They serve Chimay at the coffee shop a few blocks from my house in Greenwood.  Chimay.  At a coffee shop.  Across the street from the coffee shop is a Space Travel Supply Company.  The name of the coffee bar I’m at is Neptune.  I just finished staring at a black trash receptacle that is an exact clone of the one I purchased from Fred Meyer.  It’s black and durable and cheap and it’s now in my basement. So my basement is on planet Earth, even though I’m a couple hundred yards from my basement and I’m already in Neptune.  What a wild town.

Greenwood does have its wild sides.  When I began writing this article 3 months ago (did some research-based space travel in the interim thanks to the store across the street) the weather outside the coffee shop window looked to be in hot competition for the most fall-looking day ever.  Yellows and oranges swirled in battle from both ends of the street.  A white, indignant gloom of a sky hung as a backdrop.  The people inside the café were in deep post-pumpkin depression.  Eating treats at home.  No Breaking Bads to watch. It was tough.  And it’s still tough, even tougher now, in this biting, late-winter frost and dandruff sprays of snow stopping Seattle in her tracks for days at a time (as the people cry: “We shouldn’t go out there, there’s white stuff!” “My tires will turn into giant ice cylinders and eat my children at night!” “Snow is poison!”).  And yet, there’s a lot to explore in the Hiptropolis of 85^th and Greenwood, regardless of the weather.  Wild & phantasmagoric elements abound, past and present.

Welcome…to Greenwild.

Greenwood was first a bog and cemetery before the boutique life took hold.  For 17 years things were pretty dead around here until Governor Henry McBride interred the bodies (so much for rest in peace) out of Greenwood Cemetery and started building residential plots in 1908.  Where did those interred bodies go, you may be wondering?  The answer could be one of two possibilities: Either Governor McBride moved them to Ballard’s Crown Hill Cemetery, or he let them loose and they still mill about Greenwood to this day as half-functioning, latte-ordering, eco-conscious zombies (“Don’t waste the skull like that!” “That jawbone makes for excellent compost!”).

Kidding aside, there has been documented paranormal activity in the area, particularly on 85^th, where they started digging up bodies and building houses.  Fellow resident of Greenwood and Seattle author Emily Hill has written books about the haunting in her neighborhood on 85^th St.  She’s convinced that her 1907 house, as well as the house next door and the house across the street from hers, are the dwelling places of restless ghosts. (Can’t you just  imagine “this is not my beautiful home” playing incessantly in their poor, ghost heads?).

Here’s Emily Hill in her own words: “The residents of all three houses experienced hauntings [sic], paranormal activity, and the presence of ghosts.  I’ve included my own experience in ‘Ghost Stories and The Unexplained’ and ‘Ghost Stories From Beyond the Grave.’” She went on to describe watching door knobs turn when no one else was in the house, and the “ghost child” that played with the little girl in the house across the street.  Spooky wild.

So we got zombies (most likely), ghost testimonials, and, get this: no sidewalks! This town has been waiting for sidewalks since 1954!  Ever since they annexed the hinterlands that ran north to N 145^th St., the Greenwood we know now north of 85^th St. has been waiting for sidewalks ever since (as was promised in that annexation).  Greenwoodlin creatures have been risking their lives on these roads since they were plank and trammeled by horse, buggy, trolley, and confused, youthful zombies and ghosts lurking about in need of decent coffee.  Think of the smooth transit a sidewalk would provide for a Greenwood zombie.  Sure they represent unforgivable wrongs, but at the end of the day zombies have rights, too. They just have a hard time expressing them.

In my prying about cyberspace in search of olde tyme Greenwood tales, I found very little. Though there is hope in finding places where they reward you for how much you can read while feeding you “pizza and snacks” (though I think it’s actually a pizza-eating marathon disguised as a reading marathon…least that’s what I would do.)  Unfortunately, you have to be a teenager to be eligible for this event, says The Greenwood Library. The Reading Marathon for “teens” is at the Greenwood library on Saturday, January 28, from 11am-5pm. Bring You Own Fake Middle School ID.

If you’re too old, tried, and sophisticated for pizza and library books and in you’re in search of a more mellow wild,  check out Couth Buzzard Books – Espresso Buono Café. They’re vying hard for the Greenwood Community Hot Spot Award, as they trumpet all they provide on their website: “Open Mic Nights, Acoustic Music Jams, Local Arts and Crafts, Monthly Cabarets, Family Events like Game Night, Writer’s Groups, Meeting Space Groups…and…Spirited Conversation!” And they serve Fremont beer from the Fremont Brewery.  Nothing says “wild” like fresh beer brewed just 5 minutes away.

