Central Area Plan Revitalization Workshop

(map of Central Area Urban Village planning areas)

Central Area Quality of Life Is Under Attack

Want to do something about it?

What concerns you the most about what is happening in our neighborhoods or the Central Area?

Come find out how the Central Area Neighborhood Plan can help us take control of our community’s destiny and the Overall Quality of Life in the Central Area

Saturday June 9, 2007
1:30pm - 3:30pm
Garfield Community Center
2323 East Cherry St

☺ Programming that Creates and Promotes Positive Activities and Environments for our Young People
☹ Negative Impact on our infrastructure, traffic and parking problems due to zoning changes and over development
☹ Flooding and/or other property damage due to the over development or lack of adequate reparations or modifications
☹ Madison St., Jackson Place, other corridors and neighborhoods are under siege by developers who disregard our concerns?
☹ Shrinking green spaces and urban trails to keep our neighborhoods healthy?
☹ Are Developers developing you out of your home?


Co-sponsored by:
Central Area Neighborhood Plan Stewardship and
Seattle Parks and Recreation

(The Madison-Miller area took part in neighborhood planning as part of the Central Area plan: the resulting general plan is posted on the City website together with the scary and incomprehensible "Approval and Adoption Matrix" .

The Madison-Miller area, with the guidance of some very talented consultants, also produced its own Master Plan as part of the planning process, although it was never posted online by the City.

I have now scanned and posted the Madison-Miller Master Plan: see the "Madison-Miller Neighborhood Plan" list of links, on the right of this page, just below the "Miller Links" list.)

June 14 meeting: New Capitol Hill Park

A public meeting to discuss Parks' recommendation to purchase the property at the northwest corner of 16th Ave and E Howell St will be held Thursday, June 14, 2007 from 7-8:30 at Miller Community Center, 330 - 19th Ave E. (684-4753).

Details on Parks web site.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is pleased to announce a preliminary agreement to purchase the property at the northwest corner of 16th Avenue and East Howell Street for future development as a park. The attached invitation provides additional details of a public meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 14 from 7-8:30 at Miller Community Center, 330 - 19th Ave E. (684-4753). We hope you will attend!

Lise A. Ward, Sr. Real Property Agent
Parks & Green Spaces Acquisition Program
Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation
800 Maynard Avenue South, Third Floor
Seattle, WA 98134-1336
Office (206) 733-9106, Cell (206) 310-3567
Fax (206) 233-7038



See Capitol Hill Times (5/30/07) article

Calendar and Blog Updates

Calendar items :

• Friday, June 1, 4:00pm Madrona/MLK Farmers' Market
• Saturday, June 2, 9:00am SCCF Neighborhood Blogging Workshop
• Saturday, June 2, 2:00pm Concert: Cal Anderson Park
• Sunday, June 3, 11:00am Broadway Farmer's Market
• Sunday, June 3, 2:00pm Bike repair self-help
• Monday, June 4, 6:30pm East Neighborhoods District Council
• Thursday, June 7, 6:00pm Neighborhood plan: Central Area
• Friday, June 8, 4:00pm Madrona/MLK Farmers' Market
• Saturday, June 9, 10:00am Central Area Plan public event
• Sunday, June 10, 11:00am Broadway Farmer's Market
  

For details (locations, agendas, links, contact details), and maybe some bonus entries, visit the calendar at:
http://ical.mac.com/andrew_taylor/Miller

and click on an entry for details and links.

You can subscribe to the calendar at:webcal://ical.mac.com/andrew_taylor/Miller.ics
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Recent items on the Miller blog:

• Sex Offender Notification
• Wear that Bike Helmet!
• Violent Gang Task Force arrests 47 in the Central Area.
• Goats! Goats in the Central District!

Sex Offender Notification

(prompted by a Renton blog posting)

A quick reminder that the Seattle Police website has some excellent resources to identify the (approximate) locations of sex offenders in our area. These include a census tract map: hover your mouse over a tract to see the number of offenders in that tract, then click on it for a clickable list of offenders. You can also sign up for E-mail notification of the arrival of offenders. The excellent FAQ section should indeed answer all your questions.

There are no level 2 or 3 offenders in Miller Park (census tract 76) right now, although we had more than our fair share years ago (see old newsletter articles from Dec. 1990 and Spring 1996. ) when 7 level 2 & 3 offenders (with a potential for 16) were living in a building on 24th (which has now been "gentrified" into a very nice looking building).

