Apparently, tonight we're hotter than Michael Jackson! Bumping Jacko and swipes at Hillary down the page, our little heat wave makes some news. As a transplanted Californian, the one thing (ok, one of a few things) that I have a hard time living with up here in the great PNW is the chilly nights (even in summer, yuck!). In NorCal where I grew up, you got a second day at night as temps would hover in the 70s or hotter. But Seattle's proximity to chilly Canada (yes, blame then) keeps us a little nippy at night. Normally. Hopefully this isn't a harbinger of end times though I suppose for anybody not from the Golden State, being more like California probably does feel like something has gone terribly wrong in Sea-town. 85 tomorrow! At least we'll go out with great tans.
-J
Friday, May 27, 2005
Urban fishing in downtown Seattle
To fully illustrate just how insanely eclectic we are here in Uptown, here is a post on something you just ain't gonna find on another 'hood blog -- urban fishing. My fishing bud, The Cynical Lawyer (TM), and I hit Lake Union last night and, believe it or not, caught smallmouth bass from the shores of Gasworks park with downtown Seattle glimmering just across the lake.
Highlights:
1) Catching fish
2) Girls in bikinis on grass
3) Skateboarding punks falling down stairs like jackass episode
4) Naked woman dancing on boat touring Lake Union
Call your redneck friends immediately and hit the water. Tight lines!
Highlights:
1) Catching fish
2) Girls in bikinis on grass
3) Skateboarding punks falling down stairs like jackass episode
4) Naked woman dancing on boat touring Lake Union
Call your redneck friends immediately and hit the water. Tight lines!
Uptown loses a restaurant
Our tummies just lost out. Old news, but I missed the article earlier this month. Kaspar's looks like a cool place -- we've had it on our 'to try' list for awhile now ever since we figured out it really is (was!) a restaurant. Looks like we better hurry up because, as of June 11, they're shutting down the restaurant end of things to concentrate fully on their catering business. Boo! Hey guys, reconsider. Maybe now that we all know that you are (were!) a restaurant, biz will pick up.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
How Do They Stay in Business??
I feel a little bad questioning the viability of local merchants - it seems disloyal, particularly for a blog about the place. I mean if we aren't behind you, who is? So let me just say that I don't doubt the coolness or goodness or right to exist of any of the following businesses -- BUT, you have to wonder sometimes - how could they possibly be making any money?
The top five:
1. The wall bed store on first. Although, the better question might be how does any wall bed store stay in business?
2. The antique store on Denny and First. Cool, but emp-ty.
3. TWO jalisco mexican restaurants across the street from each other. Why 2?
4. The office furniture store kitty corner from the similarly suspect antique store. Gets points for its quote of the day board, though.
5. Vespa Seattle. Do that many people really buy Vespas? Isn't Denny a totally deadly place to test drive?
The top five:
1. The wall bed store on first. Although, the better question might be how does any wall bed store stay in business?
2. The antique store on Denny and First. Cool, but emp-ty.
3. TWO jalisco mexican restaurants across the street from each other. Why 2?
4. The office furniture store kitty corner from the similarly suspect antique store. Gets points for its quote of the day board, though.
5. Vespa Seattle. Do that many people really buy Vespas? Isn't Denny a totally deadly place to test drive?
Folklife this weekend
I'm not a hippie but I have to wonder what it means when I need to preface more and more of my comments in life this way. Maybe I am a hippie. No matter. Hippies and non-hippies alike are going to put the good old Seattle Center fountain to good use this hot and sticky weekend as the Northwest Folklife Festival floats and spins into Seattle. Sure, it will clog Uptown up but, really, you should park that Volvo and strap on the birkenstocks, anyhow, no?
Folklife is a lot of the best things about Bumbershoot -- lots of people having fun, outdoor music, dancing and oddness -- without a lot of the Bumber-bad things like long lines and tons of UW frat boys. Should be good times - crazy wonderful people, tunes, chow and, surprise, surprise, glorious, beautiful sunshine.
Folklife is a lot of the best things about Bumbershoot -- lots of people having fun, outdoor music, dancing and oddness -- without a lot of the Bumber-bad things like long lines and tons of UW frat boys. Should be good times - crazy wonderful people, tunes, chow and, surprise, surprise, glorious, beautiful sunshine.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Top 7 places to chow in Uptown
Boat Street Kitchen, we're waiting. Is it 'early' July yet? I can't wait to have this place in our hood so it can join the pantheon of good places to chow in Uptown.