Also note that the Greenwood Animal Hospital will spade your babies, no problem, according to one of many rave reviews by customers, who also lauded there 7-days a week availability and free 1rst appointment.  Says one customer, “I just got my baby spayed here and they are giving Seattle humane society prices to all their clients.” Finally, you can spay your baby in a humane fashion. How wild!

To conclude, I’d like to end on a Greenwood legacy that is sadly coming to an end this Feb. 4^th.  The Greenwood Market. After 20 years of serving the community as a meeting place of food and ideas and beer, the bigger fish across the street, Fred Meyer, is gobbling up the property Greenwood Market currently sits on by adding 55,000 sq. ft. to Fredkenstein’s current 118,000 sq. ft.  How is Fred Meyer able to do this? They applied for a permit to expand back in July (what a wild permit).  In fact, the FM expansion still needs city approval.

Spooky side note: The Greenwood Ghost Collective has in fact shown up weekly at town meetings to protest this action, though no one ever responds to their concerns…since they’re ghosts and no one can see them.

One customer laments over the types of food she will miss discovering at the Market, saying, “It was a cornucopia of organic produce and odd, fancy things – pomegranate molasses and Swedish sugar pearls, to name a few – has made [the market] it a favorite for foodies.”

Greenwood sugar pearls? Heck, I remember picking wild sugar pearls out back with my zombie ghost grandfather behind Greenwood Elementary when I was just five years old.  Those were wild nights…

Whoa. A 10-year-old Bob Dylan just walked into Neptune wearing a dark poofy rain coat and plaid shorts.  He just ordered a jelly doughnut.  It’s 4 in the afternoon. Kid must be from Mars.

By:  Matt Caliri

The combination of increased public demand for programs and services and reduced funding requires a long-term, sustainable solution that will enable Seattle Parks and Recreation to pay for facilities in order to continue to contribute to the strength and vibrancy of our community.  Parks absorbed a $10 million budget reduction in 2011, and new revenue sources are severely limited due to legal caps.

The Seattle City Council tasked (“SLI”) the City Council and Seattle Parks and Recreation with engaging in a city-wide, in-depth dialogue about its community centers, and how to continue to deliver the programs and services citizens expect and cherish in the face of staggering budget cuts.

This SLI is aimed at reducing Parks’ dependence on the General Fund while supporting new funding strategies for the future.  The current recommendation will result in an immediate impact to the community in the form of a reduction and elimination of Parks services, as well the loss of Parks jobs.

Specifically, it was announced that Parks will:

• Create five geographical service areas, each with five community centers in it. Based on the condition of the building and the cost of maintaining it, past use of the building for drop-in use, paid use, and rentals, and the number of patrons served by scholarships, each will be assigned a service level: 1, 2a, or 2b.  This includes the heavily used downtown areas around Pike Place Market.
• Raise the number of hours for Service Level 1 centers and adjust them upward or downward for Service Level 2a and 2b centers.
• Eliminate approximately 13 full-time equivalent (“FTE”) jobs to save ~$1.25 million and will affect 75 employees with cuts in their working hours.
• Hold public meetings later this year to determine what programming the communities within each service area would like to see at their centers.

While budget cuts are inevitable in this economy, the impact to Parks and Recreation is especially critical because so many families who are already struggling rely on the Parks for a variety of social services at little to no cost.  These services range from childcare and youth programs (e.g. before and after school programs) to senior assistance programs.

Many of these programs will be cut, or operational hours will be reduced, creating additional burdens on the City’s social services (police, human services, etc.). Now that students are back to school and the winter months are approaching, the demand for these services will only grow.  The linked Parks fact sheet provides an overview of the Parks’ footprint in our city and its impact on Seattle’s jobs, income and quality of life.

The Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce celebrates Seattle’s summer-time with the 61st annual Greenwood Seafair Parade on Wednesday July 27th from 6pm to 8:30pm. “This year we will be having Dean Ridgway from Ridgeline Ranch with his darling Welsh ponies offering pony rides in the Greenwood Fred Meyer parking lot,” says Parade Director Ann Woodward. “The ponies will be set up by 10am so this will be a great opportunity for families to bring their children before the parade and have a ride!”

The Ridgeline Ranch is located in Sequim on 30 acres of pasture with 3 spring-fed ponds. “It is a pony paradise,” says Dean who has been providing pony rides for 22 years. “I enjoy working outside with my ponies and watching the parents smile and the children enjoy the ride.”

The Greenwood Seafair Parade takes place from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27. The parade—which is the oldest neighborhood Seafair sanctioned parade in the region—runs south along Greenwood Avenue from North 95th Street to North 85th Street, and then heads west to 6th Avenue Northwest. Thousands of people typically line the route. The parade features over 100 entrants including bands, drill teams, horses, dogs, floats, pirates and more. Detailed parade information after the jump.

