Second Quarter Real Estate Report

The Seattle Times gets it right: prices are upThe Madison Park Blogger (however) gets it wrong By Bryan TagasSoon after our last real estate posting hit the streets last month, The Seattle Times weighed in with a front-page article entitled “Double Digit Rise in King County Prices.” Using data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the Times reported that the median price of single-family homes solid in the County rose 10.1%...

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August happenings

Get ready for the Blue AngelsIf it's Seafair, it's time for the Navy's "flight demonstration squadron" to do its thing--a lot of which takes place over and around Madison Park. It's always a great show, but it's also a brace-yourself moment for many in the neighborhood, since the low-level precision flying means a lot of noise---not just from the six F/A 18 Hornet aircraft putting on the display, but from howling pets and triggered car alarms as...

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Madison Park artist "does" the Olympics

When comes to win, place, or show at this year's Summer Olympics, for Broadmoor's Paul Mullally, it's definitely case of show--art show, that is.  Mullally has the honor of having one of his pieces included in the Olympic Fine Arts 2012 Exhibition, being held next month at the Museum of London. Mullally's oil painting "Alaska Bound - Triumph of the Spirit" (shown above) depicts part of the Alaska fishing fleet docked at Seattle's Fishermen's...

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Floating bridge opponents lose court case

Process not "arbitrary, capricious nor an abuse of discretion"A Federal district judge today threw out the court case brought by the Coalition for a Sustainable 520 to force design changes to the floating bridge project. The Washington State Department of Transportation wasted no time this evening in distributing its press release which, while avoiding triumphalist overtones, nevertheless makes the point that as far as the State is concerned it's...

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Pop up store to become permanent?

CurbedSeattle, a website focused on "all-things design, decor, and shelter," reported last week that Madison Park's latest pop-up store was about to become a permanent fixture on the local retail scene. According to Curbed, the Guesthouse Pop-Up Shop, 4110 E. Madison St. (located in the space between the Bank of America branch and the Ewing & Clark office), is about to become the principal location for Guesthouse, a Madrona interior...

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Fat Salmon lands at Madison Park Beach

It's annual ritual here for the swimmers of the Fat Salmon Open Water Swim to arrive on our shore sometime in mid-summer. This year marked the 13th anniversary edition of the race, which includes both a 3.2-mile and a 1.2-mile course. The first swimmer out of the water (that hardy soul without a full wetsuit above) was from the 3.2 mile race, with a time of 1:12 minutes, give or take a few seconds. The water temperature at the beach today was...

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Another annual ritual

It was Lobster Day at Bert's on Saturday, one of those occasions that get certain people around here pretty excited. Of course the Lobster was live (flown in from Maine), as were the oysters, manila clams and mussels--at least until they went into the p...

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So which looks better?

This......or this?The temporary fence came down today; and whatever you call it, Swingset Park, Dogrun Park, or the official name, Madison Park-North Beach, this neighborhood amenity on the Lake has certainly been transformed. We leave it to you to decide whether the removal of the old fence and its attendant blackberry bushes was a good policy move by the Parks people or not.  But in terms of aesthetics?We understand that crews will be out...

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Wells Fargo branch hit again

Vandals strike in the nightIt was around 3:00 a.m., early Monday morning, that "unknown suspect(s)" smashed nine or more windows at the Madison Park branch of Wells Fargo (4009 E. Madison St.).  This is the third time vandals have struck this particular branch of the San Francisco-based bank this year, the first such incident occurring in January and the second in May. According to the online SPD Blotter, a K-9 unit was brought to the crime...

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Madison Valley does Bastille Day

The crowd turned out and the weather generally cooperated for the first-ever Bastille Bash on Saturday, a project of the Madison Valley merchants, assisted with a grant from the City.  The idea of the organizers was to help establish the separate identity of Madison Valley and use the French theme as the vehicle. The plan is for this to be an annual neighborhood event.The Bash featured food, wine, entertainment, and activities for kids, with...

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Bill the Butcher is gonezo

Abandons Madison Valley locationBill the Butcher, the Seattle-based "organic" meats purveyor, has decamped its Madison Valley store with a lot less fanfare than heralded its arrival there in April 2010. There was no press release from the Madison Valley Merchants Association on this one, so we were unaware that the Butcher was gone until we wandered by during the Bastille Bash on Saturday. This must be a fairly recent development, since the Company's...

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A bit of excitement in the 'hood

SPD nabs multiple car-theft suspectsAt about 8:30 this evening a Honda was stolen from the neighborhood, with a 911 call immediately going to the police about the incident. The evening shift had just begun at the SPD's East Precinct on Capitol Hill---and ultimately ten squad cars were dispatched into Madison Park to hunt down the four car-theft suspects. The reason for the massive police response was that the suspects had crashed the stolen vehicle...

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Upcoming road and bridge closures

Floating Bridge will be closed this weekendBeginning at 11 p.m. Friday, July 13, and continuing through 5 a.m. on Monday, July 16, both directions of SR-520 will be closed from Montlake Boulevard to I-405, with the Montlake Boulevard exit from SR-520 eastbound remaining open.  Construction crews will be doing regular maintenance of the bridge, as well as construction, including demolishing the old 84th Avenue NE overpass and installing more...

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June Police Blotter

Attempted carjacking not quite at gunpointMadison Park generally isn't the kind of place where anyone would expect to find guns in play, but June may have followed a recent pattern involving gun use in the neighborhood, though whether a gun was actually involved or not is uncertain. The victim certainly thought so.The incident, which happened around 6:30 a.m. on June 9 near the intersection of E. Madison Street and 41st Avenue E. (the red-mask icon...

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I was lost but now I'm found

Maria, the grey and white cat from Broadmoor, who "marched away" from home one rainy evening last month was discovered in Washington Park yesterday, many blocks from home.  The thirteen-year-old female, who had apparently been upset by the introduction of a "rambunctious" new male kitten into the household, may have left in a huff but is probably glad to now be back in the protective environment of her longtime home. Owner Catherine Ramsden...

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Front-row seating for the new 520

The opponents litigate, WSDOT constructsA new condo owner in Lakeshore was heard to complain recently about the fact that almost as soon as he moved into his place a giant barge crane pulled up and moored itself right in the middle of what had previously been a pristine view of the Lake.  He’s reported to have exclaimed to a neighbor, “Am I going to have to deal with this for years?”  Probably so. That barge crane, very evident to anyone...

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Say it's not so! Clown's unicycle goes missing

According to a report we received this morning, it turns out that after Deano the Clown finished meeting and greeting some of his young fans at yesterday's Madison Park Days picnic, he discovered that his signature unicycle, which earlier had been "borrowed" by some kids, had not been returned.  Later searches of the park turned up not a single unicycle. If you have any information which could lead to the return of Deano's best means of transportation,...

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Great day for a parade!

One fine leisurely stroll down Madison StreetIn what was probably a first for the Madison Park Days Children's Parade, the Seattle Police Department beat out the Seattle Fire Department for the honor of leading the procession yesterday. Engine 34, which usually arrives well before the parade begins and then sets the very slow and steady pace, was busy elsewhere when the parade was scheduled to begin at noon.  At about 12:15, with antsy kids...

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Summertime is crime time

More words for the wiseSummer is the season when we generally remind our readers to be vigilant and lessen their chances of becoming the victim of criminals. The warmer weather usually leads to a spike in certain kinds of crime, yet every year around this time we start hearing stories of people doing things that in hindsight are downright foolhardy. Like leaving a ladder lying next to the house with an upstairs window open. Or working in the side...

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