Light posting weekend

Every time we make a post like this, we end up online way more than planned. But this time we mean it! Have a fun weekend. Keep track of all the good stuff on the CHS Good News Map.


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In other Capitol Hill blogs: Chocolate City future, football thugs, crime notes, Table 219-ku, Value Village-palooza

Here is what's going on in Capitol Hill's other blogs. Kind of makes you wonder why you've been spending all your time with us, no?

• What's next for Chocolate City?
  
• The Champions of Europe invade Capitol Hill yuppie bar.
• Yay! Somebody actually went to the East Precinct Crime Coalition meeting and they took spectacular notes.
• hillku visits Table 219, likes it.
• cap to the hill gets knickers in a twist over a big sale happening this weekend.
  

Taking the Cap out of Mad-Cap market

Friday is the day for the farmers' market formerly known as Mad-Cap -- or Madison-Capitol Hill. Here's a review of last week's opening. Even with the market's move last year to the Grocery Outlet parking lot at MLK & E Union, we continued to think of the market by its old name -- but no longer. It's time to acknowledge the market has moved away from us. Goodbye Mad-Cap. Hello Mad-Mad. We'll see you around every now and then, we're sure.

Welcoming another cheesy business to 15th

While we are being turds and complaining about some of the neighborhood's new businesses, we might as well help a neighbor offend a few more local entrepreneurs. Sorry, young captains of industry -- we don't mean to be bad neighbors. We'll come to love you... eventually.

Tipster Jackie claims to know what business will be joining Online Coffee Company, Gaspar’s, Poco Wine Room, Swoon Boutique Spa in the Braeburn condo building at the corner of 15th and Pine -- an upscale pizza joint, Jackie says. With another pizza establishment also set to open soon, Jackie wonders if the neighborhood might be overrun with cheesy toppings:

Holy crap! what will all our lactose intolerant brothers and sisters do???? Have you heard about this? I would love to see a poll on your site that asks people if not one, but two pizza joints, are the answer for us capitolhillites. Honestly, I would love to see a pho place somewhere on 15th.

Doubtless, a poll is unnecessary. We can only hope for a rapid 'efficient' market process to shake out the weakest pizza offerings and leave the restaurant spaces behind for takeover by savvy pho-trepreneurs.

Why 15th is getting a new dry cleaner -- and, oh yeah, another coffee shop

Our post about the new business destined for the East John Court retail space inspired Denise Benitez to share what she learned when she looked into moving her neighborhood yoga business into the new building. Here's the e-mail Denise sent us:

The reason that the "East John Court" retail spaces have sat empty for lo these many months is because they are asking way above the market rate for the spaces. I own Seattle Yoga Arts down the street (mention this blog and get a free class!), and was excited when I saw the new building going up, as we could definitely use a bigger space. When I got the prospectus for tenants from the realtor, it was all fancy schmancy and was titled "Success Now Has an Address." Gag. When I saw the prices they were charging, I thought they must be out of their minds. When I inquired whether they had any other tenants lined up, they said, yeah, "A coffee place and a dry cleaner." Like we need another coffee place. And a dry cleaner isn't exactly the first business I think of when I think of communicating upscale success. So, we'll just stay in our humble little building between Teriyaki Madness and the 7-11 for the foreseeable future. I like the smell of teriyaki during the morning classes...better than the smell of success.

There you have it. We'll try to get the other side of the story but the prospect of yet another coffee joint (probably a big chain that can afford the rent) definitely begs the question: What can the community do to work with developers to create realistic opportunities for honest-to-goodness small businesses?

Community Garage Sale Day doubleheader

You can make the Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale Day -- look, an official Web site! http://www.capitolhillgaragesale.com/ -- a Capitol Hill doubleheader. June 14th is also the first pitch of the Bat N-Rouge Drag Queens vs. The Dykes softball game at Bobby Morris Play Field. Get rid of your old junk, pick up a few treasures from your neighbor's sale and catch a ballgame. Good times.

