Madison Park Blogger

Unfortunate confluence

2013-05-13T19:44:00.002-07:00

Tree limb meets up with car in a bad way

This was the scene on the 600 block of 36th Avenue E. this afternoon after a gusting wind passed through the neighborhood, causing a very large tree branch to topple onto a car that had been parked in a more exposed position than its driver probably realized. The car behind the battered Honda appears to have come off unscathed.

Wind speeds in the Seattle area were reported to be as high as 40 mph today, so there were plenty of opportunities for area trees to shed some foliage. These photos were taken by blog reader David Chapman while on an afternoon stroll in Washington Park.

April Police Blotter

2013-05-10T07:42:00.001-07:00

Madison Park: crime hotspot?

To look at the April crime map, which shows multiple reports of harassment (the red icons with the exclamation points) and a couple of arrests (those blue icons with the handcuffs), you might think that the neighborhood is suffering a significant escalation of criminal activity. Fortunately, you'd be wrong.

While there was a fair number of unlikely and not-to-serious situations that resulted in police reports last month, the house and car break-in activity we typically report on was almost non-existent during the period. Or, rather, it was almost non-existent from the standpoint of reports to the police. As we'll discuss below, some of this petty criminal activity clearly took place without the victims bothering to make a formal report.

First, however, let's start with those cases of harassment. One of these, according to Seattle Police's public information officer, is simply "too convoluted" to be worth going into. Suffice it to say that it was labelled "harassment" in the report, but was apparently something else. That incident occurred on April 4 on the 1000 block of 32nd Avenue E. The second incident, which happened on April 9, involved a ten-year-old fourth-grade student at McGilvra Elementary School who called another student "names." Although the school's principal had been notified of the incident, the victim's parents decided to report the case to the police as well. The final incident, reported on April 9, involved activity that had been taking place since September 2012. A "specialty store" owner on the 4100 block of E. Madison St. reported that an employee was being bothered by a customer who continued to come into the store to talk to the employee but did not buy anything. The owner reported having called the customer to ask that he not return to the store and reported the situation to the police so that it was documented.

That's what we know about the harassments. Nothing too terrorizing.

The arrest situation during April a bit unusual for the neighborhood, which sees very few cases where police actually haul someone away. On April 11, at the request of the Attorney General of Michigan, an SPD unit arrested a man living on the 2300 block of McGilvra Boulevard E. on a felony-arrest warrant. The man was wanted for non-payment of child support. He was taken into custody without incident. On April 13, a police officer sitting in a parked car on the 2300 block of 43rd Avenue E. happened to spot a suspect he identified as wanted on a DUI warrant. He took the suspect into custody without incident.

Unusually for this time of year, there was only one reported burglary. That happened on the 1200 block of 39th Avenue E. on April 20. The victim reported that a Sony flat screen TV and an Apple TV device had been stolen from his garage. No force was used to enter the garage, and the victim admitted that the door may have been left unlocked.

While there were no car break-ins reported in April, anecdotal evidence indicates that there were many cases of car prowls, often involving cars left unlocked. Wallets, coats, electronic devices, and spare change were among the objects lifted. The thefts appeared to be the work of kids roaming the streets at night. No one bothered to report these crimes to the police, however. This may be a mistake on the victims' part. As we're reported many times, SPD patrolling patterns are determined in part by the number of criminal incidents reported in the various neighborhoods of each precinct. The failure to report crimes happening in Madison Park could have the consequence of lowering the overall policing of our community. Something to think about next time you are victimized.

[The dollar-sign icons on the map above represent incidents of fraud, generally reports of identity theft or credit card fraud, and the icons showing a can of spray paint represent incidents of property damage, generally graffiti. Click on map to enlarge.]

Almost summer

2013-05-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

With the air temperature reaching into the low eighties, Madison Park Beach this weekend looked very much as it does at the height of summer---minus the swimmers. The water temperature was most likely in the mid-50s, typical for this time of year, so there was a lot more wading, paddling, and kayaking going on than immersion. Water temperatures generally range from the mid-60s to as high as 75 degrees when summer heats up.

We're still six weeks away from the arrival of the lifeguards. Madison Park Beach officially opens on June 23 (lifeguard hours: noon until 7 pm on weekdays and 11 am until 7 pm on weekends).

In the meantime, no one's complaining.

Washington Park's Peter Seligmann to speak

2013-05-06T07:39:00.003-07:00

'We are all connected!'

The connection between "the health of Puget Sound, our planet, and people" will be the subject of a upcoming lecture by noted conservation activist, Peter Seligmann, founder and CEO of Conservation International. The Seattle Aquarium will be the location for this education evening, May 16, beginning with a reception at 6:30, followed by the program at 7:30 pm.

Seligmann, whose work with Conservation International spans the globe, is an advocate for creating an environmentally healthy world that provides economic opportunities and security for everyone. He believes that vision can become a reality if industry, government, religious leaders, the educational community, and local people, including indigenous communities, all work together. Conservation International initiatives include biodiversity, climate, health and food.

For a fuller description of Seligmann's approach to conversation, check out this Seattle Times article or this interview from the New York Times. Information on how to get tickets for the Seattle Aquarium program is available at the website of the evening's sponsor, the Seattle Garden Club. Washington Park residents Ted and Iris Wagner are the underwriters of this lecture.

Bomb squad makes an appearance

2013-05-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

May Day false alarm enlivens neighborhood

At about 7:15 this morning the call came in to the SPD that a suspicious object had been found near the intersection of 39th Avenue E. and E. Galer St., close to the Wells Fargo branch that has been the target of previous attacks. The police immediately mobilized their ABS (Arson/Bomb Squad) Unit, which rolled into Madison Park soon thereafter. This was the scene as a part of E. Madison Street was blocked off while the object in question, described as a green military amunition box, was checked out.

According to SPD's public information officer, Det. Renee Witt, it was soon determined that the amo box posed no threat (that's the box shown in the photo below). At that point ABS cleared the scene, the excitement ended, and traffic again flowed on Madison. That's the story.

