Tuesday August 4th is the annual Seattle Night Out Against Crime. All over the neighborhood (and the city), folks come out of their doors to spend a evening with their neighbors. Streets are blocked off, lawn chairs are dragged out front, card tables are set up on sidewalks and lawns, kids play, chit is chatted, gossip is passed, potato salad is forked, and wine is paper cupped.
For the last several years, I’ve bike toured the block parties of the neighborhood, sampling the deviled eggs and meeting new people, sometimes by myself, sometimes with my son Zev in tow, and my only complaint is that I can only seem to squeeze in five or six of them before it starts getting too late. It’s such a pleasure to be reminded first hand what a diverse (in some ways), interesting (in a ton of ways) and friendly group of neighbors we all seem to have.
Is your block doing something? You don’t have to block off the street, but you can! You don’t have to have a band, but you can! You don’t have to have a pie eating contest, but you can!
Get your planning on now! Talk to your neighbors. Make sure they know about it, and that you get the word out soon enough that people can plan.
If you want more information about how it works and what you need to do, see the Seattle Night Out! web site.
And I’ll add that you don’t have to wait until the city to name a date. Zev and I were biking up to the Farmers Market a couple weeks back, and found 2nd Ave above 45th Street blocked off. There were card tables set up in the street with food, a couple lawns full of adults in chairs, and a street full of kids playing ball.
What was the occasion? Summer.
Turns out, the block does this every year. It costs about $8 to get permission from the city to block off the street, and that’s all you need. It was sweet as Mayberry pie with ice cream.
So, if you’re not feeling like a follower, don’t want to have a block party just because The Man tells you should have a block party, think about having a rogue block party on your own terms. All it takes is poking your head out your door and sussing it with the neighbors.
This is so funny.
I was raised in NYC and this is what people have been doing for more than 150 years.
I love Seattle’s climate and beauty, but the fact that this is happening in 2015 is hilarious.
Most people I know describe this as a cold place. People do not say what they mean and are superficial. At least people used to say hello to each other 25 years ago, now people looked down to the sidewalk when you walk past them.
This is still probably the best place to live in America. I have lived in the NE, SE and NW.
I am thrilled that this is happening. In Brooklyn, 50 years ago we did this.
FYI, this is the 31st annual Seattle Night Out. But, yeah, New York is a much older city and I’m sure did it first.