The Greenwood Car Show is to be held on Saturday 6/27/09 and as usual, the cars on display will occupy Greenwood Ave. Greenwood Avenue North will be closed from 72nd Street to 87th Street as well as many of the side streets immediately off of that stretch. If you are planning a trip to North Seattle this weekend, keep that in mind.
Greenwood Car Show Again
June 21, 2009It’s time again for the Greenwood Car Show. It will be held on Saturday, June 27. This year they have their own website. As usual, a good chunk of Greenwood Avenue will be closed for the event so if you are planning to come to the area next Saturday in your car, remember to drive around Greenwood.
The Strange Ghost of Leilani Lanes
June 21, 2009It’s been more 3 years since the Leilani Lanes bowling alley went dark. And more than 2 years since its demolition. Yet its ghost remains by way of the sign that still says “Goodbye”. I hate long goodbye’s! At the present time, the site is still razed and unused. Most recently, contractors are using the area in front as a staging area for the dubious street improvements on northern Greenwood Avenue. According to a recent post in the in PhinneyWood Blog, a hearing was held last September for a building proposal. I don’t know what happened to that or the original plan, but the site still lies barren. And the Land Use sign has been graffiti’d to death.
I originally just assumed it was a case of bad timing – a project that ran into the mortgage and banking crisis. My dentist’s assistant seems to know more about it than I do. She said the project would require a re-vamp of the underground sewer system; an expensive proposition that the original contractor could not handle. I don’t know for sure, but the empty space doesn’t look to get filled any time soon.
It’s been more 3 years since the Leilani Lanes bowling alley went dark. And more than 2 years since its demolition. Yet its ghost remains by way of the sign that still says “Goodbye”. I hate long goodbye’s! At the present time, the site is still razed and unused. Most recently, contractors are using the area in front as a staging area for the dubious street improvements on northern Greenwood Avenue. According to a recent post in the in PhinneyWood Blog, a hearing was held last September for a building proposal. I don’t know what happened to that or the original plan, but the site still lies barren. And the Land Use sign has been graffiti’d to death.
I originally just assumed it was a case of bad timing – a project that ran into the mortgage and banking crisis. My dentist’s assistant seems to know more about it than I do. She said the project would require a re-vamp of the underground sewer system; an expensive proposition that the original contractor could not handle. I don’t know for sure, but the empty space doesn’t look to get filled any time soon.
20 Cent Shopping Bags
August 3, 2008Last week, the Seattle City Council approved a 20 cent per bag tax on retail shopping bags. So the question that check out baggers have asked for about the past 20 years: “Plastic or Paper” will now have some cost attached to it. We can assume the retailers will pass this tax along to the customers. This is a somewhat controversial move on the part of Greg Nickels and his council and is not being that well received. However it is what it is – a necessary move in greening up at least our part of the planet.
What can you do? I know what I’m doing. Investing in cloth shopping bags! These were vogue in the 1990’s but faded away. Now they’re making a comeback and with good reason. There are 2 Quality Food Centers (QFC) in the Greenwood area: one is on 15th near 85th and the other is on Holman Road. The Holman Road QFC is currently selling cloth bags for 99 cents (with your QFC advantage card). These bags are light-weight but full sized shopping bags. They have vinyl bottom liner inserts to give the bag form and reinforce the bottom (so don’t lose those). These bags are green in color (of course) and are branded with the QFC logo but it’s not overly large branding so you can take them anywhere.
For a buck, these bags are a good deal. Just work them into your regular shopping and soon you’ll have a collection of them. The tax doesn’t take effect until January 1st. After that if you use only them 5 times, they’ll pay for themselves. Otherwise, you’ll get dinged and your shopping bill will go even higher after January 1.
3 Libraries
August 2, 2008There is an amazing choice of libraries in the Greenwood area. There are actually 3. There is the Greenwood Branch itself located on Greenwood Ave near 80th. The Broadview branch is also nearby located on Greenwood Ave at 130th. And of course there is the Northgate Branch located just east of the mall. The great thing about the Seattle library system is that you don’t need to go to different branches. Just use the one closest to you or the easiest to get to. In the Seattle library you can use the website to search for and reserve books located at other branches. These are called “holds”. The holds are transferred to your home branch and you just go pick them up when they’re ready. Your web account will tell when they’re ready and you also get an email alert.