[Thanks to Madison Park resident/photographer Jim Waltz for the photos and for alerting us to this story.]

Upcoming

2013-04-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

Bioblitz at the Arboretum

Effectively taking a snapshot of biodiversity in a specific locale is what Bioblotz is all about, the goal being to measure the health of an ecosystem. This UW Botanic Gardens program is focusing this year on the Washington Park Arboretum, Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11. Volunteers are needed to help with Bioblitz, which will involve separate expert-led teams of “citizen scientists” and University of Washington Students searching the Arboretum for various flora and fauna (bats, fungi, and insects included). As part of the program there will also be a lecture by nature photographer Paul Bannick, entitled “The Life of Owls,” which will cover 19 species of North American Owls.

Information on Bioblitz is available here, including information on how to sign up to volunteer or just to attend the lecture at the Graham Visitors Center on May 10 (7 pm).

Preschool programs

UW Botanic Gardens is also the sponsor of a new nature-based preschool, Fiddleheads Forest School, beginning this fall in the Arboretum. It will be a ten-month program designed to help child development by getting kids excited about and involved in nature. There are two class options, M/W/F or T/Th from 9 am until 12 pm. Information is available here.

Bright!, a Madison Park preschool, meanwhile is again this year sponsoring summer camps for kids, 2 1/2 to 5 years old. There are eight camp options (including Cook, Grow, and Space), June through August. Information on the program is available here.

A new café for Madison Park?

It was reported in the Puget Sound Business Journal last week that Aegis Living, developer of “senior living communities,” will be opening a Queen Bee Café in Madison Park this summer. Aegis is the company that is building a new Capitol Hill facility on E. Madison St. at 22^nd Avenue E. It opened a marketing office in Madison Parklast October. The piece in the PSBJ was about Aegis founder Dwayne Clark’s desire to honor his mother’s memory by establishing several Queen Bee Cafes and a food truck which offer “simple comfort food” such as desserts on crumpets. Funds earned from the cafés will be donated to a different charity each quarter, according to PSPB reporter Patti Payne, who also reported that the first such café will be opened in Madison Park in September.

We checked with Aegis on this and got the clarification that the new Queen Bee Café will be established at Aegis on Madison (Capitol Hill). However, there is apparently a plan which has not been finalized to launch another such café in Madison Park proper at a later date, possibly in the Villa Marina building (in which the Aegis marketing office is located). Aegis promises to keep us informed of its evolving plans.

Noteworthy: And speaking of the Puget Sound Business Journal, it featured a story recently about a company co-founded by Madison Park resident and RN,Beth Droppert. Her company, Allied Health Advocates, helps patients navigate the health-care bureaucracy (a tough assignment any day of the week). National Nurses Week, by the way, is upcoming beginning May 6.

[Photos courtesy of the Arboretum Foundation and UW Botanic Gardens, respectively.]

Four years and counting

2013-04-27T14:11:00.001-07:00

The limitations of part-time neighborhood blogging

By Bryan Tagas
Madison Park Blogger

This week marks the fourth anniversary of Madison Park Blogger, which provides me with a decent rationale for a short essay on the constraints faced by a hyper-local blogger who also has a day job. Though predisposed by background and temperament to spend a significant portion of my time writing about and sharing the news of Madison Park, I've learned over the years that my limitations include time, resources, and the fact that I live in the community I cover.

Let's start with that last constraint: living within "the beat." While it's probably a pre-requisite for any worthwhile neighborhood blogger to actually inhabit the community about which he writes, doing so presents difficulties for someone who wants to follow his journalistic bent but still worries about the reaction of his neighbors to stories which may not present them in the most favorable light. And then there's the issue of privacy. Even if the story is not negative and even if the names of parties involved are on the public record, is it always appropriate for the blogger to report those names?

A couple of years ago an Eastside author wrote a book entitled "Lake Washington 130 Homes: A Guided Tour of the Lake's Most Magnificent Homes." However, when the book went on sale at a shop in Madison Park, some patrons of the store objected due to the fact that the book disclosed who the owners were of various shoreline properties here in Madison Park. That property information, of course, was a matter of public record through the Office of the King County Assessor and available to anyone online. Even so, many in the neighborhood clearly regard trumpeting such details as an invasion of privacy. The shop owner, according to the book's author, promptly returned the unsold books once the complaints began.

The evident sensitivity of more than a few Madison Parkers, coupled with my desire to live on good terms with everyone in the neighborhood, has caused me to pull my punches when covering certain stories. For example, the Madison Park Blogger often does not name names. One instance of withholding what was public information is the infamous case of the pit bull owner whose dog attacked three women in Washington Park on a summer afternoon three years ago. In that case, the various family members requested that I not give their names so that they would not be subjected to the condemnation of neighbors or have their professional reputations negatively impacted. Although pictures were available on the record of what the police found when they entered the dog owners' home, I chose not to post them online or to provide specific information of the family involved. A more recent example of my not disclosing everything is the case of the young-and-apparently-drunk Broadmoor driver who was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run earlier this year.

I used discretion for a different reason in the case of a jewel heist from the very high-end home of a well-known neighborhood resident. Although the blog provided what information was available in the police report, I did not disclose the identity of the victims, the extent of their loss (which was considerable), or the speculation that the burglary may well have been an inside job. Although that information was available to me, that happened only because I was a neighbor--and it would not have been shared with me if the family had thought it would be published.

That brings us to the issue of resources, or rather the lack thereof. Here's a potentially great story that I did not do because of lack of bandwidth: "Serial Rent Scofflaw Victimizes Madison Park Landlords." Last year I was contacted by a landlord who told an incredible story of a man and wife who had leased at least three houses in succession in Madison Park without paying anything more than the first and last months' rent, plus a damage deposit. Under Washington's strict Landlord/Tenant Law, it is very difficult to remove a renter for failure to pay. This landlord, while going through the tortuous legal process of evicting his renters, had discovered that they had stiffed prior landlords in the same way and that there were previous court judgments against them. The total damages for the three cases was several hundred thousand dollars. Embarrassing as the situation was, my informant wanted me to do a story on what had happened to him so that other landlords would be put on notice not to rent to this couple, who he named.

