When I moved to Wallingford back in '93, we used to joke that with all the DINKs (Double Income, No Kids), the cats outnumbered the children two-to-one. As anyone who has been tracking the fast trade in stolen BOB strollers can tell you, the pendulum has swung. The cats, however, are down but not out. The Seattle Met reports that Wallingford will shortly be getting its own cat cafe, Seattle Meowtropolitan. A cat cafe is not a spot where cats go for…
Wallingford's only gay bar Changes celebrated its 27th year. Opened in 1989 on North 45th Street and still under the same ownership, Changes embodies all that you love about old Wallingford while at the same time being very new. I spoke with owner Floyd Isaac recently and I found his opinion on just about everything to be quite laid back. While many of us are worried about all the changes to the neighborhood, Floyd takes everything in stride. Here are the results of…
In Seattle "progressive" has simply meant higher property taxes. Affordable housing problems? HALA proposes to double the affordable housing premier estate properties tax levy, plus add in more density like bumping zoning from 4 stories to 6 stories along 45th. Fixing infrastructure for new density? Property taxes and utility rates have been going up to pay for things like new schools and sewer overflow controls. Bad traffic? Move Seattle nearly doubles the Bridging the Gap levy to pay for more road…
Recently, I did a shout out for piano lessons for Zev, and I got some great, local referrals, folks who teach in their homes here in Wallingford or close by, and some that would come to our home. I also noticed, walking down Latona, a sign in a window for fine art lessons. It occurred to me that there's probably quite a few people out there hoping to get their kids enrolled in something, or maybe take on a new instrument…
You may remember from way back in March that Wallyhood had a vote regarding NPSF projects. Well, the top ranked project, the RRFB at 43rd and Stone Way, is the one that's going to get done for Wallingford! Here's what SDOT says: Provided this project is prioritized by the Neighborhood District Council, SDOT proposes to install a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) system with bike and pedestrian push buttons at Stone Way N and N 43rd St. SDOT also dissed on the other…
Reminder: Streets will be blocked off all over the neighborhood tomorrow night for the 31st Annual Seattle Night Out. In reading the description from the official web site, I was a little surprised to see it billed primarily as an anti-crime event, goals declaring like "Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness" and "Send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back". In my experience, it's 99% about community building. Folks pull lawn chairs into the street, pile dishes…
If you are a regular visitor to the Seattle Public Library, you may have noticed the addition of iPads mounted to a table in the children's sections. We first noticed this a few months ago in the Fremont Library, and it was the first time our son showed no interest in the books on offer. He sat in front of the iPad playing games while my husband and I searched for picture books to check out. There is an iPad at the…