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jenna walden

TONIGHT: Studying SE Seattle Retail & Providing Recommendations

December 1, 2009

in Business,Opinion

By Jenna Walden

SE Seattle Retail: Is a Trader Joe’s the silver bullet for Rainier Valley’s retail woes?

The Rainier Valley has long had a dearth of recognizable brand retail stores and been a haven for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The bad news is that many of us drive to other Seattle neighborhoods, Tukwila or Mercer Island for shopping. The good news is that many self-starters have had an opportunity to make a living by owning their own business and offering unique and localized products and services.

When we complain about retail in Rainier Valley, the first name that comes to our lips is Trader Joe’s (whispered). Trader Joe’s is apparently the ‘Holy Grail’ of retail for Seattlites, if it comes, the rest will follow.

Over the years through the boom (and now the bust), we’ve scored a couple times: Ross Dress for Less has opened in Genesse, and Safeway is remodeling their store in Othello. Columbia City is thriving. But greater hopes and dreams for keeping our spending dollars here in the SE, generally speaking, have fled with the appearance of more Pay Day stores, and little else.

What do we do?

The Rainier Valley has financial resources such as the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (RVCDF), technical resources such as the Office of Economic Development (city of Seattle) and political momentum behind our backs due to the arrival of the light rail. How do we create a framework for a thriving retail community that forces local residents to say, “Hey we don’t need to drive to Tukwila!”

It can only start here, folks. If we don’t support our own local retail community, then we can’t expect others to. And if we don’t like what we have, then we need to educate ourselves to find out what needs to happen.

Let me phrase it this way: What needs to be done for our neighborhood to be appealing to Trader Joe’s?

Tonight at the New Holly Gathering Hall (7054 34th Avenue South) from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., retail expert Kennedy Smith will be on hand to answer questions about how the community and the City can lay the groundwork for a strong retail community which increases the diversity of goods and services here. Kennedy Smith has spent the last six months studying the Rainier Valley and interviewing many, many stakeholders. Her face-to-face perspective is available tonight only, before she flies off to DC for good.

Before she finalizes the study, the broader community gets this one chance at documenting our perceptions and support for her preliminary recommendations. The final study will be use as an executable document as to what the City and other partners will do to develop growth. I hope you will come.

Coffee and refreshments are provided. If you need an interpreter, please call 206-684-8090.

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MLK@Holly Neighborhood Planning Steward: First Meeting a Bust

March 27, 2009

in Development,Opinion,Politics

othellosign3From Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) Chair Jenna Egusa Walden:

As you know, the March 14th, five-hour-long, City-run workshop was the first of the first round of 38 neighborhood update planning workshops in Seattle.

There was the usual litany of red flags present to indicate lack of thoroughness, planning and resources available. There was no agenda available until the day of the meeting, the din of the room from 90 people whispering and talking all at once and within a confined large meeting room made it impossible to hear anyone, the outreach results were very poor (the ratio of residents: city: non-residents were 1:1:1). Even worse, they ran out of half-&-half partway through the meeting. I’m not kidding, folks.

Unfortunately, grassroots community organizations were barely mentioned and certainly did not play any role in the meeting; either as a introductory asset or asked to follow through on anything with their membership/attendees in their subsequent meetings. We came. We saw. We left. Until next time…

I know the City believes that inclusiveness is the key to “keeping the peace” and making all their efforts go smoothly and with as little underbelly as possible exposed, however what it ends up achieving is a marginalized neighborhood with “stakeholders” (non-residents who show up out of interest) having an equal say in our neighborhood.

In fact, the ratio of non-residents to residents was 2:1, and a quick show of hands at this week’s ONA meeting showed that only four out of 25 people attended and that besides them, only three others knew about it.

Obviously, the City needs to think like an advertiser and better promote its purpose throughout the community. Instead, it presents another loooonnng meeting to attend on the weekend. People’s eyes glaze over.

The biggest irony here is that, in choosing not to work with neighbors ahead of time, the City is making the same mistakes with the neighborhood planning process that Futurewise did with the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) legislation.

They say they want to collaborate with local communities and then fail to actually listen to those very people.

As chair of the group responsible for stewarding the MLK@Holly plan, I have some agenda ideas that might be valuable to the process, but am not sure they will be taken seriously, or even considered. And that’s not a good sign.

