On an average day, the search returns no news stories. But today I happened to find a Beacon Hill reference in a story titled "Residential parking zone divides neighbors on Queen Anne."
The Beacon Hill mention comes from a quote from the coordinator of the Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce. It turns out that some Hilltop residents are sick of competing for street parking with the customers and employees of local businesses. Here's the business-side quote:
"We believe a single mom working at one of the restaurants has as much of a right to park as anybody else. Taking a bus from Beacon Hill isn't really an option for them," said Margaret Irvine, coordinator of the chamber.
I wonder if she's thinking of someone she actually knows who's a single mom who lives on Beacon Hill and would have to take the 36 (and a transfer) if she couldn't find free parking for more than two hours.
Or I wonder if she just made that up to make it sound like she's protecting the relatively disadvantaged here in the South End, as opposed to the relatively wealthy who like to spend more than two hours at trendy bars, fancy breakfast spots, and posh boutiques.
And I wonder if she named Beacon Hill to gain some extra sympathy for her cause because any woman who takes the 36 and walks home may have to fend off that increasingly bold assailant/groper/asshole.
Anyway, it's just funny to me that the Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce representative called out Beacon Hill in that ridiculous quote in which she pretends to represent the interests of restaurant workers instead of their employers. It's been a pleasure to serve you, Hilltop merchants! Just let us know if you need anything else from us today.
6 comments:
The diesel 36s generally go no further north than 3rd and Virginia, a bit of a hike from Queen Anne, yes.
But, if you can catch the cabled 36, nearly every run of that route turns into a #1 which goes right up by Key Arena to Mercer/Roy and then around the side of Queen Anne to "Kinnear" (a location I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention in conversation).
The diesel and cabled 36s generally alternate in the portion of the route they share on Beacon Ave.
Most days, the diesel 36s, coming from further south in Rainier Beach, are running so far behind schedule that if you catch one and take it far enough north to where the cabled 36 runs, you can hop off and wait only a couple of minutes before the (closer to on-time) cabled 36 arrives to take you to lower Queen Anne.
Oh, and the cabled 36s are generally much less crowded, too. :)
I just finished reading that story over lunch and that quote struck me as someone who was trying to imply that all poor single moms live in dumpy old Beacon Hill, home of groping, horny perverts. Yes, I was offended by Margaret Irvine's remark.
Thanks for the 36 explanation, Jason!
Anon -- Oh, good. I wasn't the only one who was taken aback by that comment.
I believe there's at least one person working on QA who lives in Beacon Hill, and probably at one of the restaurants. I do think Irvine chose the most pitiable character and clung to that for her quote, though. My Hilltop Yarn coworkers and I were talking about this and those of us who have cars can easily park a few blocks from the shop and walk to it, and I think the single mom can, too. I don't have a car right now so I get to experience the difficulty of getting from Ballard to Queen Anne by bus (or by bike now that it's nicer out, and I don't mind that much). Getting off the hill by bus has always seemed harder to me than getting up it, for some reason.
What drives me crazy about the story is actually the quote from the fellow who says "Some people work LATE like 6 or 7 pm!" Um. Yeah. That's not getting home late, buddy--especially from Microsoft, as far as the lore I've heard. (Yes, I'm slightly annoyed that I worked 9 - 7:30 today. In lower Queen Anne.)
Oh please! I used to live up there and there is PLENTY of parking if you're OK with walking a couple of blocks to QA Ave. Watch, the city will convert it all to metered parking and EVERYONE will lose out.
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