DEVELOPMENT: 4448 California gets final Southwest Design Review Board approval

(Rendering by Atelier Drome)

Without many big projects in the pipeline, meetings of the Southwest Design Review Board – which could meet up to twice a month, with up to two projects on each agenda – have been few and far between. In an online meeting Thursday night, the all-volunteer board took its third look at 4448 California SW, the mixed-use project set to replace the commercial building that currently holds Doll Parts Collective and a new temporary location of West Seattle Coworking. The 7-story building is proposed for 96 apartments – described by the project team as “a mix of 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom” units – and ground-floor commercial, with no offstreet-parking spaces.

The board has had some changes since its second look at the project in November; Patrick Cobb is now the chair, and two of the other three members in attendance were new – Brenda Baxter and Gavin Schaefer. Of the two continuing members, Alan Grainger was present and Johanna Lirman was absent. The city planner assigned to the project also has changed since the November review; now it’s David Sachs.

Here’s the design packet used for the meeting. There were no major remaining points of concern, and the only public comment that came in during the meeting was positive. It was noted that some written comments had been received pre-meeting about aspects outside the SWDRB’s jurisdiction – including parking and density. Board members observed that the architects from Atelier Drome had revised the design in accordance with guidance given by the board in November. They spelled out five points they want to see addressed before the final design gets official city approval. Those include differentiating the residential entry from the commercial entry and signage; they were concerned the commercial signage would get lost under the awning, and pointed to signage on the edge of the awning at the nearby AJ Apartments as an example of how that problem could be avoided. Another focus area is the bicycle-storage room access, ensuring lighting and security.

WHAT’S NEXT: If you have comments about the project – design or otherwise – you still have time to email Sachs (david.sachs@seattle.gov). He’ll write the final report on the project, and it still has other phases of the permit process to go through before construction can begin.

84 Replies to "DEVELOPMENT: 4448 California gets final Southwest Design Review Board approval"

  • 4thGenWestSide August 7, 2022 (3:24 pm)

    No off street parking.  Wow. 

    • Chemist August 7, 2022 (6:23 pm)

      They’re proposing 0 offstreet car parking spots but they’re required to have 99 long term and 10 short term bike parking spaces according to the plan (I think that’s a slight over-estimate of the requirements actually).  The bike parking room is nearly as big as the trash room.  I do think the city does a disservice when it builds apartments with zero off-street spaces planned though.  Even if every unit averages a resident living there for 3 years, you’d still expect 3 move-outs and 3 move-ins needing to park moving trucks of a modest size each month….  and there’ll be a lot of package deliveries for 96 units too.  Is the street parking in front of this property going to be short-term only?

  • 4thGenWestSide August 7, 2022 (3:25 pm)

    Yikes. No off street parking.  Wow. 

  • Alki Jack August 7, 2022 (3:53 pm)

    96 APARTMENTS, plus ground floor retail…………..and NO PARKING SPACES. Hope they have enough people living in the Junction riding bikes and taking buses to fill the units they keep building with no parking spaces and keep the restaurants busy. I don’t ever go to the auction anymore. I live on Alki, there is no where to park and I am not riding a bus and transferring several times. Too many good restaurants and businesses elsewhere.

    • JVP August 7, 2022 (6:53 pm)

      There’s more parking lots here than pretty much any other neighborhood center in Seattle. It’s not free anymore, but that’s city livin’.

    • Peter August 7, 2022 (10:46 pm)

      Nowhere to park? That’s nonsense. There is ample parking in the Junction. I’ve literally never been unable to find free street parking within a couple of blocks. 

    • West Seattle Mad Sci Guy August 8, 2022 (9:50 am)

      You said: “I am not riding a bus and transferring several times”.  What I don’t understand – the 50 bus goes directly from Alki to Alaska Junction. There are no transfers.

  • Admiral Res August 7, 2022 (3:55 pm)

    Legitimate question (I have not closely followed the history on this proposal):  How on earth does a 96 residential unit building in the Junction with No off-street parking not get laughed out of the Board meeting on day one?  Is it really just not required since since the Junction is “located within a frequent transit service area,” per language in the design packet?  Is that really it? Anyone can throw an additional 100 residences into the Junction with no parking accommodation?  I’ll use understatement, and just say I’m confused about this..

