The Route 44 bus runs from the University District, through Wallingford along 45th Street, and into Ballard where it merges onto Market. If you live in our neighborhood, you’ve no doubt ridden the 44 a time or two or more. Personally, I avoid it. I remember it as being extremely, extremely slow. To be fair to the 44, it has very high ridership, and it has to make its way along some very congested streets.

Recognizing the problems on this route, Metro is considering some changes to improve our ride. Public input is currently being gathered, and to that end, …

The deadline for moving residents out of the Northlake Tiny House Village (3814 Ave NE) has slid forward three weeks, from December 31st to December 9th. (For background on the closure, see Northlake Tiny House Village To Close.)

This past week, LIHI posted the following notice on the gates:

The Seattle Human Services Department has notified us that the Northlake Village contract will not be renewed for 2020. To allow time to transition this City of Seattle-owned property back to City Light by December 31, 2019, all the tiny houses and village grounds need to be vacated by December 9, …

Just shy of its sixth Birthday, The Octopus Bar (2109 N 45th St) will lock up for the last time at the little Jules Verne-themed building they carved out of the old Wallingford Pizza House building on 45th Street. Fortunately, while they’re losing their lease on the building, they’re planning to take their theme just down the block to the old Iron Bull building on the corner of 45th and Bagley.

This came as a surprise to me. Last I spoke with co-owner Liza Danger, the plan was to continue to operate The Octopus in its present location, and to …

The Wallingford Community Senior Center invites members and the general public to join them for a thrift store shopping outing:

When: Monday, November 18, 10am-2pm. Cost: $10 public / $8 WCSC members. Advance registration required

Ride the WCSC van to check out thrift stores in the Overlake neighborhood on the Bellevue/Redmond border. We’ll be stopping at the large and bountiful Redmond Goodwill, and at the Children’s Hospital Bargain Boutique, which specializes in clothing appropriate for people of our age. If there’s time, we’ll stop at Jubilee Thrift Store, too! Enjoy flavorful but not spicy Bombay street food for lunch at …

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 …

(Correction: This was LAST weekend, Nov 8 – 11th. Sorry for the false alarm!)

Crackerjack Crafts at Wallingford Center is having a Trunk Show this weekend (beginning Friday, in fact) featuring special guests Annie de Vuono, Kristin Ford and Paige Selden.

Friday, 5 – 8pm Saturday, 11am – 6pm Sunday, 12 – 5pm Refreshments will be served.

From their website:

Join us as we celebrate the opening of our Annual Trunk Show featuring Kristin Ford Jewelry, Annie de Vuono hats and Paige Selden Scarves.

This is your opportunity to shop an extensive collection from all three artists, including many one-of-a-kind …

The iconic May Restaurant & Lounge (1612 N 45th) abruptly closed its doors and spent last weekend taking down signage, removing decorations, and cleaning out the interior. A sign on the door announces the opening of a new restaurant Sisi Kay Thai. May Restaurant confirmed that the space is under new ownership that wants to do something new.

In 2006 May Restaurant transformed a Craftsman lot into a 2-story neon-blue pagoda with brilliant aluminum adornments. They opened to much fanfare and excitement.

Several years after the restaurant’s opening, the namesake founder May Chaleoy left and started an extremely popular restaurant …