West Seattle Blog…

Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights council chooses leaders, agrees on ‘areas of concern’

West Seattle’s newest neighborhood council – launched in February – has chosen leaders and set priorities, meeting tonight for the 4th time. Thanks to Joe Szilagyi – the Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights Community Council‘s newly chosen secretary – for sharing notes from the meeting. You can read them in their entirety here. Toplines:

Leadership chosen for the group’s first year – in addition to Szilagyi as secretary, chair Amanda Helmick and a to-be-filled treasurer’s position.

The neighborhoods’ principal areas of concern were outlined as: Metro Transit; SDOT, safety, and infrastructure improvements; community outreach; crime; business outreach. They’ll be looking for members for committees focused on the community, city infrastructure, Metro issues, and group leadership.

There’s a more-detailed list of topics in the full meeting notes – which, again, are here. The council also plans to work on setting up a website at wwrhah.org, which currently redirects to the Facebook group that’s been the hub of WWRHAH online discussion in the early going. And Metro will be the central topic for its next meeting; WWRHAH meets on the first Tuesday of the month, so that will be June 4th, more details to come.

From curb bulbs to construction: Updates @ Morgan Community Association

Not much chance SDOT will move the much-criticized California/Fauntleroy bus bulbs. So said the SDOT rep who came to the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting last week. Ahead, our roundup from the meeting, also including an update on preparations for demolition work on the now-vacant block across from Lowman Beach Park, where a sewer-overflow tank will be built, and other topics:

Click to read the rest of From curb bulbs to construction: Updates @ Morgan Community Association…

Westwood-Roxhill-AH council to talk transportation Tuesday

The always-hot topic of transportation is at centerstage for the third meeting of the new Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights community council, next Tuesday (April 2nd) night. (Our coverage of meeting #1 is here; meeting #2, here.) The full agenda is here; the transportation item is described by facilitator Mat McBride as:

Seattle Dept of Transportation – Safety, Collaboration, and Q&A

This community has a couple items in particular to discuss with SDOT – 35th in Arbor Heights, the Roxhill Speedway, sidewalks, and the new fleet of Metro busses. Jim Curtin, great guy, W Seattle resident, and SDOT employee will take these questions, answer any others you have, and talk about how to work directly with SDOT in the future. Presented by Jim Curtin, SDOT.

(Thanks to Joe Szilagyi for sharing the news the agenda’s up.) Leadership decisions are also on the agenda – the group has no officers yet. Come help shape this new group and help your neighborhood – 6:30 pm Tuesday in the upstairs meeting room at Southwest Library (35th/Henderson).

Video: Mayor’s whirlwind Admiral walking tour – six stops, 1+ hour, many hot topics

(With the mayor at 47th/Admiral, Alki Mail’s Don Wahl at left, Karl de Jong at center)
From transportation to development to education, Mayor McGinn‘s one-hour-plus visit to Admiral today, organized by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, touched on most of the hottest topics in town. No big promises, but during the finale of the visit, a sitdown conversation with attendees who had followed him to Alki Mail and Dispatch, he promised to take another look at the status of the longstanding request for a signal light right outside, at the 47th/Admiral intersection where Tatsuo Nakata was killed more than six years ago. Jerry Whiting from Jet City Orange video’d the group crossing the road:

The tour started on the California SW side of Admiral Safeway, with initial remarks by both the mayor and ANA president David Whiting as well as development discussions – including concerns about the proposed 400-foot-long apartment building at 3210 California SW, which goes to Design Review next month:

Next stop, the Lafayette Elementary playground, where Sean Reynolds explained the proposal for Phase 3 of playground (and vicinity) improvements that have been years in the making:

As you can hear Reynolds explaining to the mayor, the project has not made the draft cut for the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund; the mayor suggested the next Parks Levy (being readied for 2014, according to what City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw told the Delridge District Council this week) might be worth aiming for.

