Group offers guidance on future of Lake City. One suggestion: Find our identity

Kay Knapton, retired from the West Seattle Junction Association, talks about neighborhood identity, something arguably lacking in Lake City.

Lake City neighbors gathered at the Community Center Tuesday night during a "Coffee Talk" to hear from community planners in an event sponsored by the American Planning Association's Community Planning Team and the Lake City Neighborhood Alliance.

Featured speakers Kan Knapton and Greg Easton spoke to residents about planning the future of Lake City, considering the potential redevelopment of properties owned by the Pierre Family.

For those that don't keep up with neighborhood news, the Pierre family has approached members of the Lake City community to share ideas as they consider redeveloping some of their property in the neighborhood. The project is a long-term project, which is offering a significant and unique planning opportunity for Lake City. The opportunity seems to be attracting urban planners and others that recognize the potential of redeveloping a large swath of an urban community.

One particularly interesting item that was discussed by Kay Knapton, retired from the West Seattle Junction Association, was creating a neighborhood identity. We all know the identity that most pin on a map of Lake City. That unfortunate caricature of our neighborhood usually involves used car lots and strip clubs —instead of recognizing our parks, walkable neighborhood*, green belts, urban stream, diverse community or exploding population of young people.

"A unique image helps local residents identify with their neighborhood and attracts outside visitors. Identifying what is unique about community can create an identity around existing assets," said Knapton.

As examples she used Fremont, its funky art and the "Center of the Universe" theme, West Seattle and its murals, Ballard with its Scandinavian flags, shops and art, the U. District with its connection to the University of Washington.

An essay she wrote cited the Othello district and its work with ethnic businesses to develop a retail district with an international focus.

The examples of identity Knapton shared were all arts-oriented or population-oriented.

One idea mentioned was to highlight Lake City's cultural diversity and work to create an immigrant arts hub in Lake City. Lake City Greenways members have also proposed creating community street murals in Lake City to add a unique, identifying element to our neighborhood. Another suggestion was to embrace Lake City's ties to the automobile with art made from cars.

During the meeting other Seattle neighborhoods were used as examples of successful community planning. West Seattle and Columbia City were noted for their redevelopment, successful adoption of an image and results that have become favorable to the community.

The meeting was the first in a series of Coffee Talk meetings taking about the future of Lake City. Future meetings will discuss transportation, urban design and density and a final meeting is tentatively planned to discuss housing and diversity.

We will let you know about future meeting dates so you can attend.

*Even without the benefit of sidewalks our neighborhood consistently scores high as a walkable community.

Residents discuss Lake City Greenway proposal at meeting

Janine Blaeloch gives a presentation during the meeting.

 Lake City residents gathered for a meeting on February 21st to discuss a proposal for a pedestrian- and bike-friendly "greenway" along 27th Avenue Northeast.

The route, which would run from NE 145th Street to NE 125th Street, has been proposed by the Lake City Greenways project with the help of community members searching for safer ways for pedestrians and bicyclists to negotiate our neighborhood and its lack of pedestrian infrastructure—sidewalks.

Most of the people that attended the meeting were residents that live on 27th Avenue NE and wanted to understand how the proposed greenway would affect them and to voice concerns about altering the quiet neighborhood street.

People were vocal at the meeting, both in support of the project and with concerns—mostly about speed humps, emergency response times and the expense of altering the road.

Residents worried that the addition of speed humps, elongated and gentle traffic slowing devices, would encourage drivers to drive over gravel parking easements in an attempt to avoid the humps.

Residents discussed adding stop signs and speed-detecting cameras along the street—the benefits and issues with both were discussed. People at the meeting said they wanted safer access to the Lake City Hub Urban Village for elderly and disabled people. And proposals for street murals in Lake City were met with support during the meeting.

"People want to understand better what it might mean for their street," said Janine Blaeloch, a neighborhood resident working with other community members to bring safe routes via greenways to our neighborhood. "Most people just want information," she said.

A presentation on the Lake City Greenways proposal is posted below. You can read a previous story we wrote about Lake City Greenways and how it can help transform some of our streets here.

Lake City Library Calendar on DPC website

A screen shot of the Lake City Library calendar on their website

The Lake City branch of the Seattle Public Library regularly hosts educational programs and events. Some of these are events that would benefit many in our community. The challenge sometimes can be to get the word out.

