Archives for August 2010

OMG we’re TWO!

August 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Ravenna Blog is TWO years old!

Technically, this happened on August 8th, but I didn’t notice until today.  I have been spending most of my online time these days reading HyperlocalBlogger and migraine entries on medical sites (I believe those two are unrelated).

There have also been lapses and sputters in our coverage of Ravenna related events, so I don’t feel as thought it’s been a FULL two years of blogging, but celebrating the anniversary of the first post feels right.

There shan’t be a party, and NO GIFTS, PLEASE, but I have a few gifts (thanks) of my own to dole out (in no particular order):

  • THANKS to We [Heart] Food for finding us in the early days and making the blog’s first comment,
  • THANKS to Annie Price and Glenn Roberts for being our first interviewees,
  • THANKS to Amy, Susie, Hanna, Mai and PATTY for their hyper-hyperlocal support,
  • THANKS to the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association for their substantial online presence, and to Jim O’Halloran for his emails,
  • THANKS to those of you who have send in questions and topics for us to blog about (KEEP IT UP),
  • and thank YOU for reading this!

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Some old, notable posts to peruse:

  • Welcome to the Ravenna Blog! (August 8, 2008) The first post!
  • You may now commence the fun. (September 9, 2008) Official dedication of the new playground at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center.
  • Neighborhood 911 (October 15, 2008) Fire at a multi-unit building. I’ve made the decision to not report on all the fire and police stuff that goes on (important stuff, yes, but not the kind of blog I’m going for here), but when you see a house ON FIRE a couple blocks from your house, you go check it out, right?
  • Ravenna: Now with twice the blogging (at least) (February 24, 2009) Ravenna Nation joins the hyperlocal blog community. RN ran on the Neighborlogs blog platform and was set up to be a much more open and collaborative way of blogging about the neighborhood. I wrote a bit for it, as did others. But, sadly, RN is no more. [The twitter feed is still around, frozen in time, and, creepily enough, the last tweets had to do with the blood found in Ravenna Park while Maurice Clemmons was still at large.]
  • The REAL Ravenna Blog – if only (August 25, 2009) Oh My God Seattle (now Berlin) wrote a hyperlocal blog parody, and used Ravenna as the neighborhood. I laughed and laughed.
  • Mission Statements (April 13, 2010) Mission statements for the blog as well as a good list of the local blogs ’round here that I follow (and you should, too).
  • Busy Weekend – Athletic Edition (April 29, 2010) Post about events around here and the UW (Friday Night Lights, Opening Day, Windermere Cup). Really, just an excuse to post that picture of the Elvis Boat the Bremerton Yacht Club made.
  • Twitter Feed Round-Up (May 22, 2010) The first. I do more tweeting than I thought I would (life with a toddler makes it easier to bang out 140 characters than blog posts), so these are my attempts to bring non-tweeters up to speed (with the least perishable tweets, anyway).
  • Restaurant Inspection Round-Up REDO (May 31, 2010) A retraction post, of sorts. Deciding to rank restaurants based on my faulty perception of how the King County scores said inspections caught Chris’ (We [Heart] Food) eye, and he called me on it. Never again!
  • June 9, 2010. My Green Lake and I badger a poor woman into starting a Roosevelt Neighborhood Blog. She hasn’t been the same since.
  • Low flyers in Bryant? (June 16, 2010) Karen in Bryant submitted a question about a low flying plane over her house, and I was able to answer it! Well, tell her who to call to report it, anyway.
  • Uniformed Help on the Viaduct Detour Route (June 17, 2010) First reader submitted picture and tip!
  • Yoga on the Patio: Interview with Annie Price of RTPB (June 30, 2010) First interview! Thanks again, Annie!
  • July 2010. Yeah, the whole month was notable, primarily for all the Sisleyville posts. Co-interviewed Glenn Roberts (with Roosiehood), co-posted a letter (with Roosiehood) for readers to send off to City Councilmembers, live-tweeted two City Council meetings…goodness.

Here’s to two more! At least. 🙂

Filed Under: metablog Tagged With: ,

Just kidding! NEW EIS Deadline: September 1

August 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The deadline has been extended!

From RNA Land Use Committee Chair Jim O’Halloran:

I’ve just received word from Shelley Bolser at DPD that the deadline for submitting comments on the scope of the EIS  (Environmental Impact Study) for redevelopment of the Sisley properties has been  extended from today (Aug. 4) until Sept. 1 – a full four weeks.  The reason given was to provide more time for the community to understand the 6 different alternatives and other information which may be available to inform your comments.

I think its good to have more time, and I am encouraged that DPD is taking steps to accommodate more input from the Community.  Please know too, that DPD Director Diane Sugimura has agreed to a meeting this month with land use representatives from both the Roosevelt and Ravenna neighborhoods.  Clearly this is the result of community concern over the format of the July 21 scoping meeting.  What’s more, Director Sugimura has expressed an apology for “what did not work” at the July 21 meeting, and promised a further response.

I especially like that second paragraph. I can’t help but think that the flood of emails to City Councilmembers the past couple weeks had something to do with this. Good work, folks!

