(Images: Alex Garland)
The 23rd Ave Action Plan is a City of Seattle program seeking to transform the important corridor with a new wave of redevelopment:
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23rd and Union: Increase height limits from 40 to 65 feet in the immediate blocks around 23rd and Union. Increase height limits from 30 to 65 feet on the block of Union between 21st and 22nd. Increase limit from 30 to 40 feet between 20th and 21st.
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23rd and Cherry: Standardize on 40-foot heigh limits on blocks near Garfield Community Center and the high school.
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23rd and Jackson: Increase height limits from 65 to 85 feet around 23rd and Jackson.
The process should bring rezone recommendations and the environmental public comment period soon.
But Saturday was about a party. The second annual Central Area Block Party sponsored by the 23rd Ave Action Community Team brought music and fun to E Cherry and the Garfield Community Center. There was also plenty to eat — including the (temporary) return of Catfish Corner to the street as it plans its reopening in the Central District at 23rd and Jackson.
Meanwhile, Saturday also brought the three-mile Central District edition of the Seattle Summer Parkways event inspired by a similar annual event in Portland designed to get the community out onto car-free streets. Attendance at the Seattle Department of Transportation-backed event was reportedly well below expectations, according to participants. We’ll have more on the inaugural weekend of the Seattle version of the event soon.
Attendance well below expectations? I live at 25th and Pike and first heard of it from the blog. Was it publicized? Where/how?
I heard about it through the Nextdoor site, and stopped by for a bit. There was also a sign posted on a telephone pole close to home. (I’m close to Powell Barnett Park.)
Recent events of gun violence in the area probably contributed to the low attendance as well.
This was an idea that was poorly promoted, planned, and executed. With 23rd Ave torn up cars have been pushed to side streets that were then closed for this event. I noticed other construction on streets surrounding the event. Thank goodness attendance was low. I was out in my yard for a while and saw fewer pedestrians and cyclists than normal. It would have been better to have collaboration with local organizations to get people wanting to do this. It was Field of Dreams except, nope, no one came.
I’m a big fan of the event that this is modeled after, but it’s impossible for me to disagree in any way shape or form.
Every conceivable aspect of the event that could have been done wrong, was categorically botched.
The City has 7 days to get it right for Ballard. We’ll see.