Leaving notes is a neighborhood tradition

The Slog is smoldering with the story of a 16th Ave E. self-appointed meter maid. Most of the comments are full of deserved scorn for the letter writer's position that the street parking in front of their house belongs to them. No argument here. We choose, instead, to point out the long, not so proud tradition of neighbors leaving nasty notes to punish the wicked, etc. It's how we were greeted to the 'hood when we parked too close to somebody's driveway and there are plenty of creative examples from our streets. So, revel in it. Join the comment thread. Leave your own note on somebody's windshield this morning.

From the picture pool -- The Hill in full bloom

The CHS flickr pool looks like a seed catalog these days -- a very pretty seed catalog, we might add. Thanks for all the purdy flower shots, everybody.

Can art beat crime?

There is an East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition public meeting tomorrow night with a few interesting items on the docket.

• Recent Capitol Hill bias crimes and harassment
• Light rail construction
  

Why, you might ask, is a crime prevention meeting going to discuss light rail? From the meeting invite:

in preparation for construction of the Broadway station, Sound Transit is in the process of vacating buildings on the east side of Broadway from John to Howell street. These buildings will remain vacant through January of 2009- how will they prevent these vacant buildings from attracting negative activities?

One solution to consider that is likely more effective and better for the community than increasing patrols, etc. is putting those empty buildings to use for art and creative spaces until construction begins.

If you want to have your say, Thursday's meeting starts at 6:30p in the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption at 13th and Howell, 1804 13th Ave.

Link round-up: Chicken shit, Victrola's eBay, we're #1, bars with patios, hippie pizza

Strange mix floating around out there today. We're sure these all connect -- we just don't know how it all fits together.

• Might explain that strange chicken shit smell coming from the next apartment. We should have a neighborhood chicken coop photo contest, no?
• If Victrola's online auction experience is anything like ours they will be shilled into overbidding by 50% and have to pay $15 shipping for a dirty old Care Bear.
  
• Yay. Capitol Hill is #1.
• hillku asks for bars with patio group think. We vote 22 Doors.
• As entities like Wal-Mart now have 'organic' produce, hard to get 'excited' by 'eco-friendly' pizza chain coming to Capitol Hill.
  

New business on 15th Ave will bore you

IMGP0400
Originally uploaded by jseattle.

Finally. We got a few ideas for things to write about from our request-a-post gadget but, well, sometimes it takes a long time to dig up details for a good story. Happy to say we're finally tackling one of requests.

A neighbor asks: what's going in at the new retail space across from group health on 15th? I hope it's Thai food.

Dear neighbor,
Sorry to report this -- it's not Thai food (btw, what's wrong with Jamjuree or Samui Thai?) The development of East John Court as a mixed-used space combining street-level retail with fashionable condos doesn't seem to have gone exactly to plan. First, the development had to transition from the condo plan to apartment rentals given the downturn in the housing market. Now the retail spaces seem to be lagging. We haven't spoken with the agent trying to lease the East John Court retail "opportunities" yet but none of the spaces are filled yet and only one has a tenant signed up.

Before we reveal the nature of this secret pioneer tenant, a rant. Have you seen how huge the East John Court retail spaces are? They look gigantic -- as if they were designed for a factory to move in. Assuming the rent is correspondingly gigantic also. No wonder, then, that we end up with mixed-use combos of chain pizza and...

Dry cleaners.

Yes, neighbor, we're sorry to be the bearer of boring news -- but we're told that the first tenant of East John Court's retail spaces is going to be a dry cleaner. Not sure why this dry cleaner wasn't interested in the other dry cleaner space currently available on 15th Ave but there you go. Please, don't yawn right in front of us like that. Embarrassing.

Volunteer Park off-leash crackdown?

Volunteer Park Sunset
Originally uploaded by anna oh.