This post sponsored by SeattleTravel, with great summer-time ideas for visitors around Seattle.

Side sewers are the focus of the Phinney Ridge Community Council’s annual meeting May 16th. The PRCC program will begin at 7 p.m. and include a panel featuring a Seattle Public Utilities’ representative and information about water and side sewer best practices, laws, permits and insurance coverage. The meeting is free and open to all.

Location: Phinney Neighborhood Center, Rm. 6, 6532 Phinney Avenue N, Seattle

PRCC is seeking input, questions and advice from Phinney Ridge residents about their experiences with drinking water and side sewer repairs and replacements.
You may contact Diane Duthweiler at dduthweiler@comcast.net or Leslie Sacha lesliesacha@comcast.net

The meeting is now May 16th with speakers and topics including:
· Maps of our area that show the main sewer lines – Frank McDonald Seattle Public Utilities

· A laptop computer to demonstrate how someone can look up their sewer card on line – Brad Bryan Seattle Public Utilities

· Side sewer and Operation Response Center (ORC) information – Celeste Duncan Seattle Public Utilities (will bring brochures and ORC magnets)

Examples of how emergency repairs can be handled. (i.e. what should you do if your sewer is backing up into your basement in the middle of the night) – Mike Brennan – Seattle Public Utilities

Questions about “gray” water uses and roof drain disconnection –Tracy Tackett – SPU

They will also discuss patterns they’ve seen, i.e. which areas are ripe for failing side sewers and the different kind of contractors and what to ask before hiring someone, and the newest Northwest materials and techniques for installing side sewers

Other speakers are

DPD: Michelle Macias and Celeste Duncan -SPU

More information about side sewers at this informative link.

Agenda
6:30 p.m. ~ Refreshments, Informal Meet & Greet
7 p.m. ~ Presentation
8 p.m. ~ Annual PRCC Elections (Nominations will be accepted until balloting begins)

Hello Phinney Ridge and Greenwood communities!

I am a parent at the Phinney Spanish Immersion Co-op Preschool at the Phinney Neighborhood Association (Phinney Cooperativa Preescolar en Espanol – PCPE). We’d love for more people to learn about our program and join us for the 2011-2012 school year.

WHO WE ARE:
We are a dynamic Spanish-speaking cooperative school: our children enjoy play-based learning as they create and explore while immersed in a Spanish-speaking environment.

We are a community: PCPE offers a nurturing environment for children to develop self-confidence and learn to share, cooperate and interact with other Spanish-speaking children and caring adults. This is a unique opportunity for Spanish-speaking parents and caregivers to participate in the social, emotional and physical growth of their children in the classroom.

WHAT WE DO:
We learn while we play and share: our children enjoy a fun, activity-rich environment that includes: circle time for introducing concepts through songs, stories, poetry, and movement; free choice activities for creative expression and exploring through sensory materials; outdoor time; and shared meals.

We offer resources for families: PCPE offers resources and ongoing support for a community of Spanish-speaking families who wish to educate their children in a language-rich multi-cultural environment.

PLEASE JOIN US:
PCPE welcomes children from ages 1 to 5 who speak Spanish either full or part time at home with at least one parent who is fluent in Spanish. Priority is given to children whose parent(s) are native speakers. Scholarships are available for families who need assistance.

Registration for new families for the 2011-12 school year, will begin April 1st.
Please contact PCPE at (206)859-5082 or pcpe@phinneycenter.org for more information.

BAT lanes — bus lanes like the ones that already exist on southbound Aurora — would be extended to both directions of traffic between N 46th and N 66th, and then from Winona Ave N to N 115th St. Like current BAT lanes, these would be business and transit-only lanes going south during the morning commute and north during the evening.

The plans also calls for new and improved RapidRide bus stations along Aurora — although the specific locations haven’t been determined — along with 5 million in pedestrian improvements, including 7000 feet of new sidewalks and 100 new curb ramps. The rest of the grant money would go to 23 new Metro buses, and Transit Signal Priority technology that would allow them to move up and down Aurora more quickly.

Phinney and Greenwood are the two neighborhoods with the largest stake in this proposal, considering that it affects the section of Aurora that makes up the eastern neighborhood border. According to an email from SDOT, “This proposal would improve pedestrian mobility along Aurora, enhance access to transit, improve transit speed and reliability, and support the implementation of Metro’s Aurora Rapid Ride service.”

At their meeting this week, the Phinney Ridge Community Council couldn’t agree on the proposal and decided not to send a letter of support for SDOT’s grant application. Although several members did support the proposal, and some even said they might use the high speed buses themselves, others worried that expanding the BAT lanes would drive traffic from Aurora onto neighboring side streets, where speeders are already a major complaint.