The tour proceeded westbound through residential neighborhoods and made two stops – first, to talk about bikeability in the area, with ANA president Whiting yielding the floor to Don Brubeck of West Seattle Bike Connections formed after, as ANA’s Whiting prefaced, it was noted that West Seattleites hadn’t been providing much input for the revision of the city’s Bicycle Master Plan:

Not too far west of there, the group paused for another development topic – the changing face of neighborhoods, with old houses coming down, and big ones, sometimes more than one per lot, going up:

And then it was on to the 47th/Admiral intersection, where ANA has been trying to get a stoplight, but has been told both that it’s very low on the SDOT priority list – and that it should try for an SDOT grant. Toward the end of the subsequent roundtable discussion inside Alki Mail’s coffee-shop area, ANA past president Katy Walum (who helped lead a demonstration/tribute at the site in November 2011) eloquently made the case. You can hear her at 11:41 into this next clip, after other issues – starting with the recent cuts in bus service, and continuing with a question about West Seattle and light rail:

The conversation continued past the scheduled 2 pm cutoff, and as the mayor acknowledged, it could easily have run much longer, but he was past due at his second West Seattle stop of the afternoon, Southwest Pool (WSB coverage here).

Meantime, as the mayor (a former neighborhood-council leader) said more than once during the tour, getting involved with your neighborhood council is the best way to have a say in what’s happening and what’s being planned; if you live or work in the Admiral area, ANA meets the second Tuesday of each month, usually at 7 pm in the lower-level meeting room of Admiral Congregational Church (California/Hill).

Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights’ new council talks crime prevention @ meeting #2

(West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network founders speak to the new WRAH council)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The second meeting of the new Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council drew more than 20 people, from a retired police officer voicing concerns about city politics, to educators from local schools, to representatives of community groups including the West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network and West Seattle Crime Prevention Council.

Crime prevention was the spotlight topic during the Wednesday night meeting at Southwest Library, with the Seattle Police crime-prevention coordinator for the Southwest and South Precincts, Mark Solomon, first up, after around-the-room introductions and words of greeting from facilitator Mat McBride, chair of the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council.

Click to read the rest of Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights’ new council talks crime prevention @ meeting #2…

Live/work in Westwood, Roxhill, or Arbor Heights? New community council’s 2nd meeting tomorrow

Though the usual meeting night will be first Tuesdays, this month only, the new Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights community council is meeting on the first Wednesday – and that’s tomorrow night. 6:30 pm, upstairs meeting room at the Southwest Library (35th/Henderson). Guest speaker is our area’s Seattle Police Crime Prevention Coordinator, Mark Solomon, to talk about community crime-prevention tactics including Block Watches, and to answer your questions. Also tomorrow night, council facilitator Mat McBride will help shepherd attendees through some organizational/leadership decisions. If you’re there, as he said last time (here’s our report on the first meeting), you’re a founding member! P.S. The council has a Facebook group here, and there’s a FB event page for the meeting here.

Admiral Neighborhood Association talks money and more

Sometimes, neighborhood councils really have to get down to business – as in, finances. They are not funded by the city, or by anyone else for that matter; some don’t even collect dues. But invariably, they have to handle money, and that requires some decisions.

The Admiral Neighborhood Association, for example, spent a chunk of time at Tuesday night’s monthly meeting talking about the process of becoming a 501(c)3 nonprofit. One major decision: Hire a professional to deal with the paperwork, rather than trying to deal with it themselves. Advantages, as noted by president David Whiting, would include having the pro empowered to deal directly with the IRS as needed. Also discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting: Updates including ANA involvement with the upcoming Hiawatha Community Center egg hunt on March 30th, and collaboration with Admiral merchants to provide prize baskets.

The Admiral Neighborhood Association meets second Tuesdays, 7 pm, at Admiral Congregational Church.

North Delridge Neighborhood Council members show their neighborhood love

(NDNC co-chair Parie Hines speaks while a heart collage is assembled; foreground, Amanda Leonard holds infant son Harpo)
Eleven adults and a baby comprised the turnout for last night’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting. Having the next generation on hand seemed especially appropriate, since the agenda looked to the future, as well as dealing with the present and past.

Icebreaker question: “What makes Delridge different from other neighborhoods?”

The first reply: “More greenspace per capita.”

One of the other answers: “Longfellow Creek.”

Yet another: “A very low number of snobby people.”

And yet another: “The number of engaged neighbors.”

Likely an offshoot of that: “The sheer diversity of community-driven events and initiatives.”

Closeness to downtown was mentioned too, as were two huge institutions in North Delridge – the Nucor Steel plant, and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, and last but not least, “The Delridge Move” – explained as, using Delridge’s continuous center turn lane to pass other cars.

