The buyer's dilemma: preserve or destroy?

A tale of three propertiesTo a greater extent than many other Seattle neighborhoods, Madison Park enjoys (or suffers from, depending upon your point of view) a lot of churning of its housing stock each year. At any given moment there are usually several homes being pulled down, torn apart, or otherwise rehabilitated. And while the rhythm of this ongoing neighborhood transformation accelerates or slows in keeping with overall market conditions, the...

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Justin Ferrari’s death IS a Madison Park story

Commentary by Bryan TagasThis senseless shooting did not take place within our neighborhood, and the innocent victim of the crime did not live in Madison Park.  Yet the scene of the tragedy was close by and familiar to most of us, and the murdered man himself lived just a stone’s throw away. Both he and his family were known to many here in the Park. Though elements of this story may have been familiar, the otherworld outcome—a random killing...

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News of the 'hood

'Why us?'Employees of our local Wells Fargo branch may well be asking themselves that question after the Bank's windows were smashed in an overnight incident last week. This is the second such act of vandalism at Wells Fargo this year. But given the larger notoriety of certain other national banks (JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America for example), what justifies Wells Fargo as a particular target?  Wells was also singled out by the...

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The President skirts the 'hood (again)

It always seems to happen this way (or at least it did the last time), but when President Obama comes to town and heads our direction, he never quite makes it into Madison Park proper. Yes, we can legitimately say that he traveled on Lake Washington Boulevard, which is the western/southern boundary of the neighborhood. But instead of turning up Madison and gracing us with his presence, he headed from the Arboretum on down to Denny Blaine for...

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More Art in the Park

What would you do if you were lucky enough to have a bunch of talented artist friends, the kind who might be willing to lend you their art?  Well, if you're Madison Park resident April Pride, you'd borrow as much as would fit into your house, get the artists to hang their works on your walls, and invite everyone in the neighborhood to enjoy it along with you. And that's exactly what April's doing this Saturday, hosting an event in her home that's...

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April Police Blotter

As reported in major local media, vandals attacked several expensive plantings in the Gateway to Chile section of the Arboretum last Thursday, inflicting about $43,000 worth of damage on the installation. It's speculated that perhaps someone wishing to celebrate Cinco de Mayo was simply gathering decorations for the festivities, but this willful destruction right on our doorstep could easily have been just a senseless act, like some of the other...

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The fence is coming down--and soon

The recalcitrants go down fightingEver since the Parks Board voted in December to take the fence down at Swingset Park (Madison Park North Beach), the only real question remaining was when. Now that question has been answered.  Seattle Parks confirmed to us late last week that the planning process has been completed, the neighborhood has been given its opportunity to provide input, and it's time to move on. The fence will be pulled down and...

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