    • Morgan August 7, 2022 (4:37 pm)

      To justify the huge expense of transit additions and creating a “floor” of new train riders they need land use to basically nudge folks out of cars and start shifting modes, while creating a captured base of users. Of course no one knows where that tipping point is…and whether over a thirty year horizon to justify tens of billions in transit construction other technologies (remote work ride share or something not dreamed yet) makes it obsolete—but guess the point is to right the wrong of a train vote like forty years ago?

      • Kevin on Delridge August 7, 2022 (5:36 pm)

        You’ve described building a city. We know you want a suburban hellscape where you’re required drive a car for every aspect of your life. You’re welcome to move on out if you only care about being able to shuttle yourself around in a car.

        The rest of us would sure like to reclaim the space.

        • Okalready August 8, 2022 (4:17 am)

          Says a person who I’m guessing doesn’t have school aged kids that require shuttling to endless activities. Oh and someone who has to balance that with thier own work schedule. Or, maybe I deserve to be exiled to the suburban hellscape for not fitting this narrow definition of effective city dweller?  Bikes and buses don’t solve for everything. Cars are not a crime. Builders should be accountable to include at least some parking. Zero parking is negligence. 

    • Ryan Packer August 7, 2022 (6:56 pm)

      The design review board doesn’t have any authority over the amount of parking.

    • jw August 7, 2022 (7:49 pm)

      Well, someone should have a say in no off street parking. Another apartment box, with no parking and retail space? Can’t fill the empty retail spaces not, so add more empty spaces? Please stop this, West Seattle is becoming an apartment nightmare!!!

      • AB August 7, 2022 (8:12 pm)

        What is an “apartment nightmare?”

        • Random Geek August 8, 2022 (9:12 am)

          Is that the one where you wake up in the lobby in just your underwear? 

      • Kevin on Delridge August 8, 2022 (9:31 am)

        People are living an a way I don’t like! Why don’t they just buy a single family home!?

        What’s that, remove single family zoning to allow for more duplexes, triplexes, garden communities? But my property value and “neighborhood character”!

        Seattle is a nightmare because of folks like yourself.

  • KM August 7, 2022 (3:56 pm)

    2 and 3 bedroom units, wonderful! 

  • BJG August 7, 2022 (4:07 pm)

    When developers offer three-bedroom apartments, they will  attract families. Families with children generally have vehicles. The street parking near Oregon is already occupied by other tenants without parking in their buildings. When will there be a requirement that these properties provide parking on-site?  Ninety-six units with zero spaces is ridiculous. 

    • Random Geek August 8, 2022 (9:14 am)

      Or, given the cost of rent, it’ll attract 2-3 roommates sharing an apartment. Or, given current remote work, a couple who wants offices for each partner (our situation). 

    • Eric August 8, 2022 (4:15 pm)

      I’m going to presume the people moving in are adults who are smart enough to look at the apartment listing before signing. Parking is but one of many optional amenities that apartments can offer. It’s certainly nice to have a clothes washer/dryer available in your home. Most people are willing to pay a bit more rent for that convenience. If the apartment doesn’t have that you’d better have some idea of where the nearest laundromat is (and how much it costs) before you sign a lease. We still don’t have laws requiring every apartment to have a washer though. Same goes for parking. If you own a car it’s certainly nice to have parking available in the building. If the building doesn’t offer that amenity you’ll need to consider whether there’s available parking for a reasonable price anywhere else in the neighborhood. If there isn’t, you shouldn’t rent that apartment.

  • Morgan August 7, 2022 (4:33 pm)

    Blegh green. Blegh boxyness and steel awning tack ons. 3 bedrooms? That’s nice.but yeah, more pressure I hope to underground into multi levels disappearing surface parking lots.if You add all the discretionary income of 20 more apartment buildings of similar size, it’s not going to generate the spend of neighborhood residents driving over, parking in surface lot, and jetting off for the vitality of small shops and restaurants. Time to be real about that.

  • John August 7, 2022 (5:32 pm)

    The more valid question is, where would all of those 96 cars go when emerging from the garage if we continue to add new cars to Seattle’s already beyond capacity car lanes.
    Time to monetize all street parking, level the playing  field and stop subsidizing the doomful automobile supremacy. 
    These new buildings not requiring people to pay for $100,000 parking spaces will be less expensive than those with parking.  

