The U District is changing. There is the first new high rise since 1975, University Seafood is closing, and now WeWork is opening a co-working and separate office space at the Roosevelt Commons 4311 11th Ave NE on January 12, 2020. I must tell you that I’ve dreamed of branching out and creating my own startup. The Roosevelt Commons is a great location for me. I requested a tour of the space, and some very nice sales associates showed me around the 5th floor of the building which was literally a building site. The flooring was not yet installed. There …

A number of reports are circulating online, among them this from Connect Media, that the Bartell Building located at 1820 N 45th St has been sold. The building is one among a dwindling number of single-story buildings along 45th where zoning changes approved earlier this year allow buildings of up to 75 feet in height.

The space had been advertised online for a price of $6.875 million in a deal brokered by Newmark Knight Frank a local commercial real estate firm. The sale closed on November 21 for $6.095 million. A search of records at the King County Assessor’s office …

Reverand Tiare Mathison of the Wallingford Presbyterian Church (1414 N. 42nd Street) invites everyone to an hour or singing Christmas carols and other holiday songs, “favorites both sacred and not”, Thursday, December 19th at 7 pm.

Which reminds me, when I was growing up in New Haven, I remember a few times Christmas Carolers would go from house to house singing songs from the sidewalk. I’m pretty sure we shut off the porch light, leaving only our menorah lit in the window, but in my adulthood, the notion of people ambling from house to house throughout the neighborhood singing seems …

If you’ve walked to the southern part of Stone Way anytime in the past several months, you’ve likely seen the white land use action sign in front of 3542 Stone heralding the arrival of a new development and the demise of another one of our neighborhood’s old, low-rise buildings. While Stone Way Cafe will remain, gone will be Hashtag and Sea Ocean Books to be replaced by Living Stone.

The new building, plans for which date back at least as far as early 2018, will consist of a five-story office building with retail shops on the ground level facing Stone …

The holiday season traditions continue.  All the posts of the past week have reminded me just how many traditions there are in the neighborhood. (It is the holiday season so I am using an expansive definition of Wallingford).  Sadly, I normally remember these events when I inadvertently stumble into them on my way somewhere else.   The city has done a great job with this event, and they deserve some well earned credit.  The full details are below:

Pathway of Lights returns to Green Lake on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019
The holidays are upon us, and we’re getting into the spirit …

Evie Allen! Thanks to everyone who donated to FamilyWorks as part of our Seahawks vs Cardinals ticket giveaway. Evie was were the lucky winner and will be heading to the game! The bookmakers have Arizona winning at +9.5 -105, but they also had Tampa Bay at +4 -115 against Seattle in November (Seattle took the game 40-34) and Minnesota at +3 -114 over Seattle in December (Seattle won 37-30), so it should be a lively time.

Also winning are the hundreds and hundreds of people who get help from FamilyWorks, through their food bank, parenting classes, and advocacy, information, and …

Our neighborhood has some amazing artists and craftspeople. Shop local this season! (And no, Amazon doesn’t count as “local”, even in this city.)

This past Saturday, Mosaic Coffeehouse hosted a dozen or so local artists and craftspeople, selling their work just in time for the holidays. In case you missed it but would like to give something unique, original and truly locally made, I gathered their contact info for you here. Some have online shops, but you might reach out about local perusing and pick-up if you see something you like.

Update: there is another local art and craft market …