I had a domestic calamity at the end of last year that forced me (and a bunch of my stuff) to move out of my rented townhouse for a few weeks. It was a big pain. But I tried to look at this as yet another character-building event (futile as that may be at this very late stage), and used the unanticipated “opportunity” to clean out and upgrade some of my belongings gathering dust and other residues in the place. In that category were things like a venerable old microwave oven, and a printer that no longer would connect to …
A Greeting to Wallingford from District 4 City Councilmember Maritza Rivera
Wallyhood contacted newly-elected Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera to see if she wished to say hello to her new constituents in Wallingford, and she quickly replied and worked with her staff to provide us with an introduction. Many of the issues and concerns in Wallingford mirror those across the city, but we did ask her to speak to our community in particular. Our neighborhood is split between two districts, with Councilmember Rivera representing the southern portion (below 50th) in District 4, and Councilmember Dan Strauss representing people above 50th in District 6. We intend to contact Councilmember Strauss’s office to…
Wallingford Construction Project Nears Completion
Those of you who inhabit or pass through Middle Wallingford—which I loosely define in my admittedly subjective conceptual view of the neighborhood—know that the area around Bagley and 43rd has experienced a substantial construction project for a lengthy period of time. What’s the story with this, and when will it be completed? Wallingford resident Darrell Bulmer, who works for Seattle Department of Transportation and in fact lives in the construction zone, connected me with the Seattle Public Utilities project manager for the work, Ian Fitz-James.
Ian provided a detailed description and update for the project, which is nearing completion:…
Breaking and Mysterious News!
Wallyhood just mourned the demise of the much beloved old Julia’s restaurant across the street from the Wallingford Center at the end of last year. The restaurant closing was not without controversy, as my fellow editor Megan’s article described at the time. However…we received a note from reader Marilyn who alerted us to the fact that *something* may be afoot at the site. A couple of weeks ago, I had walked past it on my way to our quarterly meetup with writers at the Blue Star and saw some folks inside, but I figured it was just the usual squatters…
Wallyhood Quarterly Meeting, 13 February
Those of you who have been paying attention—and we have empirical evidence that that includes at least ten of you, along with the editors, and the army of foreign hackers who bombard us with spam—know that Wallyhood held the first quarterly writers’ meeting of 2024 at the Blue Star Café and Pub last week. We had a nice turnout, given that it was Fat Tuesday as well as the night before Valentine’s Day. People who showed up were treated to the ever-popular and exceedingly nutritious beer-tater tot combo, which was worth the price of admission by itself.
The primary goal …
Wallyhood Winter Meetup (and Tater Tot Fest)
Attention Wallyhood writers, aspiring writers, potential editors, and interested community members! The current Wallyhood editorial staff (Jack, Megan, Julie, and Gary) invites you to a meetup with us on Tuesday, February 13th, 7 p.m., at the venerable Wallingford restaurant, the Blue Star Café & Pub (4512 Stone Way N.). In addition to some old-fashioned engagement, we’ll be brainstorming story ideas and looking for writers willing to take them on.
Wallyhood remains an all-volunteer operation, so we depend on the support of our community to keep our journalistic juggernaut moving forward. We would like to hear your ideas …
Light Rail Disruption Jan. 13 – Feb. 4
Those of you who use the light rail out of the U District or UW stations to travel north or south should prepare for a month of disruptions and curtailed service. Didn’t this just happen last summer? some might ask. Why yes, a disembodied digital voice might answer. But now, according to the Times, Sound Transit workers will be correcting a 1/8” gap between light rail wheels and track width along a 500’ span of track in the heart of the currently modest system (Seattle has a long tradition of poor transit track planning, as some will recall that the…