Hopefully, now that the process has commenced, more people will step up and get involved. I realize that this is the first workshop since the 90′s, and the wheels of government may be a bit rusty, but I remain concerned that the community’s voices won’t be heard and that our assets will be improperly used.

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Rainier Valley Neighbors to City: Pay for Your Own Parking Predicament

March 20, 2009

in News,Transportation

This just in from Othello Neighborhood Association Chair Jenna Egusa Walden:

TO: Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Sound Transit

RE: Paying for Restricted Parking Zone (RPZ) Permits

After a vigorous discussion with attendees, the Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) membership voted on Jan. 27, 2009 to reject Sound Transit’s requirement that the community pay for restricted parking zone (RPZ) permits around the Othello Station.

ONA is concerned about parking impacts that are related to Sound Transit’s operation. ONA is the steward of the MLK@Holly (Othello) Street Neighborhood Plan. The community stated in the plan many years ago that that there will be a parking impact due to light rail operation and that it needed to be addressed. But having nearby residents pay for it is a misguided proposal.

The cost of the RPZ permits is the responsibility of Sound Transit (who is funded by the taxpayers). The Othello light rail station, along with many others throughout the region, will attract riders that do not live in the immediate station area. These potential riders will park their cars in the community, depriving residents the right to park in their own neighborhood. This is an impact to the community created by Sound Transit.

Furthermore, 29 established RPZ’s in Seattle are more than 30% paid for by major institutions such as Providence Hospital. In these cases, major institutions act as traffic generators that increase parking demand around each of them. A light rail station will act in a similar way.

A responsible resolution to this problem is for Sound Transit to provide free RPZ permits for residents in the restricted parking zones around each station area. Another un-addressed issue is the longer-term parking needs one would anticipate with a light rail leading to a major airport. Please visit online purchasing and printing options in order for visitors to pay for longer-term parking that is more efficient and convenient for all. We needn’t tow everyone if they want to stay for longer than four hours and they pay. Seattle has a reputation for being extremely tech-savvy and it would be great to see the city take advantage of that.

Since Sound Transit light rail operation is less than four months away, we request a timely response from SDOT & Sound Transit to our mitigation request.

The move jives with the position statement the Southeast District Council (SEDC) plans to vote on at next week’s meeting:

“The cost of the restricted parking zone (RPZ) permit system planned around Southeast Seattle light rail stations should not be borne by the residents or employees needing permits. There are ample instances in Seattle, such as the RPZs at UW, SU and Group Health, where the parking demand generators bear the cost of the permits. In a similar way, the cost of the light rail station RPZ program should be internalized within the light rail project, not paid by impacted residents and businesses. We believe that up to 2 permits and 2 guest passes should be provided at no charge to the residents within an RPZ area, and that businesses located in the RPZ should be provided up to one pass per employee at no cost.”

What do you think? Who should pay for parking around light rail stations?

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TOD Debate Good Neighborhood Planning Segue (OP-ED)

March 13, 2009

in Opinion,Politics,Transportation

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From Othello neighbor Jenna Egusa Walden:

Yesterday, HB 1490 and SB 5687 died on the state congressional floor. This bill couldn’t have come at a better (or worse) time. Worse because it addresses a hypothetical rapid development scenario while the economy is shrinking; better because it forced the community to think about how transit-oriented development (“TOD”) should evolve in our community right when Neighborhood Planning in Rainier Valley is kicking-off.

As the first neighborhood in the state to receive light rail service, we will be greatly impacted by this investment in many ways. Land is acquired and developed, zoning is upgraded, construction comes (and stays). All of these Phase I changes are tremendous initially. But then the heavy lifting has to come.

But how do we know what to lift, and what to leave alone? Purposeful direction is needed to address our Rainier Valley concerns (public safety, jobs, education opportunities, transportation and environment). But we also have places that should be sustained and nurtured as-is, and which lay the ground-work to build on our own unique identity. Some residents would point to the quirky pea patches under the utility lines, the single-family neighborhoods or the Farmer’s Market, for example.