Lots of reasons to keep your doggie on a leash when you visit Volunteer Park -- neighbor Sabrina adds another. She says the fuzz are handing out tickets to dog owners who let their puppies off leash:

I admit, I was busted last night around 630pm (along with several others) and I'd like to spare others from the hefty ticket. While being questioned by the Animal Control officer, he mentioned several times that there has been complaints of dogs being off leash but when talking to others who got tickets last night, we all live without three blocks of the neighborhood. It makes me sad to think that instead of saying something to a dog owner, they just called Animal Control.

She also makes a point about the lack of a nearby off-leash area on this side of Capitol Hill. The last effort to create one in the old GAR cemetery got buried by a citizen's group.

Community Council campaigning

Now it's official -- J has ordered campaign cards. Not sure what kind of material the other candidates are handing out but you can meet a few on Sunday, June 1st at the Broadway farmers' market and mark your calendar to vote on Thursday, June 5th at CHAC's upper level between 6:30p and 8p.

Latest Capitol Hill good news reports

Lots of breaking good news -- here's an update. Remember, if you see good news, report it IMMEDIATELY on the CHS Good News Map. Eternal vigilance!

• 5/16/08 - pothole ameliorated
  Somebody filled the huge pothole with sand, which meant I didn't wreck when I hit it at night on my bicycle.
  
• technology rediscovered
  Yesterday, I happened across an old laptop from the year 2000. I thought to myself that I should get it going again. I attempted to install linux (via Xubuntu.org), but it told me I only had 32mb of ram and needed more. Today the dumpster gods dropped an old laptop in the dumpster with the ram I needed. Now I'm up and running with a new computer for free. Thanks dumpster gods, and shame on someone for throwing toxic waste into the garbage.
• 5/16/08 -- Date Night
  Via Trib. I think I like him. Low lighting and wine.

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First look at plans for 2 new Capitol Hill parks

Found early views of the two parks being planned for Capitol Hill in the CH News group. We've overlayed the images on the map so you can see where they'll be -- but the diagrams are not to scale (unfortunately!) and we're not entirely sure we've got the north-south, east-west thing right. You can, however, get an idea of where things are going. Hey, are those pea patches we see?

You can read more about the park planned for 16th and Howell here and at the final public meeting for the project next week.

16th & Howell Park
3rd Public Meeting
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Group Health Atrium - South Building
125 - 16th Avenue E.
Seattle, WA 98122

Meanwhile, the John & Summit park will be discussed in early June. It looks like the I-5 Shores development is a more mod plan with a jagged path reminiscent of the angular walkways in the Olympic Sculpture Park.


John & Summit Park
3rd Public Meeting
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Capitol Hill Presbyterian
1729 Harvard Ave
Seattle WA 98122

Ancient Capitol Hill tree needs help

The amazing old oak tree on Capitol Hill we wrote about last month is sick. 8 block walk reports:

Its leaves haven't been filling out as much as they used to, and it is very probable that is is afflicted by a fungus (in Seattle? Really?). The message has been passed to the Parks Department, and it sounds like they need to run some tests to find out what it is, and possible treatments they can use to save it.

Neighbor Matt's also has a great photo of the tree and some cool additional info about the space where it lives. Sad news about the old oak -- hopefully the city can do something to keep it around for a few hundred more years.

Meet a Hill Clinton supporter

In our own Capitol Hill version of equal time, here is a conversation we had with another convention hopeful. You've heard from a Capitol Hill Obama-ite -- now hear from Hong Chhuor, a Clinton delegation candidate who makes his home on Capitol Hill.

CHS: You're a candidate to be a Washington state delegate from Capitol Hill's district at the national convention. Briefly (18 words or less, please), tell us how the process works and how you are planning to conquer your rivals.
Hong: In Washington this year, we’re using a caucus system. Basically, you have to campaign your way to the National Convention (in Denver for 2008) through every step of the way from precinct à legislative district à congressional district à National Convention. The Democratic party awards state delegates based on proportion of popular votes won vs. the Republican Party’s winner take all. There’s no tried and true formula to getting elected as a delegate, but it sure helps if you’re motivated, outgoing and a good public speaker and can convince people to vote for you.

