Monthly Archives: September 2015

CHS Community Post | City Light Plans Silicone Cable Injection on North Broadway

Posted on by

Seattle City Light will start another project this October to enhance the reliability and extend the life of aging underground electrical cables in parts of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park and Seattle by injecting them with silicone. The fliers below are for your own information, so no action is required on your part. Affected customers are receiving the same fliers.

Fliers:

Highlights from the flier:

  • Starting in early-to-mid October 2015 and extending for approximately six weeks, Novinium will test and where possible, inject underground cables with silicone to fill cracks in the cable insulation to prevent unplanned outages.  Daily work hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Please refer to the maps on the fliers for approximate construction areas.
  • The work will extend the life of the cable for an additional 25 years and improve electrical reliability.
  • Maintenance outages are anticipated for this work. All affected customers will be notified the Thursday before the following week’s outage. The outage date and time will be specified on the notification.
  • Traffic and parking impacts are expected in the immediate area. Crews will be careful to try and maintain access to driveways.

Media inquiries can be directed to Scott Thomsen, External Communications at (206) 615-0978 or[email protected].

Customers can contact the following Electrical Service Representatives for more information:

Please visit our construction website for additional information: http://www.seattle.gov/light/atwork/release.asp?RN=340

BroadwayCableInjectionflier-Final

 

BroadwayCableInjectionflier-Final2

CHS Community Post | WestSide Baby Welcomes Second Saturdays To Encourage Donations for Capitol Hill Kids In Need

Posted on by

12000876_10153691366949540_8905352362830331387_oSeattle, WA: Local nonprofit WestSide Baby will be extending the opening hours of their Central District branch to accept donations and volunteers on the second Saturdays of the month between 10am and 1pm, beginning immediately. WestSide Baby, who have operated in the area since their merger with St Joseph’s Baby Corner in 2014, provide essential equipment, clothing and diapers for children and babies in need.

As the winter months are almost upon us, and more children need a helping hand to keep them safe, warm and dry, Second Saturdays will see the WestSide Baby Central Branch at 2301 S Jackson St, Suite 202 open to accept donations of:

  • Lightly used clothing up to size 12 (most needed items are winter coats, newborn to 9 month clothing, pj’s and pants for “big kids” and new socks and underwear)
  • Essential equipment including strollers, safety gates, portacribs / pack and plays and high chairs
  • Diapers, especially size 6
  • Wipes and other hygiene items.

Volunteers are invited to fulfil various roles including:

  • Sorting clothing donations
  • Filling orders in preparation for distribution
  • Packaging diapers
  • Sorting, recall checking and packaging toys
  • Creating clothing bags for orders

 

More info can be found at www.westsidebaby.org.

 

Bus Stop | September upgrades and the 15-minute goal for Capitol Hill

Posted on by
10 bus on 15th Ave E

The 10 saw added service in June. This week, almost all other bus routes follow.

This week, the second phase of increased bus service in Seattle begins, funded through Prop 1 after it was approved by voters last November. In June, Seattle transit riders saw the groundwork laid for a large increase in service, but it is this week that we are seeing the majority of added trips on bus routes around town.

In Capitol Hill, this increase might very well be the most important move that King County Metro (thanks almost entirely to Seattle voters) will be making in the lead up to the commencement of light rail service between downtown Seattle and the University of Washington early next year. With only one light rail station serving the entirety of Capitol Hill, frequent bus service to areas not directly served by light rail will be paramount to ensuring as many Hill residents are able to use the frequent, dedicated service as possible. Continue reading →

Blotter | Knifepoint robbery reported on backside of Pike/Pine

Posted on by

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS Crime coverage here.

