Comrade Bunny

First we had the Neighborhood Plan Status Update Meetings: most neighborhoods got one, Capitol Hill was so special it got to have two.  Now it's time for Neighborhood Plan Status Checks, which will be summaries of what the community told the Planning Commission and the Neighborhood Plan Advisory Committee to change in our Neighborhood Plans during the aforementioned Update meetings. In short, it's time to find out if the city was paying any attention to what we were saying.

The Capitol Hill/ Central District/ Eastlake/ First Hill/ Pike-Pine/Belltown/ Queen Anne-Uptown Neighborhood Plan Status Check will be on November 10th from 6-8pm at Seattle Central Community College, Rm. BE 1110/1111. If you'd like to attend a Status Check meeting for another neighborhood, see below.

During June and July, many neighbors joined in meetings and many other hundreds participated in on line questionnaires to review the Draft Neighborhood Status Reports and comment on changes— good, bad, and unexpected —that have occurred since Seattle’s Neighborhood Plans were written in the late 90's. We explored growth, transportation, housing, economic development, utilities, neighborhood character, open space and parks, public services, public safety. The Planning Commission’s reports on comments can be reviewed at http://www.seattle.gov/planningcommission/

Find the Location for Your Neighborhood Meeting and Join Us - All Meetings at 6-8 pm.

The Neighborhood Plan Advisory Committee (NPAC) and the Seattle Planning Commission want to report back to you on the trends that emerged so far and to get your help to identify the continuing priorities and new issues that should be emphasized in the final Status Reports and a State of the Neighborhood Report that will be presented to the City Council and Mayor. These reports will contribute to policy decisions including decisions about whether or how to updates neighborhood plans. Your input will also be important as NPAC shapes its recommendations on conducting, prioritizing and funding updates to the neighborhood plans listed below.

Thursday, November 5th/ Mercer Middle School, 1600 S. Columbian Way – Cafeteria Directions: http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/mercer/home/map.htm

• Admiral
• West Seattle Junction
• Delridge
• Georgetown
• Morgan Junction
• Westwood-Highland Park
• Columbia City - Hillman City - Genesee
• Rainier Beach

Tuesday, November 10th/ Seattle Central Community College, 1701 Broadway – Room BE 1110/11 Directions http://seattlecentral.edu/maps/

• Queen Anne
• Uptown
• Belltown
• Pike/Pine
• First Hill
• Eastlake
• Capitol Hill
• Central Area

Thursday, November 12th/ North Seattle Community College, 9600 College Way N - Cafeteria Directions: http://www.northseattle.edu/maps/directions.htm

• Broadview-Bitter Lake
• Haller Lake
• Aurora - Licton Springs
• Crown Hill / Ballard
• Greenwood/Phinney Ridge
• Wallingford
• Fremont
• Green Lake
• Lake City
• University Community

After being happy resident of Seattle for six years, Comrade Bunny started blogging about it. That is so Capitol Hill. For more geek/green/Seattle, see Life on the Hill and Other Stories

I knew that the Susan G. Komen walk was coming to Seattle, but I didn't know till this morning that the last day of the walk is today and that the end of the route comes right through Capitol Hill.  The first walkers came down Broadway around 11:30 AM, then through Cal Anderson Park and Seattle University on their way downtown.

Picture: @asa

Picture: @Moonrock

After being happy resident of Seattle for six years, Comrade Bunny started blogging about it. That is so Capitol Hill. For more geek/green/Seattle, see Life on the Hill and Other Stories

On Friday, September 18th, people all across the nation will take to the streets to turn car spaces into people spaces. In Seattle, Feet First is leading the charge by making it relatively cheap and easy to get street use and meter permits.  On Capitol Hill, People's Parking Lot (a.k.a. the Keith Harris Conspiracy) and the Capitol Hill Community Council have stepped up to make Park(ing) Day 2009 even better. 

On that Friday, the vacant lot on 500 E Pine will truly be a people's parking lot - Keith Harris' ingenious plan is to recruit neighborhood groups and businesses to host individual parks in the space. Over a dozen names are already on the list, including SVR Design, WorldChanging Seattle, and co-working space Office Nomads. Alongside the many and varied amusements supplied by the individual parks, a schedule of events is being planned for the entire lot as well.

The crown jewel of the day's events on 500 Pine will undoubtedly be the awards ceremony for the first ever Park(ing) Day Seattle Prize, hosted by People's Parking Lot and the Capitol Hill Community Council.  A group of local journalists (including CHS!), unemployed artists, and other disreputable neighborhood-types will be recruited to the judging caravan, which will wind its way throughout Seattle in search of the finest park to grace a parking spot. The winner will receive a super-secret fabulous trophy and an equally fabulous prize.

Are you tempted by the visions of mini-parks you have dancing in your head?  Do you too wish to be in the running for the fabulous trophy and equally fabulous prize?  If so, please contact Keith at peoplesparkinglot(at)gmail.com if you want to join Park(ing) Day Central Park. Park(ing) Day Central Park isn't terribly picky about deadlines, but would like everyone to sign up as soon as possible. You can find registration forms here.

