Monthly Archives: March 2014

Mapping the 26 apartment buildings under construction on Capitol Hill (and the 21 planned to follow)

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Screen Shot 2014-03-20 at 11.50.54 PMWhat does a building boom look like? CHS counts 23 25 26 apartment buildings currently under construction around Capitol Hill, on First Hill and at 23rd and Union. The new buildings will include somewhere around 2,500 new apartment units. They average six stories and 97 units. We count another 24 21 planned projects accounting for another possible 2,200 apartment units. And we’re pretty sure we’ve missed a few. UPDATE: Thanks to reader comments, we’ve added a handful of apartment projects to the list. And, it’s not pretty, but we’ve broken out non-apartment projects with a new “Townhome/Micro” layer. Yes, mixing apples and oranges with “Status” but will do for now. Note that this isn’t a complete roster of townhomes and microhousing development planned or in progress but does include major developments that were included in the design process and projects we were able to verify are planned as congregate residences.

That’s a lot of new neighbors.

CHS has made various attempts at tallying the epic scale of construction underway around the Hill in recent years. In spring of 2011, for example, we counted eight projects. How quaint! In fall of 2012, we tallied somewhere over 30 projects — planned and in motion. In 2013, it was all we could to to cover the new developments as they came.

Demolition at 12th and Pike (Image: CHS)

Demolition at 12th and Pike (Image: CHS)

Below, for 2014, you will find a map of area developments currently in construction and in planning — plus a few that were recently completed. We should probably add a few more of the opened buildings to the list. We should also add the microhousing projects we tallied here last year. You’ll hopefully see a few updates soon. You’ll also hopefully see our additions and corrections thanks to you. Please let us know what and where we’ve missed or any updates to listed statuses that are needed. Maybe if we get really ambitious, we can mark all of the unsafe areas around the construction zones for pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicle traffic.

Continue reading →

Traffic Alert | Broadway/Madison intersection tied up for more weekend wire work

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This streetcar power substation was recently installed just off Nagle near Cal Anderson -- not everybody is a fan (Image: Seattle Streetcar via Twitter)

This streetcar power substation was recently installed just off Nagle near Cal Anderson — not everybody is a fan (Image: Seattle Streetcar via Twitter)

Remember that complicated web of wires above Broadway we wrote about earlier? SDOT will be adding to it this weekend as work again redirects traffic in all directions at the intersection of Madison and Broadway:

Closure of Broadway and Madison Street Intersection

Saturday and Sunday March 22 – 23

SEATTLE — The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will close the intersection of Broadway and Madison Street from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, March 22 and 23.  This closure is for electrical installation work associated with the First Hill Streetcar Project. Police officers and traffic flaggers will be present to ensure access to businesses and residences in the area and the following detours will be provided: Continue reading →

CHS Community Post | Family of longtime Capitol Hill shopkeeper seeks help paying for father’s care

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For nearly 40 years, James Gunn had a store on Capitol Hill. 15th Ave E’s Tilden finally closed in 2010 after being part of the community for decades. Gunn’s daughter reached out to CHS this week with a note about her father and an appeal for help. While many who passed by might remember the store only for the “difficult for children” sign that hung on the door, others in the community surely knew Jim. Here is the note from his daughter and more about an opportunity to help.

Jim Gunn

Jim Gunn

My father, Jim Gunn, who adored my mother & loved her unconditionally, took care of my mother, Gloria Gunn, at home,for 10 years, because she was bedridden,{eating out of a tube in her stomach}, ran their gift store called Tilden, in Seattle, & took care of their large German Shepherd dog until she passed away 2 years ago. It cost him everything and he gladly gave it! Gloria & Jim were very loved in the community on Capitol Hill, in Seattle.

Now Jim needs your help. My father is now in an assisted living community on an emergency basis, called respite care. I have used up all available funds to keep him there.

Glory Kurfurst

Kurfurst said she is working to help her father sell his house to let him stay at the facility but is hopeful that some in the community who knew Jim or shopped at Tilden might want to step forward to help the family through this period. “Please help me fulfill his wishes,” she writes.

A James Gunn fund has been set up at US Bank — Kurfurst asks that anybody who wants to help to contact the bank at (206) 344-3690 to donate to the fund.

The worst Thursday post ever because The Highline only serves chow on Mondays and Tuesdays

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IMG_7127IMG_7217Last summer, CHS reported on some uncertainty and change around one of Capitol Hill’s more unique venues. The Highline was closing its kitchen and some funky stuff was maybe possibly going on around its lease. Come winter, things are back to, um, normal at Broadway’s only vegan dive bar live music venue. The kitchen is back open. The Highline seems secure in its location — for now, anyway. We talked to owner Dylan Desmond about Highline’s return to Capitol HIll’s food and drink scene and the vegan spirit of his operation. We also are giving the whole thing the glossy food+drink pictorial treatment just like the fancy magazines. There is, however, some bad news: This is a particularly cruel post because you’ll have to wait until next week to visit the Highline for a sandwich — the kitchen is only open on Mondays and Tuesdays. There is also some good news: The bar is open. More on that and the rest, below.