    Wake up folks, it’s obvious to anyone out and about in West Seattle that families are adopting these electric bikes etc. for car-free convenience. 

    • Pat August 7, 2022 (7:37 pm)

      The more valid question is:what does one do when their bike gets stolen while out and about ?Now they have no car AND no bike and property crimes are not even on the list of enforcement priorities. 

  • Delridge resident August 7, 2022 (5:37 pm)

    Imagine orienting your entire life around parking spaces and getting mad that parking minimums aren’t built into buildings you’ll never live in. Stay classy WSB commentors.

    • BJG August 7, 2022 (7:39 pm)

      Since when did “class” have anything to do with reasonable neighbors whose opinions disagree with yours? State your position and leave it there. That would be “classy.”

      • Kevin on Delridge August 8, 2022 (9:34 am)

        Opinions are just that. Convert them into defensible positions that are actually useful with data and discussion. That would be “classy.” Are you up to the task?

  • DeJay August 7, 2022 (6:39 pm)

    no parking!  that’s incompetence.  to say that no one (living in West Seattle) will not own a car is ludicrous.  This will only add to more car owners shifting their cars around on the available street spots.  Yet again, the city is doing nothing to reduce the common complaints of the “people”  Just incompetence

  • Pat August 7, 2022 (6:42 pm)

    I often wonder about this push to get everyone on bikes and e-bikes. It works great on paper but how does it work when you find your lock cut (yes the perps are carrying metal grinders)…And there is really no active enforcement against stealing bikes—even expensive ones. Now you have no car, no parking AND no bike…And the light rail is more than a few years away  Curious about today, not down the road.  Open to suggestions…

    • Eric August 8, 2022 (3:58 pm)

      “How does it work” to move on after a stolen bike? Well, if you walk out of a building and find your bike stolen, you’ll have to find another way home. Bus/walk/rental scooter/Uber are all possibilities depending on where you are, where you need to go, and how fast you need to get there. Then you’ll need to get a new bike.It’s unfortunate when this happens, yes, but it’s not as though getting around the city when your primary mode of transport fails is some new problem that bike riders are encountering for the first time. When thieves sawed the catalytic converter out of my car last year I had to deal with the same sorts of inconveniences, and the repair cost more than all but the very fanciest tier of electric bikes.As to your suggestion that nobody without a car would live in this building: maybe the building isn’t near light rail now, but it will be for most of its life. Doesn’t it make some sense to design with an eye toward the future?

  • JVP August 7, 2022 (6:48 pm)

    The Junction is going to get way too busy with all these car-less apartment renters stuck here. It’ll be so jammed that no one is going to came here anymore and our restaurants will all go bust. 

    • Not Togi Berra August 8, 2022 (7:49 am)

      I’m sorry, can you help me understand how “the businesses in the Junction will go bankrupt because there are too many people near them” is a logical statement.

      “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” – Yogi Berra

      Are you suggesting that the new car-less apartment renters will all deliberately chose to live directly next to businesses that they have no interest in patronizing?

    • Kevin on Delridge August 8, 2022 (9:36 am)

      This is the logic of our neighbors, truly a marvel if it wasn’t so damaging and dangerous.

    • DC August 8, 2022 (10:01 am)

      This literally made me laugh. It will be so busy that the restaurants will go bust! LOL! News flash, those people ‘jammed’ in the apartments will shop at those stores and restaurants and easily replace those who are only willing to visit if they can get tax-payer subsidized ‘free’ parking. 

      • max34 August 8, 2022 (1:04 pm)

        it’s called sarcasm y’all.   at least i hope it is…

        • JVP August 8, 2022 (5:29 pm)

          Max gets it ;

  • Andy August 7, 2022 (7:22 pm)

    More empty, unused mixed used commercial space in a new apartment building! Woohoo!

  • AB August 7, 2022 (8:08 pm)

    This is awesome! Can’t wait to see it built! Already passed through design review. This is the sort of #climateaction Seattle needs to be taking across the city (density + transit).

    • anonyme August 8, 2022 (6:41 am)

      The building of massive apartment complexes has little or nothing to do with climate remediation.  In fact, it ignores or encourages the greatest contributing factor – human overpopulation.