To have covered this story objectively, I would have had to access, pay for, and evaluate lengthly court records (not available online) and track down the other landlords and their former tenants to get their sides of the story, which was rich in detail (the no-rent-paying couple apparently had kids in high-end private schools, drove expensive cars, and held regular jobs). That's the kind of legwork that would normally be handled by an editorial assistant. Unfortunately, I don't have one. Also, my personal liability insurance, I determined, was possibility not sufficient to cover the costs of any libel suit brought by the alleged deadbeats.

Here's my final point: there's only one of me and only so much time. Several readers have recently commented on the fact that the number of postings here is rapidly diminishing. In the first couple of years of Madison Park Blogger I was averaging 3.5 postings per week or so, many of them major in-depth stories. By this point I feel lucky if I am able to manage two postings in any given week. The difference is that I have a much more involved and time-consuming set of responsibilities today than I did in 2009, when I began the blog. While my employer, Sterling Bank, has been generous in letting me perform this community service, my blogging activities have to be a secondary priority.

I apologize to those who look forward to getting multiple Madison Park Blogger postings every week. Perhaps I can return to a more robust blogging schedule in the not-too-distant future. I appreciate the support of the blog's readers and I invite and will appreciate your feedback.

The blogger takes his shot

Madison Park Blogger Stats as of April 2013:

Subscribers: 583
Monthly Readers: 993
Friends on Facebook: 194

[Photo of Madison Park Blogger by Dick Lehman.]

When it comes to housing, Madison Park has it all

2013-04-23T13:25:00.003-07:00

What the Census says about where we live

Madison Park has the reputation of being one of Seattle’s tonier neighborhoods, characterized by an eclectic mix of upscale houses owned and occupied by some pretty well-heeled people. That stereotype is not entirely off base; but even to Madison Parkers it will probably come as a surprise to learn that single-family homes make up less than half of the neighborhood’s total housing units and fully 42% of Madison Park’s residences are actually rentals.

This news, shocking or otherwise, comes from the 2010 U.S. Census and the related American Community Survey for Madison Park (Broadmoor and Washington Park included). While most residents here do live in houses that they own (or at least on which they pay the mortgage), there are plenty of people who live in multi-family structures (both condo and apartment buildings) and a significant number who rent either houses or multi-family units in the Park.

The Census Bureau reports that there are a total of 2,829 housing units within the .9 square miles of Madison Park, an increase of only seven units since the 2000 Census. The number of renter-occupied units for some reason declined in the ten years between the two Census surveys, however, from 1,118 in 2000 to 1,052 in 2010. Nevertheless, this still represents 41.6% of Madison Park’s total housing units. Unfortunately, there is no breakout of what proportions of these rental units are comprised of houses, condos, or apartments.

Census numbers show that the other 1,474 neighborhood residences are owner occupied—and surprisingly (at least to us) 523 of these (35%) are owned “free and clear.” Just to put that particular data point into perspective, we note that the comparable figure for Seattle as a whole is just 10%.

Seattle, by the way, has a total of 308,516 total housing units, so Madison Park represents slightly less than 1% of the City’s total stock of housing. Our 4,962 residents comprised about .8% of Seattle’s population of 608,660 in 2010. In Madison Park, our housing density (the average number of residents per housing unit) is roughly 2, while Seattle’s is almost exactly the same. Even in terms of rental housing, Madison Park is not significantly different proportionally, 42% versus 46% for Seattle overall.

There are 2,526 households in Madison Park, according to Census numbers. Of these, 1,096 households (43%) are comprised of a single person and 1,224 households (48%) are comprised of families (the remainder apparently being households comprised of people who are not related to each other). The number of people occupying rental units was 1,595 (32% of Madison Parkers).

Some of the most interesting housing information for Madison Park is contained in the American Community Survey, which provides estimates for the five-year period, 2007-2011. For example, a breakdown of the age of the housing units in the neighborhood shows that 42% of them were built prior to 1940, 39% were built between then and 1969, and 6% were built in this century. So while construction of new single-family units is picking up, this remains a community with a lot of relatively old housing. Part of the reason for this, no doubt, is that new multi-family units are unlikely here. A recent report in the Seattle Times showed this area of town (Madrona and Leschi included) as being the only one where its not expected that any new units will be constructed over the next several years.

In terms of housing types, the Survey estimates that almost half of the housing units in Madison Park are single-family residences. Since houses are more likely to have families living in them than apartment or condo units, it is probable that the majority of Madison Parkers live in houses, owned or otherwise. For some reason, the Census Bureau apparently does not ask that specific question.

As for multi-family housing, the Survey estimates that only 4% of these residences are in buildings with four or fewer units while 26% are in buildings of 20 or more units (the rest of the multi-family residences fall somewhere in between).

In Madison Park, of course, multi-family housing runs the gamut from tiny apartments with relatively modest rents to expansive waterfront condos costing multi-millions of dollars. Information is readily available about condo pricing, which we cover some detail each quarter. Rental information is much harder to obtain. Fortunately, the City will soon be requiring that landlords register their properties. As a result we may discover something more that changes our view of housing in Madison Park.

March Police Blotter

2013-04-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

A dull month on the crime front

The level of criminal activity in the neighborhood, judging by the March police reports, remains relatively insignificant both in terms of the severity and the frequency of the incidents. Not that we can expect this respite to continue indefinitely, since we're obviously in the annual pre-summer criminal doldrums. When the warm weather returns we can expect the activity level to pick up. It's a cycle that we see repeated every year.