Notes and opinions

• Seattle Police continue to do an excellent job of keeping us informed in this difficult area
  
  
• Offender levels: 'scariness' increases from 1 (no public notice) to 2 (notices available) to 3 (wide public notice). The ranking system seems uneven around the state, but Seattle clearly does a good, honest job.
  
  
• The reports on level 2 and 3 offenders are indeed scary, and may reinforce the public perception of the "scary stranger" being a major concern, but most offenses are probably committed by somebody known to the victim: check out the Safety Information section on the Seattle Police site for valuable educational resources.
  
  
• No, I'm not trying to scare you: I was concerned by the alarmist views in the Renton blog posting, but was so impressed by the SPD resources that I wanted to share them.
  

Wear that Bike Helmet!

(The hands are mine, the head and helmet ARE NOT)

I was cycling down Aloha this Tuesday (as I often do), and moved right to get further away from a passing car.

Suddenly found myself on my side on the road, presumably due to the killer pothole shown below.

I distinctly recall landing on the side of my head. My helmet was a write-off, but I had the slightest of headaches, as opposed to the extensive "road rash" elsewhere. I know about head injuries (ask me sometime), so I INSIST that you always wear your bike helmet.

Even if you don't believe me, consider the experiences of this Seattleite in Wisconsin and WEAR THAT HELMET

Violent Gang Task Force arrests 47 in the Central District

(There's a detailed report in the Seattle P-I, a shorter report, with video, on KING-TV and a long Seattle Times article that mentions Miller Playfield )

Here's the Press Release:

SEATTLE – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Special Agent in Charge Kelvin N. Crenshaw announced today that the ATF Violent Gang Task Force has arrested today 47 gang members and associates who operated in Seattle’s Central District on federal and state firearms and drug charges.

Crenshaw told a news conference that six defendants charged with federal firearms and drug violations were arrested without incident, four of them Wednesday, one today and one previously. A seventh defendant remains at large.

The remaining 40 defendants were arrested on state drug charges over the course of the six-month investigation, during which investigators recovered 31 firearms from a concentrated three-mile area surrounding the Central District.

“There were hundreds of transactions taking place every day,” Crenshaw said. “The main players were operating an open-air drug market in the middle of neighborhood streets, making residents feel paralyzed and too scared to leave their homes.”

“Our number one priority is saving lives,” said Seattle Police Assistant Chief Nicholas Metz. “Our goal is to have the biggest impact on neighborhood safety, not only for the present generation, but for future generations as well.”

“What makes this program successful is the cooperation between all the law enforcement agencies in this task force,” said King County Sheriff Sue Rahr. “Without this partnership, it is unlikely we would be announcing these arrests today.”

The ATF Violent Gang Task Force is a coordinated effort among ATF, Seattle Police Department, King County Sheriff’s Office, and the Washington Department of Corrections. Assisting agencies include the FBI, United States Attorney’s Office, Seattle City Attorney’s Office and the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

More information on ATF and its programs to reduce violent crime is at www.atf.gov.

###

Note that the East Precinct's GOTS program was operating in the Central Area concurrently with these ATF Task Force activities:

And finally, funding was extended for the Council's own pilot programs to integrate social services and law enforcement efforts in two neighborhoods: the GOTS (Get Off the Streets) Program in the Central Area and the Clean Dreams Program in Rainier Beach. Both programs have police officers and social workers working together to identify specific individuals who need an array of social services to stabilize their lives and keep them out of the criminal justice system.

(The above quote is from the 11/25/06 edition of Councilmember Licata's "Urban Politics" newsletter.)

The GOTS program operated on Madison until the closure of Club Chocolate City, and then moved to the 23rd & Union area. It offers those on the streets access to treatment and housing referrals, to help them break the cycle of street dealing/life.

And here's a highly relevant upcoming talk at Seattle University, about helping at-risk youth:

Gregory Boyle, S.J., will present “Tattoos on the Heart: Lessons from the Barrio” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 31 in Pigott Auditorium, Seattle University.

Father Boyle is founder and executive director of Jobs For A Future/Homeboy Industries, an employment referral center and economic development program. Begun in 1988, for at-risk and gang-involved youth, Jobs For A Future is, today, a nationally-recognized center that assists 1,000 people a month in re-directing their lives. Through its unique and multi-service approach, Jobs For A Future offers hope to those for whom hope is often foreign.