This is something we have heard from neighbors and event organizers many times. It can be difficult to know all that is going on in our own community.

People in our neighborhood are working to solve that problem.

The Lake City Library has a wonderful online calendar and we have embeded the RSS feed from their calendar on the right column of the Douglas Park Cooperative website.

To find out more about a particular event just click on the item in the RSS feed and the details will pop up. We hope to have a similar feature from the Lake City Community Center in the future. The exchange of information is an important part of what will better our community.

Update: We have also imported info from their calendar into our Google calendar featured on the right of our website. But we are unsure if it will automatically update so that is a test of the data.

2013 Farmers Market extending hours

Our friends over at Families for Lake City have an update about the 2013 Lake City Farmers Market.

The community website reports that the Lake City Farmers Market, one of the favorite annual traditions in our neighborhood, will return to 2013 with longer hours.

The market is planning to be open every Thursday from 2:30 to 7:30, from June 20th to September 26th.

The market previously opened at 3:30. The addition of the extra hour also comes with a slightly shorter overall season.

You can learn more about our neighborhood farmers market on their website here.

You can get regular updates from Families for Lake City by liking them on their Facebook page here.

PHOTO: Unique character seen on LCW

It is the unique, and even sometimes the odd, that makes a place interesting and defined.

Lake City has a few quirky and unique elements that help to define the neighborhood (although we could use many more).

The old bank facade, aka the "Arc de Lake City," at the Mini Park at 125th and LCW is one that comes to mind.  Also the giraffe near the intersection of 30th Avenue NE and LCW is an element that breaks up a drive along the arterial roadway.

The steel sculpture in front of the Verizon Wireless retail store and the boulders with fins in the median of LCW are works of art that help to give our neighborhood some character.

The almost iconic neon sign on Lake City Powersports and Dick's Drive-In's neon give a bit of color to our neighborhood during these dark and dreary days.

Well it seems we have another quirky thing to add to the visual elements that make LCW a bit different that the endless stretches of commercial-lined highways we all travel everyday.

This guy (below) has been making appearances on the road near the intersection of LCW and NE 123rd Street.

Kaffeeklatsch celebrates second anniversary, helps change neighborhood

Some of the staff at Kaffeeklatsch celebrate the bakery/coffee shop's second anniversary with a party

On January 15th, Kaffeeklatsch celebrated their second anniversary as a fixture in our community. In the two years since the little neighborhood business has been serving steaming lattes and baking their tasty bread, they have helped to significantly change our community.

A message written during an anniversary party for Kaffeeklatsch.

Now we realize that is a pretty big statement to make about one small business in a neighborhood with an active business core. But Kaffeeklatsch has really become the "third place" that so many neighborhood businesses strive to become.

The community planning principle of the "third place" says that people have their home —their "first place"— their place of work —the "second place"— and the "third place" —a social gathering place separate from those other two environments.

Kaffeeklatsch has become for many in our community a third place, a hub where neighbors gather, interact, exchange ideas and talk about their community.

Discussions and ideas about the future and the direction of Lake City are exchanged much more easily with the help of the neighborhood gathering spot. For example, before the business opened, people with spare time would have to reserve a room at a public community space and schedule a meeting to plan and discuss our community. These meeting had a much more formal feel and had to be often planned far in advance.

Now customers are regularly heard discussing the neighborhood. Meetings, debates, ideas and discussion are now more spontaneous and inclusive. Groups can gather and talk there without having to find and reserve a more formal space (although it is polite to let them know if a big group is coming.)

Lake City Greenways is unveiled at Kaffeeklatsch.

In fact many of our neighborhood's most significant ideas and plans in the past two years have been born and sculpted at the coffee shop and bakery.

There are many things happening in Lake City, much behind the scenes, that will likely lead to a much more livable, walkable, safe neighborhood in the future. There are many active people in our community we will have to thank for their hard work in years to come. But for now, we thank the small business that gives them a place to gather and create their ideas of a better community.

KOMO News: Rotating winter shelter for homeless coming to Lake City, Shoreline

On Sunday KOMO News published a story about a temporary, rotating winter homeless shelter run by Union Gospel Mission coming to churches in Lake City and Shoreline.

And according to the KOMO story the coming shelter is a surprise to some in the Lake City community —even after previous shelter plans that surprised the community prompted vows of more transparency with future shelter plans. People contacted for the story learned of the plan from the KOMO reporter.