After being happy resident of Seattle for six years, Comrade Bunny started blogging about it. That is so Capitol Hill. For more geek/green/Seattle, see Life on the Hill and Other Stories

When I first saw this poster, I had a couple of questions. Not about the Barista Jam to be held at Visions in SODO - a day of coffee workshops seems pretty straightforward to me.  But how exactly does one hold a Latte Art Smackdown?  And why does this one deserve capital letters?

"Victrola hosts latte art smackdowns on a regular basis - pour-offs", said Sarah Jane Hoppe, manager of the I-5 shores Victrola, "This Smackdown is a pre-qualifying round for Seattle baristas only for September's event at Coffee Fest, which is versus L.A." Sarah Jane explained that "like any self-respecting coffee establishment", only freepour latte art was allowed, and that the baristas would compete tournament style, with two baristas pouring at once and presenting their lattes at the same time to judges and the webcams. "This is also a practice run for September, when the judges won't be in Seattle", said Sarah Jane.  Judges will be looking for the symmetry, contrast, and definition in the latte art patterns, and I assume, just plain prettiness.

To enter Saturday night's Latte Art Smackdown, you just have to be from Seattle, have $10 in your pocket (winner takes the pot!), and for your own sake know something about pouring a latte.  And of course, coffee geeks are invited to to view the proceedings. 

The Latte Art Smackdown's companion event, Barista Jam, requires nothing but the willingness to hand over $35 for a day full of coffee teachings. The class caps at only 25 people, so if you're interested I'd recommend signing up soon.

After being happy resident of Seattle for six years, Comrade Bunny started blogging about it. That is so Capitol Hill. For more geek/green/Seattle, see Life on the Hill and Other Stories

I remember wandering around Seattle when I first moved here.  Everything I saw was new and different and interesting, and it went on for miles.  Being a suburb kid, the landscape of a city was, and still is, fascinating.  Block by block it changes, and at night or on gloomy days, it seemed that utterly different worlds sit within a mile of each other.

On August 27th the lamp shade boutique LiT will host a one night art show that endeavors to capture that transient moment when you see a city for the first time. "Where is this?" is a body of lithograph prints of urban landscapes that don't exist. Dawn Bassett of LiT and printmaker Alexander Kirillov have collaborated to fill the store with fictitious panoramas on lampshades and light boxes and pendants and night lights. Or as they say it, "redefine how fine prints are traditionally appreciated while leading the viewer to question the reality of his/her own location".  One evening of imaginary cities filled with light...sounds lovely.

LiT/ Hermitage is located at 1906 E. Prospect St. and 19th St., and the show will go from 5 to 8 in the evening of August 27th.

And now for a completely different way to end your weekend: Cafe Metropolitain is going to get its Drag Bingo on tonight to (and I swear I'm quoting their advertising posters when I write this) Save the Boobs. Proceeds from tonight's Drag Bingo go toward Diana McCasey's tally for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure. Since Diana is trying to raise $2,300 for breast cancer research, there's also going to be a raffle and a silent auction of goods and services from community members and artists.

Yes, I know, we're in the middle of a recession, but each bingo card is only $5 and it goes straight to a very, very good cause.  So hustle on down to Olive and Boylston between 6:30 and 9:30 tonight and help Giggles Galore and Bingo Boy Marc save some cleavage.

The fences were up, the bands were playing, the beer was flowing, and money was changing hands. Everybody's happy. Right?

I wandered by Vermillion's Capitol Hill Bloxploitation Party to ask its owner, Diana Adams, how business has been with the Block Party going on this weekend.  "It's got its ups and downs. It's got its good and bad. It's always been good for business, but it's been slower this year. I think it's just overall - they sold less tickets and less people want to go out." The place was pretty quiet, despite $2 Rainier tallcans and a crowd of thirsty partygoers right over the fence.

Cupcakes Royale seconded the observation. "It's been kinda slow", said Leesa of our favorite new baked goods establishment. "We were doing pretty well [right after the Cap Hill store opened] and then it got quiet the last two days."

Some of those working and living near the Block Party have stronger opinions about the event. "The Block Party, really, it's a bottleneck, " says a community member who wished to remain anonymous, " A few people make lots of money off the Block Party and the rest of the community suffers. They try to call it a community event, but it really hurts the community [around it] and we're all small businesses barely making it."

"It's just...I understand they're in it to make money and to make a community event, but this isn't a block party to me," said Michelle of Anne Michelson Properties, a local property company that counts the Winston and the Wildrose as tenants. "A block party is free. They do try to do nice things for us like give us and our tenants free passes, but it's [Block Party Weekend] always a bit of a hassle."

Considering the impact the event has on the neighborhood, I was surprised to hear that surrounding businesses weren't more incorporated into the planning of the Block Party. "Everybody's rumbling about it," said Diana, "The [Block Party] organizers should have a meeting with all the business owners, but they're afraid that everyone would only complain."  Given the inconveniences of the event to nearby businesses - fewer customers, increased vandalism, and the war for dumpster space come Monday - that's not a very surprising reaction.