Located in Boyle Heights, a community with arguably the highest concentration of gang activity in Los Angeles, Jobs For A Future provides employment opportunities, counseling, and many other services (including free tattoo removal). By seeking to address the root causes of gang violence, Jobs For A Future creates opportunities so that at-risk youth can plan their futures and not ther funerals. “Nothing stops a bullet like a job” is the guiding principle.

In 1992, as a response to the civil unrest in Los Angeles, Boyle formed Homeboy Industries, to create businesses that provide training, work experience, and above all, the opportunity for rival gang members to work side by side. Since the first venture, Homeboy Bakery, the following economic development enterprises have been created: Homeboy Silkscreen, Homeboy/Homegirl Merchandise, Homeboy Graffiti Removal, Homeboy Maintenance and Homeboy Landscaping.

Boyle’s talk is being sponsored by Seattle University’s Social Work Program, College of Arts and Sciences, MAGIS, Student Development, Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning, Endowed Mission Fund, as well as the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, King County Superior Court and the Seattle Police Department Foundation.

Goats! Goats in the Central District!

The KING5 "Blog of Blogs", with the catchy title of Citizen Rain, gives an easy overview of what's going on throughout our wonderful city. That's where I noted the review of a play in the theater on 19th. It is however an ethereal little list: things appear at the top and fall off the bottom of the neighborhood blogs list within a day.

I draw your attention to this lovely little entry, about someone who " hired 'Rent-A-Ruminant' to graze an entire quarter acre in just 48 hours".

There's a whole load of pictures, and the goats might still be munching away, so head on over and have a look. And we should feel great empathy with the closing line in the article:

" Now we can add to the list of things which will bring the newsmedia to our neighborhood for a story: shootings and goats."

Calendar and Blog Updates

Calendar items :

• Thursday, May 24, 6:30pm East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition
• Thursday, May 24, 7:00pm Seattle Community Council Federation Meeting
  
• Friday, June 1, 4:00pm Madrona/MLK Farmers' Market
  
• Saturday, June 2, 10:00am SCCF Neighborhood Blogging Workshop
  
• Saturday, June 2, 2:00pm Concert: Cal Anderson Park

For details (and some bonus entries and reminders of weekly events), visit the calendar at: http://ical.mac.com/andrew_taylor/Miller and click on an entry for details and links.

You can subscribe to the calendar at: webcal://ical.mac.com/andrew_taylor/Miller.ics

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Recent items on the Miller blog:

• Review of play at Washington Ensemble Theater on 19th Ave. E.
  
• Aircraft Noise
  
• Saturday Cleanup and BBQ pictures
  
• Neighborhood Plan Survey Deadline extended to May 28th

Review of play at Washington Ensemble Theater on 19th Ave. E.

Here's a review from the Seattlest blog of the play now on at the Washington Ensemble Theater on 19th Ave. E., next to Fuel. Tickets available online.

There are many versions of the Iphigenia story, including a PDQ Bach cantata ("Iphigenia in Brooklyn"), described as being "less tragic than the others".

PS (5/24/07): The Seattle Times has also reviewed the play, as has The Stranger.

Aircraft Noise

Summer is coming (honestly! it'll be here July 5th) and we'll have our windows open and notice the aircraft noise more.

The CHS: Capitol Hill Seattle blog deals extensively with the Blue Angels' noise issues.

Here's the text of a recent E-mail circulated on the Squire Park listserv, which explains why we hear so much plane noise (because Mercer Island doesn't) and what you might do to help. It includes many useful links, such as this site which tracks all local airline traffic.

Saturday cleanup & BBQ

Seen on our Saturday neighborhood cleanup: we take solace in the "better" quality of beer bottles that we're seeing in the neighborhood.

A small but dedicated band of neighbors, Safeway people, King County Prosecutor Ellen O'Neill-Stephens and her son Sean cleaned up around the neighborhood.

Then we joined the neighbors from the 24th Ave. blockwatches, who'd had their own cleanup, for a BBQ at a sunny but very windy Homer Harris Park

Neighborhood Plan Audit Survey deadline has been extended

Hello,
Thank you for your participation in the Neighborhood Plan Audit survey We have received a great response to the survey and we are hoping for even more participation. If you haven’t had a chance to complete the survey, or you would like to continue to pass it on to others, we have extended the deadline by one week to May 28.