The plan, according to the KOMO report, is part of a request by the Lake City Task Force on Homelessness to bring the rotating shelter to three area churches, beginning on Monday, January 7th.

The schedule for the shelter is below:

• Jan 7 – Jan 27, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 14514 20th Avenue Northeast, Shoreline
• Jan 28 – Feb 17, Seattle Mennonite Church, 3120 NE 125th St., Seattle
• Feb 17 – Mar 15, Lake City Baptist Church, 2441 Northeast 125th Street, Seattle

From the KOMO story:

According to [Paul] LaRose [of Union Gospel Mission], shelter organizers took concerns made by neighbors and business owners last year and came up with a different way to run the temporary shelter this time around.
"We are only offering an overnight shelter, from 7:00p.m. to 7:00a.m., primarily for people of Lake City. Last year that's what we tried to do but people were being referred by hospitals, like Harborview, and clinics when they were released. Someone would send them to Lake City, or the eastside Bellevue shelter, this year we don't expect it to be like that," said LaRose.
Mike Duke, owner of the Grocery Outlet in Lake City, says he understands people need help, and initially he allowed those staying at the shelter last year to use his store’s restroom. But he says his business ended up losing so much inventory they were forced to put locks on the bathroom doors. 
"We had a terrible problem with panhandlers in the parking lot being really aggressive. Shoplifting was our biggest problem. We lost $28,000 in inventory during the quarter the shelter was open which was way over our normal amount and as soon as it shut down our loses went back to normal levels," said Duke.

You can read the entire KOMO report here.

Come get a Santa photo, help the Community Center

Hopefully the Jolly Elf's visit will promote smiles.

On Saturday, December 8th, Santa Claus will be coming to Kaffeeklatsch (12513 Lake City Way).

The jolly elf will make an appearance in our neighborhood coffee shop for a photo session. And you are invited.

Santa's appearance is a fund-raiser for our own Lake City Community Center. Photos with Mr. Claus will cost $10 and will be shot by a professional photographer.

He will be seated in front of the neighborhood bakery/coffee shop's giant Christmas tree.

The photos start at 2 p.m. and continue until 5:30.

All proceeds will go the Lake City Community Center and its future Youth programming.

The professional photos will be put on a CD and you can walk next door to Bartell Drugs to make your holiday cards.

For more info please call 206.462.1059

Holidays in the Park, Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Neighbors watch the festivities

Santa exits his convertible

Lake City will celebrate its annual Holidays in the Park event on Wednesday night (December 5th) at 7 p.m. in the Lake City Mini-Park, NE 125th Street and Lake City Way.

Come on out and enjoy some hot drinks, snacks and spend some time with your neighbors.

Santa Claus will arrive at 7:15 and the Ingraham High School band will perform at this years event.

We hope to see you there!

International collection of Nativity scenes on dispaly in our neighborhood

Its that time of year when people unpack their holiday decorations, decorate their homes and prepare to celebrate the traditions that make the holiday season such a special time for families and communities.

This weekend one of the most impressive displays of holiday decorations is happening right here in our very own neighborhood.

On Saturday and Sunday, December 1st and 2nd, Nativity Exhibit Northwest and Lamb of God Lutheran Church are hosting the Annual Nativity Exhibit at Lamb of God church, 12509 127th Avenue N.E. The exhibit showcases more than 800 nativities from almost 100 countries. Some are intricate artworks, some are made from recycled items, some are made from food, some are funny, some try to make a point, all are fascinating.

"This is a great way to kick off the holiday season," said Ben Breeden, a visitor who has been coming to the see the display with his extended family for years.

The display moved from its previous location after the collection grew too large. For the past 20 years it was hosted at Crista Senior Living in Shoreline.

The exhibit runs until 7 p.m. on Saturday. It continues on Sunday (December 2nd) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Below is a small sample of some of the nativity sets on display.

Two Dog Yoga Community Contra Dance this Saturday, November 17th

This Saturday, November 17th, Two Dog Yoga will host their annual Community Contra Dance with the popular duo, the Canote Brothers. And you are invited to come mingle with your neighbors and meet new friends.

