• Home
  • Forums
    • General Wallingford Chatter
    • Crime and Safety
    • For Sale – Wanted
  • Local Links
  • Suggest a Story
  • About
Wallyhood
  • Home
  • Forums
    • General Wallingford Chatter
    • Crime and Safety
    • For Sale – Wanted
  • Local Links
  • Suggest a Story
  • About
Eric
Eric

199 Articles

Hello! I am past president of the Wallingford Community Council and spent 13 years at Microsoft as a developer and manager, concurrent with Ballmer's reign. I helped renovate Meridian Playground and have guided several transportation and parks projects in the neighborhood. If you have a project in mind, the WCC is a great resource for figuring out how to make it happen!

To Make Up For the I-976 Revenue Loss, Seattle Should Raise the Commercial Parking Tax on Single Occupant Parking

Eric November 15, 2019 17 Comments

Traffic is not-so-great right now. Take the annual return of rainy traffic, add in work due to the “Green Lake and Wallingford Paving & Multi-Modal Improvements” project, and then layer on I-976 passage and the future can look pretty bleak. The governmental reaction to I-976 so far has simply been to throw a legal tantrum, but there is an opportunity for Seattle government to pull up their big boy pants and practice good governance.

King County taxpayers subsidized transit by 6 billion dollars in 2018 while asking nothing of single-occupant car commuters. The passage of Tim Eyman’s I-976 knocked 381 …

Read More

Surviving Climate Change Without Central Air in Seattle: Get a Whole House Fan

Eric June 24, 2019 4 Comments

Warning: This is going to read like a sponsored post. I’m just a “fan” of eco-solutions, and a whole house fan is one of those things that’s a win-win all around (see, it’s starting already).

Only about a third of Seattle households have air conditioning. Before the days of climate change, it really wasn’t necessary. After a couple 90 degree days in June, it’s tempting to give in and get central air conditioning installed, especially since the hottest months (and years) are yet to come.

Unfortunately, central air is very expensive to install and operate, plus all that electricity use …

Read More

Keep Your Sidewalk Clear to a Height of 8 Feet (Plus: How to Rat Out Your Neighbor if They Don’t)

Eric May 28, 2019 5 Comments

One of the best things about Wallingford is the walkable sidewalks we have, separated from roadways by planting strips. Unfortunately, sometimes trees or hedges or other vegetation blocks those sidewalks, especially when it’s raining outside.

Legally, sidewalks and planting strips are public land that adjacent property owners are responsible for maintaining. People are required to keep their sidewalk entirely clear up to a height of 8 feet. The first-time penalty for violating that ordinance is $150. The penalty for additional violations is $500.

If you are on good terms with a neighbor and can be diplomatic and see them outside, …

Read More

Green Lake Way Redesign Goes from Back Asswards to Meh

Eric November 21, 2018 30 Comments

As covered previously, SDOT was planning to throttle Green Lake Way N and waste a lot of money by putting in a bike crossing at N 52nd and Green Lake Way N, eliminating parking on the East side of the street. Pretty much everyone said “no please” so SDOT thankfully backed off.

New plans are for the 2-way cycle track around the lake to transition to two 1-way protected bike lanes at a new light going in at the Pitch and Putt (where 3 roads all named Green Lake Way intersect). The West side curb of Green Lake Way …

Read More

At Green Lake Way and N 50th, SDOT Is Planning Protected Bike Lanes That Serve Nobody

Eric July 30, 2018 56 Comments

As transportation chair for the Wallingford Community Council I’ve been closely following the roadway redesigns being done as part of repaving arterials in Wallingford and Green Lake. Most changes break down into familiar cyclist vs parking battles, but one design feature stands out as a terrible idea for both cyclists and residents- the current SDOT plans for adding protected bike lanes around the 5-way intersection of Stone Way N, N 50th, and Green Lake Way N.

The intersection is rated “F” for vehicle throughput by SDOT and regularly backs up with traffic, flooding side streets and school zones with vehicles. …

Read More

Repaving of 40th, 50th and Green Lake Way at the Wallingford Community Council – Wed, June 6, 7pm

Eric June 5, 2018 60 Comments

40th, 50th, and Green Lake Way north of 50th are all to be repaved next year, which includes a full redesign of the streets that is happening now. Current plans swap out parking lanes for bike lanes, with protected bike lanes added to 40th and a cycle track added to Green Lake Way.

In the Green Lake Way cycle track both directions of bike traffic will be on the lake side of the street. The transition between the cycle track and the bike lanes is up for debate, as is reconfiguration of the 50th and Green Lake Way intersection. I …

Read More

Win-Win Solutions To Housing Affordability and Neighborhood Livability?

Eric October 27, 2017 51 Comments

Pro-HALA folks paint San Francisco as our nightmare future if HALA doesn’t pass, where all housing near jobs costs millions of dollars. Anti-HALA folks paint Ballard as our future if HALA passes, where existing residents are driven out by a construction tsunami and we are left with luxury housing that is 95% tech bros (plus 5% reserved for a few token “poor” people that win the MHA lottery).

I sat down with some Wallingford HALA proponents, looking for win-win solutions to housing affordability in Seattle. Here are some ideas we came up with:

Collaborate with homeowners on affordable ADUs and …

Read More
← Older posts

Wallyhood needs you! 

This community blog is all volunteer run, and we welcome articles from everyone in the Wallingford community. Something on your mind? Have a story to share? Please contact us at [email protected] today!

Editors rotate weekly. This week’s editor is ​Jack McLaughlin.

Subscribe

Get a daily summary of articles and forum conversations delivered to your email inbox.

Email Address (required)
First NameLast Name

Recent Article Comments

  • Marie of Romania on Wallyhood 3.0I miss some people on here. That's my comment.
  • shellyrubino1 on Seattle Public Schools Join The Wallingford Community Council Via Virtual MeetingBest forex strategy to make good profits in Forex. The Plan is pretty easy and y...
  • Pork Pie on Wallyhood 3.0Where is Cathy's response?
  • Marie of Romania on Wallyhood 3.0This relaunch is off to a flying start!
  • DOUG. on Wallyhood 3.0I peeked inside the new Octopus space last week. It's not open yet, but looks gr...

Archives

Login or create an account

© 2009 - 2018 Wallyhood