Missing play slide: Theft, or a case of

Oliver May 19, 2010 (12:47 pm)

Where can we get the “kids Live Here” sign?

RainyDay1235 May 19, 2010 (1:03 pm)

Gotta say, the line “Our kids play, live, and learn in the parking strips of West Seattle” frightens me. Take them to one of dozens of beautiful and safe parks instead. And if I saw something sitting there – I’d think it was free too…

WSB May 19, 2010 (1:41 pm)

I need to remind you all of our DON’T BLAME THE VICTIM policy. For one, not everyone lives close to a park, and not everyone has a car, and not everyone has a back yard. That aside, doesn’t matter – theft is theft. We park our cars on the street and that doesn’t mean they’re free for the taking – TR

KBear May 19, 2010 (1:42 pm)

Kids should NOT be playing in the planting strips. Yes, drivers should slow down and pay attention, but children’s safety is far too important to leave to the judgement of whatever drivers happen to be passing through. It “should” be safe to wander through dark alleys late at night, too. Do you let your kids do that? And when you leave something of value in the planting strip, you could try putting a “Please Don’t Take This” sign on it, but I would expect the result to be the same. Again, stealing is wrong, but do you leave your front door wide open when you go out?

McBride May 19, 2010 (1:50 pm)

Sean, I’m sorry you lost your slide, and I hope you get it back.
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But planting strips are public domain, managed by SDOT. If you leave something out there, sooner or later, it’s going to go away. Whether it’s someone making the assumption that the item is free (a reasonable one at that – this is pretty common practice, after all), the garbage service, or even an SDOT maintenance crew, one way or another it’s going to go.
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Consider also that you are responsible for the planting strip. By placing the slide there, you are opening yourself up to legal risk. IF someone were to enter your yard uninvited and injure themselves on the slide, then they are trespassing. Not so on the planting strip – you will assume the liability.
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Here’s a link describing planting strips: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/stuse_faq.htm#gen1

Carson May 19, 2010 (1:51 pm)

KBear, you would like to think you could leave something out and it would be there the next day. I know its not reality, but thats the way it should be. I also live on a corner, one parking strip would be dangerous to play on, the other totally safe so tough to judge whats safe site unseen.

sean102 May 19, 2010 (2:02 pm)

One thing that never ceases to amaze me about parenthood is how much free advice is out there!

Bonnie May 19, 2010 (2:07 pm)

Why would kids be playing in a parking strip? Sorry the slide was stolen. It’s unsafe to play in a parking strip though.

Mano o'four May 19, 2010 (2:07 pm)

Funny this made it to WSB front page. I drove by such planting strip in the Belvidere neighborhood. I saw the plastic slide and it did look like a free item waiting for someone to give it a new house. I got off my car, and there was no “free” sign. So I left it there. Whoever took it should return it.
And the “cars parked on the street” analogy is a stretch. We all park on the streets because that is what they are for (besides driving your car, duh!). But play equipment on the parking strips? You don’t see that very often…

sean102 May 19, 2010 (2:10 pm)

KBear, I think you know the answer to your question, but I have one for you: Do you pack up all of your patio furniture and put it in your garage or house every evening?

Bender May 19, 2010 (2:15 pm)

I understand WSB’s comment above about not living near a park but what about keeping your block free of clutter? Not everyone wants to see your belongings left in the planting strip all the time. Imagine if everyone did that. Put your stuff away when you’re not using it. Why is WSB defending this person in this particular situation? The “victim” made a bad judgment call and now they’re paying the price.

WSB May 19, 2010 (2:25 pm)

Bender – because you can argue that MANY crime victims (assuming this is out and out crime – who knows) made a bad judgment call. We try to keep this a site where people can share information, even if it’s kind of embarrassing information like “I left my car unlocked and my stuff got stolen,” and NOT be attacked. That is our choice for how to run this site, in a day/age where there are PLENTY of “you come here at your own risk and get torn a new one” websites in the world. We are really proud of the fact that comments here are generally a cut above most other news sites, because we have rules and we do our best to keep them (we are not perfect, of course, some argue that we don’t always enforce them as rigidly as we should, or maybe we miss a comment we weren’t flagged to) – Tracy

Ken May 19, 2010 (2:17 pm)

We do NOT own the parking/planting strip. We have to mow it, but the sdot can come in and landscape or pave it without even notifying you.

Check with your homeowners policy and you health insurance provider, and even liability insurance and see if any will cover a loss or injury in the City of Seattle right of way.

If you allow bushes to obscure the roadway or the sidewalk, it can be trimmed and you will be billed.

If you don’t shovel the snow and someone falls you can be sued.