There’s been a strong and happy reaction to the announcement that you were restarting your kitchen — how has it been going and what’s next?
DD: The kitchen is running stronger than ever! We’re working with the chefs Jon Hurt and Jesse Garner, who both have years of culinary experience with an emphasis in vegan cuisine. To top that off, I see their hearts rooting into every recipe they’re concocting and every plate their putting out, which makes me believe we’ve found the perfect match for the direction Highline always pointed towards. I may have eaten more food at Highline than any other person on earth, but I’m not alone in saying the recipes and execution of each dish is much above the level we were operating on before. We’ve very much improved, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Continue reading →

CHS Community Post | Local Cartoonist Celebrates “Women’s History Month” with Comic Art Collection

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9309326911_6eaab87e8aAsk most people to name a female cartoonist and they’ll be hard-pressed to come up with even one name. Ask local cartoonist Tatiana Gill and she’ll gladly share a whole list, including Roberta Gregory, Pheobe Gloeckner, Mary Fleener, and Gill’s mother, Claire Montrose. Gill describes them all as funny, honest, heartbreaking, and talented, and it’s in that spirit she’s curated a collection of comic art to commemorate Women’s History Month, which this year celebrates Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment.

Born and raised in Seattle, Gill studied art at Evergreen State College after graduating from The Northwest School, but she’s been drawing ever since she was a child. According to Gill, her mom, a cartoonist turned stained glass artist, wasn’t just an early teacher but an inspiration as well. Her mother also happened to be friends with Gregory, who introduced the family to underground feminist comics, a theme that eventually would influence Gill’s own cartooning.

“I have always done “slice-of-life” comics, both fictional and autobiographic,” says Gill. “In recent years I have pulled more directly from my day-to-day mudnane experiences, instead of singular narratives or events from my past.“ While it may be self-expression that fuels her comics, she seems to have struck a chord with her audience. “I didn’t realize how many people shared my feelings. I like to discuss the things that people are frightened to discuss, because they make us vulnerable.”

A talented illustrator and photographer in addition to cartooning, Gill uses her art as a show of strength as well as vulnerability; her work frequently highlights the “amazing women” in her life including friends, family, and fellow artists. Gill is perhaps most committed to reflecting the diversity of women so often underrepresented in the media. “Every time I see a cool depiction of a woman who, like me, is outside the mainstream image, I feel better. I want to spread that kind of cheer around to other women!” No doubt those illustrious women in history would approve.

View the complete Women’s History Month collection.10305294055_0290f52e598615022667_58189b7d46

Central District landmark bid denied clearing way for Capitol Hill Housing development

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Thursday's hearing -- See? We were there (Image: CHS)

Thursday’s hearing — See? We were there (Image: CHS)

Citing the 1968-built structure’s lack of architectural significance, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Board voted 6-5 Wednesday night to deny granting landmark status to a Central District building that once housed what applicants said was the region’s first Black-owned bank.

Petitioners trying to save the former Liberty Bank building at 24th and Union needed seven votes for landmark designation at the emotionally charged meeting. The narrow vote now clears the path for non-profit developer Capitol Hill Housing to continue with its plans to build an affordable housing project on the site of the now empty, fenced-off building.

Prior to the vote Michelle Purnell-Hepburn, a former Liberty employee and daughter of bank co-founder James Purnell, urged the board to think about the risk and bravery it took to open a Black-owned bank in the 1960s.

“Given our collective history, non-white individuals could not walk into any financial institution and expect a loan,” she said. Continue reading →

On the List | Spring, Savoy Swing Jam, bus and coffee meetings, Cuff turns 21, animal rights documentary

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Happy vernal equinox!
      

ssj-2014-ad-front-01The Savoy Swing Jam takes over Century Ballroom Friday and Saturday with free classes, family friendly events, and  competitive dancing.

Friday night check out the Movie-Trivia-Bingo-Cabaret and More Night, with, you know, all the activities in the title. The event is free and all ages. Doors at 7pm. Saturday offers two free 45-minute dance classes, see the event site for the full schedule.

Three community/civic events are scheduled at times you can actually make without skipping your day job. Both topics are near and dear to many Hillites of the Capitol and First varieties: coffee and Metro bus funding… and First Hill:

564151_665949520113695_1552234824_nBarverseries this weekend: The Pine Box on Thursday celebrates 2 years, and on Saturday The Cuff — the grand leather daddy of Seattle  — celebrates 21 years. Buy it some shots!

