hugeasscity

Vancouver Congestion (Photo by Mark Woodbury)

 

In an informal poll here are the top reasons people listed on why they don’t like going to community meetings…

Top 10 reasons why people hate going to community meetings

10. I hate sitting in stinky dark gymnasiums when it’s sunny outside

9. Don’t like listening to people ramble on and on and on and on and on and on

8. I can’t stand those turkey roll ups from Costco that they always serve

7. I’d rather be home watching Lost (Facebooking, texting my friends, etc.)

6. What’s the point, no one cares anyway

5. I don’t have childcare

4. It’s always the same 10 crazy people who go to every meeting and say the same crazy things

3. My life is just too busy

2. Meetings are boring

1. I’d I’d rather drown in boiling tar than go to a community meeting

The antidote: Hey listen, I understand that people are busy, that the weather has been gorgeous and there are a million and one other things people can be doing on a warm summer evening in Seattle than attend a community meeting.

So, sit back with a cold beer (or beverage of your choice) at a time of your choosing and attend a meeting with the smartest person you know….yourself!

The Planning Commission is hosting VIRTUAL ON-Line Meeting NOW (http://www.cityofseattle.net/planningcommission). We want to know how your neighborhood has changed and what you most like or don’t like about your neighborhood. We are exploring issues such as growth, transportation, housing, economic development , basic utilities, neighborhood character, open space and parks, public services, public safety, etc.

You just have to take three simple steps: 1. watch a short video, 2. read a short summary and 3. take an online questionnaire. http://www.cityofseattle.net/planningcommission

Disclaimer: The following is the sole opinion of Dave and doesn’t necessarily represent the views of anyone else past or present at hugeasscity (but probably does).

Last night I had the pleasure of being invited for a leisurely bike ride down to Mount Baker to attend an informational house party hosted by the McGinn for Mayor campaign. Arriving fashionably late, we managed to enter right as McGinn began to explain to attendees why he should be Seattle’s next mayor. Now I have to admit, I’m predisposed to support McGinn. While serving as chair of the Seattle Sierra club, McGinn’s voice was the lone outspoken critic of the “Roads and Transit” initiative. Mike’s leadership was key in convincing voters like me that environmentalist and transit advocates need not accept the Faustian bargain presented to us. “Roads and transit” failed, and last November Sound Transit 2 passed overwhelmingly.

This time around, McGinn is targetting another potential disaster, a $4.2 billion tunnel through downtown that no one in Seattle seems to want or pay for. The state has announced by decree that Seattle will have a tunnel and that Seattle will pay for it. Now no offense to the state, but there are plenty of other world class cities that don’t have waterfront highways, and even one just a few hundreds miles north that has no highways cutting through it at all. Lets face it, with the school district closing schools and the library cutting hours, this city really doesn’t have the money to pay for a 1950’s auto extravagance in 2009. McGinn is the only candidate in this race who opposes the tunnel. Voting for him in the August 18th primary ensures that we have serious debate on the issue during the general election.

Now for some constructive criticism. McGinn’s campaign has three core pillars: transportation, education and internet infrastructure…Wait internet infrastructure? Huh? As a tech geek and engineer I have to admit that a city run fiber optic network does seem kind of cool, but there are many more pressing issues he can and should concentrate on. My neighborhood for instance has a huge gang problem. Last year marked one of the worst in recent memory for gang related shootings in the city. How is he going to address this problem? Artist are being run out of Capitol Hill, how do we as a city prioritize the need for a vibrant art community which makes neighborhoods like Capitol Hill desirable for all us condo buyers? I’m also curious about his position on night life in the city. The law may say that bars must stop serving at two, but 1:15 unfortunately seems like the norm these days. These and other questions about the future of our city will be asked if McGinn makes it into the general election. Some well thought out answers would be nice.

Another warm and fuzzy piece of work by your friends at the phone company:  the QWest Building at 2nd and Lenora.