      • Kevin o Delridge August 8, 2022 (9:42 am)

        First, it is false that apartment complexes have nothing to do with climate remediation. Apartment dwellers have a fraction of the footprint of those living in single family homes. 

        Second, human overpopulation is an argument fascists love to pull out ( where conspiracy and myths run rampant). Which folks would you like to remove from society or sterilize?

      • DC August 8, 2022 (10:07 am)

        So your solution is to make living so miserable and unaffordable that people die and stop procreating? Short of sterilizing people, study after study has shown denser cities produce far less green house gasses per capita.

  • Andy August 7, 2022 (8:14 pm)

    Is the design finalized?  No opportunity to change the design and add some parking?  There is not enough parking to serve the business – say nothing of the residential people.  Put 45 spaces in – enough for half the units.  Please.

  • Joe Z August 7, 2022 (8:16 pm)

    Seattle has something like 175,000 residents (20%) who do not own cars. Maybe some of them can live there. 

    • neo-realist August 7, 2022 (8:41 pm)

      I suspect most of those car-less people will attempt to live near the light rail stops, existing ones that is as opposed to the ones that will be a decade or so from now.

  • Jon Wright August 7, 2022 (8:32 pm)

    West Seattle commenters: Traffic is terrible! When is the city going to do something about traffic? <city implements policies to discourage adding more cars to the already-crowded roads> West Seattle commenters: There’s a war on cars! We need more parking!

  • Spike August 7, 2022 (9:19 pm)

    I’m always so confused by the complaints about how little parking there is in West Seattle on every post about new (desperately-needed) housing. I know Alki can get crazy on summer weekends, but I live three blocks away from the Junction and have never had any trouble parking for errands. There are very cheap lots that sit empty most of the time, and free parking on all the side streets. I’m having a hard time thinking of a single time I’ve had to park more than a block away from somewhere I wanted to go on California Ave. It’s like people expect there to be a free, open space directly in front of whatever building they want to go in 24 hours a day. 

    • YES2WS August 7, 2022 (11:36 pm)

      I agree with Spike. It’s so easy to find parking in the junction. And if parallel parking is the problem, the lots are there and practically empty. 🤷‍♀️

  • Alki Jack August 7, 2022 (10:07 pm)

    The problem in a nutshell is this. Between Gen X & Baby Boomers you have more than half of the population. With an average age of 59 and Baby Boomers 58 to 76, very very very few couples or family’s of 3, 4 or 5 are jumping on electric bikes and heading to the junction (assuming it never rains in Seattle) to do some shopping or going out to lunch or dinner.  Sounds great, just not practical. They may be driving an electric vehicle but they will need to park somewhere. How do parents take their children to school, the dentist or doctor. I could go on and on, just too many hurtles. Maybe the 70 year old couple could put on rain gear and each ride a electric rental scooter to the junction…but where would they put their grocery’s or other purchases?

    • Spike August 7, 2022 (11:20 pm)

      There is SO MUCH parking in/near the Junction. The lots are cheap and have many spots open more often than not. If you can’t afford to pay, the side streets are free and you can likely find a spot within a block of your desired destination. I’m a parent and live near the Junction and take my children to the doctor, the dentist, restaurants, the grocery store, the ice cream shop, daycare, school, dance class, drama club, etc., and I struggle to think of a single time where I’ve had a memorably hard time finding a place to park.

      Speaking of grocery stores, you came up with a scenario where an elderly couple were forced to ride electric scooters to the grocery store and then had no way to get their groceries home. What store were you picturing them at? Because I can’t think of a single one in all of West Seattle that doesn’t have a free, convenient parking lot that has many spaces open every time I’ve been to it. It seems to me that you just oppose any sort of change/growth in the community you live in, no matter how necessary it is.

    • Kevin on Delridge August 8, 2022 (9:45 am)

      It’s almost like, when we put things far away from people they have to drive. And it’s almost like, when we make it difficult to use other forms of transportation, people drive.

      Funny. We could you know, not do those things.

  • Win Win? August 7, 2022 (10:09 pm)

    How about a simple requirement where, in exchange for the benefit of building a less expensive  (more profitable) parking-free structure (at the expense of all the neighbors and community that is in fact subsidizing their development benefit), the apartment may ONLY be allowed to rent to persons who contractually agree, and may not own an automobile? Of course, renters retain the right to have a car, but they simply agree to have to vacate the premises immediately (landlord and renter waiving eviction processes). Oh, and landlords/developers face civil and potentially criminal penalties for failing to abide by and enforce these rules.  Fair to everyone, right?

