“Not in my backyard” is a common phrase people say in response to initiatives that are positive for society but could have negative impacts to the surrounding area. Nuclear power plants, landfills, and homeless shelters are a few examples.
Add light rail to the list. Folks in South Bellevue have taken it a step further by actually printing up signs with a modified form of the phrase: “No trains in our neighborhood.”
The signs are part of an initiative by BetterBellevue.org to stop Sound Transit from running light rail through the neighborhood.
I think the signs are a bit much.
“Goodspaceguy” is quite a senatorial name (3rd from top in the picture below from my primary ballot). But, who is “Goodspaceguy,” and why is he running for Senate?
His blog states “And I’m just some guy who has studied astronomy who advocates getting our orbital space colonies started. You have already paid the money, but we don’t have the starter colonies.”
That’s about all I needed to read. Reminds me of Dirt Woman who ran for mayor of Richmond – not worth the time.
As far as weather goes, May sucked. And June isn’t off to a very good start.
It wasn’t just that it felt cold. May’s temperatures were significantly lower than normal. In May, 21 of the 31 days had temperatures below the normal low. Only 9 days were above the average high. The temperature was in the 40s 25 of 31 days.
And it was a rainy month, with 21 days seeing some precipitation. Rainfall was 44% above normal – 2.8 inches versus the normal of 2.0 inches. April showers brought… May showers.
When will summer start?
I was really impressed when I opened up my mailbox today. Zeeks Pizza, a new restaurant opening in Bellevue in a few days, sent a flyer with coupons. But that’s not all. Inside was a map with directions on how to get there from my house.
I’ve never seen Google Maps integrated into something offline so effectively. Kudos, Zeeks. I will definitely plan on cashing in your coupons to try your pizza.
Lot No. 3 is a new restaurant that just opened in Bellevue. It’s owner is the same group that created Barrio and Purple, both Downtown Bellevue staples and huge successes. However, the concept behind Lot No. 3 appears to be misguided.
Here are some of the sandwiches offered on the menu
- PB & J $6.75 – with bacon
- GRILLED CHEESE $7.25
- BACON & EGG SALAD $8.50
- THE DOG $6.50
Now, which one sounds like something you’d order – the $6.75 Peanut butter & jelly (and bacon) sandwich, or the $7.25 grilled cheese sandwich. All these things you can make at home in a few minutes. Also, you won’t be spending an arm and a leg for them. You can get a cheaper hot dog at a Mariners or Seahawks game. Anyone who orders a $7.25 grilled cheese sandwich deserves a scolding from their mother.
Perhaps there’s a novelty of eating here once. But what would make you come back? Are you really going to want another $8.50 Egg Salad Sandwich when you could buy 4 dozen eggs for the same price and make your own?
The appetizer menu isn’t much better.
- POPCORN – $3.00
- PRETZEL – $3.25
- SARDINES – $6.25
- DEVIL’ISH EGGS – $4.25
- PLATE O’ BACON – $6.00
$3.00 for popcorn? The movie theater has cheaper prices (and bigger bags). I can’t wait to see the stats on sardines sales. The only thing this menu is missing is SPAM.
Whoever came up with this concept will find out very quickly if consumers are willing to shell out this much money for basic food. My guess is no.
I’ve never seen such a proliferation of floating bridges until I came out to the Pacific Northwest. We have many of them out here, including the two connectors across Lake Washington – SR-520 and I-90. It’s cheaper to build a bridge on pontoons than a standing bridge, and that’s the method planners have chosen, including the upcoming 520 replacement bridge.
A really cool part about a floating bridge is how the bridge affects waves on the water; during a storm, one side of the bridge will be rocking, while the other side calm as if nothing is happening. During a recent trek across the bridge during a particularly windy day that took out power in West Seattle, I witnessed the following…
Note how choppy the right side is, but the left side appears unaffected. The pontoons block the wind and waves from affecting Lake Washington north of 520.
Here’s another picture of how the waves of water were actually crashing onto the road itself. It was an interesting drive.
There’s no quick remedy for getting an NBA team back in the state of Washington. Fans are angry infuriated, and need time to heal the deep wounds. There’s no stadium suitable for a successful franchise. There are no franchises that are immediately movable to the Seattle area. Clearly, this is a long term problem that needs some creative solutions.
