Last fall Mayor Mike McGinn took a walking tour of Crown Hill. Along the way, residents brought up concerns and today the mayor responded to those concerns. “I appreciated the opportunity to listen and to have shared conversations on ways we can make improvements to Crown Hill ranging from pedestrian access and public safety,” the mayor writes in an email. “You also raised good questions and concerns. I promised to get back with you and I am sorry that this response is late.”
Mayor McGinn walks with Crown Hill leaders at the old Crown Hill Elementary School
These are the issues that the mayor has addressed:
* Signage for parking on NW 90th (off of 15th Ave NW) needs to be addressed
* What is the paving schedule for Crown Hill roads?
* Holman Road median is a highly dangerous crossing for cars, pedestrians and bikes.
* A gate on 17th Ave N abutting the North end of Whitman Middle School is closed off.
* Sidewalks are in poor condition and there is an overall lack of sidewalks in the Crown Hill neighborhood.
* Trees and ivy should be pruned along Holman St. because it is obstructing the view to street signs.
* The alley on 17th and 90th Ave NW across the street from Whitman Middle School has two parallel U shape posts that is an impediment for strollers and bikes.
* Suggestion that the City disconnect all the downspouts post going out to the streets and find a way to put them on private property.
* Placement of speed bumps to slow traffic down on 13th Ave NW.
You can read the mayor’s response to these issues here.
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Not the sidewalk issue again… were there sidewalks there when you bought your house? NO! And there is no extra money lying around to pay for them now. When I bought my house in 1996 sidewalks were my #1 priority and so I chose a home south of 85th in an area with sidewalks. It was a choice. People who buy houses on streets with no sidewalks are also making that choice.
Not the sidewalk issue again… were there sidewalks there when you bought your house? NO! And there is no extra money lying around to pay for them now. When I bought my house in 1996 sidewalks were my #1 priority and so I chose a home south of 85th in an area with sidewalks. It was a choice. People who buy houses on streets with no sidewalks are also making that choice.
Thank you! the sidewalk whiners are like folks who buy homes near an airport and then complain about the noise.
+10 to you both.
There is a budget crisis. A serious budget crisis – haven’t you heard? There’s no money for even the most critical needs. Unless the sidewalk in front of your house magically disappeared one night (or unless the city came by and turned it into a drainage holding pod), quit whining. Oh, and grow up.
So there’s an “overall shortage of sidewalks in Crown Hill” eh? I agree. It’s really sad, that in the year 2011 we don’t have sidewalks that are paved with gold. Instead, we’ve had the same old people/party running this entire state. As in “progressive” people. LOL. We’ve gotten our bike lanes and cameras and every frigging program under the sun, which we also can’t pay for any longer, and now hizzoner McFuzz wants this crap? WTF? And good luck to those who think they can simply pour their own in front of THEIR house. Whatever happened to voting with your feet? I will ASAP.
Sidewalks? Who cares about sidewalks? What about packages getting jacked off peoples porches? Only 1-2 officers on the beat for the entire area at any given time.
Any chance the bazillion potholes on Holeman from Ballard to Northgate were discussed?
Potholes are A-OK with Hizzoner. He supports anything that makes life more miserable for anyone who dares to own a car.
I highly doubt most people in Crown Hill even walk anywhere…
A year later.. “oh yea, I did go to Crown Hill didn’t I”.
– Mayor McFlashback.
The sidewalks can be created the way they used to be which was a local improvement district bond. It works something like this:
A certain threshhold of homeowners in the neighborhood opt in for the sidewalks.
The city builds them.
The neighborhood pays the city back with a bond that gets paid off through property tax in that neighborhood over a certain number of years.
The other way that sidewalks were built was that the developer would put them in and they were just a part of the cost of the house. For single family neighborhoods it really wasn’t the city paying for the sidewalks, though they did wind up holding the bag on a few of those bonds so they killed that program before Crown Hill got their sidewalks.
The pro-sidewalk people would probably argue that YOUR package being stolen off YOUR property is YOUR problem. Why should the city spend scarce police resources on that? It’s YOUR fault for having something delivered to YOUR house when YOU’re not home instead of picking it up or having it delivered to your work place, right?
How are potholes any different than a lack of sidewalks? Sidewalks make it safer to walk places just like pothole-free roads make it safer to drive. Pedestrians would argue why should their tax money get spent on roads they don’t use. Of course it’s a silly argument but no more absurd than the anti-sidewalk argument. The whole issue is just another example of the pathetic lack of planning that exemplifies Seattle.
The big problem with your plan is it makes sense. Can’t have that in Seattle! The Seattle way is to have 10 elections on the issue and then navel gaze for a decade or two while all the natives who have never traveled outside of Seattle whine on with their “we never had this before so we don’t need it now” mentality.
It’s just that the sidewalks in single family neighborhoods have always been the responsibility of the builder and not the city. People chose to buy those homes because they were cheaper than the ones below 85th that had sidewalks included in the price.
It’s just short memory. Nobody remembers that there was an option to have sidewalks when the neighborhood was being built. They chose to save the money then, and now that the rest of the city has sidewalks and those parts look nicer and have higher property values, these sidewalkless people want the same thing.
I recognize that a lot of the city’s responsibilities are shared burdens like police, fire, and schools, but sidewalks aren’t in that category.
Uh…so its my fault people walk onto my property and take stuff?
Yeah, I see your point. You know those girls who wear short skirts, it’s totally their fault they get raped. I mean, why should the city spend scarce police resources on finding their attackers? Those women should have dressed up in full burkas so they don’t tempt the men of this city.
What about my car sitting on the street? That’s my fault too? I shouldn’t leave such a thing sitting on a public street. How silly of me, I should pay to park it in a garage huh?
Say, if someone tried to grab a package off my porch, you don’t mind if I shoot them in the head right? Can you guarantee me no civil or criminal penalties? Or should I just shake my fist at them instead?
Whats the appropriate response to crime happening blatantly in front of your face? Clearly my property isn’t worth the polices time according to you.