They wrote their favorite things about Delridge on Valentine-style pieces of red paper – mentions for Dragonfly Park, Pearl’s Coffee and Tea, flowers in traffic circles, the Camp Long ropes course drew a mention, among others. (A collage resulted – in progress, in our photo above; see the full result on the NDNC website.)

What kind of projects and activities from the past would members like to do again? Building projects – like the playground – with a tangible result; small, social events like cider-press gatherings and ice-cream socials; street improvements (like the recent ones on 25th SW); community cleanups – which led to a side discussion about teaming up with nearby Puget Ridge if possible.

How to improve the neighborhood and strengthen love for it? Block parties, reaching out to neighbors, celebrate Neighbor Appreciation Day, Night Out block parties, organize walks … those were among the ideas offered. Also, periodically singling out a local volunteer for honors.

The community cleanup idea came back around, with beautification chair Lisa Taylor-Whitley suggesting monthly projects, not just the quarterly Adopt-A-Street. Perhaps they could focus on some of the area’s myriad stairways, it was suggested. (Watch the North Delridge Facebook group for event signup and pages.)

RESEARCH: A researcher who is studying this area as part of a UW project titled “Encountering Poverty: Everyday Life in Mixed-Income Neighborhoods” – told the group that she and her colleagues have been talking to people such as social-service professionals, and hope soon to start talking to neighborhood-council reps such as the NDNC members who were gathered for the meeting.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The DESC project’s Advisory Committee will meet at 6:30 pm Wednesday at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, with a focus on crime prevention/safety elements in the project’s design … Transportation Committee chair Jake Vanderplas said two new bus stops are supposed to be set up before the Metro service change on February 16 kicks in the intended path for Route 50.

NDNC meets the second Monday of the month, 6:30 pm, usually at Delridge Library, but sometimes elsewhere, so keep an eye on their website at ndnc.org!

North Delridge Neighborhood Council would love to see you tomorrow

For Valentine’s Day week, you can show your love for your local neighborhood council – starting, for North Delridge residents, with the ND Neighborhood Council at 6:30 pm Monday, at Delridge Library (Delridge/Brandon) – here’s the agenda summary from Parie Hines:

In honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day this week, we will be discussing what we love about Delridge, what we love about previous and ongoing projects of the NDNC, as well as the changes and improvements to the neighborhood that would strengthen our love. This will be a continuation and expansion of the very brief visioning exercise from the December meeting. Also on the docket is a discussion of the NPSF applications and numerous updates about the many things going on in our very lovable ‘hood.

‘Founding members’ gather to launch Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights community council

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Two weeks ago, Mat McBride offered in this WSB comment to help the Westwood/Roxhill neighborhood re-establish a community council – a vital step, he suggested, to banding together on issues including safety and crime prevention, top of mind following word of the Roxhill Park robberies.

Last night, McBride, who chairs the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council, shepherded more than 30 interested neighbors onto the path toward making a new council reality.

By the time the meeting convened at the Southwest Branch Library, Arbor Heights neighbors – also without a community council – had been invited too.

Click to read the rest of ‘Founding members’ gather to launch Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights community council…

Agenda announced for Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights community-council (re)launch

Tomorrow night – as reported here last week – it’s the regrouping/launch meeting for a Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights community council, 6:30 pm at the Southwest Branch Library (35th and Henderson), in hopes that will help neighbors join together to tackle community concerns including crime prevention. Mat McBride, Delridge Neighborhoods District Council chair, has just sent the agenda – see it here (PDF) or click ahead:

Click to read the rest of Agenda announced for Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights community-council (re)launch…

Date set for Westwood/Roxhill neighborhood council re-organization meeting (Arbor Heights invited too)

After the recent Roxhill Park robberies, it was suggested that it’s time for the Westwood/Roxhill neighborhood to re-organize a neighborhood council – and, if interested, perhaps even reach southward to Arbor Heights, which doesn’t have an active neighborhood council either. If you’re from any of those areas and interested in potentially being part of this, the date is set for a meeting to come find out more: Next Tuesday, February 5th, 6:30-8 pm at the Southwest Branch of the Seattle Public Library (35th and Henderson), according to Mat McBride, who chairs the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council (which includes reps from area community councils and other major organizations). Mat says the agenda’s still a work in progress,