Uptown's restaurant scene tends a little more toward the chain and fast food end of spectrum due to proximity to Seattle Center and Key Arena. Still, wedged between Queen Anne's homey, yuppie offerings and Belltown's glossy fancy food, Uptown's chow offers a good mix with a few standouts. Here's where we like to do our chewing.
Rice N Spice
$, charming thai, nicest people ever on planet in history forever work there
Sushi Kyo
$, creative, overlooked
Waterfront Seafood Grill
$, swank, treat you real good, view
Hob Nob
$, yuppie bistro
Mecca Cafe
$, faux dive, drunk food
Cafe Minnie's
$, breakfast dive, drunk food
Crow (Uptown review)
$$$, eclectic, bustling
Uptown's restaurant scene tends a little more toward the chain and fast food end of spectrum due to proximity to Seattle Center and Key Arena. Still, wedged between Queen Anne's homey, yuppie offerings and Belltown's glossy fancy food, Uptown's chow offers a good mix with a few standouts. Here's where we like to do our chewing.
Rice N Spice
$, charming thai, nicest people ever on planet in history forever work there
Sushi Kyo
$, creative, overlooked
Waterfront Seafood Grill
$, swank, treat you real good, view
Hob Nob
$, yuppie bistro
Mecca Cafe
$, faux dive, drunk food
Cafe Minnie's
$, breakfast dive, drunk food
Crow (Uptown review)
$$$, eclectic, bustling
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Irregularly Recurring Service Feature: Best of CL
Another installment of our invaluable service feature -- we skim CL so you don't have to!
4th Annual Rummage Sale Exotica Fundraiser (On the Boards, 100 West Roy Street in lower Queen Anne Hill)
Shop for cool, trendy, nostalgic, collectible, out-of-the-ordinary, completely extrordinary rummage items! *Cool - I wonder if they'll consider the crud i need to get rid of 'extraordinary'
Queen Anne Texaco, Tall Brunette, Minnesota Plates - m4w (Lower Queen Anne)
I'm not the guy who was in front of you in line and chatting it up. *Why weren't you?
To the Seattle Center Runner - m4w - 26 (Around Seattle Center)
You are always running around Seattle Center and Lower Queen Anne. *And scanning CL's Missed Connections, hopefully...
Vision In Grey / Belltown Tully's - m4m - 33 (Tully's on 1st Ave)
You= Attractive guy in charcoal grey slacks, awesome shades, and S&P hair. *S&P 500?
You must have a polished appearance, be emotionally mature and stable, have a high standard of professional and personal ethics, and be able to work well on a team. *Good advice!
4th Annual Rummage Sale Exotica Fundraiser (On the Boards, 100 West Roy Street in lower Queen Anne Hill)
Shop for cool, trendy, nostalgic, collectible, out-of-the-ordinary, completely extrordinary rummage items! *Cool - I wonder if they'll consider the crud i need to get rid of 'extraordinary'
Queen Anne Texaco, Tall Brunette, Minnesota Plates - m4w (Lower Queen Anne)
I'm not the guy who was in front of you in line and chatting it up. *Why weren't you?
To the Seattle Center Runner - m4w - 26 (Around Seattle Center)
You are always running around Seattle Center and Lower Queen Anne. *And scanning CL's Missed Connections, hopefully...
Vision In Grey / Belltown Tully's - m4m - 33 (Tully's on 1st Ave)
You= Attractive guy in charcoal grey slacks, awesome shades, and S&P hair. *S&P 500?
Macrina now hiring! (Belltown)
You are a star in need of a place to shine! *Please be great and friendly so you fit in with the rest of the fine folks who serve me those delicious baked goods!
You must have a polished appearance, be emotionally mature and stable, have a high standard of professional and personal ethics, and be able to work well on a team. *Good advice!
QA Uptown Espresso (Lower Queen Anne)
Especially in the AM the girl Lisa has one of the best smiles that you can see in the morning when you're still a zombie before caffine! *Clearly, I need to visit Lisa.
-J
Downtown apartments, you are my density!
Continuing our watch on all things Seattle, urban and, well, dense, more today from the Biz Journal on what Harbor is up to around the town. Hopefully the trend will continue and the buildings will continue to be quality construction efforts.
(I get a kick out of how 'square' anybody sounds when they talk about 'young' people. This guy is probably 23 but he sounds like our grandpa Al:
Additionally, energy-efficient design will play a key role in all of Harbor's upcoming apartment projects, said Onslow, "People react to that, particularly younger renters. They are very sensitive to the environment."