However, there is one scenario where a team could become available quicker than expected…
- LeBron James leaves Cleveland for New York / New Jersey
- Fans stop attending Cavs games
- Cleveland franchise looks to move
Cleveland is not impervious to franchise pressure. The Browns moved in 1996, something previously unthinkable for the city’s most beloved team.
Cleveland isn’t exactly a thriving mecca. It’s population has been on a steady decline, although the metropolitan population hasn’t fallen as fast. Cleveland, like nearby Detroit, has suffered greatly during the great recession.
Don’t get me wrong, Seattle still has a lot of problems on its end to solve. Finding a suitable stadium location downtown will be a very difficult process. An NBA franchise might need to look to Bellevue or a similar suburb for more affordable land. Further, pairing the NBA team with an NHL team is critical to a fully-utilized stadium.
But, there’s hope. And Cleveland’s loss could be Seattle’s gain. How does the “Seattle Cavaliers” sound?
A 25-story apartment building in Seattle was deemed unsafe for habitation a few weeks ago and will be torn down due to the astronomical price tag of the repairs. The shocker is that the building was only built 9 years ago.
Will we see more buildings and houses deemed unsafe? This building came before the housing bubble, so one can only imagine how much worse construction got in the boom years. Was this a fluke or a trend?
Everyone’s heard of the horror stories of boom housing: Defective Chinese drywall, mold, and other housing maladies are traits of construction and renovation from 2004-2008. But the problem could be more wide spread than that.
But who’s ever heard of a recently constructed building needing to be torn down? With hundred-year-old buildings standing intact, what made this one so dangerous and costly to correct?
If we start to see more of these across the country, it could cause a shift in the housing market. By forcing the of dismantling our worst housing stock, the government could shore up the housing glut right now and bring stability to the market.
Here’s what would happen if suddenly the government deemed x% of units unsafe…
The units sold/rented would decrease, but the price would increase. It’s the perfect scenario for housing.
Now, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, and I don’t think there will actually be a coordinated effort to make this happen. But if the construction is as bad as it appears, it could happen anyway.
People say the economy is improving, but is it really? Sometimes visual examples are more powerful than statistics. Here’s what I saw on my trip to Marrowstone Island last weekend…
Hanjin Cargo Ship
Evergreen Cargo Ship
Those are two cargo ships in the Puget Sound, and they look very full.
But the important comparison is, what did they look like last year? I’m happy to report that they’re much fuller than they were a year ago. I visited Marrowstone Island almost a year ago to the day that these pictures were taken, and the containers are stacked much higher than before. Another important consideration is how many ships passed by; I didn’t keep a tally, but it seemed like roughly the same number of ships.
So, this Sam Fetchero economic inidicator – “Ship Fullness” – is looking very strong. So, good news for Seattle and the overall economy. Business has picked up.
Stay tuned for more Sam Fetchero economic indicators.
I’ve hung out with a lot of hipsters. I’m certainly not one of them, but I enjoy their company and they seem to enjoy mine. While I’m no hipster anthropologist, I have noticed some similarities and differences between East Coast and West Coast hipsters.
I give you – the Hipster Venn Diagram*:
Common hipster traits: All hipsters I’ve encountered have the 3 Bs – Beards, Beer, and Bicycles (many at the same time). In Richmond, hipsters rule the bike scene, while in Seattle, road warriors who commute via bike compete with hipsters for pavement. Tattoos are also a key marking of a hipster in both locales.
Seattle hipsters:
- I’ve had to get up close and personal with a few hipsters, and I was surprised how clean they smelled despite their rugged appearance. I’m not talking just clean, I’m talking Old Spice Body Wash-clean. I can’t say the same for Richmond hipsters (unfortunately. guys, take a shower!)
- My first day of work I saw a guy wearing an inappropriate t-shirt of unicorns (not family friendly). In Richmond, the coolest t-shirt I saw was an old-school TMNT – just doesn’t compare.
Richmond hipsters:
- Cut-off jeans are the signature uniform for Richmond hipsters. I’ve even seen cutoff cords, cutoff khakis, and cut-off cut-offs. Haven’t seen them so far in Seattle, but summer is around the corner.
- Hardcore is central to the Richmond hipster scene. The music scene in Seattle is so much more broad (given that it’s a much larger city), there isn’t as much emphasis on hardcore.
* – don’t mean stereotype or to offend any hipsters – just my general observations. There certainly are some Richmond hipsters who shower more than once per week.