  • Robbery: Police found a man down in an alley after a reported knifepoint robbery just after 11 PM Tuesday. Police rushed to the area after a caller said he was down in an alley near the E Madison IHOP in the incident near Seneca and Broadway Ct on the backside of Pike/Pine. According to East Precinct radio reports, the victim said he was approached from behind and did not get a clear look at the suspect. Seattle Fire was called to the scene to treat the victim for a reported injured shoulder. There were no immediate arrests.
  • Eastlake murder: Police are investigating a homicide in Eastlake:
    Detectives have arrested a 55-year-old man in connection with a fatal weekend fight outside a Seattle housing facility. Two residents of the housing facility, located in the 1800 block of Eastlake Avenue, left the facility just before 3 AM Saturday and began fighting one another. The victim, a 47-year-old man, was injured in the fight, and returned to his apartment at the facility. About 10 hours later, staff at the facility notified police that the victim was found in medical distress and was taken to Harborview Medical Center. Police arrested a 55-year-old man who had fought with the victim and booked him into the King County Jail for assault. The 47-year-old man later died from his injuries, leading police to re-book the 55-year-old suspect into jail for Investigation of Homicide. Continue reading →

What counting every Pike/Pine pedestrian on a summer night reveals

Posted on by
Screen Shot 2015-09-29 at 10.45.47 AM

(Images: Seattle Department of Transportation)

Roughly a Key Arena full of people stream through Pike/Pine on an average summer weekend night, according to a six night night study of pedestrian activity in the area.

The study was conducted as part of the Pike/Pine pedestrian pilot project this August, which closed off three blocks of E Pike on three nights to ease crowd congestion and open the area up for street performances. The study’s findings offer an analytical look into some fairly obvious trends: Pike/Pine crowds peak around 11 PM, people use a variety of transportation modes to get there, and they are primarily showing up to drink. Continue reading →

Citizen group looks at six-story development planned for the *other* corner of 23rd and Union

Posted on by

Screen-Shot-2015-03-25-at-9.50.37-AMWednesday night, neighbors and community members interested in future development on they *other* corner of 23rd and Union have an opportunity to meet with the developer behind two projects at the busy Central District intersection thanks to citizen group The Central Area Land Use Review Committee:09-30-15_2220 E Union

CHS reported here on the first design review for the project from Lake Union Partners to build “a six-story, market-rate apartment building” on the site currently home to a 23rd and Union gas station, an urban farm, and Cappy’s Gym (which has moved).

Construction is nearing completion, meanwhile, for the six-story LUP project on the southwest corner.

At the March meeting, the review board voted to move the northwest corner project forward:

Screen Shot 2015-09-29 at 4.38.11 PM

Screen Shot 2015-09-29 at 4.35.59 PMThe next — and possibly final — step in the design review process has not yet been scheduled.

Meanwhile, the process to update Seattle’s comprehensive plan continues — including the forward-looking amendment, below, that spells out some of the developmental directions for the area including 23rd and Jackson and the Miller/Madison area. The updates and amendments will be finalized over the coming months before City Council votes in early 2016. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | A sunny dB in the Park

Posted on by
IMG_2328

(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

IMG_2267Summer has been over for a week but you wouldn’t know it by the sunny afternoons we’ve been enjoying so far this fall. And you wouldn’t have known it Sunday as the 12th annual Decibel Festival wound down by turning the beats up at the free dB in the Park party at Volunteer Park.

While the thumping bass inspired many to dance and all to do the bum-bum-bum head nod, some in the CHS comments aren’t fans of the outdoor DJ performances. We expect further inspiration for those some come October 15th as the Volunteer Park Trust holds a community meeting to discuss the project to replace the park’s aging stage. If you’d like to speak up in favor the bass, mark your calendar.

In the meantime, enjoy the pictures, below. And the sunshine, above. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill food+drink | Peloton at center of bicycle cafe pack coming to Pike/Pine, 12th Ave

Posted on by
IMG_2797

Team Peloton: Dustin Riggs, Mckenzie Hart, Paul Dano, and Aaron Grant

IMG_2809A tightly packed group of businesses combining passion for the bicycle with food, drink, and repair and maintenance services is pedaling its way around Capitol Hill. As the yellow jersey in the race of big city trends, you’re probably not going to be surprised to learn that the streets of Capitol Hill and the Central District will soon be home to not one, or two, but three bicycle cafes.

“Many cyclists kind of pick up the sport and it leads to a rabbit hole,” Dustin Riggs tells CHS. “There is a lot of culture around it.”