We need to respect both the common-ground values of progress and sustainability by understanding the correct approach towards achieving our neighborhood’s goals. Only the local population can truly understand how to make this neighborhood work; if only we got together! Which, by the way, is what Neighborhood Planning is for (a quick plug for the Othello Neighborhood Planning workshop, Sat. 3/14, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Miracle Temple of God – 7100 42nd Av S).

But this is why HB 1490 and SB 5687 were not welcome bills to many residents (evident from the many debates held around the community). These bills attempted to formula-ize TOD planning standards and mandate its own priorities on over 40 neighborhoods around the state. Priorities of density, affordable housing and broad environmental objectives subordinated all others and did not provide a meaningful way for local governments to guarantee their vision rose to the top. In addition, this bill was stuffed with too many individual moving parts, which resulted in the net value being LESS than the sum of the parts.

Proponents for the bill argued that this prepared the least-prepared communities (ahem, not us obviously!) for TOD planning. And that this will actually stop sprawl in un-managed growth areas around the state by increasing density around light rail stations in neighborhoods like ours, all within a required 1/2-mile radius invisible boundary designating where the higher-density development will be placed over time. They cited encouragement to walk more and bike more, and eliminate driving. In addition, this bill would make our neighborhoods more attractive, walkable and livable.

Livable? That is a loaded word. You hear it thrown around a lot, but what does it mean? Does anyone know how to get there? Can anyone execute “livability” well?

I don’t think Futurewise, or Transportation Choices or Representative Nelson (as drafters, lobbyists and sponsors of the bills) actually know either, and I suspect that light rail isn’t the ‘silver bullet’ either. We do have great hopes for light rail, however it cannot stand alone.

The promise of a light rail station is to enhance and augment an existing neighborhood, not to wipe it all out with a Sauron-focused eye on density. Remember, in Rainier Valley, existing commercial corridors have been up-zoned (increased heights) and expanded in size several times over the past decade already. Our single-family homes will sit tight, and likely, slowly be encroached upon until they become hold-out pockets between TOD buildings.

And hey, that’s OK. Because as a neighborhood matures and architecture spanning decades sits juxtaposed to each other; rather than in a unified, gentrified, all-built-within-fifteen-years-of-each-other neighborhood,  and as our neighborhood goes from being 70 years old to 150 years old; we will have eventually achieved that “livability” we can call our own, and on our own terms. There is a difference between lovingly and slowly wearing in your favorite pair of denims, and buying pre-washed, pre-worn and pre-ripped jeans.

HB 1490 / SB 5687 is like American Idol; it looks and sounds appealing on the surface, but when you look real close, you realize it has no soul to it. These bills do not have any meaningful ways and guarantees to achieve its broad state-wide goals, and especially the goals of local communities. That leaves this bill in goal-purgatory.

No doubt there will be a sister version of it out soon and my hope is that is has a laser-like focus on its highest priority: to prepare communities for embracing and integrating TOD planning around light rail stations. But it needs to leave alone the ones who have already stepped up to the plate (ahem), and it should spend some thought on how to ramp up and educate the communities who are new to “new urbanism” principals and “transit-oriented development” design standards so that they can develop their own.

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ONA Says It Planned for Neighborhood Parking, City Blew It & ST Should Pick Up RPZ Tab

January 29, 2009

in News,Transportation

Just a reminder that the public comment period for Residential Parking Zones (RPZ) around light rail stations in the Rainier Valley is coming to a close.

Seattle’s Department of Transportation (SDOT) says the RPZ Program is a critical parking management tool that helps neighborhoods ease residential parking congestion created by non-residents.

Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) president Jenna Walden isn’t buying it. Here’s what she has to say in response to proposed changes to the RPZ program, specifically as it applies to the Othello area:

Our neighborhood plan which was approved by the City called for parking structures to deal with parking demand. Then, the city backpedaled on this and disallowed it even being an amenity for the station and the neighborhood.

The solution provided? Not only will the City not create parking structures, not only will we disallow parking structures, not only will we shift the demand to be absorbed by city streets, but we’ll now ask the residents living around the station to pick up the tab.

Permit fees should be absorbed by the entity creating the impact – Sound Transit.

RPZ the way it is currently structured went to an extreme position from where it was in 2000. Besides Sound Transit picking up the tab for permits, another approach towards making sure costs are offset by the light rail users is to follow the US National Forest Service model which requires a NW Forest Pass in order to park and access trailheads or other recreational areas.