So while it makes for rather dull reading, let's enjoy the fact that there's no really interesting crime story to relate for this period. Here's what did transpire:

There were three actual burglaries and one attempted burglary during the month. The first incident occurred sometime between March 4 and 7 on the 600 block of 33rd Avenue E. On the 7th, a resident of a multi-unit building discovered that the padlocks had been removed from three separate storage lockers in the building's storage area. His locker was missing a set of golf clubs, but it was not known at the time of the police report what might have been missing from the two other lockers.

There was a burglary on March 20 on the 3200 block of E. Mercer St. The homeowner reported that the wind had apparently blown a door open, allowing the perpetrator to enter the house without having to bother breaking in. Several items were stolen from the premises. The police report cryptically notes that the door latch was likely insufficient to hold the door securely in heavy winds.

Another burglary occurred on the 2500 block of Canterbury Lane E. on March 23. In that incident a resident of Canterbury Shores was awakened at 3:40 am by a loud noise in the office of the building manager. Thinking that the manager may have needed some assistance, the resident went to the office where he found that the door was closed but there was definitely movement inside. When he called out to ask if there was a problem the door was opened by a man wearing a scarf who then exited the office, followed by another individual (possibly female) wearing a hoodie. Neither suspect spoke to the resident. The building manager later confirmed that there were items missing from the office, but the police discovered no useable fingerprints.

On March 20 on the 2300 block of McGilvra Boulevard E. a resident discovered that while she was out walking her dog, someone had attempted to enter her house through a sliding window but had apparently been unable to get the window open wide enough to gain entry. There was no property damage.

There were three car break-ins during the month, the first occurring on March 3 on the 500 block of 36th Avenue E., the second on March 28 on the 1000 block of 39th Avenue E., and the third on March 29 on the 2000 block of McGilvra Boulevard.

Finally, there were two cases of harassment reported. In one of the incidents a Madison Park resident reported that she had received repeated unwanted phone calls from her former boss complaining about her having quit her job and demanding an explanation. The other incident involved an argument between a man, his "estranged girlfriend" and her mother. Apparently during the long period before the breakup the man had been living in the apartment without the mother's knowledge, even though she was actually paying the monthly rent on the unit. The ex-boyfriend, it seems, felt that he still had some rights associated with his tenancy, a position to which that the mother and daughter took exception. 9-1-1 was called at some point, though the situation was resolved without anyone being detained by police.

And that (other than one unsuccessful case of prescription forgery at the pharmacy) pretty well sums up the crime activity for March. As we said, pretty dull reading (but certainly not dull enough for the victims).

Upcoming in April

2013-04-07T14:47:00.002-07:00

FlorAbundance returns

The big spring plant sale to benefit the Washington Park Arboretum will take place this year on Saturday, April 27 (10 am until 5 pm) and Sunday, April 28 (10 am until 3 pm). This is always a well-attended event, and because the regular venue at Magnuson Park is still being rehabilitated, FlorAbundance will be held in the Arboretum at the Graham Visitors Center, as it was last year. So, for those interested in plants take note that this is your opportunity: more specialty nurseries are slated to participate and the sponsor, the Arboretum Foundation, is also promising a greater diversity of vegetative options, including a selection of edible plants.

Even those not interested in plants or plant sales will want to take note of the timing of this event since the Arboretum will likely be clogged with traffic, as it was last year. Information on FlorAbundance (including details of the shuttle service) is available here.

Restaurant Week is underway

Six Madison Park and Madison Valley restaurants are participating this spring in Restaurant Week, which starts today and extends through April 18. The purpose of the discount-dinner program, which has grown to include 160 Seattle-area restaurants since its inception in 2010, is to entice diners to get out and explore restaurants they might otherwise overlook. The inducement is three courses for 28 dollars. This special offer does not apply to dinners served in these establishments on Fridays or Saturdays during the Restaurant Week period, however (the official Restaurant Week covers ten days, April 7-11 and April 14-18).

Our local participants are Cafe Parco, Cafe Flora, CRUSH, The Harvest Vine, Luc, and Voila! Bistrot. Information on Restaurant Week, including details of all participating eateries is available here.

520 to close again (or not)

It may be true that there will be a weekend closure of the SR 520 floating bridge from April 19 at 11 pm until April 22 at 5 am. In point of fact, the two most recent supposed closings of 520 did not occur due to inclement weather, so it is quite possible that this shut down won't happen either.

We note that WSDOT's website today states that the closing will happen between April 22 and 25th, but the link to the bridge-closure page lists the April 19-22 dates (as does the press release we received this week). These bridge closures (as least so far) only happen on weekends.

To get presumably-up-to-the minute information on 520 weekend closures you can visit the official WSDOT page here.

Community Center holds open house

The MLK F.A.M.E. Community Center (at the site of what was once the Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, 3201 East Republican Street) will be holding an open house on Wednesday, April 24, at 7 p.m. The purpose of the event is to "announce activities, share ideas for future programs, and to mingle with neighbors and friends."

Childcare will be provided. Call (206) 257-5572 or visit www.mlkfame.com for more information.

[Photo credits: FlorAbundance photo by Kit 'Aerie-el', blogger at Gardener's Roost; Restaurant Week photo of CRUSH entrée by TEO on Urban Spoon; 520 photo showing a February aerial view of the new Eastside lid in Medina courtesy of WSDOT.]http://www.mlkfame.com/

Madison Park: not young, not gay

2013-04-03T20:45:00.001-07:00

What the census tells us

We already knew (since we've reported on the subject) that Madison Park is a virtually lily-white community (90% non-minority, in fact). Now we discover, with the official statistics from the 2010 U.S. Census to back it up, that we're also old (at least relatively so). And not only that, we're straight---not that there's anything wrong with it. If there's some shocking revelation about Madison Park that's hiding in the most-recent Census numbers, we certainly haven't found it.

We've been digging through the population statistics for an inordinate amount of time--18 months, in fact. To be fair (to ourselves, that is) between the actual 2010 Census numbers and a separately prepared 2007-2011 American Community Survey there are a lot of data points to choose from. But while there's no news in what we've discovered, we suspect that many readers will nevertheless find the specifics interesting.