CHS: What's with the whole male/female delegate thing? How does that work on Capitol Hill?
Hong: It’s just the rules…at the precinct level, there was no male/female quota. However, starting at the Legislative District level (LD), a 50/50 proportion of male to female delegates must be upheld…same all the way up through the National Convention. Not quite sure what you mean with regards to how “it works” on Capitol Hill.

CHS: You're also getting involved in the Capitol Hill Community Council http://chcc.wikidot.com -- would Hillary approve?
Hong: Of course! She’s all about making everybody’s voice heard and what better model than a community council that strives to be inclusive and take into account/respect the community’s voice? The other thing is that she is big on making this happen through increased participation and involvement from everyday people, which is the same thing we are striving for with the CHCC. When she was First Lady, she spent a lot of time addressing social justice/poverty issues for populations that were generally ignored by governments. She traveled through villages (China) one by one and brought her findings to conferences/forums to share with other leaders (like the U.N. Conference on Women in Beijing, 1995). I think that Capitol Hill, with its highly mobile population of renters doesn’t have a strong and unified voice with which to engage our elected leaders and consequently, is less equipped than other neighborhoods to pressure the city government to take its interests into account with the same level of consideration.

CHS: We're the we'll vote for anybody younger than 72 kind of people. Basically, we don't really care if it's Obama or Clinton. But we meet a lot of people on Capitol Hill who d and we would like to be able to spot them in advance so we can not say things that set them off on 30-minute diatribes because, like we said, we don't care as long as it's a Dem. So, how can we spot a Capitol Hill Clinton person by sight?
Hong: Well, if you believe what the statistics and political analysts are saying, Obama supporters are generally younger, 18-34, better educated, inexperienced/new but ambitious voters and often from ethnic/racial minorities. Capitol Hill is TEEMING with people in this demographic. On the other hand, Clinton supporters are generally Caucasian, older, less-educated, lower income, blue-collar workers and female. If you saw me walking down the street, you would think that I’m a likely candidate for an Obama supporter; obviously, I’m not. Thus, I would caution against making any kind of assumptions about people and who they support based on appearance. I will tell you however, that Barack Obama enjoys overwhelming support among Capitol Hillites based on what I’ve seen at the precinct and legislative district caucuses. Personally, I think they’re just trying to be cool and quite frankly, typically Seattle.

CHS: Are there bars or coffeeshops where you might be more likely to find these people?
Hong: As it has been a while since I’ve gone on a tour of the bars and coffee shops in our neighborhood, this isn’t something I could really comment on to a significant extent...

CHS: Ok, here's your last chance. Tell us why Clinton is the best candidate for -- specifically -- Capitol Hill.
Hong: I am confident that Hillary Clinton is the best candidate for a place like Capitol Hill because she goes easily to the core of a problem. I believe she is able to see both sides of an issue and is good at sorting out conflicts. She’s tough and she’s smart. She is pushing for measures that are very much address the general concerns of Capitol Hill residents (healthcare, women’s/LGBT/minority rights, economic security, foreign policy). The trouble is, so is Barack Obama.

The thing that sets them apart is that Clinton is able to provide actionable steps and a concrete plan on how to achieve goals that are measurable and realistic. She is empathetic to the everyday problems that people face. Whereas Barack Obama’s approach of “change we can believe in,” “hope” and “building bridges” is highly commendable, the fact is that his approach inherently colors his policy recommendations at every level – Hillary wants mandatory healthcare, his plan is optional. Hillary openly embraces proactive measures to increase women’s & LGBT rights, Obama agrees that they are good things but stops short of endorsing measures to incorporate everybody as equal citizens with equal rights. Clinton understands that all hell would break loose in Iraq and Afghanistan if we were to pull out tomorrow, yet Obama pushes for the withdrawal of our troops immediately. Hillary understands that we must address taxation in our country in a way that doesn’t harm the disadvantaged, Barack wants to push for measures that would put more pressure on the middle class (uniform capital gains/dividends tax increases for everybody, regardless of whether your portfolio is $10,000 or $10 million). In all accounts, he appears to be either non-committal or slightly idealistic about the complexities of an issue.

