In Search of Damu

Top o'the Hill
Newcastle Fruit and Produce



Magic happened yesterday east of Renton Technical College.

I have spent the last two weeks trying to find Damu. I thought he was in Mexico on a well-earned vacation after managing Newcastle Fruit and Produce last summer.

But look who I found yesterday while driving lost through the Renton Highlands! I was actually 12 minutes from my house but because I arrived via 405 and the verges of the Renton downtown area (completely mind-numbingly difficult for me to navigate in my 15 years of living here) I had nearly come back full circle to Newport Hills. I had no idea how close I was. I got out of my car ready to ask directions, and then a little magic happened.I didn't even have to close my eyes, click my heels or wear my ruby slippers.

My old friend Damu was my Wizard of Oz. He kindly put me back on the right backroad after I purchased oranges, apples ($2.00 for two large bags), clementines, poppyseed cake and cream among other yummy things . First good piece of news: He is returning to Newcastle on March 1st under their red and white circus tent and (this is the amazing thing) his partner is looking into leasing Red Apple for a Newport Hills operation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Their grocery store, at or near 5325 NE 4th Street, is a wonderful melange of all kinds of produce from Yakima and beyond, very reasonably priced pastas, pestos, homemade tomato sauces, baked goods, cheeses, and an actual butchers. And much more. As Cheryl says, it's Trader Joe's-y. It's like a local Trader Joe's. But without the traffic.

Meanwhile, the neighbors have voted (informally of course and please don't consider this a legal, binding and in any way official election) and the Number 1 most-requested store to replace the Red Apple in Newport Hills is (I need a drum roll here but it's not a huge surprise)Trader Joe's. Please feel free to take a few seconds and nominate Newport Hills for the next Trader Joe's

>http://www.traderjoes.com/location_requests_form.aspx/

Several interim possibilities for our Red Apple parking lot:

These are photos taken of the Lake Hills produce stand open in the summer. They have the most beautiful floral bouquets you've ever seen--even nicer than Pike Place Market, which is saying a lot.

Click below for a list of all the local farmers markets, all of which started in parking lots just like ours!

http://www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org/
http://www.bellevuefarmersmarket.org/

TOADS

Going out of business, as of last weekend.




Many "big box" retail stores have found new life once the original goes out of business. Julia Christensen has a book, a wiki, and a website here: http://www.bigboxreuse.com/
devoted to the subject.



BIG BOX REUSE : THE BOOK
BY JULIA CHRISTENSEN . MIT PRESS . NOW AVAILABLE

Problems remain, however. Like what to do with this massive parking lot?

Trucks and miles of fencing move in--people move out. What the neighborhood is left with is a TOAD: a Temporary, Obsolete, Abandoned or Derelict site. In her book A Field Guide to Sprawl, Dolores Hayden quotes the great journalist, Grady Clay: "TOADs owe their on-ground existence to the use, abandonment and reuse of real estate as exaggerated by a capitalistic system."

In other words, TOADs are probably here to stay. In the meantime, the parking lots are not only ugly, they're hazardous to the environment, representing acres and acres of impermeable surface shedding storm water pollutants into the region's watershed.

Lesson 5: Reduce impermeable surfaces

A Photo Gallery in Newport Hills

I've long believed that if you find something ugly you're just not looking closely enough.

These stunning photos are by Sean Bentley. a regular (the only, so far) contributor to Red Apple Elegy. It's time for your close-up, Midlakes K-Mart! Click on the image to enlarge

Weekly Typo

Typo! A new weekly feature on Red Apple Elegy

(From the January 21 edition of the Bellevue Reporter)

A Pea Patch in Lake Hills

Where do you find leeks in January, growing with abandon?

Yesterday we went to Lake Hills to see if any ideas brought to "fruition" there could possibly be "transplanted" to Newport Hills.

First off, I love a kiosk. Every neighborhood center needs one. Lost cats, group meetings, firewood and puppies for sale...this is the community bulletin board.



This site, managed by King County Master Gardeners, had a decidedly educational purpose. I was pleased to see examples of columnar apples and thornless blackberries in pots which take up very little space and are suitable for both pea patch and sunny deck.

All very neat and tidy, and even if this were in just a small part of the Red Apple parking lot, would still be better for the environment than impermeable concrete.

Function meets art

Picnic tables + raised beds = more opportunities for neighbors to get together

More Right-Size Shops

Here's a coffeeshop under flats, and a neighborhood-sized hardware store. Notice in both they use outdoor space in front for a variety of purposes: more sales space, advertising, a place for customers to sit, park their bike, and their dog.




On a sunny day work can be done outside, providing opportunities for people to bump into one another. This is an outdoor eating space outside his restaurant.
Here the owner is providing food and water for canine passersby

After a Trader Joe's the number one most requested retail establishment in Newport Hills is a small hardware store/garden center. Not surprisingly also high on the list is, a "meals-to-go" place for busy families and a bakery/coffee shop for telecommuters who need to get out of the house every once in a while.

Puffball Update

Over the weekend, apparently emboldened by the sun, or perhaps enraged by it? two puffball shrubberies began gnawing on this tree (with which they normally tolerate and in fact enjoy a peaceful coexistence with), clearly conspiring to begin squeezing the life out of this innocent bystander (the fire hydrant) This is the first documented example of puffballis shrubbia taking a malignant interest in metal. It's normal source of sustenance is, of course, concrete. Stay tuned.

Canaries in a Coalmine

Children, says David Sucher, are like the canaries in the coal mine: an indicator species of urban health.

Yes, they are small, vulnerable and need to be protected. But they also need to get out a lot more!







These wonderful bikes are available in Renton. There is something about plaid fenders that makes you want to immediately hop on and go for a ride, even in 33F temperatures!



The reality, however, is that most parking lots are uncomfortable with the idea of human activity. And this is such a missed opportunity. Fortunately, many of the neighborhood businesses in Newport Hills recognize that children are at the heart of our community--here we have a thriving dance studio and karate school as well as the batting practice facility across the street. And, of course, the Newport Hills Swim and Tennis Club. There is, however an unfriendly attitude toward children and teens who are not engaged in one of these prescribed activities.

Lesson #4: Provide opportunities for children to bump into one another.

David Sucher, by the way, was (is?) a Seattle developer who wrote a wonderful book in 1995 called City Comforts. I owe a huge debt to his insights and examples.

Parking Lot Repossession

Red Apple in the sunlight of a Sunday morning. Wide walkways, protected by generous overhangs. Existing vertical poles create bays for individual sellers at a swap meet or farmer's market.

Breakfast at the Mustard Seed: Eggs Benedict special for $7.50. We hang for an hour outside Mojo Espresso, sitting with the dog in the sun chatting with people as they drop by. It's like Italy but we're only minutes from home.

Kids flock together with their skateboards, happily whizzing around. Re-possessing the abandoned landscape.

No lessons today. Just being.

Right-Size Shops

Yesterday we went in search of shops that might fit the neighborhood's needs. And remain solvent. So far we came up with these:

What I really like about the coffee and cupcakes cafe is that it provides a place to sit outside in the nice weather (on the sunny south side) but when it rains you can sit inside and watch the world go by from your perch at the coffee bar. There is also a place to lounge and check your email and read the newspapers.



There's also a second storey for offices or flats.


Here's an espresso stand with an annex for socializing in bad weather.



I should probably mention that the day was quite cold so there weren't many people on the street, but lots of people in cafes and the bookstore.

Mom and Pop grocery at a neighborhood scale






Lesson 3: Take shelter from the wind and rain