Having a hard time keeping track of all the development going on up and down Stone Way, along 45th and elsewhere in Wallingford? Alison Hobbs pointed us towards this cool interactive map of development projects in Seattle, Seattle in Progress.
According to a recent Geekwire article:
The app is the brainchild of Ethan Phelps-Goodman, a former Facebook software engineer in Seattle who was also part of the team behind the Hack to End Homelessness…
“Our goal is to use technology to increase civic participation and build a community around urban development issues,” says Phelps-Goodman via email. “How we grow as a city is the most fundamental question currently being faced by Seattle. And getting it wrong has real consequences — I’m thinking of the strife in San Francisco recently, or the sprawl that defines LA.” […]
According to Phelps-Goodman, the app works automatically to collect permit data from data.seattle.gov, and scrape the design proposals from the Seattle Department of Planning and Development’s website. Features in the worksinclude email notifications for updates on specific sites and neighborhoods, plus the ability to submit official comments to the city directly from the app.
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Nice. My map is just a static image, kind of hard to read and I didn’t inventory anything north of N 40th.
http://donnxy.wordpress.com/
… but I did catch one they seem to have missed, the 60 room house at 3642 Woodland Park N.
Have missed feelings about some of this development — love some of it, hate losing the feel of old Wallingford. But strikes me that something is wrong here. Based upon development, economy is booming and yet our government lacks the funds to provide basic services for all — fully funded education, adequate support to address poverty, fix the darn potholes! Something is very wrong here!
Thanks for sharing this.
There are two developments missing along 34th St – the massive transfer station rebuild and the development of the old Metro Station (34th and Densmore). Add the two apartment at Wallingford Ave (above and below 34th) and you have an incredible amount of dump trucks hauling dirt from this area!
Also missing proposed 8 story 58 apt. complex dwarfing all its neighbors next door to the E. of Fremont Library.
Really excellent resource. Once again Wallyhood provides excellent info. Thanks!
Missed another on 44th and Woodland Park N
Speaking of development and slightly off topic, does anyone know if Skanska is still constructing the interior of the 3400 Stone Way building (Brooks Headquarters). The entire interior is often lit up throughout the night even over the Thanksgiving holiday. I’m hoping for both light pollution and environmental reasons that this is simply due to remaining construction and that this is not the norm especially given its striving to be a “deep green” building.
P.S. Ethan, thank you for the map. This is a great community resource.
@KTCJ it is not uncommon for buildings, especially energy efficient buildings, to rely on the lighting for heat. It is not normally difficult to have enough “internal gains” to keep the building comfortable, however this can be difficult to achieve when the building is not yet occupied. Yes, it can look wasteful, but the lights likely will not be needed for heat under normal temperatures once the building is occupied. Most well-insulated commercial buildings require cooling all year when occupied in our region.
Thank you for providing this map! Wonderful to know what’s coming.
Just a small example of the planned insanity:
Seattle in Progress — 1240 N MIDVALE PL
30-34 units, no parking planned. Builders relying on existing bus lines, which
are paid for by property owners’ taxes.
Bend over. How do we stop this?
@11 you don’t stop it, you welcome it with open arms. No parking planned? Well, that’s no different than the older apartment buildings near 45th. And remember that sales taxes and car tabs are the primary method by which Metro buses are funded.
@11: Only 4% of Metro funding comes from property taxes.
@12: Car tabs are not a primary method of funding Metro buses. In 1999, thanks to Tim Eyman and voters statewide, I-695 repealed the progressive MVET that provided 1/3 of Metro’s funding.
Last month Seattle passed Prop 1, which will indeed use a local MVET to provide local bus funding. But even that is just a drop in the bucket of a Metro budget that is 77% funded by sales taxes and fare box receipts.
Thanks for the effort, Ethan.
Thank you, #12 and 13 for valuable information. True, #12, no parking is like that of the beautiful older apartment buildings near 45 that I have loved for years. Good point.
I have voted for funding for public transportation every time it comes up. I think an income tax would help redistribute monies (for infrastructure, public transportation, and education – thank you, #2) in a more equitable fashion. Sales taxes are notorious for hitting the pockets of those who can least afford it. But maybe that’s off topic.
Thank you also, respondents #12 and #13 for keeping it civil. There are times that I would like post here, but the comments gets so nasty and personal that it’s just not worth it to participate.
#12, the planned unit is about 8 stories high. There has been another multi-story unit mentioned here as well (#5). Isn’t there some way of limiting the height of new structures? Even places like Chicago and SF have height limits.
And thank you, Ethan, for an outstanding job in furnishing this map. Somehow the cities surrounding SF have managed to retain their neighborhood feeling. It is the neighborhood feeling here that I feel we are losing. Height limits might help.
Great job, Ethan. Kudos to you.
Where are these 8 story developments? I believe there are indeed height limits that should prevent that.
#17, Please refer to http://www.seattleinprogress.com/project/3017878/page/3. (#15).
I haven’t investigated the proposed structure mentioned in #5. I made an error in estimating the height of the proposed structure for the Midvale site. It is proposed for four stories, not eight. My apologies. And the structure is proposed for 30 apartments. Given the tiny square ground footprint of the structure, I have to wonder about the size of the apartments. I thought we put an end to SEDUs.
Where can one find out about height limits of proposed structures for the city? Is the information in the city ordinances? Who/how are those laws made, enforced and possibly changed? Thank you for the encouraging news about height limits, #17.
The apartments are not large, but the developer expects them to go to “young professionals”, if I remember right. Profession not specified.
Height limits are per zone. Note that many sites around here have a significant slope, which complicates the exact calculation of height, but the limit certainly does not apply to the height measured from the lowest point. The city can rezone an area, or maybe achieve the same effect with “overlay” gimmicks. As we saw at 3400 Stone, a large, well funded landowner may be allowed to exceed height limits on a per project basis.
#18: Here is a link for current zoning map of Seattle:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/toolsresources/zoningmapbooks/default.htm
…and on this page you can read what each of the zones are:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/codesrules/codes/zoning/default.htm
#19, Thank you for having investigated the particular site I referenced. I am not sure either, what “overlay’ gimmicks will translate into, but again, I appreciate your civil discourse. I have looked at the site and imagined 30 separate dwellings for these designated ‘young professionals’+ lobby and it just doesn’t sit well with me. If only the developers could or would think about recreating something like the beautiful old brick apartments on 46th by QFC, they would truly be adding something to the community. I’m thinking a Ballardization will happen. I saw that a man in Ballard has applied for an historic preservation designation for his neighborhood to help retain a simple, residential feeling to his neighborhood.
#20, Thank you for the tools you have provided for looking up precisely the issues I was concerned about. I appreciate your help, both/all of you that have written here.
(Does anyone remember the Emmett Watson ‘Lesser Seattle’ movement of the mid-1970’s? It’s quite worth the read. His writing is very humourous and pointed). 😉