The Aurora Avenue Merchants Association opposes the SDOT proposal for similar reasons. A notice on the front page of their website (auroramerchants.org) reads “AAMA does not support King County Metro & SDOT plans to close side streets on Aurora and replace them with fancy bus shelters for RapidRide. All traffic should remain on the HIGHWAY and not be sent onto the neighborhood streets.” According to the Seattle P-I (http://www.seattlepi.com/local/366269_aurora09.html) the merchants also opposed a similar proposal in 2008. That plan was eventually scrapped by the City.

Although the current proposal is not without its opponents, it does present one possible picture of the future of public transit in Phinney-Greenwood. We are hoping this does not force more people off the bus and into Seattle cabs – away from the city’s purpose to keep transit efficient and Aurora moving.

On June 29th, Seattle’s Planning Department will host a public meeting on the changes from 6:00-8:00. The meeting will be held in the Fellowship Hall of the Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, located at 7500 Greenwood Avenue.

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

6:00-6:30 Meet and Greet
6:30-6:45 Overview Presentation
6:45-8:00 Open House/Public Comment

The map shows the boundaries of the three subareas that form the rezone area.

For more information please contact:

Andrea Petzel
DPD Senior Urban Planner
(206) 615-1256
andrea.petzel@seattle.gov

“Up until this month, we have rented three separate spaces for our programs. Now we can co-locate our programs and better integrate our services,” says Lori Drabant, Vice President of Development & Communications. “This facility will allow us to increase our presence and our capacity to serve the north Seattle community.”

To kick off the grand opening, a celebration will be held at the Community Resource Center which will also be a stop on the Greenwood Community Art Walk. There will be live music, refreshments, and local art from community members and Volunteers of America clients.

“The Greenwood community has always been so supportive of our north Seattle programs,” says Drabant. “We are excited to welcome the community into our new facility to celebrate its grand opening.”

Guests are welcome to stop by anytime between 5:00pm and 8:00pm on June 11th at9041 Greenwood Ave North to hear stories of hope and take a tour of our new facility.

Volunteers of America Western Washington is one of the region’s most comprehensive human service organizations. With the help of our generous donors we are able to respond to 350,000 requests for assistance each year from families in crisis, children at risk, seniors, and adults with disabilities.
For more information, visit www.voaww.org.

The latest potential conflict between the Zoo and the neighborhood involves the naming rights to the Zoo’s new West Entrance. The Bank of America Commons, a spacious open area outside the West Gate, got its name after the bank donated approximately $1 million to the Zoo. Some neighbors at this month’s Phinney Ridge Community Council meeting were unhappy with the naming process, and that the name may even have been obtained outside of the standard process.

If any of the City’s public parks had taken on a corporate sponsor, there would have been a public comment period required by the City of Seattle. That never happened at the Zoo, because the Zoo’s Management Agreement — unlike the naming rules for other City parks– doesn’t require public comment. However, it does require the approval of the Parks Superintendent, and the Zoo states that it got that approval for the Bank of America Commons.

The PRCC also discussed the possibility that Bank of America may not have donated enough money to meet the Zoo’s threshold for naming a space. The Zoo’s policy says a gift has to represent “a significant portion” of the cost of the building or space being named, and that 50% is the desired amount for naming. PRCC president Irene Wall pointed out that $1 million doesn’t seem like it would cover 50% of the cost of the Bank of America Commons.

However, 50% is just the desired amount, not a requirement. The target donation amount is determined in the business plan for each Zoo project. According to Zoo spokesman David Schaefer, Bank of America’s donation met the donation goal set out in the plans for the West Gate. “I might note that it is for a term of 10 years, not a permanent naming,” Schaefer told PhinneyRidge.org, via email.

In fairness, the name doesn’t come with huge corporate billboards, either. The only visible Bank of America logo is in black against dark wood on one of the buildings bordering the commons. The Zoo’s Schaefer called it “pretty understated.”

But, for the neighbors who don’t approve of the Bank of America name, it’s not necessarily about visible branding. It’s about starting down a slippery slope toward further decisions made in the neighborhood without any input from the people who live there.

If you have an opinion or concern about the Zoo or any other issue affecting Phinney Ridge, tonight’s (Thursday, May 20th) annual meeting of the Phinney Ridge Community Council is a good opportunity to become more involved and make your voice heard. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Phinney Neighborhood Association building. The meeting is also your opportunity to join the Community Council, and participate in elections for Council officers.

Come out for amazing deals and secret finds at the Seventeenth annual Greenwood Garage Sale Day! It’s a great opportunity to meet your neighbors and find new deals for your home.

In addition to garage sales and rummage sales all over the neighborhood (see map), there will also be:
* A Flea Market in Phinney Neighborhood Center lower parking lot,
* A Tool Sale at the Tool Library,
* A Rummage Sale at the Greenwood Senior Center