Author Archives: CHS Staff

It’s time for Block Party — Plus, Capitol Hill’s 2024 sit in a park watching free concerts and movies season is also underway

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Some of the CHBP free entertainment from 2023

This weekend brings the three-day Capitol Hill Block Party music festival to the streets of Pike/Pine along with about 30,000 music fans inside the fences of the ticketed event. There will be a lot of activities going on outside those fences, too, including a mix of free events and activities in Cal Anderson Park.

But if CHBP is not your vibe, these Capitol Hill summer weeks bring a lot of other — cheaper — options for enjoying public space and people watching in the neighborhood with a calendar of free music and movie screenings in full motion.

In Cal Anderson, the city’s last outdoor movie of the season hits the park screen on Friday, July 26th with a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In August, outdoor screenings in the area shift to First Hill’s Freeway Park:

• Fri., August 2 – The Fifth Element
• FrI., August 9 – Reality Bites
• Fri., August 16 – Twister
• Fri, August 23 – 10 Things I Hate About You
• Fri., August 30 – Jurassic Park (1993)

Meanwhile, every Thursday through August 15th will bring free music to the Volunteer Park amphitheater as the space’s outdoor concert series runs for its third year.

Good times in Volunteer Park earlier this summer as Clinton Fearon took the stage (Image: Volunteer Park Trust)

Need more? Tuesday nights through September 24th feature the special weeknight edition of the Capitol Hill Farmers Market next to Capitol Hill Station.

UPDATE: Also coming in August will be a Cal Anderson slate of the city’s Dancing Til Dusk free dance events:

Thursdays in Cal Anderson Park, 6–9:30pm
Aug 1: Birch Pereira and the Gin Joints
Americana Rock’n’Roll
Aug 8: WCS DJ Battle with Sam, Lia & Rebecca | West Coast Swing
Aug 15: Ranger and the “Re-Arrangers” | Django Reinhart Swing

The first hour of the dance nights includes a beginning dance lesson. “No experience needed,” they promise. Also, get ready to meet your neighbors. “We rotate partners,” the parks department says, “but if you prefer not to, bring a partner to the lesson.”

As for Block Party, CHS reported here on the 2024 edition — the 26th year for the festival in its current format. Producer Daydream State, the production company from Pike/Pine nightlife entrepreneur Jason Lajeunesse that puts on the annual three-day ticketed music festival on the neighborhood’s streets, have put together a 2024 CHBP lineup that includes headliners “Grammy-winning producer Kaytranada, electropop superstar Kim Petras (Petras had to withdraw due to health), and indie rock group Still Woozy.” Friday passes are sold out thanks to a surge in demand to see Chappell Roan. Capitol Hill Block Party 2024 takes place Friday, July 19th through Sunday, July 21st. Learn more at capitolhillblockparty.com.

Prefer freeloading? Seattle Parks is holding this free concert in Cal Anderson on Saturday evening across from the Block Party gates:

FREE concert at Cal Anderson Park! Saturday, July 20 from 5-10pm Performances by Off99, Noah Coinflip, Sugarpea, and Quaad! Produced in partnership with Selected Records. Come hang out!

Or stop by Volunteer Park Saturday night starting at 7 PM for free Chamber Music in the Park:

July 20

Location: Volunteer Park

Time: 7:00 PM

Program:
CLARA SCHUMANN
Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17
Marc-André Hamelin, Tessa Lark, Mark Kosower

ROBERT SCHUMANN
Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, James Ehnes, Karen Gomyo, Jonathan Vinocour, Ani Aznavoorian

 

 

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Seattle Social Housing Developer names first CEO

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The Seattle Social Housing Developer has its first leader. The authority announced that Roberto Jimenez has been appointed as its inaugural Chief Executive Officer.

Jimenez’s career in providing affordable housing includes his work with Mutual Housing California where officials say he doubled the organization’s housing portfolio and maintained a housing development pipeline with $500 million in active real estate development while “successfully engaging residents in board governance.” As Chair of the Board of Housing California, he helped lead statewide housing policy and advocacy efforts,” SSHD says. Continue reading →

Report: Seattle backyard housing continues to boom after 2019 reform

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The Seattle City Council’s land use committee will hear Wednesday that the creation of new “accessory dwelling units” in the city continues at record levels but those numbers could finally begin to fall with planned changes to zoning.

The city’s 2023 Accessory Dwelling Unit Annual Report (PDF) shows paperwork for the backyard housing units hit a new high last year with 987 permits issued including attached and detached units. That total continues a trend starting with the reforms five years ago that more than tripled the number of new backyard projects started in the city. Continue reading →

911 | Union gay bar bias assault investigated, Capitol Hill Safeway paper towel blaze, East Precinct cops make easy warrant collar

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Thanks to a CHS reader for the paper towel inferno aftermath picture