Saturday night at Volunteer Park’s Seattle Asian Art Museum, filmmaker Liz Marshall will be on hand to present her new work, The Ghosts in the Machine — a documentary that “illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world.”

Want psychic communication with your cat? Your dog? A wild animal? Head to Rainbow Remedies on Sunday 3pm:

Answer the burning questions of your inner pet psychic as Animal Communicator Karen Cleveland offers a free talk “What Is Animal Communication? Why is it Important?” Karen will discuss the common questions of how animal communication works or who can do it, as well as how it helps all animals whether they’re inside a home, on a farm, or in the wild. Free.

Something to add? Let us know on the CHS Calendar — more listings below:

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First Hill Forum has hopes of sorting out what neighborhood is — and what it could be

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Crossing on First Hill (Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

Crossing on First Hill (Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

Capitol Hill rarely gets lost in the shuffle. Many of its issues — and opportunities — are well known and well communicated all the way to City Hall. Its next door neighbor First Hill has never quite amassed the same sense of communal spirit. But now the First Hill Improvement Association is looking to change that by gathering residents and community members together for the inaugural First Hill Forum on Saturday, March 22nd — an event designed to gauge the make-up of its denizens, determine what matters most to them, and then start the job of reshaping the neighborhood for the better, organizers say.

“We want people who work here to come, people who live here, people who come here for medical services –  everyone,” said said Mary Ellen Hudgins, president of the community group. “We’re really looking for a broad perspective of what First Hill is, and what it can be and should be for everyone who lives here and comes here.”

Hudgins hopes that the event will be the first step in many in raising a level community awareness. Already, Hudgins has seen dozens of new people expressing interest in volunteer work. She hopes that this momentum will result in a renewed sense of neighborhood solidarity.

Continue reading →

Dangerous Madison Park crossing, 23rd Ave intersection, First Hill sidewalk considered for city fund

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A proposal to help make for a safer crossing of E Madison near Trader Joe's didn't make the cut -- this year (Image: Doug McLaughlin via Flickr)

A proposal to help make for a safer crossing of E Madison near Trader Joe’s didn’t make the cut — this year (Image: Doug McLaughlin via Flickr)

Last week, a Department of Neighborhoods community group considered nine new street and parks project for central Seattle and Capitol Hill. Below, you’ll find the three projects that made it through and are being studied for feasibility by the city to be part of some $1.2 million in funding through the Neighborhood Parks and Street Fund. We’ve also included descriptions of all the proposals just in case you want to rally around one of the passed-over ideas next year or you find something to inspire a similar project in your own neighborhood. Continue reading →

CHS Community Post | Yet Another Discussion of Public Transportation

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MAN_trolleybusAs we see with various posts on this blog and other media in the Metro area, public transportation is a hot topic here in Seattle–one that is simultaneous as complex as it is controversial, as important as it can be tedious, and as beneficial as it can be frustrating. Seattle is one of the few large cities in America taking aggressive measures to create an extensive transit system for future generations. There are, of course, roadblocks and headaches along the way–but hopefully it will be worthwhile in the end. Indeed, public transportation is becoming more and more popular nationwide.

Let me introduce myself. I am a graduate student at the Evergreen State College’s Master of Environmental Studies program. I am working on a thesis, I am conducting a survey of people’s usage and opinion of public transportation, as well as environmental concerns that correlate with public transportation useage. As a transplant from New York City, I am interested to see the relationship of Seattleites–and in particular, the community of Capitol Hill–with the current public transportation system. And as Sound Transit is expanding its light rail Link expansion on Broadway (another hotly debated topic), there are a couple of questions about public knowledge of the project.

I could have chosen any neighborhood in Seattle, but because of its uniqueness, density and diversity, I picked Capitol Hill. If you live, work, or study in Capitol Hill, please take just five minutes to fill out this online survey. I know that many of you have already been surveyed a lot already about these issues, but this will be a unique study that is not tied to any city or transit agencies nor takes a political stand. I do not have an agenda–it is purely scientific and objective.
Thank you so much and if anyone wants to see the final thesis or want to talk about my project, shoot me an email at [email protected].

Here is the link to the survey. (I created it using a survey website called Traitwise): http://hosting.traitwise.com/TAqy7vGnHBMGjdgU

P.S.: In addition to conducting surveys, I am also looking for people to interview for a more in-depth discussion of your perceptions, behaviors and attitudes towards public transportation and the environment. Whether you love it, hate it, or are indifferent to it, I would love to talk to you for a 30-40 minute interview. It will be recorded, but you will remain anonymous. I will even treat you to a beer, coffee or beverage of your choice.
Thank you, Capitol Hill!