Filed Under: Meeting

One More Deadline (for now): EIS Scoping Comments

August 4, 2010 by 2 Comments

Excerpt from a email from the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association’s Jim O’Halloran:

RDG Contract Rezone EIS [Environmental Impact Survey] Scoping – As encouraging as it is to win the Comp Plan battle, there are other efforts which need our attention.  Tomorrow (Aug. 4) is the deadline for input to DPD on considerations in the Environmental Impact Study.  Yes, it’s complicated.  And this is not so much a matter of maximum volume of input, as it is making sure that DPD considers the right issues and alternatives.  You can find a pre-addressed form for your comments here:  http://rooseveltseattle.org/Documents/Blank%20RDG%20%20EIS%20Scoping%20Comment%20Form.pdf Some additional information is available here:  http://rooseveltseattle.org/rdg.aspx

What I would suggest you do, seeing as the deadline for comments is TODAY, is email your comments directly to Shelly Bolser, Senior Land Use Planner at the Department of Planning and Development (DPD). Use the format of the RNA’s pdf above, and send it to shelleybosler@seattle.gov. Make sure you include that project number (3010100).

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On a related note, I just found an RSS feed for the DPD’s Northeast Seattle project design review schedule! Subscribe!

Turns out, there’s a meeting on August 16th concerning the stuff happening at 2028 NE 65th Street (those houses just West of the Herbalist on NE 65th).

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts

Note from Councilmember Clark

August 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Received the following email from Councilmember Sally Clark not quite an hour ago. If you’ve been looking for a summary of all the City Council action on the RDG comp plan rezoning EIS COBE RNA ETC stuff, then read on:

Thank you for writing to me regarding the Roosevelt Development Group’s (RDG’s) proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment.  I’m sorry for the generic response, but this particular amendment generated a lot of emails. (Good job!)  This is the quickest way to respond to everyone.  Please email me back if I didn’t answer a question related to your particular comment.

Yesterday the Council voted to exclude RDG’s amendment for further consideration this cycle. This confirmed the proposal I made, and the Committee on the Built Environment approved, last week. Your near-unanimous community feedback and advocacy was instrumental in this decision.

As you know, the conversation regarding Roosevelt’s zoning future has become a bit complicated with 1) The zoning proposal from Roosevelt’s Neighborhood Plan Update  2) RDG’s Environmental Impact Statement work, and 3) RDG’s Comprehensive Plan amendment to adjust the Future Land Use Map (FLUM) and the Roosevelt Urban Village boundary.  Councilmembers have been able to engage in some of these conversations (1, 3), but have needed to exclude ourselves from others because of the “quasi-judicial” status (2).  It’s been frustrating to not be able to engage in a fuller discussion of zoning ideas. I appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through land use changes for Roosevelt.

To be clear, Monday afternoon’s vote isn’t meant to signify that the City Council isn’t interested in seeing zoning action taken in Roosevelt.  The new light rail station presents great opportunities for people to live near transit and for the broader community to enjoy benefits new development should be expected to bring.  Roosevelt has supported that vision by advocating for the best station location and for smart land use changes in the core around the station. The community’s neighborhood plan update, submitted in 2007, included rezone proposals working their way through review at the city’s Department of Planning & Development.  I’m eagerly awaiting delivery to Council. Concurrently, we have the environmental review of the RDG possibilities taking place and expected to wrap up next year. Ideally, full consideration of the neighborhood plan update zoning proposals and the finished EIS will shape a proposal for the RDG properties that meets the needs of all parties.

However, as chair of the Council’s land use committee, I know it won’t be that easy. Rising land values, housing affordability, demand for transit, demand for great parks, demand for safe, walkable, attractive business areas, and sustainability — Roosevelt, like every other neighborhood, struggles with all this and more.  I appreciate you taking the time to advocate.  Please feel welcome to write about this or any other city issue in the future.

Sincerely,

Sally

Filed Under: City Council, Updates

Seattle Night Out TONIGHT

August 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Tonight is the 27th Annual National Night Out, and Seattle is once again celebrating the event.

Throughout the city there will be streets closed for block parties and bouncy houses (well, we know of ONE in Tangletown, and it sounds FUN), and other community-building, crime-preventing  events. Visit the Seattle Night Out homepage for more info.

I know of at least one block party here in Ravenna (at 70th and 23rd) and there may be others. Let me know where they are, and I’ll add them to the post.

And even if your block has nothing planned for tonight, the good folks at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center have you covered.

From the Parks and Recreation Summer 2010 catalog (emphasis mine):

National “Night Out”
All Ages
“Night Out” is a national crime prevention event. It is designed to heighten crime prevention awareness, increase neighborhood support in anti-crime efforts, and unite our community. It is a great chance to learn about crime prevention, while also celebrating your community and spending time with your neighbors. Meet firemen and policemen and explore a real fire truck and a police car!
Location: Ravenna-Eckstein CC
6–8 p.m. Activity Fee: Free

Yes, we’ll go check it out for the toddler, but maybe I’m pretty excited to see the fire truck, too.

Filed Under: Events, Kids, Seattle Parks and Recreation

RDG Comp Plan Amendment, Final Round (for now)

August 1, 2010 by 1 Comment

From tomorrow morning’s Council Briefing Agenda:

2. Preview of Today’s Council Actions/Council and Regional Committee Reports

(All Councilmembers) 9:40 – 10:00 AM

And from the full Council agenda (meeting starts at 2pm):

Committee on the Built Environment

9. Resolution 31233

Identifying proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments to be considered for possible adoption in 2011, and requesting that the Department of Planning and Development and Seattle Planning Commission review and make recommendations about the amendments to the Council.

ADOPT AS AMENDED

(Clark, Bagshaw, Burgess)

There are presentations and public comments near the start of the meeting that may or may not include RDG comp plan stuff.

I’ll try to be around and available to live tweet both of these meetings (toddler willing).  You can follow along on the Ravenna Blog twitter feed here, whether you have an account or not.

Filed Under: City Council, Meeting
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