But it is not included in your deed as part of the parcel.

That zone also requires a 20ft setback from the property line for a front yard. If you buy a home for the view, you have to put up with the landscaped 45 degree slope that comes with it.

sean102 May 19, 2010 (2:41 pm)

Let me also throw this out there. If I had sent an email to the WSB stating that my dog had been stolen and attached a picture of cute little Fido sitting in the parking strip off leash with a speeding car in the background and overgrown shrubs by the sidewalk I have a feeling that all the bloggers would have sent out an APB about cute missing Fido and how to get him back. I don’t think the thread would have turned into how unsafe it was to pose the dog in the parking strip in violation of the leash law and would you cut back those doggone bushes and pick up the clutter??? Oh, and for the person wanting to know where to get the “Kids live Here” sign, look in the parking strips of your neighbors’ houses, OR contact the SDOT Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program.

4thGenWestSide May 19, 2010 (2:46 pm)

Sounds like it was an innocent mistake that someone took it. We aren’t used to seeing kids play equipment on the parking strips. Not passing judgment, just making an observation. Maybe in the future post a sign saying that the stuff is supposed to be there, and not looking for a new home.

knm May 19, 2010 (2:57 pm)

While I do agree that kids should not be playing in the parking strip, I do think people should ask before taking items that do not have a free sign. I agree the owner should have put a “don’t take” sign as it’s general common sense not to leave your stuff on the side of the road (or parking strip which is not your own property) unless you want it taken. I am curious if this happened on 35th Ave just north of the bridge. I once stopped and knocked on the door of a house that had a nice kids slide in the parking strip because I was interested in grabbing it if it was free.

Robert2715 May 19, 2010 (3:26 pm)

I’m quite confused with the “kids should not be playing in the parking strip meme” in these comments. It’s public property, why the heck not?

Maria May 19, 2010 (3:37 pm)

In my book: if it’s on the side of the road… it’s free.

If you don’t want to loose your belongings, put them away or label them as “not free”.

KBear May 19, 2010 (3:51 pm)

Sean, I certainly don’t leave my patio furniture on the planting strip, unless I want someone to haul it away. I also suspect the “thief” may not have even realized the item wasn’t up for grabs. Doesn’t make it right to take it, but that’s just one more reason not to leave stuff out there. As far as kids playing on the planting strip, they’re just a split second from being in the street. If they’re not paying attention, or a driver isn’t paying attention, the result could be deadly. Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t make it the right thing to do. That goes for where you let your kids play, as well as where you leave your belongings.

Bender May 19, 2010 (3:53 pm)

@Robert2715- because there are cars going upwards of 35 MPH down the streets literally right next to the strips? Ever seen a young kid trip over a rock or their own shoe laces? It’s an accident waiting to happen IMHO. But there’s no law against it I guess.

Kara May 19, 2010 (3:55 pm)

I lived in a very quiet neighborhood of West Seattle and the parking strip was just an addition to our land of play. It was our islands during hot lava monster and was the cushion after rolling down the hill in my front yard and it was used to slip down our slip ‘n slides during the hot summers.

Kb May 19, 2010 (4:38 pm)

Was the slide made of metal or plastic? If it was metal there is a good chance it was sold for scrap metal. There is a lot of that that goes on. I caught a couple guys roaming about picking “scrap” metal from our alley recently.

Robert2715 May 19, 2010 (4:44 pm)

Bender,

Most young kids have Velcro instead of shoestrings nowadays. :-) And anyone going by my house at more than 25 mph will get yelled at. It is a risk I’m willing to take.

@SW May 19, 2010 (4:53 pm)

When I lived on Capitol hill, then Beacon hill, and then later in Ranier valley, anything left in the parking strip / planting strip / meridian was fair game. Leaving something there meant you didn’t want it any more. On garbage day, the people doing the pickup would take some stuff, and every so often someone in a big truck would drive around and pick up just about anything that wasn’t in a yard (aside from your garbage can and car).

The slide didn’t disappear on garbage pickup day, did it?

Ken May 19, 2010 (5:26 pm)

If I see something on a parking strip, I don’t take it unless it’s explicitly marked as free… still, I’m always unsure. I have seen people leave things out without a sign and later confirmed that they did, indeed, want to get rid of it.