That said, some nearby businesses are doing just fine. Molly Moon Ice Cream and Rancho Bravo Tacos were packed to the brim with customers this evening, and Caffe Vita ought to be doing well inside of the fence, serving coffee and music to the crowds.  The same goes for Moe Bar and the Wildrose, though doubly so since they can serve alcohol. Then again, Molly Moon and Rancho Bravo are about a block away from the event border and unhindered by fencing, and Caffe Vita, Moe Bar and the Wildrose have a captive audience inside the event's perimeter.

Even those most inconvenienced by the Block Party don't want it stopped. The sentiment veered more toward inclusion and remediation - bring all the stakeholders to the table (local businesses, tenants) and do what can be done to address their complaints. While not everything can be fixed, some good signage for blocked-off businesses and extra dumpsters would address much of the problem.

The Capitol Hill Block Party is good on the inside. It should be better on the outside.

After being happy resident of Seattle for six years, Comrade Bunny started blogging about it. That is so Capitol Hill. For more geek/green/Seattle, see Life on the Hill and Other Stories

Most people are going to the Capitol Hill Block Party this weekend for the bands. The Seattle Green Bag Campaign will be there this Saturday for your votes.

The brouhaha about the bag fee, a.k.a. Referendum 1, has been going on for awhile now (you can read more about it here and here). Do we pay 20 cents for disposable bags at the grocery store, or not? Things just got more exciting this week when the main anti-bag fee group, the American Chemistry Council, threw another $300K into the kitty, bringing their total anti-bag fee donations to over $1 million.

Whether you agree with the fee or not, the American Chemistry Council's upped the ante to the point that the issue is hard to ignore.  Why on earth would a group that includes Dow Chemical and ExxonMobil throw in so much money to oppose an issue that's backed by the tiny Seattle Green Bag Campaign and it's itty-bitty $65,000 budget?  Huh. Might just be worth stopping by the SGBC booth this weekend to find out.

No, it's not a new neighborhood "shop local" initiative. The Drug Market Initiative is a pilot program aimed at reducing chronic street-level drug dealing that was rolled out by the East Precinct last week at a joint meeting with the African American Advisory Council at the Langston Hughes Cultural Center.  After an 1,800 household survey and multiple public comment meetings, the East Precinct is going forward with what they're calling an innovative new approach to eliminating drug activity in our neighborhoods.

The concept comes pre-tested since the SPD borrowed the idea from a similar program in High Point, Carolina. The idea: infiltrate neighborhood drug markets (as identified by neighborhood calls and complaints), gather information, call in low-risk dealers and give them a chance to turn their life around (and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law if they don't), prosecute high-risk dealers on a number of counts in a coordinated effort between all levels of law enforcement. 

The difference between what the SPD does now and what the East Precinct would try under the DMI is three-fold:

1. Currently, the police simply arrest and prosecute low-level drug dealers, rather than give them a chance to stop dealing and utilize treatment and support programs. 
2. Also, high-risk drug dealers are usually only prosecuted on a single case by a single law enforcement agency, rather than under multiple cases in a coordinated effort by all levels of law enforcement. 
3. Finally, the East Precinct emphasizes the importance of the role the community takes in identifying drug market locations and working with low-level dealers to walk away from their life of crime.

Will it work? What do you think?  The SPD wants to know, so they've provided two easy ways to give them a piece of your mind. The first is a survey which you can receive by emailing DMI_Survey@Seattle.Gov or sita@sngi.org. The second is (surprise!) a community meeting this Thursday:

Community Drug Market Initiative Meeting
Thursday, July 23rd
@ Seattle Neighborhood Group
1810 E. Yesler Way (98122)

For more information on this meeting or the DMI in general, the person to contact is the lovely Sita DeGuilio Das (sita@sngi.org).

With fifteen vendors and the nice, cool basement venue of All Pilgrim's Church, the Steampunk Swapmeet was a lovely way to spend a hot summer afternoon.  The goods were what you'd expect from a Sci-Fi Victoriana craft market - corsets, parasols, jewelry and accouterments with extra gears attached, and lots and lots of goggles.  Prices ran from a few dollars for brightly colored old computer parts (score!) to several hundred for scratchbuilt model steampunk guns (so pretty...).

After I got my fill browsing the appropriately anachronistic merchandise, I sat down to talk with Diana Vick, the Swapmeet's founder.

How did you come up with the idea of having a Steampunk Swapmeet?
A bunch of us were at Steamvents at the Wayward Cafe on a Monday night and someone said they had a bunch of stuff they weren't going to use. So, why don't we have a swap?  The problem is that it's hard to find someone that's an exact size match, so why don't we have a sale instead? And nothing came of it until I decided to do it myself.

Can you tell me more about Steamvents?
Steamvents is a bunch of Steampunk fans that show up at the Wayward Cafe from 7-10pm and talk about anything under the sun. Anything.

Is the Swapmeet associated with Steamcon? How did Steamcon come about?
I'm helping with Steamcon, but no, the Swapmeet is just me and [my husband] Martin. A bunch of people were saying, "We want a steampunk con someday"...Martin and I know that when people say "someday" it'll never happen. So we started organizing Steamcon.