Please click on the link here to take the survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB226G2LSFM8U

To take the survey in Spanish, please use this link: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB226FGRS4QLL

The survey will be open until May 28 after which we will be compiling the data and presenting our analysis to Councilmember Clark sometime in August. At that time she will review the study in her newsletter and throughout the city. Please feel free to forward this to others that would be interested or involved in neighborhood plans.

Regards,
Office of City Auditor


PS: Madison-Miller Neighborhood plan now online. Andrew

We're listed on the KING TV "blog of blogs"

The ever-vigilant Justin Carder, author of the CHS: Capitol Hill Seattle blog points out a new KING TV blog that combines oodles of other blogs.

I went to visit it (Citizen Rain) and was pleasantly surprised to see that the Miller Park blog is listed in the News section!

So there you have it: we're news! Here's looking forward to an era when we don't "live in interesting times".

It ain't over till it's over

Our neighborhood has been much quieter since the closure of the bar and convenience store on E. Madison Street. Nonetheless, Summer is approaching and, as the stories below and the reports from our neighbors on 22nd Ave and elsewhere indicate, we still need to be alert to activities in the neighborhood.

From the Capitol Hill Times POLICE BEAT, May 16, 2007

The following are based on incident reports from the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct. They represent the officers' accounts of the events described.

DRUGS, TRESPASSING

Just before 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 11, officers on routine patrol stopped in front of a convenience store near the 2000 block of East Madison Street. The neighborhood is well known for a wide variety of chronic criminal activity.

Officers saw several people loitering in a suspicious manner. In particular, they recognized one youth in his mid-teens as someone they knew from several previous drug encounters. Upon seeing the officers, the youth began walking away, soon turning into a nearby nightclub's parking lot, also a location notorious for chronic drug activity. The officers lost sight of him when he left the parking lot.

Moments later a call came in that a youth matching the description of the youth they'd just observed was dealing narcotics by the convenience store. Officers drove around the block and soon found the youth. He was arrested for having trespassed in the store, then searched. The search uncovered a baggie with a rock-like white substance which later tested positive for crack cocaine.

The youth was then booked into the King County Youth Service Center. Charges for trespassing were pending.

From our neighbors near Frazier Park on 24th:

Just got a call last night from a neighbor who observed a drug dealing going down in the street in front of the park. It was an old gray Volvo with some African-American males and one tall African-American female. Another neighbor got the license plates of both cars and reported it to the police. I need to follow up today.

Also, last night the same neighbor who observed the drug deal heard a muffled gunshot and called 911. She said it sounded like it was happening on 24th and just after that she heard a car speed away.

On a more scatological note, several neighbors (me included) have had to clean up human feces in the park lately. Although it may seem just gross, it’s also potentially a serious health hazard.

Also it seems that someone has been sleeping in the park on the hillside off and on. Please call 911 if anyone is even in the park after 10pm. We worked really hard to get our park hours changed from 11:30pm to 10:00 PM, so we do have the right to have the cops forcibly remove anyone in the park after 10.

Sat. May 19th, 10 AM Cleanup and BBQ

From: "Andrew Taylor" (tayles@jps.net)

Saturday May 19th, 10 AM Neighborhood Cleanup and BBQ

Meet at 9:45 AM for coffee and chat behind the Prince of Wales Apartment building (red brick building at 20th & Denny). Clean up the neighborhood from 10 AM till ~ 11:45 AM, then wander over to Homer Harris Park, where we will share a BBQ with the 24th Ave blockwatch group, who will have had a similar cleanup. (They'll meet at 9:45 at Homer Harris park for their cleanup, if you live nearer to them)

MadCAP chair Jon Vandemoortel notes:

After the cleanup the lunch-time spread will be offered at Homer Harris Park (one block east of 23rd on Howell, 2401 E. Howell St.) rather than our usual spot behind the Prince of Wales. There will be side salads, chips, plates, and silverware provided. Bring something to grill if you're inclined as they will have a grill up and running. The purpose of the locale change is to show some solidarity for our 24th Avenue cohorts who have unfortunately inherited a few of our departed neighborhood problems. We'll finish our cleanup around 11:45 and stroll over to the park. We'll see you there-


http://www.seattle.gov/parks/parkspaces/HomerHarrisPark.htm

Pictures from March 17th cleanup and from the August 2006 and the inaugural (March 2005) MaDCAP cleanup.