For example, Madison Park is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the region, at least in terms its population. The median age of Madison Parkers is a relatively high 47 years old, which at least is not higher than it was at the time of the 2000 Census. But our almost-half-century median age certainly brands us as comparatively ancient. For King County's residents as a whole, the median age (the point at which half the population is older and half is younger) is only 36 years, while the median age on Capitol Hill is just 31.6 years. Even Laurelhurst, which shares many characteristics with Madison Park, has a youngish population whose median age, 36, mirrors that of King County.

Despite our oldster image, however, Madison Park actually has a slightly higher percentage of kids than does Seattle as a whole. Those under 18 years old comprise 15.4% of the City's population versus 18.1% for Madison Park. Where Madison Park deviates from the Seattle norm is in its lack of adults in their 20s and 30s and in the preponderance of "seniors." While the neighborhood has roughly half the young adults of the City as a whole, it has almost double the number of those 60 years of age and older. The proportion of residents in their 40s and 50s is essentially the same at the neighborhood and City level.

Here, graphically, is how the numbers break out, comparing Seattle to Madison Park (known officially as King County Census Tract 63):

So yes, we're old (or at least about a third of us are)--not that there's anything wrong with that either. Let's just say that Madison Park is composed of a relatively more experienced population than Seattle as a whole.

Meanwhile, with regard to our lack of gay population, the evidence from the Census is rather more indirect. There was no sexual orientation question asked on the 2010 Census, so there is only information available on the number of couples who indicated they had a "partner" of the same sex sharing a household. Madison Park did not have many such couples relative what was true for Seattle, so we're assuming that the same lack of critical mass holds true for single gays and lesbians in Madison Park as is apparently true for couples.

The Seattle Times' analysis of the Census data showed that one in 18 couples in Seattle was same sex, 6% of all couples. The neighborhoods most favored by these couples were Capitol Hill and West Seattle. Although Madison Park is demonstrably gay friendly, we apparently don't have a high proportion of gays and lesbians as residents, though the number of same-sex couples was up significantly between the 2000 and 2010 Census reports. While there were only 30 such couples reporting at the millennium, there were 43 in 2010, a fairly significant increase (43%). Madison Park reported 1,209 total couples, married or otherwise, so the percentage of same-sex couples was still only 3.5%, a bit better than half the percentage for Seattle as a whole.

Seattle TImes map showing the concentration of gay couples in Seattle

It's perhaps worth noting that though gays may be under-represented in our neighborhood, relatively speaking, there are more gay couples living in Madison Park than in Laurelhurst (which has a 40% larger population than ours). Montlake, meanwhile, actually saw a decline in the number of gay couples living there between 2000 and 2010. Though the number of Montlake residents is 73% higher than Madison Park's, according to census figures our neighbor has only 49 same-sex couples.

There are a few other interesting things that were revealed in the Census data which we will ultimately be sharing. Next up: an overview of Madison Park housing.

[Thanks to Seattle's Demographer, Diana Canzoneri, King County's Demographer, Chandler Felt, and Justin Mayo of the Seattle Times for their help in pointing to the data sources utilized in this posting.]

The latest in public art

2013-03-26T13:16:00.002-07:00

It's bright, it's colorful, and we've heard rumors (unsubstantiated) that it even lights up at night. But what exactly is it and why is it there? The new yellow and green lamp post in front of the Villa Marina building at 43rd and E. Madison seems to be a bit of a mystery.

The building's owners were not forthcoming when we quizzed them; so unfortunately all we can report, in case you've missed it, is the installation of an entirely new piece of art at a very prominent location in the neighborhood.

Judge for yourselves.

Do we want to claim another bank?

2013-03-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Madison Valley touts arrival of new bank office

Madison Park, which is already the home to an ever-expanding banking sector, could soon make the claim (assuming we wanted the notoriety) that we are home to six separate banking operations. Sound Community Bank earlier this month opened a loan production office at 3101 E. Madison St. That's technically within the boundaries of Madison Park, as defined by the Madison Park Community Council and our local business association, which draw the border between us and Madison Valley at Lake Washington Boulevard. The new Sound Community location (across from Pagliacci Pizza) is just inside that line.

We note, however, that Madison Valley's recently revamped website takes the credit for having the new banking operation as part of its community---and we suspect that many Madison Parkers are perfectly willing to let Madison Valley have it. When Key Bank arrived in our neighborhood in 2011 the move was more than a bit controversial, and the presumed arrival of HomeStreet Bank later this year means Madison Park will soon have five full-service bank branches to choose from. Sound Community's operation will be not be on that scale, however: just a couple of loan officers and no teller windows. But there will ultimately be an ATM, according to Sound Community's president, who we happened to meet at a recent banking event. (The Bank, by the way, believes it has located its new office in Madison Park, according to its website.)

In other news of Madison Valley we note that that neighborhood's longtime home-decor and accessories store, Vertiables, closed up shop and consolidated its operations into its Bellevue location this month. Veritables had been a Madison Valley mainstay for over 20 years. Meanwhile, Functional Health Chiropractic & Massage, has been revamped, renamed and relocated up the street to Capitol Hill (2014 E. Madison St.). As Vida Integrated Health it is offering many more services in a much bigger space.

We don't know what might ultimately fill these two empty Madison Street storefronts. But we do know that the space Bill the Butcher vacated last year (2911 E. Madison St.) is about to become a new home furnishings store called Koselig KD3. No details and no anticipated arrival date are known (at least to us) at this time.

No, no, THIS is the weekend 520 will close

2013-03-20T07:53:00.003-07:00

For some reason, WSDOT decided not to close 520 last weekend as had been scheduled for many many weeks. That decision made liars out of those of us in "The Media" who faithfully reported that the bridge would be shut down for construction. WSDOT had confirmed that fact up until about 10 hours before the closure was scheduled to take place. The ostensible reason given for the reversal was "expected inclement weather." We wonder what they had originally been assuming about the weather in the Puget Sound in March (or for that matter what they think is going to be different this weekend). After all, these are not out-of-state contractors (or out-of-state bureaucrats, for that matter).