A NW Forest Pass costs $3/day, or $50/year and you put it in your car. If you offered this online, then residents could buy one and assist with the operational expenditures of monitoring the parking situation. This would also ensure light rail users that they would not be towed or incorrectly identified as an abandoned vehicle.

Othello Playground should have no restrictions during the weekend and three-hour restrictions during the day.

Our neighborhood’s current problem is abandoned vehicles and way-laid semi-trucks who’s operators park them on the streets near Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and then drive their car back to Kent, or where ever they live for a couple of days. I do not see a reason to create parking restrictions so much during the day, as during the nighttime.

If people drive and park their car on the street to commute to their job downtown five days a week, they shouldn’t have to be concerned about their car getting towed during the day. The concern is more about the people flying out of Seatac and leaving their parked cars for more than one nine to 10-hour period. Just my analysis.

The intersection of 42nd Avenue South and South Myrtle is very dangerous. This intersection needs to be considered for both safety and time restrictions. Now, users of the monastery park up to the radius of the sidewalk and make head-on collisions extremely more probably as you come around the corner in a single-lane fashion. I would encourage creating setbacks from intersection of more than 50′ on all sides of the streets in both directions in order to create view corridors. The monastery parking creates a real hazard for through-traffic there.

Make your voice heard:
Tell Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Sound Transit what you think about Residential Parking Zones by emailing Meghan Shepard, Keith Hall or Sara Robertson.

Trains will begin carrying passengers through the Rainier Valley this summer. To ensure that on-street parking spaces used by businesses and residents are not filled by commuters, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Sound Transit are working with neighborhoods to design parking regulations, such as residential parking zones. Image/SDOT

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Letter to the Community: SDOT’s Restricted Parking Proposal = $45 for Your Permit

January 6, 2009

in News,Transportation

This just in from Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) Chair Jenna Walden:

ONA’s next meeting will be Tues., Jan. 27 at Holly Community Church at 7 pm. We will have SDOT presenting their proposed restricted parking program around the light rail station. Unfortunately, the date of our meeting is after the comment period has ended (Jan. 22nd) on restricted parking zones around light rail stations.

The image below shows in blue-gray the blocks and streets proposed to receive restricted parking areas and time-limit signs. For instance, Willow Street from 40th Ave S east to 44th Ave S will become a restricted parking area. That means that any resident who lives in that area will be required (they say you are “eligible to purchase”) to 1) purchase a permit for $45 (good for two years) to park on the street there.

Additional details:

  • Guest permits are $15 each and good for two years
  • Low-income permits are $10 each and good for two years
  • At this point, this is SDOT’s proposal and is not policy yet, however it is near finalization if no additional feedback changes anything.

RPZ (restricted parking zones) are a done deal. However, this is our final opportunity to determine who should be paying for these permits.

Should residents who live in proximity and within RPZ boundaries be forced to pick up the tab for getting permits?

Why are we being taxed for where we live? Already, we will be dealing with frustrating issues such as making sure guests and visitors to their house are not towed or ticketed.

There is precedence for the City of Seattle to implement RPZ programs in Capitol Hill, but have the operations that have triggered the need for RPZ to pick up the tab. In this case it was the hospital that forced RPZ on residents and they pay for the permits required for residents who live around the hospital. Sound Light Rail should do the same for Rainier Valley residents.

Please comment via email or phone 684-8186 by Jan. 22.

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SDOT Shows Cleveland Students Some Love After RVP Breaks Story About Danger Zone

October 27, 2008

in News,Politics,Transportation

Earlier this month – thanks to Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) President Jenna Walden – we told you about the traffic nightmare students attending Cleveland High School must navigate every day just trying to get back and forth to school.

In her report to Councilman Nick Licata‘s “Critical Crossings” web site, Jenna called the lack of crosswalks, safe sidewalks and bus shelters “the most absurd city infrastructure setup I have seen to date.” She added that she was “astounded the city has done nothing to improve this spot.”

Well, The Post has just learned that after we broke the story on Oct. 11, it was only seven days before the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) remarked the crosswalks and stop lines at Swift Avenue South and South Albro Place where students cross and then wait for Metro buses – one of the area’s Jenna mentioned specifically in her report.

