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.

“We know how important Seafair and the Greenwood Parade are to the community. We are pleased we can help contribute to its success.” responded Melinda Merrill, director of Public Affairs at Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer has long sought to develop an expansion of the Greenwood Fred Meyer store, an expansion that was scaled back considerably from the residential mixed-use development project considered by the community in 2010.

The Greenwood Seafair Parade takes place from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. on July 27 and runs south along Greenwood Avenue from North 95th Street to North 85th Street, then heads west to 6th Avenue Northwest. Thousands of people line the route each year. The parade features over 100 entrants including bands, drill teams, floats, pirates and more.

For more information about the parade, or how to enter a unit in the parade, contact the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce at 206-789-1148 or info@greenwood-phinney.org.

Sidewalkless in Seattle // Sep 15, 2010 at 2:49 am

SDOT should immediately begin to update traffic counts for Greenwood-Phinney using automatic counters. This will serve as baseline data. Then after Rapid Ride starts the counts are taken again, and then we’ll see.

Cut-through traffic might matter a little less if the city committed to making all Greenwood streets safe for pedestrians. Which at present they are not. The rest of the city is full of best practices which for some reason are all judged inappropriate for Greenwood. This. Must. Change.

Ducki3x // Sep 18, 2010 at 3:07 pm

Can you expand on the reasoning cited for the BAT lanes pushing traffic onto Greenwood-Phinney streets? For that matter, a link to the actual proposal would be nice – I went looking for it on the SDOT site, but didn’t find anything that seemed to align with this.

admin // Sep 18, 2010 at 8:25 pm

Great questions. In general, the more that traffic is restricted on Aurora (via car lane reductions versus current capacity), the more cars who will seek to avoid the backup by using neighborhood streets. We’ve requested a copy of the grant application from the City of Seattle. There are many positive impacts, but want to ensure all results are carefully considered.

admin // Sep 18, 2010 at 8:25 pm

A copy of the King County Transit RapidRide E Line link has also been added to the article, which has many related facts.

Quincy // Sep 19, 2010 at 2:24 am

First of all, almost no one ever uses the far right lanes of Aurora, especially northbound in the Winona to 115th segment. Everyone lines up in the middle lane. On the southbound side, even in the mornings when no parking is allowed in the curb lane, people just do not use it. Plus, take a look at what has happened on Aurora from 145th to 165th, where the exact same kind of upgrade has happened: there has been no increase in traffic on Meridian, Ashworth, Greenwood etc. that I can detect. I use Meridian no more or less than I did before the upgrade. No one misses the third lane. In fact, just like on 5oth between I-5 and Stone/Greenlake, which had a general purpose lane converted into a turning-only lane, it’s better. I am certain the planned changes will also be an upgrade.

Ducki3x // Sep 19, 2010 at 2:38 am

Awesome, thanks for the extra info!

Despite the loss of a lane, I’d think there might be some benefits to commuters with the BRT program, especially with the Transit Signal Priority technology. If implemented properly, this might help keep traffic moving quickly up and down the Aurora corridor during commute times, although it might make the experience crossing the highway worse for those trying to go east-west.

For my money, the most consistantly bad parts of the Aurora commute are the backup from the Zoo to the Bridge (southbound in the morning) and from the north-end of the lake through 85th (northbound in the afternoon), the latter being the only time I really take advantage of the third, right-hand lane. The problem here mainly seems to be left-turn traffic backing up at the lights and spilling into the main lanes of traffic & the timing of the 85th intersection. If the controlled left-turn lane could be re-engineered or re-timed, I doubt I would ever use the third lane…

I’d be curious to see where the AAMA is getting their info about the street closures – I don’t see anything in the (admittedly limited) documentation on the KC site you linked to. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they know something I don’t, but I’d love to know more before passing judgement on that aspect of the plan.

Curlove // Sep 19, 2010 at 1:48 pm

The Aurora Avenue Merchants Association opposes any attempt to improve Aurora because it is perceived as a threat to their automobile oriented businesses. Any improvements that might encourage people to walk along or near Aurora or take the bus rather than drive is a threat to their businesses. People might start wanting businesses that cater to pedestrians and bus commuters. Oh no!

This opposition has kept the communities along Aurora dangerous, blighted, disinvested, and crime ridden for too long. I would hope the community councils would organize around any effort to make Aurora safer and more attractive. Just go up to 145th and look over into Shoreline and you will see what is possible. It makes Aurora in Seattle look like some third world country.

Although the Seattle bus routes are certainly not Seattle limos, we believe that the city can find an amicable solution to keep traffic moving on Aurora – yet not pressure the neighborhood streets.

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

Greenwood Holiday Lights

The Greenwood area hosts an annual holiday light contest and 2009 will be our best ever. This year Wacktastic Light Show is changing a wee bit to increase community participation even more. There will be two contests:

Contest 1: RESIDENCE WACKTASTIC LIGHT DISPLAYS
Folks can enter the contest at the Wacktastic website, and be placed on a map. Then, during the week of Dec. 10th thru 17th, anybody can vote online (once per household) for their favorite display and the top ten will be awarded prizes from esteemed Greenwood-Phinney businesses (i.e. you). We would like the prizes to be gift certificates to ease up our collection time (and backs–and if your business doesn’t have gift certificates, we will gladly supply you with Official Wacktastic Bucks). Then the prizes (and a slide show of all entries) will be presented at the Wacktastic Awards Party on Sunday 12.20.09 at The Greenwood Collective.

Boundaries from Aurora to 8th Ave between 105th and 65th.

Contest 2: RETAIL WACKTASTIC LIGHT DISPLAYS
This is where YOU can let your Wacky Flag Fly and win a free advertising package. Three local celebrity judge will travel from 65th to 105th and Greenwood and choose their top two favorite Business Light Displays that are The Most Wacktastic. Again, prizes will be awarded at the Wacktastic Awards Party, 12.20.09 at the Greenwood Collective.

There is also going to be food donation bins at local pubs Greenwood Pub Association for the Greenwood Food Bank.

Thank you for supporting Greenwood and power to the people! We cannot wait to see what your wacky minds dream up to display!

Strolling through the Phinney Ridge and Greenwood garage sales today, we were struck by the sense of community and people-helping-people for the neighborhood. From the flea market at the Neighborhood Center, to the multitude of homes teaming to sell their excess “stuff” – often for a charity – it was a great day for Phinney Ridge and Greenwood. After an awesome brunch at Pete’s Eggsnest, here’s a few photos from the day.

Plants and Hungry Dogs on a Sunday at Phinney

We enjoyed the fresh baked goods the most!!! Mmmmmmmm....

Flea Market Deals - Phinney and 67th

Phinney Ridge Garage Sale - This family had great deals!!!

Free Puppet Shows with Socko - Kids Loved This One.

More great photos from BradyDaley and Jaxon Brooks….. Garage Salin’

From: 67th and Phinney Avenue

Welcome to a budding neighborhood blog for Phinney Ridge Seattle.  We’re an independent voice for the Phinney Ridge neighborhood and to advocate all it has to offer both residents and visitors.  Stay tuned for neighborhood news and photos.