Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Where did West Seattle go and where'd this disgusting place come from?
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July 11, 2015 at 8:59 pm #825646
wakefloodParticipantSo, here’s a couple things to chew on, missing.
First, there is a proposal started by Tom Rasmussen (Seattle City Council, outgoing) to designate neighborhood zones to limit change. So, folks are thinking about it.
But here’s the rub:
Folks tend to agree with the desire to keep a certain feel or milieu of a neighborhood at the 30,000 ft. level.
As soon as you start trying to define specifically WHAT makes it “feel” a certain way, or what specifically you would allow for change and what you would not, consensus is quite literally impossible to create. I can’t stress that enough. You can spend lifetimes trying to reach agreement on the details and without details, you can’t enforce anything. This is the crux of the issue. And I’m not exaggerating.
It ends up being the equivalent of housing development covenants that require cookie-cutter solutions to maintain continuity of virtually any particular element. Show me how many streets in WS have that level of visual continuity of residence today? I’ll give you High Point development as the first. Your turn. I’ll wait.
We currently have district design boards that review the design of new development who are supposed to act in the best interests of the community and consult on grey areas with regard to permitting and code compliance. That’s your current last line of defense and you can look around WS – or any neighborhood for that matter – and see the results of that process.
In short, I’m ok with lots of change, I frankly don’t know how to stop most of it, BUT I DO want everyone to play by the same code/zoning rules and I want those to be enforced and reviewed periodically.
The rest will have some good and bad outcomes but tell me what in life doesn’t?
July 11, 2015 at 9:05 pm #825647
happy hourParticipantFor me, I’m concerned about the long line trying to get to downtown. Getting to I5 resembles the line for the ferry to vashon but will continue be worse
Also, because they are mostly apartments, parking does not have to be provided as it once was required by city ordinance
I’m not thrilled by the lack of beautifying the urban design scape
It’s going to continue. WS will be developed into a small city unto it’s self. City planning at it’s worst by lack of priorities on infrastructure and beautification. The apartment prices are astronomical and will displace modest to average income people.
Remember all the beach houses along harbor ave and now nearly all condos? Development is bound to happen.
July 11, 2015 at 9:09 pm #825648
wakefloodParticipantYou can’t have it both ways, happy hour. Making something nice visually means it costs more to build. The cheapest thing to build is a square box and if you enforce something less ugly, you raise cost and it will cost more to buy or rent that property.
July 11, 2015 at 10:01 pm #825649
JanSParticipantnone of us likes the growth, the development, the expensive apartments that will displace many of us, and , yes, perhaps make some homeless. Until the mayor, city council, developers rethink what they’re doing , it will continue(fat chance they’ll have a “come to Jesus” moment on their own). “Family friendly” is a term our illustrious mayor uses a lot. It words, and nothing more. There is nothing family friendly about what they’re doing. So we have an opportunity to change that…it’s called voting. Not many of us do that, do we? We need more participation, for sure.
Now, what makes up a community? The buildings? um…no. The growth? Um…no. The Benbow, The old Admiral Cafe, etc? NO. How about the people? Yeah, that’s the ticket. We are the community. We sit here and complain in these forums about how “disgusting” our peninsula is (I don’t agree with the “disgusting” part.There are many good things about West Seattle). Do we take those complaints further away from the forums, and discuss with our neighbors? The city? I’m betting not. If we stay silent, they will assume we concur.Life is like that. Maybe we need to stand together as a community, know and befriend each other, instead of remaining anonymous on the forum, and raise some rabble. Send this thread to the city council, the mayor, the candidates from District 1. Yes, there are meetups with them…not all of us can get to them. How many on here know who the candidates are, where they stand? I think we need to educate ourselves on that…the election is coming up soon.
The community needs to stand together or it doesn’t matter who builds what where…everyone for themselves? I simply can’t agree with that. This thread makes me so sad…
July 11, 2015 at 11:18 pm #825650
JoBParticipanti can’t tell you how glad i was that the house next door sat on a lot that was 3 feet too shallow for the developer to build 2 homes.
it fronts on an arterial so if the new rules kick in the next house that sells is likely to become multifamily…
with luck we will have retired and moved on by then
July 12, 2015 at 7:25 pm #825651
oddrealityParticipantWhen we sold our W.Seattle house most everyone wanted to tear it down and build a big box house.We did sell to someone that wanted to add on and rehab it keeping the same 19teens craftsman styling. I always thought the neighborhood was wonderful with all the craftsman homes. We did not want to be the ones to ruin it. Buyer could have built anything he wanted to but did what he said so the house still maintains its original character though much more modern inside and over all larger.
It can be done…maintaining at least some of the character of old neighborhoods and still making money for developer/investors. Some neighborhoods deserve preserving.Even though we do not live there anymore we felt strongly about leaving it as we found it.Someday the over growth with take it but it will not have been us that caused it.