Re WSB’s comment about the comments on this site being a cut above: That’s for sure. I’ve seen some really terrible stuff on some of the other Seattle neighborhood blogs… and let’s not even talk about the comments on the Seattle Times website…

WSB May 19, 2010 (5:30 pm)

Thanks for the support, Ken. We don’t run this as a “neighborhood blog” – “blog” is only in our name as a holdover. We run this as a professional, commercial, community-collaborative, 24/7 news site. But we also are lucky to have some national forums in which to discuss what we (and others) consider best practices, and our point is: We don’t need you to register and use real names for comments to be at least semi-civil. (Public meetings don’t require you to flash ID to speak, why should a website?) We just need to have rules and do our best to enforce them. Thanks to everybody for honoring that – TR

Concerned May 19, 2010 (6:24 pm)

Yeah, sorry it was taken … but, yep, when you see something on the side of the street it’s usually free!

… uhmmm, and a parking strip is NOT a place for kids to play! I live on a quiet street and the kids are not allowed to play on the parking strips!!! DANGER!!!

casual observer May 19, 2010 (6:43 pm)

“we run this as a professional, commercial, community-collaborative, 24/7 NEWS(??) site??? since when WSB??? I’ve read plenty in other WSB “news” w/commentary right here (thinking of that fatal accident on Admiral not very long ago)that was not “above the cut”, yet they stayed published. I noticed earlier in the day there was a comment that is now removed that is no worse than what is still published here (and much lighter than some of what appeared on the admiral accident news blog). Bottom line, from reviewing this particular “news”, the owner of the slide should have thought twice about leaving their belonging out by the street and anyone thinking about taking something that is not theirs should maybe ask. If we are all not allowed to share our differing viewpoints (that are not always going be friendly commentary) then what is the point of adding to this blog anyway?

AnotherIdiotInWS May 19, 2010 (7:19 pm)

Of all the things to worry about in our community, and this thing gets lots of comments/parental advice on where kids should or should not play. Sigh…

LiouxLioux May 19, 2010 (7:53 pm)

When I was a kid, we didn’t have parking strips! It was the sidewalk or the middle of the street. In center city Philadelphia. Middle of the street usually won out for playing bottlecaps, halfball or double-dutch jump roping. I think Gen-X got the last good wild childhood.

ricky bobbie May 19, 2010 (8:58 pm)

it is common knowledge that if something is left in the parking strip it is up for grabs! I have taken stuff with and without a free sign. I think it started when the city sponsored neighborhood clean up days. EVERYONE would put our their stuff and EVERYONE ELSE would come and look at it and take. Then the city came by and took it all to the dump. FOR FREE! Then they just started mailing free dump run coupons. But still the tratition remains. Come to think of it, I have some “garbage” I need to put out in my 10 foot wide playground, er, I mean parking strip.

Pinkfeathers May 19, 2010 (9:02 pm)

I’m sorry the slide got stolen or misplaced, but I was always taught that anything in that area of the street was fair game especially during a garbage pick up day.

For the children playing in the street – Don’t forget this article

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/418636_fatal18.html?source=rss

Are your kids worth the risk? It only takes a split second. How would you feel if your kid gets hit by a neighbors car?

Michael May 19, 2010 (11:38 pm)

I’ll add to the many, and suggest to WSB that the “victim” doesn’t understand that MANY junk items get put out on planting strips without signs.
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I’ll also point out that the secondary “victim” is perhaps a good soul trying to make sure junk doesn’t clutter planting strips (and I might add that there’s a financial cost to that).
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So if we’re on a “don’t blame the victim policy,” we might first want to determine who’s the victim.

Kayleigh May 20, 2010 (8:05 am)

LouixLoiux, I think GenX got the last sane childhood. We didn’t expect cars to watch out for us; we were taught to watch out for cars, whether we were on the planting strip or elsewhere. Now I’m gonna go drink directly out of the hose and throw lawn darts. ;-)

literal reader May 20, 2010 (9:13 am)

The person with the slide did not say that their kids “play live and learn” in the parking strips unsupervised. I regard this type of commentary to be a bit below the belt and this is what WSB is responding to. When someone posts about a slide that was mistakenly taken and readers respond with comments on the person’s parenting skills and their naivety, it just doesn’t promote our West Seattle community.

Kara May 20, 2010 (9:30 am)

I’m so shocked that all the neighborhood kids and my cousins didn’t die while playing on the sidewalks, streets, parking strips, alleys…its better to have locked us inside with our handheld PS54-Nintendo-Wii-Xbox5’s…Oh, wait we didn’t have those…

HolyKow May 20, 2010 (12:16 pm)

If you do not want people to blame the victim, then do not post things where the victim is at fault for making a bad decision and we will gladly comply with that policy.