The Cantone Brothers are identical twins that like to say they have "genetically matched voices." The brothers play the fiddle, banjo, ukulele and bring vintage American music that will make you tap your toes and want to get on the dance floor. For 13 years they were the sidekicks on National Public Radio's show Sandy Bradley's Potluck.

The event starts at 6 p.m. with a finger food potluck. The easy social dancing begins at 7 p.m. and continues until 8:30.

This fun, family event is open to all and raises money for the Two Dog Scholarship Fund via donations. The event also helps gather non-perishable food to benefit the local food bank. So please bring something to donate.

We hope to see you there!

12549 28th Ave. NE

Flags damaged on Veterans Day

A previous post here on Douglas Park Cooperative thanked the Lake City Lions Club for their work hanging flags around the neighborhood on Veterans Day.

We later found out from the Lions Club that two of the flags hanging on Elliott Bay Brewery were ripped from their brackets and damaged at some point during the day.

The group puts up the flags at sunrise on federal holidays and takes them down at sunset.

When they returned to Elliott Bay to gather the flags on Veterans Day all that remained were broken brackets on the side of the building. The two flags were later found but the eagles on top of the poles were smashed and the wire holding the flags to the poles was damaged.

"This was the first time we every had anything like that happen," said a member of the organization.

Thanks to veterans, volunteers, those that give to community

On this Veterans Day we thank and remember all that serve their community in a multitude of way:  Military members, teachers, police officers, social workers, firefighters, medical workers, volunteers.

We would also like to thank the Lake City Lions Club for hanging flags around our neighborhood, reminding us of this important day.

Flags are shown in the Lake City Mini Park

Funding proposed for Community Center Improvements

Seattle City Councilmembers Jean Godden, Sally Bagshaw, and Sally Clark introduced three items into the 2013-2014 City budget for possible improvements to the Lake City Community Center.

The City's budget is coming up for a hearing on Friday, November 9th.

The proposals in the City of Seattle budget shown below are not yet secured and will be discussed by the City Council in a budget hearing on Friday, November 9th. The proposals are:

• $20,000 in 2013 for the Department of Parks and Rec to conduct a services and recreation needs assessment for teens and seniors. The assessment will be done in the context of the Lake City Visioning Project. The assessment will take place in the first and second quarter of 2013 and a report will be given in the third quarter to the City Council. More info here. 

• $75,000 in 2013 for architectural and engineering services to study and identify critically needed improvements. Some upgrades suggested are Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility, a possible elevator, addition of doors and windows at the back to make it accessible from the park. 

• $425,000 in 2014 to make the improvements that are the outcome of the architectural and engineering review. More info here. 

This funding will not be secured until the final vote approves the money. Please write or call Seattle City Councilmembers to express your support for these budget line items.

Sally Bagshaw: email | 206-684-8801 | web site

Tim Burgess: email | 206-684-8806 | web site

Sally Clark: email | 206-684-8802 | web site

Richard Conlin: email | 206-684-8805 | web site

Jean Godden: email | 206-684-8807 | web site

Bruce Harrell: email | 206-684-8804 | web site

Nick Licata: email | 206-684-8803 | web site

Mike O'Brien: email | 206-684-8800 | web site

Tom Rasmussen: email | 206-684-8808 | web site

Update: Councilmembers Bagshaw, Godden, and Clark have just  released a Statement of Legislative Intent requesting the Department of Parks and Recreation to provide a comprehensive report regarding recreational and Parks program service needs of the Lake City Urban Village and the North District Neighborhood Planning Area. More info here. 

PHOTOS: Fright Night comes to Lake City

Fright Night came to Lake City on Friday night. And along with it came plenty of zombies, unicorns and princesses.

The 20th annual event, organized by the Lake City Lions, Children's Home Society and the North Seattle Family Center saw a significant turnout. The Lions reported that they served pizza to over 500 people

Below are photos from the fun annual event.

Snow White, Strawberry Shortcake

"Braiiiiiinnnnsss"

Lake City Lions serving up slices of pizza with a side of fun!

The haunted house. Terrifying.

Mini golf and games

A cute little pumpkin

Mario Brothers

Candy, yum.

Darth Maul shows off the Dark Side of the Force

Michael Jackson and a cheetah

The craft table

A king cobra

Entrance to the haunted house

A cute mouse

Don't cast a spell on us!

The Beetles live!

Daughter, dad

Cutie pie

Trying to escape the haunted house

Face painting

Toy Story

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