Riggs and his partners hope to clip into that two-wheeled enthusiasm as they prepare to open Peloton at 12th and Jefferson by early October.

“The coffee and the beer and the bikes. It’s just a lifestyle kind of thing,” he said. Continue reading →

Happy Hilloween: Take a spooky hike through Capitol Hill’s Lake View Cemetery

Posted on by
"Cemetery crows" (Image: Kate Clark via Flickr)

“Cemetery crows” (Image: Kate Clark via Flickr)

After surviving the blood moon, we’re ready for a spooky stroll or two through Lake View Cemetery, Capitol Hill’s densely-packed final resting place full of famous and not so famous dead people. Pedestrian-friendly community org Feet First is leading a series of Haunted History Hike tours through the month of October:

On Thursdays and Saturdays through the month of October, let Feet First Neighborhood Walk Ambassadors take you on a stroll through the spookier side of Seattle. These 75-minute walks in historic Lake View Cemetery highlight the history and legends of Seattle’s pioneers, entrepreneurs and eccentrics.

Thursday’s tour starts at 3 PM. You can purchase $15 tickets for upcoming walks here. “Tours take place rain or shine, so please dress appropriately,” Feet First notes.

Lake View is located at 1554 15th Ave E. If you’re considering your own tour, the cemetery is open “9am to dusk daily” with the gates closing around 6 PM this time of year. Also, boo!

Seattle’s 2016 budget proposal boosted by ‘outsized’ growth — What’s in it for Capitol Hill: DPD overhaul, streetcar extension, homelessness funding, bike share expansion, cop body cams

Posted on by
Screen Shot 2015-09-28 at 4.04.29 PM

“More permits were issued in each of the last three years, 2012-14, than in any other year since 1990”

Screen Shot 2015-09-28 at 4.06.12 PM
Screen Shot 2015-09-28 at 4.03.50 PMMayor Ed Murray has been dealt a winning hand as leader of the most prosperous city in one of the most prosperous regions in the USA.

Monday afternoon, the first-term mayor and longtime Olympia politician pointed his city forward with a new budget plan for how Seattle should spend its newfound wealth powered by a nearly unprecedented construction boom while doing more to address inequity and strengthening its reserves for the inevitable slowdown:

Seattle has received an outsized share of the region’s growth during the recovery. At the same time that the Puget Sound region’s recovery has been stronger than the nation’s, Seattle’s recovery has outpaced the recovery of the rest of the region. This can be seen by looking at taxable retail sales data (the tax base for the retail sales tax), one of the few relatively current measures of economic activity available at both the county and city levels. Over the four year period 2010-14, taxable retail sales increased by 35% in Seattle, compared to gains of 23% in the rest of the metro area and 22% in the rest of the state; i.e., outside of the Seattle metro area (see Figure 4). Most of Seattle’s relative strength is due to a 77% increase in construction activity. The rest of Seattle’s tax base has grown only modestly faster than that of the other areas.

Seattle’s dependence on the construction boom revenue is a concern — limits on property tax increases and other state taxing throttles mean the city needs to prepare for days when the boom slows. Murray said we’re missing out on $33 million in property taxes alone if the rate were allowed to track inflation instead of being capped at 1% by Olympia.

The entire 761-page, 15.1 MB budget document is embedded at the end of this post.

Included in Murray’s $5.1 billion proposal released Monday:

  • $1.8 million to fund body cameras for every patrol officer and budget to hire 30 new police officers in 2016, keeping the city on pace for 100 additional officers by 2018
  • The death of the DPD as the Department of Planning and Development is proposed to be split into a more efficient Department of Construction and Inspections, and a more people-friendly Office of Planning and Community Development and “a new Mobile City Service Center that will travel to neighborhoods throughout the city.”
  • A “streamline” of services and “shift” of funding to homelessness programs “that provide the best outcomes” with an “emphasis on preventing the loss of housing.” The mayor also proposes Seattle provide $200,000 to fund “three permitted encampments on public lands.” Continue reading →