Morgan Community Association: Lowman project, bike lane, festival updates

Live and/or work in the Morgan Junction area? Here’s what your community council – the Morgan Community Association – is up to, as discussed at MoCA’s quarterly meeting last night at The Kenney (WSB sponsor):

SEWER-OVERFLOW-CONTROL FACILITY AT LOWMAN BEACH: Doug Marsano from the King County Wastewater Treatment Division brought an update on the Murray (Lowman Beach) combined-sewer-overflow-control storage-tank facility planned across the street from Lowman Beach Park. As shown in our photo above, he brought renderings from the final design – which made the deadline to be submitted to the state by the end of 2012 – which includes some additional view spots for the public related to the wall (as shown in the materials from the December 11th community advisory group meeting). Regarding the timetable – by the time MoCA meets again in April, Marsano said, the buildings on the site will be gone. In the meantime, the county will go to bid soon for the major work on the project, which is expected to be completed by mid-to-late 2016.

Click to read the rest of Morgan Community Association: Lowman project, bike lane, festival updates…

Next chance to tour West Seattle fire stations: 1 month away

Tours of local Seattle Fire Department stations are always a hot ticket – and tonight we know that the city’s Neighbor Appreciation Day, exactly one month away, is your next chance, so here’s an early alert. SFD says three of West Seattle’s five fire stations will be open that day, 11 am-1 pm February 9th – Station 11 at 16th/Holden in Highland Park, Station 32 at 38th/Alaska in The Triangle, and Station 37 at 35th/Holden in Sunrise Heights. (The Department of Neighborhoods will announce other Neighbor Appreciation Day events soon.) WSB photo from Station 37 on 2012′s Neighbor Appreciation Day

Admiral Neighborhood Association kicks off 2013 Tuesday night

Live and/or work in the Admiral area? Start the new year by checking out your community council. David Whiting, newly elected president of the Admiral Neighborhood Association, sent word of the agenda for tomorrow night’s 2013 kickoff meeting . The agenda includes discussions of 2013 events – including ANA’s signature Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series – and an upcoming mayoral walking tour in The Admiral District. The group also will discuss recommendations for serving/supporting a local charity. All are welcome – even if you just want to observe; the meeting is at 7 pm Tuesday, lower-level meeting room at Admiral Congregational Church, California/Hill.

Aircraft concerns? FAA, port announce new meeting date/place

The Port of Seattle has announced the new date for what was originally an October 23rd meeting to talk with South and West Seattle residents about concerns related to “existing flight procedures” – such as noise and flight patterns. The rescheduled meeting to include representatives of the FAA, port (which runs Sea-Tac Airport), and county (which runs Boeing Field) is now scheduled for 6:30-8:30 pm Tuesday, November 13, at the auditorium of Cleveland High School (5511 15th Avenue South; map).

FAA’s flight pattern, aircraft noise meeting postponed

Next Tuesday’s planned meeting for Seattle’s south communities to talk with the FAA about aircraft noise and flight-pattern changes has been postponed, with no new date yet. So reports The Seattle Times (WSB news partner); we’ll check with the FAA tomorrow and let you know when there’s a new date. The meeting was announced a month ago following Mayor McGinn‘s request last month for a south-side meeting, after the FAA closed the comment period on the Greener Skies plan despite having meetings only in Ballard (WSB coverage here) and Federal Way.

Admiral Neighborhood Association: Tracking development; seeking a signal

How do you get early word of development/construction projects planned for your neighborhood – and if one goes to Design Review, what’s that like? Those were among the questions answered at this week’s monthly meeting of the Admiral Neighborhood Association – which also included other topics such as pursuing a grant to get a long-sought traffic signal:

Click to read the rest of Admiral Neighborhood Association: Tracking development; seeking a signal…

Followup: 36th/Morgan house, center of neighbors’ concerns, now boarded up

The house at 36th and Morgan that has been a hotspot of concern for its neighbors is boarded up tonight, with NO TRESPASSING signs.