How does all of this relate to Capitol Hill? This requires going back to the amorphous nature of the Capitol Hill Community. In order for Barack Obama’s approach to work, you have to have people who are committed to his vision. People need to make the decision to engage each other in dialogue and agree to move forward together towards a common goal. I would love to see this happen on Capitol Hill because I believe it is the most sustainable and effective way to bring about change. However, this requires long term commitment and stability, more than we typically see on Capitol Hill. Hillary’s approach also welcomes popular participation, but she is not afraid to take a stand, move through all the muck and make things actually happen. Not to be critical of my fellow community members, but I feel that many of us are apathetic and disillusioned because we’ve been pretty much left to ourselves/ignored by our leaders and therefore are more prone to inaction and disinterest than anything. I say this time and time again, Capitol Hill used to be a center of culture & commerce, but that was when there was larger proportion of community-minded residents who dared to take ownership of what was going on in their neighborhood.

CHS: Thanks Hong. Check out Hong on Facebook if you want to get in touch and, of course, http://www.hillaryclinton.com/ for more on her campaign.

Your neighborhood's Obama connection

Tomorrow, while the rest of us kick around in flip-flops drinking sunshiny cans of beer and playing on the slip and slide, a dedicated few will meet to determine what happens next in Washington's contribution to the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. We checked in with two Capitol Hill residents hoping to make it through the next round of the process at tomorrow's congressional district caucus. First, from the Obama side of the fence, Molly Strong.

CHS: You're a candidate to be a Washington state delegate from Capitol Hill's district at the national convention. Briefly (18 words or less, please), tell us how the process works and how you are planning to conquer your rivals.
Molly: In 18 words or fewer, I doubt I can explain how the process works and why I think I deserve to go to the convention but here goes!

Precinct caucuses elect delegates to represent their constituents at the legislative, congressional, state, and national level. I road in a double decker English bus down to Oregon to register voters there-- Need I say more?

(I guess I can't, since that was more than 18 words. Sorry. I was an English major, and even I can't boil down this complicated process/ self-praise to fewer than 18 words. But I'm not planning on "conquering" my rivals- just charming them.)

CHS: What's with the whole male/female delegate thing? How does that work on Capitol Hill?
Molly: Like any good democratic process, the delegate process seeks to represent the population fairly. That means that we want to have a good number of LGBT, minorities, young people, women, etc. etc. in order to represent the diversity of our community. When I vote tomorrow for the delegates who will continue onto the national convention, I have to vote for a certain number of men and a certain number of women in order to proportionally represent the 7th congressional district.

CHS: We found out about you through Wet Paint and the obamadelegates.org wiki. Are there resources there Capitol Hill citizens should know about?
Molly: Two great resources: if you email 43rdforobama@gmail.com, you can be added to the mailist from the 43rd district leadership team, who are responsible for setting up a lot of the get out the vote and Obama fundraising activies here in Capital Hill. It's a really fun group of people, and I've loved getting to know them over the past few months.

Mybarackobama.com is another great resource. People can set up events on there, and you can find lots of fun things to attend on Capital Hill. Just last week there was a bowling for Obama party (ironic considering his score...) at The Garage that was organized through mybarackobama.com.

Lastly, the Washington State voter registration site is great. You can register to vote online.

CHS: We're the we'll vote for anybody younger than 72 kind of people. Basically, we don't really care if it's Obama or Clinton. But we meet a lot of people on Capitol Hill who do and we would like to be able to spot them in advance so we can not say things that set them off on 30-minute diatribes because, like we said, we don't care as long as it's a Dem. So, how can we spot a Capitol Hill Obama person by sight?
Molly: Well, I suspect anyone wearing Obama buttons is pro-Obama. In fact, I'd be willing to say that there are a lot of people on Capital Hill who support Obama, and you may not be able to identify them by swag...