(old) Miller Times newsletters finally online

Long, long ago, before the internet, we used to communicate by handing out neighborhood newsletters. I've finally got round to scanning them: look for the list of links at the bottom right of this page (or follow the blue headline links here). The newsletter articles (and the snapshots of old versions of the Miller website, see below) give a good idea of what we were up to back then.

First Miller Times: December 1990 Edition

• What is the Miller Park Neighborhood Association?
• Meeting notes
• Gardening corner
• Home Security
• Living in a fixer-up neighborhood
• A sex offender in our midst?
• Community Center news

February 1991 Edition

• Miller Community Center: what's that?
• Punxsatawney Phil
• The new TV Tower
• Trees!
• Miller Community Center makes national news

June/July 1991 Edition

• Should we close the Miller Community Center
• The greening of Miller Park
• Medgar Evers Pool, not a "Sleeping Giant"
• Soyu Chicken - Hawaiian style
• Capitol Hill Community Council - what's that?

August/Sept 1991 Edition

• Life in the neighborhood
• Where we've been, where we're going
• Recipe corner
• Community Center News

Fall 1991 Edition

• TV towers radiation and health
• The case for the Tower
• Does the "community tower" serve our communities?

May/June 1992 Edition

• Welcome, Gary Alexander, Community Center coordinator
• Tower developer still trying
• Field of Dreams: Grass or synthetic field for Miller
• Tree planting, 1992
• Neighborhood and Community Center news

June/July 1992 Edition

• Now, where did I park my car?
• Residential Parking Zone
• Affordable Housing on Capitol Hill
• Gardening corner: Iris
• The fight against more broadcast towers continues
• Water your new trees
• Origins of local street names

Fall 1992 Edition

• Miller Park: the Dream is Alive
• Grass vs. Sand: the playfield controversy continues
• RPZ update
• TV tower & tree planting updates etc.

Spring 1996 Edition

• Help revitalize East Madison Street
• Sex offenders in our midst
• What is CHHIP
• Mary Ruth Manor improvements
• Community Center news

Fall 1999 Edition

• Neighborhood history
• Lots happening on Madison!
• Help define a design theme for Madison!
• Miller fountain design competition

And since then?

Well, most of our communications have been by E-mail and website. The old Miller website concentrates on public safety (pretty much solved) and neighborhood redevelopment, which is still very relevant, and on neighborhood planning which may be making a comeback.
Thanks to the Wayback Machine Internet archive, you can look at snapshots of the Miller website at various points from 2002 to the present (and a few from 2000 & 2001) and see for yourself what we were up to then. And the rest, you know!

Neighborhood Plans: Madison-Miller Plan now online

In the late 90's many Seattle neighborhoods underwent an extensive and exhausting neighborhood planning exercise, and produced voluminous neighborhood plans, which were adopted by City Council. The Spring 1996 "Miller Times" captures some of the flavor of the process.

(Just found this great 1 page explanation of the Comprehensive Plan and Seattle's neighborhood planning efforts!)

The Madison-Miller area took part in neighborhood planning as part of the Central Area plan: the resulting general plan is posted on the City website together with the scary and incomprehensible "Approval and Adoption Matrix" .

The Madison-Miller area (with the guidance of some very talented consultants) also produced its own Master Plan as part of the planning process, although it was never posted online by the City.

I have now scanned and posted the Madison-Miller Master Plan: see the "Madison-Miller Neighborhood Plan" list of links, on the right of this page, just below the "Miller Links" list.

Most of the people involved in the planning process have moved away (or faded away) and many new and enthusiastic neighbors have moved into the area. After a long period of neglect, the City is now showing interest in revisiting our neighborhood plans, and maybe even in helping us to update them.

I encourage all of you to take a look at the Madison-Miller Master Plan: only limited development has happened along Madison in the last decade, and much of the plan is still relevant to us. It's a remarkably readable and accessible document, and you might even enjoy looking at it.


In her May 2007 Newsletter, Councilmember Sally Clark reported on the audit of the Neighborhood Plan Implemetation that she is supervising. She also wrote a Seattle Times Op-Ed piece about the neighborhood plan audit.

Note that, after the adoption of all the different neighborhoods' diverse plans for their respective areas, the Mayor got the Department of Planning and Development to undertake wide-reaching citywide updates of the building code for multifamily areas and for neighborhood business districts. Those updates seemed to be a "cookie cutter" approach and paid little attention to the requirements & desires expressed in the various neighborhoods' plans. Let's hope that this new interest in updating neighborhood plans may redress the balance a bit. (updated 8/08 to remove obsolete references)

Emergency preparedness training Wednesday at Miller CC

Emergency preparedness training

Miller Community Center
330 19th Ave E 98112
Wednesday, May 16, 7-8:30 p.m.


