Sunday, February 17, 2008

Corson Building Drive-By

Good to know I'm not he only one who's been peering past the metal fence into the Corson Building lot, like I last did back in December.

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A Seattle magazine blogger reports that it looks like they're putting in a patio.

Anyone know when Via Tribunali's opening? Pizza pizza.

Red Apple Remodel in Beacon Lights

Craig Thompson at Beacon Lights has written about the Red Apple remodel.

A Trip to Flower World

This blog used to be mostly about gardening. Now it's mostly about the neighborhood, but I'll continue to throw in plant posts. I can't help myself.

On the way to Flower World we stopped at the Woodinville Taco Time.

A box of Mexi-fries basking in the sunshine. Sublime.

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Flower World is big and nice. Everyone loves Flower World. so I don't need to say much about it. They have a lot of stuff, it's clean and tidy, and they grow 90% of what they sell. And they pipe out way too much harp music.

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Heather.

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Last year I did a lot of nursery browsing; now I can spot a baby Cryptomeria from 50 yards away.

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Cryptomeria japonica 'cristata." I have five of these in my backyard. I'm not sure they're going to make it.

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Oh, maybe this post is on theme after all. This cedar is called "Beacon Hill."

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A sign warns of escaping turtles. My husband's on the lookout.

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There's an iris farm next door.

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Saturday, February 16, 2008

Finding Beacon Hill Stories

On most days, I search the Seattle P-I and Seattle Times websites for "beacon hill," hoping to find all the news stories about our neighborhood. However, the reporters sometimes misidentify Beacon Hill (even its western edge) as "Rainier Valley," and more often they just don't even bother trying to identify the neighborhood and just call it "South Seattle."

Yesterday they pulled a new one, identifying an area east of Rainier Avenue as Beacon Hill.

The story is only credited to "staff," so I won't bother trying to get this corrected. But these reporting inaccuracies make it hard to try to find out what's really happened in our neighborhood over the years. Do they screw up this badly in other neighborhoods, or are local reporters particularly ignorant of areas south of I-90?

Friday, February 15, 2008

SE Seattle Pics at Good Taste Chronicles

Fellow Beacon Hill blogger Catalina Vel-DuRay has been going around Southeast Seattle snapping pictures of things that would already have been demolished in tonier parts of the city. Like the New Holly Safeway. And a cool-looking church that I believe is on Orcas in Hillman City, a little bit west of Rainier?

CvDR also posts YouTube clips that I would never have found otherwise. Like this.

It's Morning on Beacon Hill

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Letter I Sent to Rudeen About the Christian Restoration Center

I'm a resident of Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood, and I'm writing you first of all to express concern about the sad state of the property you'll be developing here in the summer at 4351 15th Avenue South. I've taken some photos to show you the extent of the damage.

1. There's a lot of graffiti. A lot.

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2. There's also a broken toilet and empty liquor bottles.

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3. There's garbage and broken glass scattered all over the place.

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4. There's an overflowing garbage can that the local rats are probably enjoying, but the neighbors, not so much.

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5. There are boxes full of (presumably dead) fluorescent blubs. These contain mercury and possibly lead. According to Seattle Municipal Code 21.36.025 (Unlawful Disposal), these bulbs cannot be taken to city transfer stations; you can read about proper disposal at this King County website.

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Anyway, the Beacon Hill community would like you to please clean up your property as soon as possible. I know your company is headquartered in Spokane, and I understand how you might not be aware of the way things are going over here in Seattle. But I'm happy to provide you with photo reports whenever you like -- please just ask.

We'll also want to provide input as to the design of the new building. Apart from work that appears to be going on at the VA Hospital, this will definitely be the largest new construction on Beacon Hill in many years and will have a huge impact on the community. We look forward to working with you on this project! Have you planned any community meetings yet?

Please let me know as soon as possible about your plans for site cleanup. I've already reported the graffiti to the city just to get that in the system, and I'm so concerned about all the illegal dumping that I should report that as well. But I'd prefer to work directly with you on all this. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

--JvA