[circa 1941, from Alfred Korzybski’s “Science & Sanity”]

James Hansen, widely recognized as the nation’s foremost climate scientist, was arrested today for protesting mountaintop removal coal mining.  I’ve blogged about Hansen here and here, and was so moved by today’s news (via Alan Durning’s fb update) that I couldn’t stop myself from coming out of retirement for ten minutes.  No doubt we’ll be seeing more and more action like this as climate change progresses.

[ Climate scientist James Hansen being arrested for standing up against insanity.  Photo credit:  Antrim Caskey ]

The Roosevelt discussion from a couple weeks ago got me thinking about how Seattle funds planning work. Seems like this slow down in development should give Seattle a much needed opportunity to catch its breath and plan for future growth, maybe put something smart in place, or at least something more streamlined than the behemoth of a land use code that we currently have. Something more innovative than this. Look what Denver has done. Now that is cool.

Oh, but wait, DPD is funded primarily through permitting fees…so when projects slow down, revenues drop, and DPD lays off staff. And they won’t have more capacity until permits pick up again, but by then development starts happening too quickly and there is no time to plan.

So that leaves us at the mercy of privately funded planning, like with the Roosevelt Development Group. Even in the case of South Lake Union, an area that comprises about 2% of the city’s land base and is expected to accommodate nearly 20% of the city’s growth in the next dozen years, the city has no money to move forward with the necessary EIS to consider upzones. So until Vulcan and others pony up, looks like planning will stand still there too.

There has to be a better way. How about it, Sally? Diane? Ray? Are any of you lurking out there? Do I have my facts right? If so, any ideas for more sustainable funding for DPD? Anyone know what other cities do?

Urban planners love to talk about creating community.  Churches like the one above do it.  But they’re disappearing.  Huh.

For a newsource that has made some pretty wacky statements on urban growth in Seattle, like this, and this, and this, and this, and this, I was delighted to read this lead story on Crosscut today, suggesting a dense and innovative revision for the T. T. Minor property in Capitol Hill. Park space! Limited parking! Amsterdam!

But the debate comes down to, as it usually does, what is the right height—this time a choice between four or six stories—for neighborhood-scale density. Seems like a ridiculous argument to suggest that there is a uniform answer, although some folks have tried to suggest that six (not four) stories is the way to go, while others think more than four causes insanity.

How about we actually look at context? Or is that too crazy and innovative? How about yes, in the Amsterdam-inspired rethinking of T. T. Minor with narrow single lane streets, four stories would be appropriate, pleasant even. But when there is a wider right of way, like Eastlake Avenue, or NE 65^th St, or NW Market St, six (or seven, maybe eight?) works better and gets us the long-term pattern that we need.

I  have this dream.  Others share it, too.  Northgate Mall as we know it today: vast surface parking lot, underused retail, no housing on site, pedestrian dangerland, becomes a memory.   In its place is a vibrant, attractive, walkable, mixed-use community with retail, housing (including affordable housing), office space and open space.

Northgate Mall was the first shopping mall in the United States, built just after World War II when Americans left their core cities empowered by automobiles and the Federal Housing Administration with a dream of single-family homes with green lawns and ample parking.  That was two generations ago.  The world we live in now is as different from 1950 as 1950 was from 1890.  The City of Seattle population has grown.  And, we understand the impacts of over-reliance on single-occupancy vehicles.

We are investing billions to bring light rail to Northgate and the City of Seattle has invested over $50 million in recent years in a library, community center, parks, a p-patch, the new Thornton Place Water Quality Channel and street improvements in Northgate.  As taxpayers, we should expect the return on that investment to be richer than an easy way to get from the U District to a shopping mall.  We should a complete transit-oriented community where residents can live, work and shop, without relying on a car. We should be creating transit-oriented development on the current King County transit center surface parking lot.  We should be moving forward on the proposed Northgate Way rezone and urban design framework.  And, more than anything, we should move forward with a complete redevelopment of Northgate Mall.