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • Gay bar hate investigation: Police investigated a reported bias assault outside Capitol Hill queer bar Union earlier this month. According to the SPD report on the July 3rd incident, police were called to the E Union venue to a report of a group of males assaulting patrons at the venue. “The suspects reportedly waited outside the bar to confront the patrons and used homophobic language that suggested they had targeted the patrons for their perceived sexual orientation,” the police report brief reads. SPD says the suspects fled the scene and could not be located.
  • Safeway paper towel blaze: A paper towel fire cleared out the Capitol Hill Safeway Saturday night. Seattle Fire says it was called to the 15th and John grocery around 7:15 PM to a reported fire on the shelves in the back of the store. Arriving firefighters discovered someone had set fire to a paper towel roll and the flames were spreading across the shelves. The fire was quickly snuffed out and a pile of charred rolls was moved outside the store. Shoppers reported the grocery remained shuttered Saturday night in the aftermath of the fire. There were no reported injuries. Seattle Fire was investigating the incident to determine if it should be handed over to arson investigators at the Seattle Police Department. Continue reading →

Design review next week for ‘U-shape’ development that will add 120+ new homes to Broadway’s Bait Shop block

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A project that will reshape a northern block of Broadway and demolish the more than 100-year-old structure home to Bait Shop and TRIBE Fitness to make way for a new six-story, 122-unit apartment building with retail and three live-work units plus underground parking for more than 100 vehicles will come before the East Design Review Board next week in what could be the project’s final step in the city’s public design process.

The development from Cascade Ridge Partners with a design from Studio Meng Strazzara is hoped to achieve a configuration that “continues the character of the Broadway E. corridor massing vernacular” with a U-shape concept while also addressing sensitivity raised in the previous design review phase about how the planned building can better relate to the mix of architecture on its 10th Ave E side. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Community Post | Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day 2024 is August 11th

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From the Cal Anderson Park Alliance

The Capitol Hill Garage Sale returns Sunday, August 11 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Cal Anderson Park! This annual event is Seattle’s longest running community-wide garage sale and regularly features over 100 people selling their treasures in Cal Anderson Park in addition to many independent garage sales at homes across Capitol Hill.

The Cal Anderson Park Alliance hosts the Capitol Hill Garage Sale in partnership with the Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog with the aim of activating Cal Anderson Park while giving Hill citizens a day to come together, shed some extra belongings, do some recycling and meet neighbors!

For more general information on Cal Anderson, follow us on Instagram or Facebook or sign up for email alerts from the Cal Anderson Park Alliance.

REGISTRATION
Registration for the 2024 Capitol Hill Garage Sale in Cal Anderson Park is now officially open! You are welcome to register for a space in to sell in the park or register your own garage sale on Capitol Hill during the hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 11th. To participate, simply fill out the form below to indicate your preferences. Registration for on-site (in Cal Anderson Park) or off-site locations will officially close at 10:00 p.m., Monday August 5. NOTE: If you are interested in selling in the park, and registering on or after August 5, you may need to provide your own table and chairs for displaying your merchandise—registration team will confirm availability of rented tables/chairs after registration. If you are hosting your own garage sale somewhere else on Capitol Hill, we will add it to our community map that shoppers can use on Sunday, August 11th as they explore the neighborhood.

 

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🖤 

 
 

Assessor: Capitol Hill residential property values pop 6.5%, reversing pandemic trends

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A single-family style home neighboring multifamily housing on Capitol Hill (Image: City of Seattle)

One thing is back to normal coming out of the pandemic. Seattle’s property values are on the rise again.

The King County Assessor’s office says residential property values rose in “most Seattle neighborhoods” as it establishes valuations for the next year and mails out notices to homeowners.

County assessor John Wilson says median residential property values “rose by 6.5% in Queen Anne and Capitol Hill, and by 6.2% in Leschi/Madison Park” while values fell by 2.5% in Seward Park.

The office says “preliminary indications” show most residential areas of King County will increase more than 10% on average in the new assessment. “Commercial properties are more mixed depending on property type,” according to the announcement. Continue reading →

The On the Block free street market series is back for another summer on Capitol Hill

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(Image: On the Block)

Don’t like that Capitol Hill Block Party puts up fences and sells tickets to experience Pike/Pine? On the Block’s summer celebrations of community creativity are back with the free 11th Ave street festival’s July edition happening this weekend on Saturday the 13th.

Organizer Julie-C says the On the Block crew brings a multitude of efforts to the monthly marketplace including “creative economic justice, anti-gentrification/displacement, artist advocacy, youth service, gun violence intervention/prevention and more.”

CHS reported here about On the Block’s birth to help artists and small businesses recover from the pandemic and its growth into an annual series on Capitol HIll. Continue reading →

SDOT: RapidRidge G line getting ‘finishing touches’ before September opening

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(Image: SDOT)

The Seattle Department of Transportation is nearing the end of its extensive revamp of the Madison corridor to complete the new RapidRide G bus line. With major asphalt and sidewalk work completed this month, the focus has shifted to final touches.

CHS reported here on the plans to open the line in September after three years of construction. The G Line is planned to operate 23 hours a day, from 5:00 AM to 4:00 AM between 1st Ave downtown and MLK Jr Way in Madison Valley with stops across First Hill and Capitol Hill along the way.

Over the next two months, SDOT says crews will address remaining areas needing attention and upgrades. These finishing touches include painting, road marking, new landscaping, signal and lighting upgrades, bus shelter and station construction, and location-specific roadway and sidewalk work. Continue reading →