourage anyone and everyone with an interest in the neighborhood to RSVP for the charrette and then follow through by showing up. Let's overwhelm ST with community. Let's make it obvious that Broadway deserves more than 4 hours of community input and that we care enough that things could become more difficult for them further out--not as a threat, but more as a "we take this community outreach process seriously even if you don't, so maybe you should" attitude.
Comment by dang
2 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
..ah, the OLD DAYS at the Jade..
The Jade Pagoda was a bar with Asian cooking, which declined over 15 years into a pit. ( North Bwy. Next block past where the old Safeway was at)

But, a fun pit, in the bar. Cheap strong drinks, interesting crowd, real mix, tons of gay men more interested in professional drunk nights than cruise champion. I loved the place.

I did make a mistake and eat the food, only once. With a friend, wondered why the dining room was empty, the bar had a nice crowd ... not good, and made us half sick.

The good old days, and those kind of joints are all but gone. Poppy is too pissy for me, and cher, cher for little dabs of poorly seasoned samples.

Justin, is there a story about you hanging at the Jade?? And I really do give you big time credit for all the good information - top notch editor/reporter. Another cheer if you can digs bucks out of the Times, which is bleeding many millions. Used to know three or four people who worked there, all moved to new jobs in the last year. Times has had real brain drain.
Comment by Mike with curls
2 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
RE: ..ah, the OLD DAYS at the Jade..
Poppy is overrated.
Comment by --
2 months ago
( +1 votes ) Recommend this
link troubles
anyone else having troubles with the link for RSVP?
Comment by wes kirkman
2 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this