WEEK AHEAD: Discuss West Seattle Junction parking-lot sites’ future on Thursday

| Development | West Seattle news

(WSB44th/Oregon lot

West Seattle’s biggest community event this week will be on Thursday night (October 21st), when the West Seattle Junction Association hosts an open house about a vision for the future of the four parking-lot sites at 42nd/Oregon, 44th/Oregon, 44th/Alaska, and 44th north of Edmunds. As announced last month, the 6:30 pm online event will also include Community Roots Housing, which has made a $14 million city-backed offer to the lots’ owners, and architects Ankrom Moisan. The issue, says WSJA – which has long leased the lots – is not whether the lots will be redeveloped, but when, how, and by whom. They want community voices to be heard. You’ll find participation information for the meeting – videoconferencing or by phone – by going here.

Anne October 17, 2021 (8:19 pm)

Well at least they say they want community voices to be heard-whether they actually listen to those voices & incorporate community ideas /address community concerns- we’ll see.

eric October 17, 2021 (8:57 pm)

Hi Rises here we come. Parking spaces won’t be required. Lots more people. Yay!

citygovtsucks October 18, 2021 (9:43 am)

well, that’s good for anyone that cares about affordable housing.
- Foop October 18, 2021 (10:49 am)
  
  And for local business.
- SpencerGT October 18, 2021 (2:09 pm)
  
  You can care about affordable housing and about having enough parking.

Admiral dad October 17, 2021 (9:38 pm)

Why cant one of the sites be a multilevel parking garage? Thry exisit everywhere except west seattle.all these micro units and no parking space apartment buildings- COME ON.Its now or never West Seattle, WE NEED PARKING SPACES….

Hmmm October 17, 2021 (11:04 pm)

Great idea. Can have ground level retail, a living wall and a roof top deck that can be rented out so it doesn’t look so much like a garage. Problem is they are crazy expensive to build relative to what you get in rent. Hard to pencil and finance. But from a community perspective, I would support it 100%.
Justind October 18, 2021 (7:44 am)

Great idea. Parking is valuable for both businesses and residents. A parking structure would mean parking has a smaller footprint to allow for other businesses and residents to move in. Providing parking would be a great service for the city to provide. I’ve spent time in a city where the city runs certain parking garages and gives free parking for the first 90 minutes. It’s a great system.
Foop October 18, 2021 (10:51 am)

Car storage is one of the most inefficient uses of space and funds. Not to mention is exacerbates traffic in every direction, which in turn increases emissions, noise pollution, etc. I’d much rather expand transit significantly than add a multilevel car storage box.
- Justin October 18, 2021 (1:16 pm)
  
  Well said! We absolutely do not need this. Multilevel garages are extremely expensive, with their costs and, as foop describes, their externalities borne by those who live in and frequent the area. The Junction is an urban village, making it one of the few places in Seattle where you can legally build multifamily housing, and that is exactly what we should be building here.

SpencerGT October 17, 2021 (11:27 pm)

I don’t think that we need all four, but keeping two would make sense.

anonyme October 18, 2021 (7:31 am)

These lots are at the heart of West Seattle’s commercial district, which can reasonably be expected to expand as time goes on. Transforming those spaces (and the Junction) into one massive, low-income housing project is neither a balanced plan nor a practical one. A mix rather than a mono culture always makes for a more vibrant community.

AMD October 18, 2021 (10:08 pm)

Weird, I always thought the businesses were at the heart of West Seattle’s commercial district. How can they be expected to expand when we keep favoring car storage over housing that would literally being hundreds of new customers to the businesses’ doorsteps?

skeeter October 18, 2021 (8:23 am)

No more parking!! Streets are already too congested. We should be removing parking spaces, not adding them.

Buck October 18, 2021 (12:24 pm)

Spoken like a true West Seattle clueless tree hugging liberal, and I’m a liberal! To those of us who work for a living, I need my car to get to work away from the Island, and to get around during the work day, and to visit friends and yes, to park!
- RW October 19, 2021 (1:15 pm)
  
  I’m a liberal, too, and totally agree with you. I’ve given up on the W.S. Junction, and never go there anymore, which saddens me because I’ve spent my entire life in W.S. and the Junction was always a big part of it.. The lots are too expensive and street parking is just about non-existent. I’ll shop and dine elsewhere that offers free parking.
cheeseWS777 October 18, 2021 (6:18 pm)

Makes the street more congested as everybody drives in circles looking for an open parking space. Getting rid of parking doesnt get rid of cars.

Buddy October 18, 2021 (8:50 am)

There’s needs to be tons more parking up at the Junction!

transgirlinSEA October 18, 2021 (8:53 am)

I think the one behind Chase and Verity (44th/Oregon) should be kept because as it stands the only official parking that really exists for them is the 2 spots at the back of their buildings. Otherwise people have to go over to the lot there.

FollowTheMoney October 18, 2021 (9:37 am)

Parking garage! With a green roof! And reasonable rates – owned by a local biz collective so that once it’s paid down the rates pay for maintenance. If it’s tall enough why not affordable housing too? WS Junction biz will suffer if we take away all of the parking. Soon people will be parking at QFC and then they will start charging for parking and then that lot will be full and then I’ll get groceries far away so that I can pack 8 bags in my car and while I’m there run to Target instead of our cute art and toy shops because people are busy and broke.

Ice October 18, 2021 (11:35 am)

Depending on a different few factors, paying for parking is often cheaper than driving your car additional miles for free parking. Wear-and-tear is often more expensive than most people realize, especially in stop-and-go traffic in a city.

Azimuth October 18, 2021 (12:48 pm)

If more density is coming then more open, green park space needs to come with it.

