Wallingford has been dubbed as one of “The 20 Best Places to Live Now” according to the April issue of Seattle Met. In an interview with Wallyhood’s Jordan Schwartz, Seattle Met’s Matthew Halverson provides a perspective on our neighborhood’s “crunchiness”:
When Jordan Schwartz moved to Wallingford from the East Coast in 1993, he found a neighborhood overrun by felines. ‘You couldn’t walk down the street without seeing cats,’ he says. ‘They were all over.’ Nearly 20 years later, he still feels outnumbered by animals, but the predominant species has changed. ‘What I see now are chickens,” he says with a laugh. ‘There are like two chicken coops per block.’
You could chalk up the fowl frenzy to the fact that Wallingford is home to the sustainable-gardening nonprofit Seattle Tilth. But it may also say something about the brand of progressive, civic-minded, earth-friendly people who live there. ‘There’s something very Main Street and homey about Wallingford,’ Schwartz says. ‘There are people out in their front-yard gardens talking to neighbors as they walk by. You’ve got the crunchiness of Fremont without quite the acid twist.’
Acid twist. Ha ha ha!
A lot of people on this site say that Wallingford is friendly, but I have found exactly the opposite to be true. The vast majority of people I pass on the street avert their eyes and say nothing. When I try to say hello anyway, about half of the time, I get a grudging hello back; the other half, I get a full-on snub. So we have chickens, moss, and plant overgrowth to bring down our property values, but little of the friendliness that one would expect from a granola population. Oddly, when I walk in wealthier, neater residential areas like Magnolia and Kirkland, nearly everyone says hello and folks easily strike up a conversation.
I do have to agree with Jack — Wallingford is “not friendly” – as a matter of fact when you pass people, they put their head down or act like they don’t see u and just keep on going — real friendly — no thanks!
In my opinion, Wallingford is pretty trashy too — meaning a lot of houses are not maintained, have junker cars in driveway, and landscaping is not kept up — shame on those people.. Wallingford “could” be nice if people put a little effort into their properties. It is amazing how far one hour a week will go in landscaping..
And as for the chickens… please — this is the city, not the farm..
We’re “earth-friendly,” not people-friendly. That’s why we stare at the ground.
I like Wallingford how it was when it was . . . just Wallingford, not some BRAND.
Keep your house “nice” if that is what turns you on. (Think of the resale value!) Eat bleach-soaked grocery store GMO corn-fed eggs from some chickens on some faraway farm if that suits. . . don’t keep ) legally-sanctioned) chickens if you don’t want to keep chickens.
As for a Community Center, make sure NOT to make any “agreements” with the Seattle School District and have over a decade of dedicated work go up in smoke and mirrors.
“Shame”? Did my parents move in while I was not looking?
Maybe I’m naive, but I chalk all that unfriendliness up to excessive politeness. Seattle-ites in general and Wallingford people in particular believe that it’s rude to impose your presence on people, to break into their privacy by making eye contact and greeting them. So when they’re averting their eyes, they think it’s because you WANT them to, they think they’re giving you space and not being pushy.
Like I said, maybe I’m naive, but I’ve found that when I stride up to people and say hello, they’re almost always open and glad for the conversation.
Jack / Sadie, if you see me on the street, say Hi. I promise I’ll stop and ask you how you’re doing, and I’ll care about the answer.
Must admit that I, too, recall better days when Wallingford was “funky granola”, homes were nice but not “investments”, and there was a genuine team spirit to realize projects to benefit all based on sincere community outreach. Now it seems fractured with no attention to community institutional memory or history. There is no longer any continuity, which is needed as volunteers move in and out of participation on a 3-5 year cycle as burnout sets in.
Wallyhood, you’ve got yourself a deal!
And Luddite, yes, your parents do live here.
Why are we proud? Greenwood was listed! As I look through the list they’ve got just about every neighborhood in the vicinity listed. It’s really just a fluff piece.
Dude, Sadie? Some of us rent (around 30%, last time I checked). Some of us have cheap landlords. Some of us request landscaping cleanup on a regular basis and get squat. Some of us live on main thoroughfares and can’t keep up with the crap that gets dropped on our frontage or blows into our juniper (“renter’s landscaping”) on a daily basis. Some of us would love to have our houses repainted so our kids don’t eat paint chips, or have something other than scraggly shrubs in our yard. Sorry you’ve got to deal with having riffraff like us around.