Contact: Cornell Amaya, 206-386-1170
Debbie Goetz, 206-684-0517

Seattle Emergency Management Hosts Spring Training
Preparedness Classes Target Seattle Neighborhoods, Small Sparks Awards

The Seattle Office of Emergency Management is pleased to announce its spring line-up of community preparedness classes. The classes, held free of charge, focus on personal preparedness and the city's new SNAP program, a way to organize your neighborhood for emergencies and other disasters.

Residents who organize a SNAP group may also benefit from the city's Small Sparks Award program. Through a new partnership with the city's Department of Neighborhoods, registered SNAP groups could apply for initial funding to help with skills training or emergency supplies.

Residents wanting to add to their preparedness skills may also sign up for a two-hour fire extinguisher class on June 9. Two sessions will be held that day. Cost is $10. Registration must be completed through the Office of Emergency Management.

Emergency preparedness training class:
Miller Community Center
330 19th Ave E 98112
Wednesday, May 16, 7-8:30 p.m.

Skills Training Location:
Fire Extinguisher Class
Warren G. Magnuson Park
7400 Sand Point Way NE
Saturday, June 9, 9-11 a.m., or 12-2 p.m.
Cost: $10, register at 206-733-7123


For more information on personal preparedness, skills training or the SNAP program, go to: www.seattle.gov/emergency.

For more information on the Department of Neighborhood's Small Sparks Award program, go to: www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods.

Calendar and Blog Updates

Calendar items :

• Friday, May 11, 4:00pm Madrona/MLK Farmers' Market
• Sunday, May 13, 11:00am Broadway Farmer's Market reopens
• Sunday, May 13, 2:00pm Bike repair self-help
• Wednesday, May 16, 7:00pm Emergency Preparedness
• Friday, May 18, 4:00pm Madrona/MLK Farmers' Market
• Saturday, May 19, 9:00am Neighborhood Planning Workshop
• Saturday, May 19, 10:00am Madrona Mayfair Parade
• Saturday, May 19, 12:00pm Madison Valley Spring Art Walk
• Sunday, May 20, 11:00am Broadway Farmer's Market reopens
• Sunday, May 20, 2:00pm Bike repair self-help

For details (and some bonus entries), visit the calendar at:

http://ical.mac.com/andrew_taylor/Miller

and click on an entry for details and links.
You can subscribe to the calendar at:webcal://ical.mac.com/andrew_taylor/Miller.ics
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Recent items on the Miller blog:

• Sat. May 19th Neighborhood Plans Workshop
• Seattle Bike Master Plan needs you
• Land Use: 1834 24th Ave

Sat. May 19th Neighborhood Plans Workshop

(Editorial comments: the Madison-Miller area is clearly going to be redeveloped very soon. It would be to all of our advantages to use a revitalized neighborhood plan to help shape the development the way we want it. It's a geeky, technical, exhausting, micro-managing sort of exercise, but it seems to be our best option. If you can't make it to the May 19th workshop [it clashes with our MaDCAP cleanup] maybe you can come to the June 9th Central Area Neighborhood Plan Stewardship's event to get Central Area residents, businesses owners and other organizations acquainted and involved with the Central Area’s Neighborhood Plan.

Andrew Taylor)

(Click on poster for more readable version).

Here's the press release with all the details.

Seattle Bike Master Plan needs you

As noted in the Seattle P-I Capitol Hill blog, the City has extended the deadline for comments on its proposed bicycle master plan until 5PM on May 18th. (Press release on extension of comment period)

I have my favorite ways to bike to work and to get around the neighborhood, but the City needs your views as well.

Send your comments to walkandbike@seattle.gov

Land Use: 1834 24th Ave

Land Use Application to subdivide one parcel into four unit lots. The construction of townhouses has been approved under Project #6090823. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots.

You might care to submit comments on this application to subdivide the land at 1834 24th Ave.