    • KM August 8, 2022 (6:49 am)

      Why just renters? Any homeowners who use the public street to park should also be subject to this “rule” too. Now homeowners have to buy smaller (and fewer) cars that fit in their 1950s garage and driveway. Oh dear! The poor, precious homeowners!

      • DC August 8, 2022 (10:23 am)

        WIN WIN? you’re on to something. How about we ban all ‘free’ street parking (home owners can park on their own property!) and replace it with bike and bus only lanes? Seems fair?

    • Reed August 8, 2022 (7:05 am)

      This is ridiculous and would never happen. Besides, there is plenty of street parking available, including in front of your house!

    • Kevin on Delridge August 8, 2022 (9:47 am)

      How can so many be bankrupt of ideas? I guess our education problem is finally catching up to us.

  • AlkiBeach August 7, 2022 (10:23 pm)

    Would the NIMBYs, please… just shut up!  Do you remember what you said about your parents?  You only half to look into the mirror to see who you are now.  Instead of living in a box, why don’t you educate yourself and travel (domestically or internationally) before you keep emulating your parent’s lack of contemporary awareness?  You should know, you’re not living in Mayberry anymore!!! Even ‘Aunt Bee’ had more contemporary thinking…

    • BeachPlease August 8, 2022 (6:04 am)

      AlkiBeach, I can’t even.

      So many people don’t have the time, resources, or physical ability to travel, and–can you believe it?–their opinions about their community are every bit as valid.

      Let’s remind ourselves that high rents and no parking spaces in large part mean few to no seniors and people with mobility issues, few to no families with toddlers and kids who need to be driven to daycare or school, few workers who have to commute outside of downtown or work remotely.

      Have you ever tried to get to First Hill for a radiology appointment from The Junction by bus? Good luck with that.

      If they’re going to build it in our backyard, fine–but build it for everyone.

      • Nicole August 8, 2022 (11:50 am)

        This building is walking distance (<20 minutes) to a daycare, as well as an elementary, middle, and high school. One is less than 8 minutes walk from the C line, which will take you to downtown and SLU, as well as rapid transit to Redmond, Bellevue, the University, and multiple hospitals (as well as a train to Vancouver, Portland, Spokane…); an optician; many, many dentists; at least four gyms; two (three?) grocery stores; a hardware store; and an urgent care facility. I literally _do not know_ what you’d need to drive to. I live here without a car, and when my wife and I have kids, we will not drive them places, because it’s just not necessary here.

        • Moima August 8, 2022 (1:01 pm)

          Nicole, perhaps they are going to appointments that work withtheir insurance or reasons that are not our business. Some people need to commute far as Tacoma for work. Time is literally money. I also think of weather emergencies/ natural disasters where people need to evacuate in a short period of time. Or even just simple hiking trips? I appreciate your conscientiousness and care for the environment, as we could greatly benefit from driving less… Unfortunately it’s not a one size fits all situation. 

          • Nicole August 8, 2022 (3:03 pm)

            Well, we don’t have a one size fits all situation – if you _absolutely need_ a car, live in one of the many, many, many, many other places that will accommodate that. We should be allowing people to live car free, without paying for the parking they aren’t using. My home in the Junction would not exist if it had to have off street parking, and I really like living here!

          • Jort August 9, 2022 (10:35 am)

            No, it’s not, and that’s why we shouldn’t force buildings to accommodate cars for people who don’t have cars, anyway! Oh my gosh! Talk about a “one size fits all situation” … why on Earth should we literally force a building to have parking spots for people who don’t want or need them?! I humbly suggest that if you’re living in these apartments in the Junction maybe commuting to Tacoma for work is a bad idea.

          • Kevin on Delridge August 9, 2022 (11:50 am)

            Funny, because the only answers you folks seem to have is more parking and a preference for cars. One of those, what did you call it? One size fit all situations.

            Even the situations you mentioned wouldn’t clog our streets on a daily basis, and yet, there is traffic every single day at all hours.

