Eric, Author at Wallyhood

Finalizing Transfer Station Designs

Eric January 5, 2011 1 Comment

The preferred transfer station rebuild option will be chatted through tonight at the Wallingford Community Council, at 7 PM in room 202 of the Good Shepherd Center.

A key question is if there’s a rezone, what amenities would make up for it? I personally would love to see a visitor space for school classes, but I’m biased by my youth. The highlight of going to school in Virginia is the school field trip to the cigarette factory- all those little cancer sticks being rolled and packed by machines is a wonder to behold.

There are also amenities to consider like …

The Neighborhood Plan, Sustainability, and Road Diets

Eric November 2, 2010 8 Comments

This month at the Wallingford Community Council we meet to talk about the stuff that we supposedly endorsed by electing Mike McGinn. So come join us this Wednesday in room 202 of the Good Shepherd Center to discuss sustainability and road diets!

The featured discussion led by Cathy Tuttle will be about sustainability updates to the Wallingford neighborhood plan. The update is supported by a $20,000 grant from the Department of Neighborhoods. Here is a description of the update from Cathy Tuttle:

What exactly is a Sustainability Plan?

We won’t rewrite the Wallingford Neighborhood Plan written by the community in…

“No Confidence” In The SPS Operations Levy

Eric October 26, 2010 8 Comments

[Ed Note: Elections are coming up, and this stuff is important, so we’re covering it. You may disagree with the opinions of the writers. We invite opposing viewpoints to share their perspective.]

Most votes this fall divide cleanly along liberal / conservative battle lines. You don’t have to think too hard, just decide if you find Paul Krugman or George Will more credible.

The exception is the Seattle Public Schools levy, which is scrambling all of the usual alliances. Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson is behind it, but it is opposed by her usual cheering section at the Seattle Times (who go …

Gas Works Playground, Farmers Market, and the Dump

Eric October 25, 2010 6 Comments

At last month’s community council meeting we met with the powers that be on local projects. Here’s what happened and their follow up comments…

Gas Works park sediment clean up with Judith Noble of Seattle Public Utilities

The goal is to decontaminate the sediment in Lake Union off of Gas Works Park. Contamination is from the manufactured gas plant that operated from 1900-1950.

To determine groundwater flow the city has drilled 6 monitoring wells in Gas Works Park ranging from 15’ – 90’ deep to figure out how groundwater is moving through the site and how upland contamination is flowing …

The Giving Campaign and Wallingford

Eric October 15, 2010 2 Comments

October is Giving Campaign month, a time when Microsoft and other large companies encourage employees to pony up for nonprofits by providing for matching funds and automatic payroll deductions.

You may struggle with this decision- you know there’s lots more worthwhile things to blow cash on than the old materialism treadmill, but unlike when you buy stuff it’s hard to assess if the money is getting the job done. How do you know if a good sounding organization follows through? What difference will your money make? If the group is large and has dedicated fund raisers or executives making more …

Road Diets, Gas Works, Farmers Market: WCC meeting

Eric October 5, 2010 17 Comments

This Wednesday, October 6th, in room 202 of the Good Shepherd Center will be a whirlwind tour of everything going on in the community. It should be entertaining and we encourage everyone to come out.

From 7:00 to 7:15 we’ll quickly do an introduction round table and mention budget cuts impacting Wallingford such as the closure of the Fremont District Coordinator office.

We will then vote on a N Green Lake Way road diet proposal if we can reach consensus before the meeting. The basic idea with road diets is to reduce cars from 4 lanes to 3 lanes while …

Land Use, The Dump, and the Community Council

Eric September 1, 2010 4 Comments

If you’ve ever played Sim City you know zoning is critically important for a vibrant community, at least until disaster strikes. And if you’ve ever been the victim of a mega-house going up next door, you know how complicated enforcement can be. Can they really turn their entire street frontage into one big driveway? Is it really OK for them to build a 3rd story that shades you during the day and is lit from the outside at night? Well then, is it OK for you to build a giant plywood view all across from their 3rd floor breakfast nook?…

Iwasherefirst on Crime in the City, and in the ‘Hood“…it did go up dramatically after the pandemic…” No, the crime rate spiked sharp...
fortyfort on Crime in the City, and in the ‘HoodThe city maintains a crime dashboard that has some neighborhood-specific data: h...
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