Calendar and Blog updates

Calendar items :

• Thursday, May 3, 6:00pm Neighborhood plan: Central Area
• • Friday, May 4, 4:00pm Farmers' Market opens @ MLK & Union
  
• • Sunday, May 6, 2:00pm Bike repair self-help
  
• • Wednesday, May 9, 7:00pm Miller Community Center Advisory Council
  
• • Thursday, May 10, 6:00pm Central Area Neighborhood District Council
  
• • Sunday, May 13, 11:00am Broadway Farmer's Market reopens
  

For details (and some bonus entries), visit the calendar at:

http://ical.mac.com/andrew_taylor/Miller

and click on an entry for details and links.
You can subscribe to the calendar at:webcal://ical.mac.com/andrew_taylor/Miller.ics
******************************

Recent items on the Miller blog:

• •Public Safety Update
• Water Main break: low pressure, discolored water?
• Small joys....

Public Safety Update

Club Chocolate City closed on March 1st, Deano's Grocery store closed a couple of weeks ago (and Ms. Helen resurfaced) and most of the street issues that used to plague our neighborhood seem to have moved on. Here's what I've heard:

• Still occasional apparent drug deals in alleys
• Some of the familiar faces seem to have resurfaced downtown
• Most of the remaining drug activity in our neighborhood seems to be on 22nd, between Madison and John. Seems to be partly because of the proximity to Elizabeth James House, a 90 unit senior/disabled apartment building on 23rd, owned by Capitol Hill Housing (CHHIP). They are aware of assorted issues there (outsiders in building, passers by, people hanging out etc) and are working with the Police and City Attorney's office to craft solutions.
• A lot of the "action" seems to have moved to 23rd & Union, as many people expected it would: people are hanging out around the Key Bank, near Thompson's Point of View, and in the plaza by the Post Office. When I've walked by the crowds seemed younger than those I recognized on Madison (though I did see the gold football helmet lady).
  

The "action" seems to have spilled over onto 24th Avenue (between Union and Olive) and the residents there were very upset by a couple of shootings on the street (and one at 23rd/Union) in a short period. Many of them came to King County Prosecutor Ellen O'Neill's Madison Street taskforce meeting last month. They then met (at Thompson's Point of View) to form blockwatches, and some of them attended the last East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition meeting. The Police have stepped up emphasis in the area, and have relocated Lt. Hayes' outreach efforts (the Get Off The Streets program) from Madison to 23rd & Union. All these efforts seemed to have resulted in peace for now, though there are still very disturbing events in the area.

In summary, our immediate area's amazingly quiet now, most of the issues seem to have moved to 23rd & Union and some to 22nd & Madison. Law enforcement activities seem to be keeping things under control.

For much more detail, see this annotated summary of excerpts from E-mails that have come my way.

Water Main break: low pressure, discolored water?

Big water main break in Eastlake: reports of low pressure and discolored water from our neighbors in the Madison Valley:

Is anyone else noticing water pressure and discoloration issues this morning? I noticed both of these issues at my house and contacted Seattle Public Utilities just a few minutes ago. The customer service person didn’t have any information on the cause but said they had a “lot of reports of issues in this area this morning” and they were contacting technicians to see if they know what’s up. I’m not sure what area they were referring to but I live in Madison Valley on 31st avenue east, north of E Republican and south of Lake Washington Blvd.

And another report:

King5.com reports a water main break under the university bridge. We’re on 34th east and Harrison and have no water at all. I understand it’s the same with Bush School and Broadmoor.

And again:

I work right by the U Bridge, and it's crazy over here!

I also talked to the city and they said to not drink the water until it's clear again. Until then use bottled water.

Small joys....

For 20+ years I've been cleaning up the trash that people seem to relish discarding in our neighborhood. Some of it is mundane, some of it is noteworthy, some of it is truly bizarre.

Last weekend I came out of my house and found the most remarkable little gift at the corner of 20th & John:

Some kind people had not only tidied up their beer-bottles and cans, they'd even carefully pickup up the shards of the bottle they'd dropped and tidied them into the carrier also.

In many "fancy pants" neighborhoods, people would probably be incensed to find such trash awaiting them, but here such displays of thoughtfulness bring a little joy into our jaded lives.

Picking it up and carrying it to the trash was so much easier than picking up the widely scattered fragments of 40-ouncers used to be.

And yes, finding Alaskan Amber rather than the traditional Olde English probably is is yet another sign of gentrification.

One suggestion, gentle drunks: you left me two half-finished bottles of Alaskan Amber. Next time, share a bottle and leave an un-opened one for me. But, thank you, anyway.