It came to light here five weeks ago after this Crime Watch report about a suspected thief being chased there. In comments on that story, neighbors described frequently reporting the house to authorities for concerns including suspected stolen property. Then it came up at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting two weeks later (WSB coverage here), where City Attorney’s Office precinct liaison Melissa Chin talked about what could be done to deal with the situation. And late today, we got a tip about the boards and signs. We checked with Chin, who tells us that the owner had been under pressure from not only her office but also Seattle Police, the Department of Planning and Development (which had issued a citation for junk storage), and King County Public Health – so, Chin said, the owner “voluntarily kicked out the tenant, posted up ‘No Trespassing’ signs, cleaned up the yard, and told us she was going to board up the house.” Which, as our photo shows, was done. Meantime, the man whose arrest was noted in the original report has, so far, not been charged.

Neighborly night! West Seattle block parties celebrate Night Out 2012

6:00 PM: We’re on the road to check out Night Out parties around West Seattle – thanks in advance to everybody who e-mailed to say we’re welcome to stop by, and to everybody who shares a photo from theirs! Coverage to come.

6:12 PM: We’re stopping first in Westwood, where Aaron sent the invite. Above, a makeshift barricade that seemed synergistic with the just-ended strike. Or maybe just the best thing handy. Driving to this neighborhood, we passed five closed side streets in a row – everybody’s having a block party! More than 1,300 registered, says SPD. Here’s the early turnout on Aaron’s block:

Before leaving WSB HQ in Upper Fauntleroy, we loaned our neighborhood block party the tent we usually take to street fairs. The neighbors are bringing the fun stuff, like Bob with his authentic 1962 World’s Fair souvenir glass:

Our block’s been pretty quiet this year, despite bordering a two-arterial intersection. It’s been almost two years since the wrong-way hit-run crash.

6:30 PM UPDATE: Next stop, the block party in the Hansen View neighborhood, where West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network leaders Karen Berge and Deb Greer reside. And their neighborhood is signing up more neighbors for Block Watch, along with, of course, the block party repast:

6:51 PM UPDATE: From there, we veered over to Howie‘s neighborhood just uphill and west of Avalon/Genesee, where it’s a Hawaiian theme tonight:

They had the most creative flyer we’ve seen – we’ll have to add a link later. Baby Olivia was the youngest partier on hand:

Howie told us that Pagliacci Pizza had come by with three free pizzas. We then got a text saying they’re randomly picking Night Out parties to drop by with freebies – so maybe you’ll see them at yours!

7:04 PM UPDATE: Just south of Gatewood Elementary School, The Whale Trail‘s Donna Sandstrom invited us to stop by her block party. So you won’t be surprised to see what the kids are working on:

The inflatable orca made it into the group shot, too:

To the east of there, on the west-facing slope of Gatewood Hill, Cathy and neighbors had flags for decor – our group shot includes a few of them:

We’re told neighbor Fred decided to put them up. This party also had multiple grills going:

Next stops, Fairmount Springs and Seaview, before we zig-zag south again.

7:25 PM UPDATE: We’re taking neighborhood group shots when we can – here’s Alison‘s block party in Seaview:

And in Fairmount Springs – maybe more like east Morgan Junction – Jennifer and neighbors:

If you use Twitter, while the national hashtag tonight is #NNO, the local one is #seattlenightout. We’re tweeting along the way too.

7:38 PM UPDATE: Let’s call Kate‘s neighborhood east Gatewood, a couple blocks west of Fire Station 37:

And speaking of the Seattle Fire Department, we’re a few blocks east of Westwood Village now and a fire engine has just shown up – SFD and SPD are both making rounds tonight, to block parties that registered in advance on the official police page. Here’s Engine 11 from Station 11 with Amanda and neighbors:

(Minutes later, Engine 11 had to rush off on a call!)

Next party photo came to us via text (thank you!) – same number you text or call 24/7 if there’s breaking news, 206-293-6302:

The text just said that was a block party on 28th SW.

8:10 PM UPDATE: Another photo via text – the kids on 56th SW, Genesee Hill area, are enjoying a bouncy house at their block party:

When that came in, we were in Highland Park, 13th and Cambridge, where Lisa and neighbors gathered:

From there, west to Arbor Heights, where we stopped by JoDean‘s neighborhood – she’s a Block Watch captain and hosted the “Living Room Conversation” event with police that we covered back in March:

By the way, have you noticed the clouds tonight?