Anyway, the bridge is supposed to be closed this weekend, 11 pm Friday until 5 am Monday. We'll see.

[Above, a WSDOT-supplied photo of a likely March day on Lake Washington.]

February Police Blotter

2013-03-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Another quiet month in the neighborhood

For reasons unknown (and in order not to jinx the situation we won't speculate) criminal activity--at least as reported to the police--was virtually non-exist during the month of February. Here's the rundown: one house break-in, one car prowl, two incidents of credit card fraud or theft, and one threatening situation.

The lone reported house break-in occurred on February 4 on the 1900 block of Parkside Drive in Broadmoor. The homeowner reported to police that during the previous night, while she and her family were at home, someone had apparently entered the house and removed her wallet from her purse, which she had left in the kitchen. She admitted that she may have left the kitchen door open, and police found no evidence of a forced entry.

The red exclamation-point icon on the map above designates the location of the threat incident that occurred at the Madison Park Chase branch on February 21. According to the police report, that morning a customer had became irate when he learned that his sibling, with whom he had a joint bank account at Chase, had transferred money out of the account. The customer reportedly threatened the bank employee who had given him this news, stating that he planned to return to the branch with a gun. The customer did not, in fact, follow through on this threat, which Chase reported to police seven hours later just to put the incident on record.

SR 520 closed this weekend

2013-03-14T19:41:00.001-07:00

It's a regular ritual: periodically closing 520 so that construction to widen the roadway on the Eastside can proceed unencumbered. This weekend the contractor will be shifting the eastbound lanes between Evergreen Point Road and 92nd Avenue NE, opening up space between the eastbound and westbound lanes for construction.

The route will be closed from 11 pm on Friday until 5 am on Monday. Details are available here.

[Photo courtesy of WSDOT.]

The 2012 real estate market in context

2013-03-10T17:01:00.002-07:00

Home sales were up, but prices were down slightly

At about this time last year we declared that Madison Park's real estate market was "beyond stabilized." In the previous year, 2011, prices of sold homes were on the increase and the total number of sales in the neighborhood represented a significant improvement over the immediately prior years. But while home sales continued to increase in 2012, there was not a corresponding uptick in sale prices.

Though the sale of single-family residences was flat in 2012 (78 sales in both years), the condo market heated up last year (36 sales in 2012 versus 23 the previous year). Overall, home sales in Madison Park (Washington Park and Broadmoor included) totaled 113 in 2012, a 12% improvement over the 101 homes sold in 2011.

The median sales price of houses, however, actually declined slightly, from $1,252,000 in 2011 to $1,228,000 in 2012. And the average price per square foot of the houses that sold in 2012 showed a marginal decline to $402.10:

The average price of condos sold in 2012 was $535,301, down from $564,725 in 2011, but the size of the average sold condo was also smaller year over year. Nevertheless, the average price per square foot declined to $410.83 in 2012 from $421.17 in 2011.

As always, there were differences in how the three sections of Madison Park performed in 2012. Interestingly, the least exclusive area of the neighborhood (that would be everything other than Broadmoor and Washington Park) showed a strong increase in both sales activity and the median-value of houses sold:

Broadmoor, meanwhile, experienced a both a decrease in total sales (12 versus 19 the previous year) and a slight decline in the median value of those sales:

And Washington Park was also off in both categories:

This, however, is where we always add a cautionary note. These values are based on the houses that actually sold during the year and may (or may not) be representative of the change in value for other homes in the neighborhood (both those currently on the market and those not for sale). For a neighborhood this small and diverse, it is much harder to extrapolate values from sales data than is true for other markets such as Capitol Hill, for example. Just ask an appraiser.

Here's some information that many will find more comforting. It comes from Zillow, which provides a monthly analysis of neighborhood home values based on sales data. This is what Madison Park's trend line looks like as of the end of February 2013 (unfortunately, Broadmoor is not included in our neighborhood for Zillow's purposes):

Click to enlarge

The Zillow Home Value Index, shows that between March 2012 and now, the median value of a house here was up 9.4%. If Zillow's methodology is to be believed, this neighborhood is actually doing quite well.

[Thanks to Laura Halliday of Windermere Real Estate--Madison Park for her help in compiling the 2012 sales statistics.]

Red Onion's Longtime Owner Dies

2013-03-04T13:31:00.003-08:00

Several readers contacted us to report that two weeks ago Lyle Johnson, who for almost 40 years owned and operated the Red Onion Tavern, passed away. He was 82.

Services will be held tomorrow at the Grace Lutheran Church (Bellevue) at 1 pm. The Red Onion, which is still in the family, will be holding a remembrance of Lyle Johnson's life from 1 until 5 pm on Saturday, March 9.

The Seattle Times obituary, which provides some additional background, is available here.

What's new (or upcoming)

2013-03-03T13:49:00.004-08:00

New coffeehouse enters the scene (but in Madison Valley)

Those missing the old neighborhood Tully's and wishing to find a replacement might do well to check out the Harbour Pointe Coffeehouse, which opened its doors a couple weeks ago in a location (2818 E. Madison St.) where several other coffee shops had earlier failed. Proprietor Zander Natallanni describes his venture as a "European-style coffeehouse that has enough food to fall between the restaurant/bistro category, yet specializes in coffee and select loose-leaf teas."

Zander with employee and patron

The menu includes house-made pizza and eight varieties of grilled cheese sandwiches (including build your own), as well as soups and salads. There's also breakfast, pastries, and a gluten-free menu.

Natallanni tells us that he's planning to have an open-mic night every Wednesday, offer board games for patrons on Thursdays, and---"for a small fee"---provide baby-sitting services (up to 2 1/2 hours) for parents wanting a date night at another area restaurant "preselected by us." Upcoming: a delivery service to homes and businesses in the general area.