Thanks for removing my clearly stated profanity free logical post….

hk

WSB May 20, 2010 (12:22 pm)

Holy, you can blame the victim all you want. You just can’t do that in WSB comment sections.
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People can choose not to follow WSB rules – what few rules we have – and if they make that choice, their comments will be removed, or will not be approved in the first place, if they had been held for moderation.
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All businesses (and many other types of entities) have rules, whether it’s “no shoes/no shirt/no service,” or “don’t blame the victim/don’t use profanity,” to name a couple. If you choose to not follow WSB rules, that is a decision to not participate here, and we respect your right to make that decision. Thanks – TR

all badd May 20, 2010 (12:30 pm)

Kids got all the right in the world to play on parking strips.I logged thousands of hours of tackle football on sidewalks.a million memories.to many whiny,snot nosed newbs in w.s. these days…waaah,get a coffee,and go play under your gazebo’s

KBear May 20, 2010 (12:46 pm)

I think there’s a difference between “blaming the victim” and having a constructive, civil discussion about what could have been done differently to avoid an undesirable outcome in the future. It brings out people’s differing perspectives and expectations of living in community. While the cause/effect relationship seems obvious when one leaves one’s valuables in an unlocked car and then they’re stolen, apparently people have different ideas about personal belongings left on the planting strip. Who knew? I think whether it’s considered “blaming the victim” should depend on the situation, too. In this case, no one was hurt or killed, so the “victim’s” grieving friends and relatives aren’t reading this discussion. The loss was relatively minor; it’s not like their house burned down or anything. And there hasn’t been any name-calling. “Don’t blame the victim” is an excellent rule, but I think it should be applied with some regard to the situation at hand.

WSB May 20, 2010 (12:50 pm)

And that’s exactly why most of the comments in this thread have stood. Applying this policy is an art, not a science, as someone else pointed out with regards to more-ragged comment threads on far more heinous incidents; we do the best we can. Regarding “everybody KNOWS if it’s on the parking strip it’s free” – WHAT? I have never heard that in my life, and I would not expect to have anything stolen from anyplace around my house. Had a nice planter stolen once from under the hedge on the non-planting-strip side of the sidewalk on the busiest street-side of our house, and now I wonder if that’s because “everybody KNOWS if you leave it there it’s fair game.” Unless a big huge sign says FREE!!!!! I wouldn’t EVER assume anything is. Then again … they teach us in my profession not to assume anything, ever! – TR

JW May 20, 2010 (1:18 pm)

I jog past this house every day around 5 AM. I saw this slide (plastic, small, not in great shape) one morning this week at about that time, sitting on the parking strip, facing the street and almost at the curb. It definitely had that “free junk” look about it and I don’t blame anyone for assuming otherwise. It had obviously been left out (on public property) overnight– so I’m not sure the “don’t blame the victim” cautions are really valid in this case. Not sure how “victimized” you can be, when you leave stuff out overnight that is NOT on your property.

Bogie May 20, 2010 (1:59 pm)

We always played in the parking strip growing up, even though we had the front yard too. Some games were just better played on the strip! And it was the only place the slip’n slide would fit without having to cross cement! But we lived on a long block, without any through traffic. If we were on 35th, then no, I doubt we would have been playing on the parking strip. It’s all relative. We were also taught not to run into the street and our neighbors all knew us, and we knew them. I was lucky to grow up in a great neighborhood. Plus our parents were always close. There is nothing wrong with playing in the planting strip! I don’t even have a planting strip or sidewalk at my current house. Should I not allow my kids into the front yard? Should we never walk anywhere?

mickey mouse May 20, 2010 (2:19 pm)

My oh my, I can’t believe all the folks who think kids playing on the parking strip and sidewalks are in terrible danger. I have always been cautions with my kids but they have to play somewhere. I agree that the WS newbies need to chill out. RELAX a little.

sandy May 20, 2010 (2:38 pm)

Wow!. WSB, You are really touchy today ! I don’t want people to make rude, disparaging remarks to each other either. I would, however, like to hear DIFFERENT opinions, not just the ones that mirror YOUR own thoughts. This is a situation where there were no victims, only volunteers.

I would be humiliated if I were caught taking something left on the curb that was not intended to be “free”. But I think that putting unwanted
stuff on the planting strip is a very common thing.For most people it is cheaper than taking it to the dump or donation bin. For others it is a way to recycle.

HolyKow May 20, 2010 (3:46 pm)

Sandy,

Reason is that the person who is complaining may be wrongheaded. But we cannot say that.

oops…..

hk

Michael May 23, 2010 (12:41 pm)

The problem is not in a “don’t blame the victim policy,” but with WSB being the sole arbiter of who the “victim” is.
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That’s why you’re seeing your readers having a problem with it – it’s a signal that maybe you’ve strayed off the path of journalism into opinion.