8:34 PM UPDATE: Just checked out a party south of The Junction (east of the California SW Rite-Aid), to say hi to Fiona and neighbors:

Meantime, from North Admiral, Erik shared photos from a block party on Palm:

They got a fire-engine visit, too:

By the way, we have also been by a couple that appear to have broken up early – since it’s mostly cloudy tonight, it’s darker than some past Night Outs have been by the last half hour.

8:46 PM UPDATE: That said, we’re now at 48th and Dawson, a few blocks west of the previous stop, where they’ve got a band!

This was probably the biggest party we stopped at all night – and these neighbors are proud of a past WSB group shot, too – Christopher Boffoli photographed them during a previous Night Out and that photo wound up on the SPD Night Out home page!

Very organized group – the dots here track which neighbors were on hand:

(added) From that same party, Nick later shared this photo of the neighborhood kids’ bike parade:

9 PM UPDATE: We wrapped up with a stop at Pagliacci in The Junction to check in on their pizza giveaway, mentioned earlier. Totals: 8 parties, $500 worth of pizza. Here’s the kitchen crew – who were almost too busy to stop for a pic:

Next, we’re adding the photos shared with us from parties we didn’t get to or didn’t know about. Here are the kids at a Belvidere block party:

That photo is courtesy of Sara, who says, “The kids loved having a closed street to play on.” Next, to Pigeon Point, where Pete Spalding (below right) shared photos, including this one of him with mayor/police liaison Harry Bailey (left) and SPD Capt. Joe Kessler, former SW Precinct commander, now the department’s Ethics and Professional Responsibility captain:

Chalk art graced the Pigeon Point party’s asphalt – visible in this photo of visiting Engine 36 from North Delridge:

Here’s a party in a park: Nine families who live just east of Hiawatha gathered there for Night Out:

Thanks to Sarah for the photo. It’s a night for so many to celebrate neighborhood pride; Maureen in the 9000 block of 13th SW in Highland Park wrote, “We have such an awesome block!” as she shared this picture:

Here’s Mark‘s block in Gatewood:

And Claire‘s neighborhood, block-partying in Seaview:

Night Out – originally National Night Out Against Crime – is in its third decade around the country (read its history here). The neighbors who know each other will watch out for each other, so the concept goes, and that ultimately means stronger, safer neighborhoods. If yours isn’t part of a Block Watch yet, you can find out here how to get one started.

Night Out this Tuesday: 2 updates, with 2 days to go

Now that it’s Sunday, just two days till this year’s Night Out – a time for community-building, crime-fighting block parties, coming up Tuesday night, 6-9 pm. Two updates right now:

NOT TOO LATE TO SIGN UP WITH SPD: We checked last week to see what the deadline is – and Seattle Police say there’s really not one; sign up your block party by Tuesday, get on the map, and make your party happen. How to do it:

*Go here to register (you can close off your non-arterial street without a permit or fee)
*Add your block party to SPD’s online map (not mandatory)
*Print your street-closure and neighborhood-invitation signs

WEST SEATTLE LIBRARIES GET IN THE ‘NIGHT OUT’ MOOD: Shared by children’s librarian Amy LaVare:

West Seattle’s libraries will be offering a variety of Night Out programs and displays during the week of August 7th. Night Out is an annual event promoting community spirit and safety. The Family Story Times at the High Point Branch on Monday, August 6, and at the Delridge Branch on Tuesday, August 7, will feature songs and stories about neighbors. All of the West Seattle libraries (Delridge, High Point, South Park, Southwest, and West Seattle) will have displays of “neighbors” or “nighttime” books, and your local librarians would love to help find you more items!

Your library locations/hours/programs are all online at spl.org.

P.S. If you’re having a Night Out party and wouldn’t mind if we stopped by for a photo – every year we make the rounds to stop by as many neighborhoods as we can – please e-mail us the location (and let us know if you or someone else will be the person we ask for when we get there) – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!