            Pretty typical though, the majority here want to argue against a straw man because you have nothing to offer aside from the status quo and its defense. We are asking that more modes are supported through infrastructure and sensible planning. That would include having more medical facilities, clinics, grocery stores, etc within a reasonable distance. And when you need a car, use it.

            If anyone argues we should get rid of cars completely, you are free to tell them they are ridiculous (just as I would). But that doesn’t mean we should keep everything the same, or worse, double down on something that isn’t working (on many levels).

          • Moima August 11, 2022 (3:09 pm)

            Not sure if its still possible to reply but I’ll try!I completely understand what you both are saying here! I guess I was thinking of a potential future where car usage could be a thing of the past being coupled with the increasing population increase. Could it work?I may have been catastrophizing instead of looking at if it’s possible to create a balance: providing more accessible transportation alternatives while also meeting the demands of the growing city in a reasonable amount of time. Say if a bus route is discontinued– is the city able to provide adequate alternatives? So I immediately went to worst case scenario. My apologies there.

      • James August 8, 2022 (1:07 pm)

        Since when should seniors and disabled folks be prioritized? Yes build housing for them but they are a small portion of the population and we shouldn’t be “concern trolled” into making things accessible to small portions of the population that don’t benefit the greater good. Density is needed. My problem isn’t parking. Cars are bad and need to go away. My problem is the ugliness. 

        • Erithan August 8, 2022 (10:42 pm)

          And yet it’s not ugly to not care about your neighbors that are elderly and disabled? You don’t know how many people there are, and treating them like second class citizens is just terrible on so many levels…. Do you know how many seniors here have lived here all their life? That have helped BUILD this community that YOU now enjoy? How about the disabled that have? Why do seniors or anyone disabled with needs deserve to be ignored in favor of the abled!? How cruel of way to think! It’s not like they asked to be disabled or grow old…. Like ffs… Sad to think WS has neighbors who think like you…. And btw a lot of service you get here is by disabled and senior workers.. They aren’t useless to the “greater good”. Even if they didn’t work they aren’t worthless… they’re people.

          • Erithan August 8, 2022 (10:48 pm)

            **Couldn’t work

  • Mj August 7, 2022 (10:38 pm)

    Pat – good question.  Bikes are the new mode of transportation for many yet theft is rampant in the City with little to no deterrent.  It’s time for the City to put bike thieves in jail and pay restitution to their victims.

  • Odd son August 7, 2022 (11:19 pm)

    Hope more (a lot more) PEOs are being hired. I see a lot of illegal parking in WS and our 3-4 PEOs currently can’t handle the present situation.

  • Moima August 8, 2022 (12:07 am)

    I agree with a lot of the comments here! Boxy apartments seem to be on the rise,  brings in more people so parking garages/ spaces will need to be considered in the future. If not, there will be congestion on streets creating more dangerous situations for bike riders. We come from all walks of life so developers need to consider the various modes of transportation resident’s utilize.

  • Mj August 8, 2022 (7:14 am)

    Win Win – the solution is to monetize street parking. 

    One creative way would be based on street frontage for a facility.  A facility with say 100′ of street frontage would be allocated four stalls and residents living in the facility would pay a fee for street parking assessed at a rate that balances supply and demand.

  • Susan Harrison August 8, 2022 (9:38 am)

    It’s aesthetically unpleasant. 

  • Nicole August 8, 2022 (10:18 am)

    I am really disappointed with my neighbors here. It’s like they never talk to people outside their social circles, or go to places outside their norm. Car-free lifestyles are possible, common, and fun – and creating places for people who don’t need or wish to drive is really important! Especially as we’ve seen the destruction of nature caused by suburban development and car dependency, we need to start learning how to live differently. We need to start learning how to live without personal vehicles for every single person. Additionally, the arguments about people with mobility issues and the elderly feels pretty disingenuous. Creating car dependent places everywhere, and making it expensive to live in the few walkable places, makes it impossible for people who can’t drive to be independent. We need _more_ car-light walkable areas for our elders who can’t, or shouldn’t be, driving, as well as for everyone else in that situation. – Nicole, a person who lives in the Junction without a car

  • April August 8, 2022 (12:16 pm)

    Another ugly box with no parking. Stop building crap in West Seattle. We don’t have room and don’t want it! Ugghghghg

  • skeeter August 8, 2022 (12:58 pm)

    These comments are so funny.  I don’t think people understand the basic mechanics of urban living.1. Very few developers are going to include parking in a new development if the city is giving away car parking for free.  Developers understand that parking spaces in dense urban environments are insanely expensive to build and people will not pay an extra $1,000/month for parking if there is free street parking available.2. All these comments for more parking spaces.  Are you all NUTS??  Our streets are clogged half the time and you want MORE parking spaces and MORE cars?  We should be actively removing parking spaces, not adding parking spaces.  It’s a huge waste of time to sit in traffic because there are too many cars.   