Lorig Associates and Wallace Properties recently completed projects in Northgate that are forward thinking.  But, without a larger vision for the entire urban center that includes rethinking the Northgate Mall property, these piecemeal developments will not be enough to transform the area to a transit-oriented neighborhood.

Environmentalists, urban planners, pedestrian activists, community organizers, and property owners (including single family property owners) in Northgate would like to see a new vision for the Northgate Mall property.  Let’s start this discussion for real.  We should begin the dialogue with Indiana-based Simon Properties, the current Northgate Mall owner.  While they have not been progressive in the past, maybe times have changed.  And, if they are not willing to come to the table, perhaps they would be willing to sell the property to new owners who have a different vision and are able to transform Northgate to its full potential and to give all of us proper return on our investment.

The easy, safe, reliable, known quantity:

Or the challenging, complicated, unpredictable unknown:

Since the destruction of the 500 block of East Pine – former home to Capitol favorites like the Cha Cha Lounge, Bus Stop, and Kincora Pub – to make way for another bread loaf of a condo development, the block has been anything but “vibrant.” The project has been put on hold, hastily paved over, and stood for a short time as a parking lot (a use not permitted by its current zoning). For the last few months, the lot has served mainly as a repository for beer cans and a shortcut for pedestrians, though it has also been inspiration for one painter, and the subject of an amateur video calling for occupation by the neighborhood residents.

However, the lot is poised to regain its status as a social center of the neighborhood, for one day at least. The Second Annual Capitol Hill Garage Sale – sponsored by the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, Unpaving Paradise, Sustainable Capitol Hill, and People’s Parking Lot – has been granted permission by the property owner, Pine and Belmont LLC (Murray Franklyn of Bellevue), to use the spot as a community garage for all the apartment dwellers that want to participate on June 13^th. It is free to participate in the sale but registration is due by June 10^th.

This event also stands as an example of the power of social media to connect similarly minded people and allow them to, in this case, have an effect on the built environment, or its use at least. In an age where it is easy to join a facebook group or author and read blogs, without actually doing anything – slacktivism, as they call it – some might consider this small victory inspirational.

In the wake of Unpaving Paradise being awarded $150,000 of park levy funds for the conversion of another Capitol Hill parking lot to a P-patch, could this event be construed as evidence a shift from auto-centric and generally top-down development patterns to a more community-based future, focusing on the needs and desires of current residents? Are we going to get a nice public plaza or a handsome building with local shops at grade on this site? I doubt it, but it is refreshing to see positive use coming out of spaces that sit empty in one of most active neighborhoods in the city.

Dear Joel:

You recently wrote a letter to Jeff Lee, the owner of Two Bells restaurant in Belltown. I had the opportunity to read this “letter” on the PI’s website – mainly because it wasn’t really a letter, but a column. Actually, it wasn’t really much of a column, either. I’d say it was more of a thinly veiled attempt to exploit a small business owner in order to vent about how the city’s road work is ruining your hamburger-eating experience.

Joel, I’m guessing in the transition to an online newspaper, the “fact checking” department didn’t make the PI’s cut. Your column was misinformed, misguided and, frankly, rabble rousing.

Where to start, Joel? How about we start with the trio of questions you ended the article with: “Does the city ever help business in Belltown? If so, how? If not, what ought it do?” You assume that fixing streets and incorporating open space into an urban nieghborhood are bad for business. In what universe do you live, Joel? Because in my universe, a city that maintains its infrastructure and creates lively open spaces is the type of city people want to live in. And guess what? Those people are the ones that then go to places like Two Bells to have their burgers (read: Jeff doesn’t make his living off of your appropriation of Two Bells for various interviews, no matter how many times a week you may go there).