Derek October 18, 2021 (12:57 pm)

No parking garages! Discourage driving! Need to plan for the future and not for the now. I want more bars and entertainment options. Arthouse cinemas and gathering spaces for LGBTQ!

transgirlinSEA October 18, 2021 (1:54 pm)

I see a lot of people saying no parking – only transit….but have you considered that not everyone is able to take transit or that when they need to go places, it’s not at a “standard” time? Someone may need to go to the bank after hours because of their work/home schedule….but it’s not when transit is running near them so what do they do? They drive.

Thomas October 18, 2021 (3:04 pm)

Totally agree! There will still be parking in The Junction even after these lots are gone. After standard hours it should be rather easy to find street parking or park in one of the half dozen smaller lots dotted around the area. These things have a way of working themselves out in every city. In fact less parking usually makes it easier to find parking because fewer people are driving to a place expecting to find it and decide to arrive some other way. In a scenario where there’s high density and reasonable transit, the people who absolutely NEED to use a car still may actually have an easier time because everyone else is walking, biking, scooting, or riding.
Derek October 18, 2021 (3:54 pm)

Those people should adjust their schedule then to transit. Cars aren’t the only option. I do all those kind of errands and I take the bus to do so. Just saying.
- Auntie October 18, 2021 (7:45 pm)
  
  Two buses and at least a half hour to get from my house to the Junction. Preceded by a five-minute walk from my house to the bus stop, which is very difficult for me on my best day. Five minutes in my car. Glad you are able to take the bus, but it’s just not feasible for me.
- Wseattleite October 19, 2021 (6:26 pm)
  
  To date, I have been 100% unsuccessful in transporting a mattress on the bus.

Chris K October 18, 2021 (2:31 pm)

I’ll echo the “no more parking” crowd. We need more density and fewer cars.

Park-N-Ride October 18, 2021 (5:20 pm)

Many transit heavy neighborhoods have park n rides that allow people to drive to bus hubs. It would be fantastic to have a garage near/in the junction that could be used for both shoppers and commuters. I never take the water taxi because I’d have to drive there and parking is a nightmare. The junction isn’t much better as so many people have to park on the street because new developments don’t provide adequate spaces. I’d love to use public transportation, but need to drive to it in order to do so. If I can’t find parking, I drive.Perhaps the adjacent high density developers should contribute to this site for a park n ride?

HG October 18, 2021 (6:12 pm)

How about a light rail station like Beacon Hill has? It would bring vibrancy to the area and business for shops. It’s a nice empty corner lot next to existing transit and if they needed to dig that area might be able to support it. It would also make it faster or more convenient for West Seattleites to get to and from Downtown or possibly the stadiums too. I think it could be a win/win for everyone.

cheeseWS777 October 18, 2021 (6:26 pm)

When i had to wait for buses everywhere i went as compared to now that i have a car, the ratio of things i am able to get done in a day is mind boggling. So saying everybody needs to take transit doesnt work for everybody, only people who do only 1 or two destinations a day where people arent relying on them to be on time everytime. Especially with bus cuts happening randomly yet all the time. Sorry, but a car free utopia future just dont work for me and id like to be able to park somplace other then hopping onto your sidewalk

Wseattleite October 18, 2021 (7:23 pm)

I am all for density FOR parking. Opens up space for transit, shops, housing etc. Multilevel garage makes alot of sense.

Kathy October 18, 2021 (7:38 pm)

Instead of worrying about car parking, how about everyone take a week to give up driving? Specifically October 22-29, in order to show compassion and appreciate the real challenges faced by people who can’t drive a car, either because of a disability or due to financial hardship. Week Without Driving: Fri, Oct 22 – Fri Oct 29 with Disability Rights WA. Sign up for a week without driving and share your experiences with #WeekWithoutDriving

cheeseWS777 October 19, 2021 (6:14 pm)

That would mean are cars would have to b parked somewhere

Mel October 18, 2021 (7:45 pm)

How do we share feedback if we can’t make it to the meeting? I would like to at least write an email about the development of the lots.

WSB October 18, 2021 (9:07 pm)

You can email the individual planner on any project with comments at any time before a permit is issued. The “meeting info here” links above go to pages that also have the planner’s name. In most cases, the email address will be firstname.lastname@seattle.gov – google to be sure (most of the Design Review-assigned planners will come up).
- Mel October 19, 2021 (9:18 am)
  
  I must’ve missed something. Are these lots owned by the city of Seattle? I was thinking they were privately owned.
  - WSB October 19, 2021 (9:24 am)
    
    Apologies, my view of comments is in one giant bucket regardless of story and I mistook this for a comment on the story about upcoming Design Review meetings. For this, you can email The Junction at info@wsjunction.org.

Yes2WS October 18, 2021 (8:00 pm)

@ParkNRide, the water taxi has a couple of shuttle routes; Alaska Junction and Admiral Junction. Plenty of places to park and hop on a free shuttle to the waterfront if you’re wanting to experience the water taxi.

Flivver October 18, 2021 (8:27 pm)

cheeseWS777. The nobody needs a car(but i have one and drive when i need/want to) crowd is just sure less parking will magically make cars disappear. They hope that happens so they have more parking for them.

JeffK October 19, 2021 (8:24 am)

In European towns, for at least a couple of decades, there would be subsidized underground parking under California from Edmunds to Oregon and 2 adjacent blocks under Alaska with easy to spot blue parking garage signs with a readout of how many parking stalls are available. Above this garage the two blocks of California would be a pedestrian mall and public space.Public transit service on adjacent streets; parking underneath and out of view with super easy access; landowners can fully develop their properties. If only we could get out of our paradigm we’re stuck in.

Sorry, comment time is over.