The mayor makes an appearance

McGinn walks the neighborhood, holds town hallIf Mayor Mike McGinn was aware that Madison Park was one of those rare Seattle neighborhoods that voted solidly against him in the last mayoral election, it was certainly not evident in his gracious opening remarks at yesterday morning's town hall meeting held at Park Shore. The major, who had just completed a circuit of the neighborhood with community council and business association leaders, told the...

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Consequential or silly?

New Wells Fargo sign has MPCC seeing red (plus gold and black)There was a new sign installed at the Wells Fargo branch last week that replaces a very similar sign that had graced the site for many years. The replacement sign has somewhat larger gold lettering for the bank's name, the color red covers more of the surface area than was true of the old sign, and the Wells Fargo Wagon (and, for that matter, the Wells Fargo horses) are now black instead...

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The mayor cometh

Walking tour on Saturday to be followed by a town meeting It's been a good ten years, by our reckoning, since Seattle's mayor last made an official appearance in Madison Park. Of course it was the ever-affable Mayor Greg Nickels who had the honor in 2002 (that's him in the photo above, with city officials and various Madison Park celebrities in tow).  This year it will be the deep-voiced Mayor Mike McGinn who gets to amble around the neighborhood...

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Mayor supports intersection improvement here

E. Madison & 37th Avenue E. may be upgradedThe mayor's office announced earlier this week that the intersection where a McGilvra Elementary School student was injured in a car/cyclist accident last summer is one of three projects budgeted as part of the Safe Routes to School program.  A total of $836,000 has been allocated for improvements affecting access to McGilvra, Beacon Hill, and West Woodland (Ballard) Elementary Schools.Area...

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News from the chow line

New deli operator to arrive in OctoberPark Place Deli reopened last week after a brief hiatus, but we were a bit ahead of the story in having earlier reported that the deli would be operating under new management. Through September 29, the place will be run by the current owner.  Sometime after that there be a new operator on the premises.We've been told that Park Place Deli lost its lease because the business had been shut down. As a result,...

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Another bridge closing this weekend...

...not to mention the main drag through the Arboretum (though obviously we are doing so)There will be another in the long series of SR 520 road closings this weekend, beginning Friday night at 11 pm and extending through Monday morning at 5 am.  As always, the Montlake off-ramp from SR 520 eastbound will be open, but cars will be unable to travel east past that point.  Here's what WSDOT has to say about this weekend's work:During the closure,...

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Broadmooor fledglings fly (away)

Eagle parents may be empty nestersEver since the return of the eagles to their tree on the Broadmoor golf course earlier this year, we have been following their progress on the blog of Montlake photographer and bird watcher Larry Hubbell.  For those readers who haven't been keeping up, we can tell you that both of the eaglets became fledged over the summer and one of them, at least, has apparently flown away. As of the end of August, the remaining...

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Massive tree was probably just old

The sudden collapse of that massive Heritage tree in the Washington Park neighborhood late last month left many of us wondering what the cause might have been.  As we reported at the time, the catalpa speciosa, which was approximately 85 feet tall and 75 feet wide, was apparently undiseased, yet it crashed to the ground without the impetus of either appreciable wind or water saturation of the surrounding ground. Though the tree was...

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Deli to reopen tomorrow

If you happened to walk by the Park Place Deli one day last week you may have noticed the sign in the window stating the the deli had been sold and would be reopening soon.  That sign, however, came down quickly. Today, however, the sandwich board out front carried the announcement that the place will be re-opening tomorrow at 9 am and that there will be free coffee and cookies at lunch time.It does not appear that the deli has actually been...

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August Police Blotter

But first, this cautionary tale...A Madison Park resident living in Canterbury recently sent us an email describing a criminal incident which fortunately did not result in a break-in, but which nevertheless demonstrates both the brazenness of some criminals and the need for homeowners to be ever vigilant:"I happened to be up at 3:45 am and walked through the house in the dark, noticed our motion sensing light on the side of the garage was on. Then...

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The new floating bridge explained

Madison Park to be briefed Thursday eveningWe have almost certainly devoted more time and attention to the details of and controversy surrounding the new SR-520 floating bridge than any other blog in the city. So, at least for those who have been paying attention, our readers should by this point be pretty well versed on what's been happening and what's about to come, including the eventual removal of the Arboretum's on and off ramps to 520.Those...

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Strange September

It may well have been the last gasp of summer; but if so, the season certainly ended on a particularly fine note yesterday. Though we are now well past Labor Day, the beach at Madison Park was packed on Saturday as temperatures remained above 80 and people flocked to the shore. It was the 48th consecutive day without rain in Seattle, and should this condition last until Tuesday (an unlikely event), we will have achieved an historic record (see Cliff...

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Art Walk shines

It was a hot evening in Madison Park last night as hundreds turned out to enjoy the third annual Madison Park Art Walk.  The event kicked off with a reception at Starbucks, and then it was off to visit the 30 neighborhood venues where area artists proudly displayed their works.There were also multiple forms of musical entertainment provided around the business district, adding greatly to the festive ambiance of the evening.Those who missed opening...

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Another business sidelined

Quite frankly, we have written too many postings in the past year about local businesses falling by the wayside.  So when the sign went into the window a couple weeks ago stating that Park Place Deli was "temporarily" closed, we took the hopeful view that this was really not the end---and therefore not a story. Over the Labor Day holiday, however, a new sign appeared (as many blog readers quickly pointed out) and the message suddenly became...

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Short sales not a major factor here

Before the collapse of the housing sector several years ago, most people (other than specialists in real estate or in mortgage banking) had never heard the term “short sale.” And in those pre-collapse days, if someone had described being underwater on their house, most of us probably would have conjured up images of a flood.  We’re better informed today due to the barrage of press reporting on the millions of homeowners nationally who owe more...

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