This is Harbor Pointe's second location (the original is at Harbor Pointe in Mukilteo). The mission statement for both is to serve quality food and drinks while providing "an atmosphere at fosters community development," according to Natallanni. "We are community driven and therefore our business model isn't based on how much money we make but how much we plug into the community and give back or bring to it."

Clearly, though, making some money wouldn't be a bad thing for Madison Valley's Harbor Point Coffeehouse, given the history of this particular space.

Planning a party? Brooke can help!

Madison Park's Brooke Westlund, who has been enjoying a good measure of success as a local artist, is adding another talent to her resume: professional host. She and friend Tanja Nyeholt recently started a business--swah:rey--designed to remove the burdens on a party's actual host by taking on the "little things," tasks such as greeting guests at the door, taking peoples' coats, getting the drinks, serving food, and cleaning up afterwards.

swah:rey is willing to do much more than that, however, including planning the whole event. If the need is deciding the menu, organizing the catering, renting party accessories, setting up a bar, or developing custom cocktails, Brooke and Tanja are ready to fill the breach. "Pretty simple," says Brooke, "it's basically custom high-end service."

Events

The Japanese Garden in the Washington Park Arboretum opened today with a Shinto Blessing and a First Viewing. Next Sunday, March 10, visitors to the Japanese Garden will have the opportunity to see Autumn Impressions, a juried show of 13 photographers' views of the Garden as captured in the October 2012 Photography Workshop. The event begins at 1 pm and the photographers represented will be present (admission is free).

Inner Renewal and the Healthy Path, located in Arboretum Court, will be presenting a concert of vibrational healing with traditional Nepalese singing bowls at 7 pm on March 10.

Cafe Parco has an upcoming Washington Wine event on March 22, featuring Guy Harris of Cru Selections (Woodinville). By the way, the restaurant recently got some favorable coverage for its brunch menu from a Seattle food blogger.

[Japanese Garden photo by matunos on Flickr.]

Car rentals a go-go

2013-02-23T14:26:00.002-08:00

Neighborhood awash in mini-cars

For a few weeks earlier this year it looked like some car-rental company had decided to dispose of its auto inventory onto the streets of Madison Park rather than buying a parking lot somewhere and behaving like a normal operator. The sudden hyper-abundance of those little blue-and-white vehicles was, of course, just part of the rental company's media hype---a more-subtle version of that well-known ploy used by certain truck-rental, hauling, and plumbing companies (the ones who strategically park trucks advertising their services on arterials where billboards would not be allowed).

To be fair, this car-rental concern does not advertise with "Rent Me for Only 38 Cents Per Minute!" plastered on the sides of its smart cars. That's probably not due to modesty or discretion, but rather a practical cost-related decision (what's the expense of repainting all the cars if the rates go up to 39 cents, for example?). But whether these cars are cluttering up our streets or are simply a wonderful new convenience available to Madison Parkers depends on your point of view. Some businesses in other neighborhoods apparently object to parking spaces being taken up by these vehicles (or so one media outlet has reported). No reports of that reaction here, although this is not the time of year when neighborhood parking is a problem. When the summer rolls around (if it does) things may be different.

A quick inventory of the neighborhood's thoroughfares last week led us to believe that the hype was over and that the six cars remaining in Madison Park (where there had been 12-15 at the get go) meant that the car company had moved on. In the previous weeks the company's young "car jockeys" had been moving a large number of vehicles around the neighborhood just to get greater exposure for the service. Apparently, however, that is still happening. There were an even dozen of the vehicles on the streets of Madison Park this afternoon.

Of course these could all be cars that have been legitimately rented and then returned to the streets by their satisfied users. Or not. It is interesting to note that neighboring Madrona has only three of the vehicles on its streets, while Denny Blaine has only two and Leschi and Laurelhurst have none.

But perhaps we haven't been targeted. Maybe Madison Parkers are just big on curbside car renting.

[We hate to become complicit in the rental company's marketing efforts, but in case any reader is interested in a dissection of this new service and how it compares to a different one, we provide this helpful link to the Seattle Transit Blog. The company, by the way, pays the City of Seattle for the right to park on residential streets, or so it has been reliably reported.]

January Police Blotter

2013-02-17T08:59:00.002-08:00

Crime takes a holiday

For the first time in the almost four years that we've been covering neighborhood crime, we can report a month in which there were apparently no house break-ins and zero car thefts. Madison Park was virtually free of significant criminal activity during January. That assumes that the Seattle Police map, above, accurately reflects the crimes reported for the period. Let's enjoy our sense of relative security while we can.

The map does not reflect that alleged hit-and-run crime that happened in January. The story of the young Broadmoor resident who claimed to have been the victim and later was arrested as the probable perpetrator, did not rise to the level of being icon worthy, in the opinion of the SPD. Nevertheless, it was a story that attracted a lot of notice. It was one of the most-read stories in the history of the blog (read by almost 1200 people) and was later 'reprinted' in the Madison Park Times.

The remaining criminal activity during the month seems pretty mundane in comparison (unless, of course, you were the victim). There were two cases of credit-card fraud reported by Madison Park residents (represented by the dollar-sign icons on the map), and there were four reported incidents of car break-ins (there is never a month without several). These car prowls occurred on January 17 on the 3100 block of E. Madison St., on January 21 on the 2000 block of McGilvra Boulevard E., on January 22 on the 4000 block of E. Madison St., and on January 25 back again on the 3100 block of E. Madison St.

There was also one case of theft reported (that on the 1000 block of 32nd Avenue E.) and two cases of property damage (the spray-paint-can icons). That blue icon marks the spot where there was a case of illegal dumping at someone's residence on the 2000 block of 43rd Avenue E.

Madison Park: regional banking center

2013-02-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

HomeStreet Bank to lease the former Tully's space?