CHS: Are there bars or coffeeshops where you might be more likely to find these people?
Molly: We've had a couple of Obama button-making "parties" at Vivace on Denny. I say "parties" in quotes because there was no booze involved, only excessive amounts of coffee. We all looked a bit like elves in Santa's workshop with those button making machines. There were quite a few patrons who wanted buttons, so it's definitely an Obama-friendly crowd there. Avoid it if you are pro-Clinton, I suppose. Also, I was at Coastal Kitchen splitting a sundae with a friend, and I saw a large crowd of people come in wearing Obama shirts.

CHS: Ok, here's your last chance. Tell us why Obama is the best candidate for -- specifically -- Capitol Hill.
Molly: Obama represents a clear break from the Republican party because he's always been against the war, an issue that is of paramount importance to young people because it's our generation that is over in Iraq.

His education policies are also great for young people; upon qualifiying, young people can receive $4,000 yearly for college, and in return they'd have to log a certain number of hours doing community service. There are a lot of us young people on Capital Hill who would benefit, not to mention the non-profits that would benefit from the influx of volunteers.

He doesn't accept money from lobbyists, who've dominated politics for too long. Millions of people have donated to his campaign, and we are the ones to whom he'll be held accountable.
I also think you can tell a lot about a candidate by how she/he has run his/her campaign. His campaign has by far been the most organized, utilizing the internet to organize a grassroots movement. And he has spent and raised his money wisely.

Lastly, more than any other candidate, Obama has inspired people in their 20s and 30s to get involved in politics. It would be great for our country if my generation starting holding our government accountable by voting and showing interest and paying attention.

CHS: Thanks Molly. Neighbors can check out Molly's delegate page to learn more about her and the local effort around the Obama campaign.

Heat wave emergency #2 -- no vanilla ice cream

Not only will there be no water in the Volunteer Park wading pool but Tully's vanilla ice cream magical mixing machine was broke'd yesterday. Call ahead, kids.

The first warm night on Capitol Hill

IMGP0442
Originally uploaded by jseattle.

A night like this you need to celebrate. A night like this you think sunshine warmth is here forever and that you have survived yet another Seattle rainy season.

Madison is full of pissed off cruisers being forced into single file by construction.

14th Ave apartment balconies are a good place to talk to mom on the phone.

Smith has its big garage door windows pulled open.

Victrola has a strumming trio.

Liberty is hot, stuffy and full. Your forehead has sweat beads.

Cars are parked with sunroofs left open.

The Russian Community Center has dragged out its big, noisy fan kept from the old theater days for when they accidentally burned popcorn but now used to cool off the swing dancers.

Your window is open and the blinds lifted so they don't bang in the night breeze.

We hope you're right about the sunshine part.

Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale is one month away

Only four more weeks to clean out your closets for the Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale. The big day is Saturday, June 14th. We have 10 sales on the list so far -- we know the rest of you are trying to decide if you can part with that awesome orange couch in your basement before you commit. That's cool. When you're ready, add your sale to the list.

We'll announce some more goodies next week but basic plan is to compile the list of neighbors having sales, put together an online map and promote the day around the Hill both online and off.

Latest Good News reports

Busy time for good news. We launched the CHS Good News Map yesterday and already several reports of good news have rolled in.

Recent reports:
4/25/08 -- Visited old oak tree
No date -- Health Insurance -- We got it
5/4/08 -- Sat on cement wall with friend, enjoying the sun and watching weird guy selling pants.


To add your own reports of good news:

1. Go to the CHS Good News Map
2. Click the big EDIT button
3. Enter the address or intersection where the Good News^tm was experienced
4. Or, click on the blue placemark icon and drag it to the location of your Good News^tm
5. Add details including date
   

North Hill Bakery now open when we need it most

To prove that your neighbors don't just complain about everything, the same neighbor who sent us this, also sent us this:

We noticed North Hill Bakery open Sunday and serving brunch. The brunch offerings were slim but we were psyched that they've finally extended to include Sunday open hours.

That is good news. A dark bakery on a Sunday morning always made us sad. Now we expect seeing it open will always make us happy. Add it to the happy map!