So, that was a bad start. But then it got worse. You decried the mayor for using the Bell St. Boulevard proposal as part of his mayoral re-election campaign. Huh. So are we then to conclude from your words that the mayor should avoid visionary proposals because it’s an election year? Last time I checked, mayors should be doing projects like this all the time. So don’t critisize him for proposing a visionary project – critisize for not proposing more visionary projects.

But this is beside the point, Joel. It’s beside the point because the Belltown community is asking for this project. It wasn’t forced on them. They want more open space, but the lack of city-owned land (and the incredibly high prices land fetches there) makes this very difficult. And so Belltown, the city, and SDOT came together to put together an incredibly visionary solution – use the Seattle Parks and Green Spaces Levy money approved last year and current city-owned rights of way to open up a green belt through the center of Belltown.

Oh, right. The parks levy. Remember that? It must seem strange to you that I’m even mentioning a levy, because you apparently completely forgot we approved one last year. That $2.5 million dollars you suggest should go elsewhere – that’s park money. It goes to parks and open space. That’s what it’s for. We were asked if we wanted to tax ourselves to create more parks and open space, and we said “YES!” You know what else it does? It creates jobs. That’s why in tough economic times, governments pursue infrastructure projects. They better our neighborhoods, and they create jobs.

This is not about the mayor, Joel. And it certainly isn’t about you.  It’s about creating a more beautiful and prosperous city. It’s being creative in responding to our challenges. And you know what we need? We need help. We need you to contribute to a grander vision and not crap on it. Right now, sir, I smell crap.

City Inside/Out covered the Seattle’s classic neighborhood story tonight. “Evil” property owner. “Angry” neighbors. Proposal for mixed-use towers next to cute craftsman-style single-family homes and a quarter mile to a future light rail station.

But the angry neighbors are hardly typical. Led by the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association they fought to locate a light rail station smack dab in the middle of their neighborhood instead of the far cheaper I-5 alignment. Why? Get this—they wanted to be able to walk to the station, and hoped that light rail would spur more TOD in their community. Gasp! What a concept!

Their campaign—under the adorable name “YIMFY: Yes In My Front Yard”— succeeded and the subway station, funded through last November’s Prop 1, will go to NE 65^th Street and NE Roosevelt Way.

But that isn’t all. Our YIMFYs made upzone recommendations to DPD back in 2006! Yes, the recommendations were modest…mostly 40’and some 65’ zoning in the immediate vicinity of the station, but it would have surpassed the density thresholds laid out in HB 1490 (which the neighborhood warmed to) at least in the quarter mile radius. Unfortunately, the city hasn’t had the funding to evaluate or implement the YIMFY’s upzone recommendations.

But the (private) funding does exist to consider the proposal on the table for the blighted properties a few blocks away from the station. And the YIMFYs, while they want to see the blight gone and the sites redeveloped, are freaking out.

The environmental review includes an alternative with some 160’ towers. Yikes. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loves me the tall mixed-use towers in station areas as much as the next density zealot, but I gotta say that 160’ in a neighborhood like Roosevelt (designated a Residential Urban Village in the Seattle Comp Plan) is pretty laughable. The nearby Northgate Urban Center doesn’t have zoning that high (although it should). Maybe 85’ zoning would be more reasonable…but if you put that two blocks from the station, then how high do you go at the station?

Then there is my other voice that says, naw, no apologies, we need more density in station areas, and if the developer can make it pencil in this market, then bring it!

And a further complication is that one of the only tools the city has to create moderate-income housing is to tie affordability provisions to height/density bonuses through incentive zoning—giving the city a powerful motive to go high.

So, what say you, density advocates? What does good urban form dictate? How high is too high for “Residential Urban Villages” like Roosevelt (or North Beacon, or Columbia City, or MLK @ Holly, or Rainier Beach)? If we go to 85’ in neighborhoods like Roosevelt, then how high should we be going in Northgate?

Dan has no idea what type of monster he created if he thought a little Gone Fishin’ post would kill this thing. Oh, no, no, where one head was severed, loads more have sprouted, and this Hydra has all sorts of hugeass plans for this blog.