According to SDOT spokesman Rick Sheridan:

“Based on a site inspection by our Safe Routes to School coordinator, we are already working on additional changes to improve this area for pedestrians, especially students. But I wanted to share with the community that we have already improved the crosswalks.”

Jenna has followed up with the SDOT engineer in charge of the project who said that a team has been created to create a longer-term solution in widening of the sidewalk,

“but it’s complicated because it involves WDOT, SDOT, Metro and god knows who else,” she said. “I asked the engineer to tell the team they need to add a bus shelter, add crosswalks in front of the high school and also, that the entire length of that sidewalk up to the ridge of Beacon Hill needs to be addressed in terms of safety and encouraging connections between Othello Station and Georgetown.”

She added:

“I am still worried about the overall situation with the narrow sidewalks, no place to sit and exposure to traffic and the elements while waiting for the bus. I drove by there while it was raining the other day, and the kids had their jackets over their heads protecting themselves from the rain, and puddles were getting splashed up onto the sidewalk. It was a pathetic situation.”

With Jenna’s help, we’ll continue to keep you posted on this important topic.

Editor’s note: It’s a great day at The Rainier Valley Post when we can tell you about another way that southeast Seattle neighbors have advocated for their community and made results happen. Respect to our thousands of faithful readers who make this influence possible. It’s because of YOU that city officials and elected leaders are paying even more attention to the needs of this great community. Thank you!

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ONA Chair Responds to Fast-Tracking of Neighborhood Plan Updates: “Community Would Like to Be Part of the Vision”

October 15, 2008

in Development,News,Opinion,Politics

Last month, when we got word that a city draft resolution and legislation tying the neighborhood plans and station-area planning was coming up for a City Council vote in September, we asked Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) President Jenna Walden what she thought since the MLK @ Holly Street Plan is one of five in Southeast Seattle, including Columbia City, North Beacon Hill, North Rainier and Rainier Beach, and ONA has stewardship responsibilities for the plan. Here’s what she told us:

Othello residents should know that due to the impending opening of the light rail station in 2009, the Othello neighborhood plan (known as the Holly@MLK plan) has jumped to the front of the line and will be updated, along with McClellan and Beacon Hill station neighborhoods, ahead of the other 35 Seattle neighborhoods.

Understandably, our neighborhood plan should be updated and merged with station planning. The “pressure” for this update is due to the summer 2009 light rail operations, and we should have a plan on the table that reflects our desired outcome.

On the zoning side, the DPD director (Department of Planning & Development), its central staff and DON director (Department of Neighborhoods) are also claiming “pressure” and that area rezoning will be fast-tracked “out of necessity” which will happen simultaneously with the neighborhood plan being updated by the community.

I’m wondering, who is behind “the pressure” and “necessity” for area rezoning?

I am confident Councilmembers Clark and Burgess are interested in seizing this legislative opportunity to combine station and neighborhood plan updates, as they rightly should. Up to this point, city planners have been making planning decisions for station areas without community input and ignoring the existing neighborhood plan formed by Othello residents over 10 years ago. I applaud their concern on this matter and their support assures that the merging of these planning efforts will create a more comprehensive and informative document for the future development of our neighborhood.

Unfortunately, I also understand that the DPD is interested in fast-tracking area rezoning simultaneously with the neighborhood/station planning. Outcomes, guidelines and actions of neighborhood planning, directly affect zoning decisions in the neighborhood. So what is the point of updating the neighborhood plan? SHA just completed contract upzoning of their considerable parcel up to 65′ height. Another area rezone would likely follow the design principles the City has been pushing; 12-story tall buildings around the station.

I would challenge the assumption that there is a necessary urgency to respond to property owners at this point considering the market and economic climate and glut of condo/apartment inventory on our hands. Has DPD revisited the property owner’s development pipeline timeline for re-evaluation? Better yet, DPD should ask why this process is being driven by developers and not by the community.

These plans need to be completed before area rezoning commences. DPD cannot make informed decisions for our community without this being done. This is putting the cart before the horse. Othello, one of the most diverse and complex neighborhoods of Seattle (because of the light rail and huge redevelopment potential), may also get the most expedited and ad-hoc neighborhood planning process rather than receiving thoughtful and comprehensive planning. We need to avoid this scenario.