I wonder if our old neighbors appreciate it?? LOL
July 12, 2015 at 9:20 pm #825652
AJPParticipantWhen I moved out of my mother’s uterus and into West Seattle back in 1902, we didn’t have hair dryers. If you wanted to blow dry your hair you stood outside during a hurricane. Your hair was dry but you had a sharp piece of wood driven clear through your skull and that’s the way it was and you liked it! You loved it. Whoopee, I’m a human head-kabob. We didn’t have Manoxidol and Hair Wings, in my day if your hair started falling out when you were 16 by 19 you were a bald freak. There was nothing you could do about it. Children would spit at you and nobody would mate with you so you couldn’t pass on your disgusting baldness genes. You were a public menace, a chrome dome by age 20 and that’s the way it was and we liked it! We loved it. Hallelujiah look at me, I’m a bald freak oh happy day! Not like today, everybody feeling good about themselves. I hate it!
And I don’t like things now compared to the way they used to be. All this progress — phooey! In my day, we didn’t have these cash machines that would give you money when you needed it. There was only one bank in each state — it was open only one hour a year. And you’d get in line, seventeen miles long, and the line became an angry mob of people — fornicators and thieves, mutant children and circus freaks — and you waited for years and by the time you got to the teller, you were senile and arthritic and you couldn’t remember your own name. You were born, got in line, and ya died! And that’s the way it was and we liked it!
July 13, 2015 at 6:27 am #825653
JeannieParticipantNothing wrong with businesses changing. It’s a matter of traffic and congestion. Or haven’t some of you noticed?
And I agree with Taleki34’s superb, intelligently reasoned post.
Change is often good, but not always. People who push change regardless of the consequences or long-term impact are being brainwashed.
July 13, 2015 at 2:04 pm #825654
JoBParticipantall you have to do is drive from West Seattle across our bridge and onto the interchanges to understand how futile progress without planning can be
July 13, 2015 at 2:27 pm #825655
anonymeParticipantJuly 13, 2015 at 3:15 pm #825656
datamuseParticipantThe perception of how much development is going on really depends on what part of West Seattle you’re in.
Take a look at this map, which charts development in Seattle overall. If you look around the Junction, yeah, the pins overlap each other because there’s so much development going on. But look at other parts of West Seattle, including the ostensibly overbuilt Alki? Hardly anything. My own neighborhood hasn’t seen a new construction project for at least a few years, and the last one was built on a previously vacant lot. My next door neighbors have lived in their house their entire lives.
The majority of Seattle is zoned for single-family residential. These multifamily apartment buildings and condos are being built in relatively small, concentrated areas. Don’t believe me? Look at the zoning map.
I do agree with comments regarding the infrastructure. That’s a problem all over the city, not just in West Seattle. We’re squeezed between a lake and a bay, with a few more lakes and a river for good measure. What do you want to see, infrastructure-wise? A bigger bridge? Light rail? More park and rides?
July 13, 2015 at 6:31 pm #825657
KBearParticipantI’ve said this before, but I’ll point it out again: West Seattle was annexed to Seattle in 1907, so the path toward development began over 100 years ago. While it may have continued to “feel like” a small town, there’s no one around who remembers when it actually WAS a small town. Like it or not, you live in a big city, and development is inevitable. The problem is with the planning and infrastructure to support that development, especially in the area of transportation.
July 13, 2015 at 6:39 pm #825658
justadumbguyParticipant‘The majority of Seattle is zoned for single-family residential’
Not for long datamuse … not for long.
July 13, 2015 at 9:24 pm #825659
JoBParticipanti couldn’t zoom in on the map for the new multifamily zones but it would be a miracle if i don’t live in one of the proposed zones.
what i like about this neighborhood is it’s quiet single family atmosphere…
people still walk on my street and stop to talk if i am out in the gardens
July 13, 2015 at 10:06 pm #825660
JanSParticipantthe management part of city guvmint has really done a lousy job, to say the least. Maybe it’s time for new blood there, since who we have now is/are failing to their job :(
July 13, 2015 at 10:22 pm #825661
linda08ParticipantIve lived in West Seattle my whole life. It has been changing and growing since I can remember. Many businesses are long gone but some remain-Husky is one of them. When the Menashes took over Teig’s in 73 we were sad but they fit right in and are still there! The hometown feel remains for me and always will. There is room for all and for those who don’t feel feel that-I’m sorry.
July 14, 2015 at 9:36 pm #825662
JanSParticipantoh, and JoB…you don’t live in one of the zones :)…near, yes, but not in. I’m in. But I already knew that, living across from Element 42…
July 14, 2015 at 11:20 pm #825663
SmittyParticipantDid anyone find a more detailed map of the new zones other than what they published yesterday? That map was very vague and had no street level details.
I’m off of 41st in the old Charlestown Cafe area and am concerned I am in the new upzone!
July 15, 2015 at 12:25 am #825664
JoBParticipantthat’s a relief.. being along the arterial near to Westwood i thought sure at least the end houses on the block would be affected
July 15, 2015 at 12:51 am #825665
JanSParticipantsomeone posted a map overlay in one of the comments on the story on the front page, shows streets if you enlarge
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