Though the neighborhood is already home to four bank branches, Madison Parkers are apparently about to get a fifth banking option. According to our sources, HomeStreet Bank, a State-chartered savings bank based in Seattle, has leased the prime location that was vacated by Tully's last October (4036 E. Madison Street). HomeStreet was unwilling to confirm the story "at this time" when we quizzed the Bank about it this morning. Nevertheless, the Bank's commuications officer was helpful in correcting some errors in an early draft of this story, which we had forwarded to her for review.

Assuming our sources are accurate, HomeStreet will be moving in sometime later this year after extensive alterations to the 2,100 sq. ft building. In its previous lives the building, built in 1900, had been the home of several different retail operations. If a bank now takes the space, the move will further solidify Madison Park's growing reputation as a place where you can get a meal, have your hair done---or cash a check.

HomeStreet, which has 22 retail branches, has been ramping up in recent months, recently opening a new branch in Fremont and soon to open a 23rd branch on Capitol Hill. As a community bank of modest size, it would be the only financial institution represented here that is not a major commercial bank (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Key are each big national players).

The fact that another bank may be coming to the neighborhood rather than a new retail shop, however, will certainly reignite the debate that raged when Key Bank added itself to the mix in 2011. Many Madison Parkers argued then that landlords here have a responsibility to keep the supposedly village-like character of the business district intact by leasing only to retail shops. That argument didn't prevent Key Bank's move to Madison Park, and it didn't sway the landlord of 4036 E. Madison this time. It was clearly an economic decision.

We understand that the commercial real estate broker, when taking down the "For Lease" sign on the building late last week, told passersby that only a bank was willing to pay the cost of the lease (reported to be in the $9,000-$10,000 per month range). That rent is a tough nut for any retailer to crack, though there had apparently been interest in the space by many potential lessees. (For example, rumor has it that Bert's took a look at using the building for a wine & spirits shop but determined that there was not enough square footage).

Madison Park Business Association President Terry Short had this to say about the possible introduction of another bank into the business district: "There seems to be a void when a business leaves our neighborhood, especially one that meets the needs of our residents. The banks in Madison Park have increasingly supported our community and have tried hard to be sensitive and support both the businesses and residents who live here."

What happens to the Tully's space has been a matter of intense speculation by many Madison Parkers over the past five months. In fact, a commercial broker tells us that in his long career he's never seen such a high level of interest by any other neighborhood in what was going to happen to an individual retail space. But the time for speculation is now over. "Confirmed" or not, a bank it is.

The tax man cometh

2013-02-10T14:29:00.001-08:00

Madison Park's 2013 tax rate increases by 3.98%

King County will be mailing out the 2013 property-tax bills this week (expected arrival date: Valentine's Day), and Madison Parkers will on average see an increase in taxes relative to last year. Seattle's tax rate is going up from $10.17 per $1,000 of home value to $10.51. For the City as a whole, this uptick in the tax rate will be almost entirely offset by the fact that the median assessed value of Seattle homes fell year over year, from $359,000 in 2012 to $348,000 this year (a 3.1% decline). This means that although the City's tax rate will rise by 3.3%, the actual taxes paid on the median house will increase by only .2%.

Madison Park and the nearby neighborhoods of Madrona and Leschi, however, will experience a much larger increase in property taxes in 2013. As we previously reported, our section of the City this year saw a 0% increase in its "Standard Area Adjustment." While most Seattle neighborhoods recorded a decline---at least in the Assessor's opinion---Madison Park was one of those few places in the City where values held steady. The downside of that official determination is that we will be paying more of Seattle's total property tax bill than was the case last year.

For Assessment Area 14 (Madison Park, Madrona, and Leschi) the median value of a home increased from $806,000 to $811,000, slightly less than 1%. Even though the "Standard Area Adjustment" was only 0%, some properties in the Area were either improved or were replaced by higher-value structures. This was the reason for the increase in the Area's year-over-year median-property value (the point where 50% of the properties are worth less and 50% are worth more).

Here's the implication of all of this: Although the tax increase for Seattle this year is 3.3%, the tax on the median-value Madison Park home in 2013 will increase by 3.98%. In 2012 the median-value Madison Park home was taxed $8,197.02 and this year the property tax on the median-value home here will be $8,523.61.

Between us, Madison Park, Madrona and Leschi be paying 3.96% of the City's $112 billion property-tax bill in 2013 rather than the 3.95% we paid last year.

Lucky us.

[Thanks to the many responsive staff members of the King County Assessor's Office for providing the data and background necessary to produce this story.]

Mission accomplished in Washington Park

2013-02-04T08:20:00.001-08:00

Multiple projects completed (finally)

The seemingly never-ending Madison Valley Stormwater Project ended with a whimper last month as the finishing touches were completed on the Project's final phase, landscaping of the water tank in Washington Park. The area is now open to the public through a new pedestrian pathway which snakes its way from the sidewalk at E. Madison Street down into the Park:

We're told that the fencing around the newly-landcaped hillside is temporary. Also now completed and ready for use is the new playfield next to the water tank area:

Meanwhile, the CIty has also completed work along Lake Washington Boulevard though the Arboretum. Two separate projects had been underway there, one involving "traffic mitigation" and the other improving the lighting along the Bouvelard.

Anyone who's driven through the Arboretum at night has certainly noticed the improved visibility resulting from the lighting project. As to the "traffic mitigation" efforts of SDOT, well they're literally hard to miss:

[Lighting and mitigation photos courtesy of the Seattle Department of Transportation, via Flickr.]

Registration soon begins for co-op preschool

2013-02-03T19:56:00.002-08:00

Open house on Tuesday

The Madison Park Cooperative Preschool will be holding its annual Spring Open House from 6 until 8 pm on Tuesday, February 5. The Preschool, which is housed in the Madison Park Bath House (1900 43rd Avenue E.), will soon begin enrolling for the the Fall 2013-14 school year. At the Open House, teachers, board members, a financial aid officer, and parents of children currently enrolled in the School will be available to discuss programs, answer questions, and give a tour of the premises. Children are welcome!

Information on enrollment at MPCP is available here.