I am of the opinion that the City should focus on dedicating dollars and resources towards our public safety and making sure the street grid works before assuming that developers and potential tenants will come here in droves just because of the light rail. The retail space in the SHA-built commercial building on Myrtle St (across from Safeway) has been slow to lease up during a good economic market. I have watched it slowly lease up over a 36-month period, with retail space still currently sitting vacant.

The fact is, the market fundamentals that would foster a pre-leasing and successful speculative scenario, which DPD and the Council are hanging their hat on, does not exist in this neighborhood yet. If the City could partner with our community on ensuring public safety, provide data to prove our demographics provide strong purchasing power, back economic development programs that bring jobs, create visually strong, and safe connections throughout the street grid and help turn around our image problem to the rest of the city, then we could become competitive and pre-leasing and speculative development would likely occur here and be successful. Instead, they believe a light rail alone coupled with upzoning will be a salve to the public issues we face. This is not enough. We need a real private/public partnership with vision addressing our community needs, not just academic urban development theories and legislative band-aids.

Do we want to seize these opportunities to redevelop large parcels that the community views as value-added, or do we want to rezone immediately in order to give a couple of property owners an instant premium on the market value of their property which could be be flipped for sale at any time for a good profit?

The market conditions are buying us time to do this right, so why rush it?

ONA looks forward to continuing as the steward of the neighborhood plan, and I look forward to residents’ involvement and participation so that we may give the City the most informed perspective possible. But this neighborhood deserves to have a plan that is not made moot or undermined by DPD area rezoning ahead of its completion. Othello will be the gateway to the City of Seattle via the light rail and we want it to be successful, but not at the expense of suiting a developer’s speculative timeline over a proper planning process for the community. We need to have Councilmembers Clark and Burgess’s support on this matter.

The community would like to be part of the vision, rather than just be a complaint-driven participant. Rare opportunities to participate in city planning such as this should not be undermined by an amorphous timeline that is driven by special interests. This only perpetuates the complaint-reaction relationship we have with our city government. We need to have assurances and a process in place that results in establishing a successful private/public partnership, as well ensure that residents of the neighborhood have a voice before major decisions are made.

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Cleveland HS Students Face Daily Deathtrap Just Trying to Get Back & Forth to School; City’s Got $1,000 for Anyone Who Can Help

October 12, 2008

in Education,News,Transportation,Volunteering

Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) President Jenna Walden calls it “the most absurd city infrastructure setup I have seen to date.”

She’s referring to the traffic nightmare students attending Cleveland High School must navigate just trying to get back and forth to school.

“In the entire block in front of the school – about 600 feet – there are no crosswalks,” she said.

She’s particularly upset about a busy bus stop on Swift Ave. right down the street from the school, where crowds of students risk their lives every day (see photo above).

On a very busy road leading motorists on and off I-5, teens must navigate 30″-wide sidewalks that are cracked and crowded with overgrown weeds and blackberry bushes and crosswalks that either don’t exist or are nearly impossible to see.

“It’s unsafe,” Jenna wrote recently in an email to Councilman Nick Licata‘s “Critical Crossings” web site. “As you can see from the condition of the guardrails (below), drivers do crash into them. I am astounded the city has done nothing to improve this spot.”

Councilman Licata launched the interactive website earlier this year to encourage citizen participation in pedestrian safety.

“This site is dedicated to improving pedestrian safety in Seattle by posting images of traffic intersections and crosswalks submitted by citizens who believe intersections are critical to their safety,” he said.

Neighbors are asked to submit digital photos of areas of particular concern. According to Councilman Licata, the information provided by citizens will be used, together with other sources of information and engineering judgments, to develop priorities in improving pedestrian safety.

Meanwhile, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has grants of up to $1,000 available for projects that “improve pedestrian and bicycle safety near schools and encourage walking and biking to school” and any group of two or more people can qualify. See additional information below.

Safe Routes to School: Mini Grant Program
The Mini-Grant Program provides small grants to assist in promoting more walking and biking at schools. Some examples of how Mini-Grant funds can be used:

  • Create Safe Routes to School Teams at your school
  • Plan and promote Safe Routes events
  • Create incentive programs encouraging walking &/or biking to school
  • Purchase new safety gear for school patrols.