So here is the deal: Over the next month or two, or however long it takes Dan to get all reinvigorated, you can expect two or three posts per week that are at least somehow remotely related to land use and transportation planning, urban design, greenhouse gas emissions, livability, or whatever the hell else we come up with.

Group blogging. A hugeass orgy.

So who are we? Some of us will post our names and affiliations freely; others will sheepishly hide behind silly monikers. Some of us work for organizations, agencies or companies that stand to profit (or suffer, perhaps) from the things we will post. Some of us are longtime HAC groupies that are pouncing at the chance to take the helm. And some of us are just friends of Dan who love him (and/or this blog) too much to let 18 months of work stall just so he can take a break.

Think you have something post-worthy? Are you a lurking celebrity (yes, all you electeds, I am talking to you)? Hey, we’d love to have you post something too. Just contact The Madame (maddensity @ hotmail.com) with your ideas.

We can’t promise to bring Dan’s level of wit and pessimism, but we’ll do our best. Some of us will bring the insight, some will bring the humor, some of us will bring the sex. Some of us will attempt all three.

I, for one, promise a little more estrogen up in this hizzie.

So go meditate, Dan. We’ve got this covered.

Anyone wanna buy a blog?  Comes with 13,000 unique visits per month!

It’s been 18 months, 452 posts, and 3467 comments since I created this monster.   Time for a break, the cranium needs a rest, and so the Hugeasscity Foundation is sending me on an indefinite sabbatical. 

Coincidentally, today a friend loaned me a book of short stories called The Girl on the Fridge by Etgar Keret.  What a concept, reading something that has absolutely nothing to do with troubled reality.   Perfect medicine:

NOTHING

And she loved a man who was made of nothing.  A few hours without him and right away she’d be missing him with her whole body, sitting in her office surrounded by polyethylene and concrete and thinking of him.  And every time she’d boil water for coffee in her ground-floor office, she’d let the steam cover her face, imagining it was him stroking her cheeks, her eyelids, and she’d wait for the day to be over, so she could go to her apartment building, climb the flight of stairs, turn the key in the door, and find him waiting for her, naked and still between the sheets of her empty bed.

CNT had already developed a model for predicting vehicle miles traveled (VMT) for their Housing and Transportation Affordability Index, so it was pretty much a plug and chug to get the household greenhouse gas emissions produced by driving, as mapped in the image above.  The relationship is clear:  more urban = less driving = less CO2 emissions.  And the difference in emissions can be significant:  as much as a factor of two or more depending on where you are in the Puget Sound region.

The inputs to the VMT model include: density, average block size, distance to employment centers, job density, access to amenities, and “transit connectivity index.”  These factors pretty much cover the basic ingredients for a complete, compact, and connected urban neighborhood–the kind of urban built environment that makes sense for the future.

(via Sightline)

Say you’re riding home on your bike on a nice sunny evening, and you’re a few blocks from home on 24th Ave behind the post office at 23rd and Union, and you see a man and a woman huddled together against the chain link fence, and while he is busy lighting up some kind of pipe and billowing smoke, she glances over at you with a jittery dear-in-the-headlights look and says “what’s up?”  What is the proper reply?

(Note to Seattle:  there be a whole lotta crack smokin going on around 23rd and Union.  All day every day.  Odd, isn’t it?  Gosh, it’s so un-Seattle!  But there it is, a mere half-mile from Seattle’s nucleus of hipsterdom a.k.a. Pike/Pine to the west, and only a mile from multi-million dollar lakeside homes in Madrona to the east.  Too bad the meltdown stalled a six-story mixed-use project that would have been about the best possible medicine for street crime.   Anyhoo,  I have to wonder how many of those folks who frequently enjoy a good hit of crack are concerned about the lack of progress on TOD in Seattle.   Any crack smoking hugeasscity readers out there?  C’mon, fess up, it’s anonymous!)