I understand what Sadie is saying. For years, I rented a house owned by a cheap landlord. I happily spent weekend time maintaining the landscaping–trimming, planting, fertilizing, watering, etc.–at my own expense. (That work included picking up other people’s garbage and dog poop, which, come to think of it, was not happiness-inducing.) I took pride in the result, even though I owned none of it. Some people are willing to do that, and some people aren’t. And yes, a property that is not maintained can diminish the value of nearby properties, which is frustrating for people who have already lost tens of thousands of dollars in the housing crisis.
That’s very nice for you, Jack. However, I work 60 hours a week, do community work, and have a preschooler. You’re more than welcome, however, to do the job my landlord should be doing, and come to my yard and get it up to Sadie’s specifications if you like.
Good lord, people, you live in a city. If you want your neighbors to have the same standards for appearance (and income level) that you do, go move to one of those places where you have to sign a pledge to adhere to those sorts of standards. If you’re not willing to do that, don’t be so judgmental.
Thanks for not being judgmental, Kommish.
I find that Wallingford has changed tremendously in the past few years and not for the good. What used to be a nice community with a real neighborhood feel for regular ordinary people has turned into an area where intolerance is rampant. Instead of having the freedom to live your life the way you want and let your neighbors live the way they want we seem to have a large group of residents that want everyone’s house and yard to look as nice as theirs, their children to be as smart and well dressed as theirs, have high end shops and restaurants, organic farmers markets, CSAs, no potholes, non LED streetlights so it won’t be too bright at night, and clean telephone poles. If everything isn’t exactly as they want it then their neighbors must be lazy or uncaring. And heaven forbid no one wants a check cashing place, homeless shelter, a nice neighborhood market that looks more like a 7-11 than an organic health food store, or a Taco Time with unique architecture. Before we criticize or get up on our soap boxes maybe we should remember not everyone in Wallingford makes a lot of money. Some people are poor or have health problems that prevent them from doing maintenance on their places. Or maybe they have lived in Wallingford all of their lives and just like things they way they are and see no reason to try to keep up with the Jones or Smiths and all of the recent transplants to the neighborhood.
We are landlords. Our leases clearly state that the tenant(s) are responsible for keeping the yard in decent condition. We don’t expect that everyone will be a master gardener, but simply to mow, water and weed for the few warm months each year. If you don’t want to take the time to do this, then rent an apartment.
We are landlords. Our leases clearly state that the tenant(s) maintain the yard in an acceptable manner. We don’t expect everyone to be a master gardener, but we do require regular mowing, watering and weeding during the few months here that it is necessary to do so. If you don’t care to take the time to do this then move to an apartment.
Wallyhood, Comment #6: I think you’re onto something. I avert my eyes and scurry away anytime I pass someone on the street. Just seems rude not to. And yet, if I see a neighbor in their yard, I’ll stop and tell them how nice their flowers are, or ask after the yard art, etc.
Which always leads to a lovely, though sometimes brief, interaction.
Maybe I’m naive, but I chalk all that unfriendliness up to excessive politeness.
Maybe native, rather than naive.
Yes, many Seattlites assume you want your privacy. They are trying to not impose themselves on you, which is a quiet kind of friendliness.
Irish, Your post was spot on. And I say that as someone who has complained on one or two of the threads you mention (LED streetlights). I need to remember we do indeed live in a city and celebrate the diversity that comes with that. After all, as kommish said, there are places we can move if we want everyone to be the same.
Just wanted to add, I think most Wallingfordians are really friendly and nice! I LOVE all of our neighbors on our block and we are always saying ‘hi’ and talking to each other. My toddler son and I also wave to people and say ‘hello’ to everyone we see. We love our shops and shopkeepers and we always try to shop ‘local’ and frequent Wallingford businesses often. The baristas at Starbucks are extremely friendly, the folks at QFC, Mirage, Lil’ Klippers, Trophy, Tweedy Pop, etc. are awesome. Our block gets into the spirit of Halloween and Christmas too. Most of us decorate pumpkins, put up lights, etc. We gave our hot wheels and pez last year for Halloween and will do it again this year.
Other local businesses I LOVE are: Wallingford Plumbing, Mirsky Electricians and Debris Free Seattle (old name).
p.s. We also love Wallyhood! I lived in Belltown for two years and Capitol Hill for eight. We didn’t have a cool blog like this one. Wallyhood gives me a nice sense of community, even though we don’t always agree on issues.