Groups eligible for to apply for Mini-Grant Funds include schools, PTA groups, Safe Routes to School teams, Walking School Bus groups and other parent or teacher groups.

Find a Mini-Grant Application here. Deadline for submission is Nov. 14. Recipients will be selected by Dec. 1.

For more information, email SDOT Safe Routes to School Coordinator Brian Dougherty.

Photos: About 2:45pm every school day, Cleveland High School students walk south down Swift Ave. to the bus stop located south (and uphill) of the Albro/Swift intersection. This is a heavily trafficked road with semi’s, buses and many cars traveling back and forth on and off the highway and in/out of Georgetown/SODO. Photos/Jenna Walden

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ONA Chair Responds to Potential Zoning Changes Along MLK

July 18, 2008

in Development,News,Opinion,Politics

This just in from Jenna Walden, Chair of the Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA):

Futurewise and the City of Seattle need to challenge their basic assumptions going forward if they are looking at SE Seattle as their guinea pig for zoning adjustments that would hugely impact neighborhoods such as Othello.

For instance:

  • Context – Is the MLK corridor correctly assumed to be an “urban setting” appropriate for 10-story development? Why is neighborhood appropriateness in terms of context and scale subverted for the sake of urban density? This is a pie-in-the-sky attitude of “building it and they will come”.
  • No Parking in station overlays – prohibiting parking while simultaneously promising residents of a community that have been desiring additional retail and commercial options to service their neighborhood (instead of driving to Tukwila and Renton), as well as attract residents of surrounding neighborhoods such as Seward Park, that this will be our new urban village, will create problems for integration and usage by the current residents. This seems to be a plan and promise of urban utopia for future residents of this station area, rather than existing residents in the surrounding area whom exhibit different circulation and behavior patterns (car-oriented circulation).
  • That cars will remain unclean and “bad” – Are cars bad to urban settings because they are polluters? Or because they create traffic congestion? If pollution is the main problem, then I would challenge that they will remain as unclean as they are for much longer, and therefore future planning should create opportunities for car parking. Traffic congestion and its on-going presence is par for the course in a city as big as Seattle so I cannot see it being the “culprit’ of preventing the Othello/MLK from being the urban utopia they are planning for. Americans value individualism, and cars provide that. I do not see cars being eliminated from the majority of of American households but hopefully, they will become clean.
  • It is short-sighted to count cars out of an urban neighborhood’s future. Ironically, these transportation corridors (rapid-ride transit and light rail) are installed to service as many people as possible, but they planning/zoning guidelines seem to be more concerned about servicing the future residents of the neighborhood, and not the current ones.
  • Are the basic resources and infrastructure in place for feeder routes via biking, walking and bus-ing to the station in place that make it safe and secure for existing residents to easily connect to these station areas? Those commitments need to be made before building 10-story buildings.
  • A neighborhood around a designated freight truck route does not provide the best base for this planning concept. MLK is a designated freight truck route by SDOT. That means semi-trucks, moving trucks, delivery trucks, buses, cars, light rail, bikers and walkers will somehow seamlessly work together in this urban village. Compound the situation with 10-story buildings and hundreds and hundreds of additional residents, and we’re looking at very complicated circulation patterns. So far, the community has not seen comprehensive operational planning from DPD or SDOT on how this will all work. Currently, I do not foresee how a designated freight truck route becomes the best place to site this urban density dream.

If there is a neighborhood in Seattle that would like to be part of this demonstration project, that is great for Futurewise and the City of Seattle to partner with them. We would certainly be interested in seeing if it is successful. However at this time, there is great resistance to this concept in Othello because it does ignore the neighborhood plan and there is a whole question of appropriateness for that level of density in this neighborhood.

As of now, Othello neighborhoods’ needs for job creation and training, a vigorous commercial/retail market, additional public amenities and connections, education opportunities and strengthened public safety are the priority. Without improvement in these areas, will projects 10-stories high even be feasible to lease up or sell in this neighborhood?

Economic development should go hand-in-hand with planning concepts such as these. Urban development and economic development feed off each other. I would like to see a more comprehensive approach that addresses Othello’s neighborhood quality-of-life needs so that development projects can be successful and make sense for everyone. It doesn’t make sense to just change zoning, and then hope for the best.

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