    • Kevin on Delridge August 8, 2022 (6:55 pm)

      Skeeter, they work from the assumption that every resident will have a car, maybe even two. Why? Some combination of (non-exhaustive):

      • They use cars and think no one else can live any other way
      • They’ve advocated for car centric infrastructure, so they know how difficult it can be to live without a car
      • They’ve done no research on urban planning
      • Car go vroom-vroom

      They are essentially conservatives of the “I Hate Mondays” variety. They start from a place of “nothing can change” or “what can you do,” and they concoct a string of non-sense ideas to defend it.

      Intellectually bankrupt can be used to describe most of the commenters here. At this point, there is no sense in discussing with these folks. They have nothing. They didn’t work themselves into their ideas, so any attempt to move them away from their terrible ideas is nearly impossible. They don’t care to listen to anyone or any piece of evidence.

      Telling them this will likely result in replies about the lack of civility or some non-sense, but this is really all they deserve.

      • Jort August 9, 2022 (10:30 am)

        The fact that denser cities exist worldwide that don’t rely solely on cars for transportation and are filled with happy families, old, young, disabled, abled, small business, big business, restaurant, shop, whatever …. nothing about America forces us to fruitlessly try to carve out a “cars-only” transportation approach that has never worked in human history and never will. People say “you just can’t do that here” or “that’s unrealistic.” It’s totally realistic to reduce car dependency — and it is actually unrealistic … actually unrealistic … to think that Seattle will be the first city in human history to successfully accommodate cars and the space they take up as the foundational building blocks upon which to plan. Nothing in our collective human history on this entire planet indicates that we can plan around our cars. And people have the gall to accuse others of being “unrealistic” about transit and walking and cycling? It is mind-blowing and insane.

  • max34 August 8, 2022 (1:30 pm)

    WE HAVE ALL THE ROOM IN THE WORLD AND I LOVE IT.    (btw, if you want cheaper apartments for folks, the biggest driver of increased costs for the new housing is …..wait for it……….parking garages and long review times – at least we can deal with the former) 

  • Not surprised August 8, 2022 (4:17 pm)

    Y’all are so predictable. But, but, but the parking!   Pretty sure all the same people made the exact same comments the last time this building was featured on here.  

  • Sekai rider August 8, 2022 (7:15 pm)

    Really top-heavy, and institutional.  Very Disappointed it  got approved, and in this location at the Junction. 

  • Wallace Grommet August 9, 2022 (9:14 am)

    There isnt a two child couple in the first world without a car

    • Jort August 9, 2022 (10:32 am)

      What do you call the “first world?!?!” Have you ever traveled outside of this country?!?!?!?!  Or even to New York?! Is this a joke?!?!?!

    • Kevin on Delridge August 9, 2022 (11:40 am)

      Is this a prescriptive argument? Because it surely isn’t descriptively true.

    • reed August 9, 2022 (1:47 pm)

      Yes, there are. Take a trip to Europe and find out. 

  • Ron Sprinkel August 10, 2022 (5:12 pm)

    I know most of those who comment here want to make others see things from their perspective.  Hello!!!!   NEWS FLASH!!!  All that have commented on everything here have been addressed multiple times,  in West Seattle and other neighborhoods, villages, towns, and cities around the globe.   You may not like those options but, quite frankly, I DON’T CARE!!!   I don’t want my tax dollars being managed under a microscope.   It’s not about yours, mine, or any others that comment here; it’s about the MACRO  = “WE”…”US”…”THEM”…”THEY”.   Think about the next time you drive up to a stop sign/light and ask yourself what if someone decided they didn’t want this stop sign/light to be paid for by their tax dollars…  I hear crickets!!!

Sorry, comment time is over.