You can also return your books at any branch of the Seattle library system regardless of where you checked them out. Greenwood is my home branch, but I often return the books at the Northgate branch early in the morning on my way to work. The Greenwood Branch has the least parking but is easily walkable to those living in Greenwood. Broadview has some parking and is a decent sized branch. Northgate has the most parking but it also has the most people.
Oh one more note: don’t get the Seattle library confused with the King County library system. If you drive to neighboring Shoreline or Lake Forest Park you will find libraries but these are of the King County Library. Nothing stopping you from getting a card there too, but they’re in a different library system.
La Botana Yuck or Yawn
August 1, 2008Most of the ratings on YELP for La Botana at 8552 Greenwood Ave N are fairly favorable with just a few negative ones thrown in.
We went there last week and unfortunately found it very disappointing. The food was bland for so called ‘Mexican food’ and the place looked dirty and unkempt. Granted, this place is in the older part of Greenwood but they could stand to improve at least their menu. Some of things on the menu were not available or they were ‘out’. This is not a place I can recommend.
Greenwood’s Balderdash Bookstore
July 5, 2008Sometimes you think the corner bookstore is disappearing, giving way to large chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders. But Balderdash in Greenwood bucks that trend. They only sell used books. It’s easy to walk by and not notice the store, but once inside you will find a larger than usual selection of used fiction. Much of it is arcane and there are many obscure books to found there (along with mainstream books).
They also have a customer store credit system. You can bring in your books and get significant credit on your purchase. How much credit you get depends a lot on the condition and quality of the books you are bringing back. So instead of letting those books sit in the closet, bring them in and get a store credit set up. If you’re on a budget, they have a selection of $1 and 50 cent books as well. Located at 8536 Greenwood Ave. N., they’re right around the corner from the Washington Department of Licensing office. So if you have long wait at licensing, make sure to stop in to get something to read while you wait.
Where to Park for the Greenwood Car Show
June 24, 2008The annual Greenwood Car Show is coming up this weekend (Saturday June 28). Formally called the 2008 Greenwood Classic Car and Rod Show. Part of Greenwood Avenue will be closed for this event; (from 70th Street to 87th Street). You will want to avoid the center of Greenwood that day if you’re not planning to go the event.
If you want to attend the event where do you park? If you don’t mind walking, there is parking to found in Greenwood’s neighborhoods. Be sure not to block anyone’s driveway or mailbox and pay attention to the signs. Many Greenwood parking restrictions apply to Saturdays.
If you want to avoid the hassle altogether, a good option is to park at the Northgate Transit Center. Since it’s a Saturday, the usual commuter traffic will not be parked there. You can use Metro Route 5 to get to Greenwood.
Greenwood’s Walkability
June 16, 2008The Seattle Times shows this table of walkable neighohoods as compiled by Walkscore.Com.
It’s no surprise that the older more established neighborhoods are the most walkable ones. And it’s also no surprise that the further out you go, the less walkable it is. Broadview for example, is mostly homes. Greenwood is not on either list (the best or the worst) and that indicated to me it was somewhere in the middle. So I went to the site and plugged in my address (which is near Greenwood Ave N and Holman Road). It got a score, well, right in the middle at 58. The criteria used by Walkscore has to do with availability of places you can walk to rather than the logistics of walking itself. And even that isn’t perfect. For example, it showed several parks but didn’t even show Carkeek Park which is right down the hill.
As for the subject of logistics, there is the matter of sidewalks and/or clearly partitioned walkways. At Greenwood’s center – 85th and Greenwood – sidewalks are plentiful. But you get off the main streets and there are few sidewalks in the neighborhoods. Even Greenwood Avenue itself gets dicey north of about 95th and sidewalks give walk to barely recognizable walkways that are actually part of the road. Greenwood isn’t all bad but like many areas of Seattle, it has a long way to go to make for safe walking. So if you want to walk to places, you need to also consider the sidewalk situation along with Walkscore’s walkability criteria.
Greenwood Traffic Cams
June 15, 2008There are plenty of cams in Greenwood, but it looks like the only publicly accessible ones are on Aurora. Here are two:
I know there are cams at Greenwood Ave N, and Holman but they may be police and/or private cams. Below is the link to the Seattle Traffic Cams page.
Greenwood Seattle 