)
-J
-snip-
(I get a kick out of how 'square' anybody sounds when they talk about 'young' people. This guy is probably 23 but he sounds like our grandpa Al:
Additionally, energy-efficient design will play a key role in all of Harbor's upcoming apartment projects, said Onslow, "People react to that, particularly younger renters. They are very sensitive to the environment."
)
-J
-snip-
By Jeanne Lang Jones
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET May 22, 2005
Despite a lackluster rental market, Seattle-based Harbor Properties Inc. is boldly going where few other developers have gone in recent years: into the construction of new, moderately priced, midrise apartments near downtown Seattle.
-unsnip-Monday, May 23, 2005
MOMA Likes the Sculpture Park Too
The upcoming Olympic Sculpture Park was featured in MOMA's recent exhibition - Groundswell: Constructing the Contemporary Landscape. Check it out here. Groundswell documents the transition of degraded urban areas to remade outdoor spaces - OSP is obviously a perfect example, as it used to be a fuel storage and transfer station and will soon be a rejuvenated art-filled greenspace. One question though - What are they going to do with all that contaminated dirt??
BlogPulse: Uptown vs. Belltown vs. Lower Queen Anne
I love BlogPulse -- great view of what the world is thinkin' about and tons of fun for data geeks.
You can use it to chart your favorite blog topics -- looks like I need to use more keywords like 'Seattle Uptown' to catch up with the neighbors.
You can use it to chart your favorite blog topics -- looks like I need to use more keywords like 'Seattle Uptown' to catch up with the neighbors.
SIFF comes to Uptown
Cool to see our very own Uptown Theater on Queen Anne Ave showing 35 films for this year's fest. I know SIFF can be a chore with all the lines and hit and miss with all the artsy films that don't quite click but consider attending 2 or 3 films at Uptown for no other reason than duty:
1) You want your city to have big artsy things like this
2) You want your neighborhood to be involved
3) You can walk to a great art house theater
(btw, I don't see anything on the Uptown schedule until after June 1 so you have some time to plan!)
- J
1) You want your city to have big artsy things like this
2) You want your neighborhood to be involved
3) You can walk to a great art house theater
(btw, I don't see anything on the Uptown schedule until after June 1 so you have some time to plan!)
- J
Neighbor news: Belltown's Site 17 going condo?
We're back in town following a pleasant 4-day stay in MN. It's hard to catch up with the city when you miss a few days and even harder to catch up with the 'hood. We need a blog on every block! :)
Here's a tidbit from Belltown that shows the general direction of things downtown... and Uptown. Depending on which side of the landowner/tennant line you fall, you can love or hate this kind of change. I'm all for more opportunities for people to dig in and get more deeply invested in the area. (BTW, I hope new owners will start with a theme change -- the Area 51 thing at Site 17 with goofy alien-dented parking garage fencing always seemed dorky vs. whimsical to me... kinda like living at Gameworks)
globest.com: Belltown Apartments Fetch $185,000 Per Unit
SEATTLE-Locally based Harbor Properties Inc. has sold Site 17, a 129-unit apartment project it developed on Western Avenue in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. The purchase price was $23.83 million, according to public records, which equates to $184,767 per unit. The new owner of the two-building development is a subsidiary of locally based HAL Real Estate Investments Inc.
-snip-
HAL Real Estate spokesman Brad Lange declined to comment on whether HAL was planning to convert the units to condominiums, but one industry sources say that is "the most likely scenario given the price paid," and another says HAL definitely acquired the property as a conversion play. Says Lange, “We are evaluating our options and will be coming out with a communications shortly.”
-un-snip-
-J
Here's a tidbit from Belltown that shows the general direction of things downtown... and Uptown. Depending on which side of the landowner/tennant line you fall, you can love or hate this kind of change. I'm all for more opportunities for people to dig in and get more deeply invested in the area. (BTW, I hope new owners will start with a theme change -- the Area 51 thing at Site 17 with goofy alien-dented parking garage fencing always seemed dorky vs. whimsical to me... kinda like living at Gameworks)
globest.com: Belltown Apartments Fetch $185,000 Per Unit
SEATTLE-Locally based Harbor Properties Inc. has sold Site 17, a 129-unit apartment project it developed on Western Avenue in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. The purchase price was $23.83 million, according to public records, which equates to $184,767 per unit. The new owner of the two-building development is a subsidiary of locally based HAL Real Estate Investments Inc.
-snip-
HAL Real Estate spokesman Brad Lange declined to comment on whether HAL was planning to convert the units to condominiums, but one industry sources say that is "the most likely scenario given the price paid," and another says HAL definitely acquired the property as a conversion play. Says Lange, “We are evaluating our options and will be coming out with a communications shortly.”
-un-snip-
-J
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