Morgan Community Association: Sewer project update; RapidRide; trees…

Can you imagine yourself gazing at Puget Sound views and potentially “sub-alpine meadow” landscaping from atop the sewer-overflow-reduction facility to be built across from Lowman Beach? A county rep brought the newest design plans to Wednesday night’s Morgan Community Association meeting, which also included a RapidRide update – read on:

Click to read the rest of Morgan Community Association: Sewer project update; RapidRide; trees……

Admiral Neighborhood Association: Concerts ahead; celeb emcees

(ANA’s Dave Weitzel and president Katy Walum at the post-4th of July Parade concession stand)
We covered another community-council meeting last night – the Admiral Neighborhood Association. Summer events were at the heart of the discussion. For one, the ANA-presented Summer Concerts at Hiawatha (co-sponsored by WSB) series starts July 26th, and while the music lineup (see it here) has been final for a while – and the poster’s now out:

And the emcee lineup has just been announced: Mayor Mike McGinn will be MC for the Caspar Babypants show on August 23, and (acting) Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams will MC The Braxmatics‘ show on Alki Beach on August 16th. The other four concerts will be emceed by West Seattle broadcast personalities – each one by either Marty Riemer or Jim Dever. ANA also plans to be in the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade on July 21st (and president Katy Walum mentioned that the Admiral merchants would be, too). And they’re pleased with how their concession sales went after the West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade a week ago – bringing in about $900 for the group (which is nonprofit and all-volunteer), including sales of 20 of their distinctive Admiral-logo T-shirts. P.S. ANA is taking August off, as many community councils do – keep an eye on their website for word of the September meeting.

Admiral Neighborhood Association: Ready for summer

Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Gearing up for a busy summer was the primary order of business at Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, led by president Katy Walum.  From the 4th of July Kids Parade to the Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, there will be no shortage of activity during the summer months, and ANA is ready to help make it happen.

As usual, the meeting was held in the lower level of Admiral Congregational Church (California/Hill) but was preceded by something new: A pre-meeting potluck to give neighbors a chance to get to know each other in light of recent violence citywide and community concern in West Seattle. Attendees brought a dish to share and deemed the event a success, and Walum said ANA will likely make it a regular prelude to their future meetings. “No pressure to stay for the meeting,” Walum added, “just a chance for neighbors to meet and talk.”

Highlights from the meeting itself: Click to read the rest of Admiral Neighborhood Association: Ready for summer…

West Seattle scene: Different kind of ‘neighborhood watch’ sign

Some streets have prefab “Neighborhood Watch” signs. Some are homemade. Then, there’s this:

Alicia shared that photo from 30th/Henderson in Westwood last night, saying it had just “popped up.” (We went over to verify – it’s still there.) Wondering if any specific recent incident had inspired the sign, we checked the city’s “incident response” map; nearest notable crime shown on the map is a burglary attempt early last Tuesday one block east, in which, according to the police report, the victim tried to scare off the suspect, who was reportedly trying to kick their door in, “by yelling for his wife to call the police and get his gun.” The report also says police arrested a suspect nearby.

Morgan Community Association: Updates on Murray CSO, RapidRide, festival…

Salvage work has started at the residential properties that will be demolished to make way for the million-gallon underground tank anchoring the Murray Basin Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Project. An update on the CSO project was one of several major items at Wednesday night’s Morgan Community Association meeting: Click to read the rest of Morgan Community Association: Updates on Murray CSO, RapidRide, festival……

Time-travel with the Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council

Well, in lieu of actual time-traveling, envisioning the future is the next best thing. And that’s what the Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council – which hasn’t had a general meeting in a while – is getting ready to do, with the help of as many interested neighbors as they can find! One week from tonight, the journey begins:

What would make our neighborhood a great place to live in 2020?

The GSNC is embarking on a neighborhood Vision 2020 planning process, and we want YOUR input and involvement! Please come to our next meeting and share your ideas with us:
• What do you like about our neighborhood now?
• What short- and long-term changes would you like to see?*

Thursday, April 26, 2012
6:30-7 p.m. Social Time (refreshments will be served)
7-8:30 p.m. Meeting (with lots of time for input and perhaps a speaker or two)
Howell Auditorium, West Side Presbyterian Church, 3601 California Avenue SW

* Some areas to think about:
Social events, parks, communication, traffic improvements, beautification projects, education and support, crime prevention, emergency preparedness, gardening, policy, shared interests/resources, volunteer opportunities

For more information (including a map), please visit our website at www.genesee-schmitz.org. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please send your name and email address to gsncouncil@gmail.com