Susanna, Author at Wallyhood

Don’t Paint My Village

Susanna October 2, 2016 77 Comments

It’s been almost a year since I joined the Wallingford Community Council with concerns over the future of our neighborhood and our city in the face of rampant development. After countless hours of following HALA and Seattle’s land use politics, I frequently find myself mumbling and grunting in frustration like Yosemite Sam. I picture wealthy developers like Vulcan sitting down and writing out policy after policy that will give them more power (and us less). In exchange, our elected officials at City Hall get all sorts of campaign contributions. Ahh, democracy.

This urban village “painting” is one more policy that …

Update on Gas Works Park Renovations

Susanna August 6, 2016 3 Comments

Gas Works Park is one of the most popular destinations in our area. On August 3rd, Seattle Parks and Recreation gave a presentation to give an update on its current renovation plans. The presentation was at the Wallingford Community Council monthly meeting and was open to the public. To make the park a better experience for all of its visitors, the City is redesigning of the play area and bringing parts of the park up to ADA standards. The three areas to be addressed are: the east entry, the “comfort station” (known to us lay folks as the restrooms), and …

The HALA Engagement Problem

Susanna July 30, 2016 104 Comments

Ever since the HALA report was released last year, the plan to upzone the urban villages has proceeded like a steamroller out of City Hall. We were promised lots of opportunities for public engagement, and there have been a few. The HALA public engagement problem is this: all of the public engagement meetings exist on the premise that the upzones are going to happen, and public input is just to discuss how we should upzone.

I don’t want to talk about HOW we should upzone, I want to talk about IF we should upzone.

HALA presentations to City Council …

Volunteer Opportunity: Summer Reading Buddies

Susanna June 29, 2016 1 Comment

If you’re looking for a lovely and fun volunteer opportunity this summer, Family Works, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club, is looking for summer reading buddies. Take a few hours out of your week this summer and give the gift of reading. Here’s the flyer:

…

Seattle 2035: Turning the Emerald City into the Concrete Jungle

Susanna June 25, 2016 30 Comments

There has been a lot of discussion about HALA, but a far broader change to Seattle land use policy is coming up in the form of a new version of the Comprehensive Plan. The City is required to draft a Comprehensive Plan which acts as a roadmap for urban planning over a 20 year period. We have reached the end of that 20 year period for our first Comprehensive Plan, so Mayor Ed Murray has undertaken to write another one, which will be the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan. The Mayor’s office has released the final draft, and a public hearing …

MHA: The Mayor’s Path to Upzoning

Susanna June 15, 2016 32 Comments

If you are new to these conversations regarding the Mayor’s housing agenda, you may want to start with my first blog post for some background.

The City Council is now considering legislation that will enact the Mandatory Housing Affordability program, known as MHA-R (the “R” is for “residential”). MHA is a part of HALA (the Mayor’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda). The MHA program will enact “upzones” (i.e. it will allow extra development) in neighborhoods throughout the city, and in return will require developers to include “affordable” housing units in new buildings in the upzoned areas. Or, instead …

Coffee Tokens & Other Opportunities for Kindness

Susanna June 8, 2016 11 Comments

While paying for my usual 12 oz latte, lemon crepe, and ½ Pacific Northwest salad, I recently took notice of a jar of wooden tokens near the register at one of my favorite cafes, the Essential Bakery. When I inquired about it, I was told that you could pay for an extra cup of coffee, they would put a token in the jar, and then someone from the community could redeem it for a free cup of coffee. Here is what the sign says:

The Essential Baking Company
Sospeso Project

The word “sospeso” in Italian directly translates to “suspended,” and …

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