Jeff Garfield, owner of Bedrooms and More gave me a sneak peek tour of the new building they’re putting up at the corner of NE 45th and 4th Ave NE and, while it is actually pretty incredible, and will serve well, I believe, as the northwest corner of the Gateway to Wallingford, it was something Jeff told me about their existing store, half a block to the west, that amazed me the most.

Bedrooms and More has occupied the same spot since 1972, but they knocked down their original building in February, 1986. In July 1986, they opened the doors …

“Nickelsville came about in response to the sweeps of encampments ordered by former Mayor Greg Nickels [2002 – 2010]. After six months of  organizing Nickelsville set up on an unused piece of city owned land on West Marginal Way on September 22, 2008. That afternoon the encampment was posted with notifications that it would be swept.  Five days later several dozen homeless people and their allies were arrested.  Nickelsville immediately set up on an adjacent state owned parking lot. Governor Gregoire allowed Nickelsville to remain long enough to find a new location. ”
– Nickelsville History

It’s been ten years …

Round about this time of year, when all the fruits and vegetables that have survived our dry Seattle summer are coming ripe, folks strolling the neighborhood start looking gazing at the cornucopia around us with wonder…and maybe a bit of hunger.

Every year, for example, I pass this apple tree on NE 42nd Street and cry a little bit over the waste: whoever owns it never harvests, and the apples end up rotting on the ground.

So what’s the etiquette? Are we allowed to pick fruit and vegetables grown in the “devil’s strip” (which is technically owned by the city, …

A car burst into flames outside the John Stanford School this morning at about 10 am. While it looks like the flames are coming out of the trunk, that’s where the engine is on a Porsche.

The police are there, fire department on the way, nobody was injured.

…

It’s been seven long years since Kitaro (1645 N. 45th St) went up in a roil of smoke and fire. Since then, it has stood a burned out husk, decorated occasionally with concert posters, interrupted only by the occasional rumor of change.

Well, change looks like it is finally on the horizon (although not the change everyone may have hoped for). Mike Ruby spotted this proposal on the City of Seattle’s website for the property:

SDR – Construct 10,200 sq. ft. residential building with 7 units and no parking proposed. REVISED FROM: Demolition of existing fire-damaged Mixed Use building. New …

Matt from the Pacific Northwest Shop (4411 Wallingford Ave. N) wrote that they’re having another pop-up this Saturday, featuring local artists:

I make a plea for this every year, but it’s been some time since Wallingford represented: PARK(ing) Day is a cool, city-wide affair in which anyone can take over a slice of street and turn it into a work of art.

I offer you here some random samplings of what other people have done around the country:

Sweet, right? And you can even apply for up to $5,000 in funding for your idea through the city’s Neighborhood Matching Fund program (August 10th application deadline.)

PARK(ing) Day itself is September 21st, 2018, and applications are being accepted up through August 24th. …