Saturday, August 29, 2009

The Place to Hang in South Bellevue

The Red Apple Puffballs (South Bellevue division) got into it last night when the skateboard boys set up their own course in the parking lot. Hoping to become part of the course, the puffballs were sidelined by the skateboarders out of respect for foliage.






Click on this shot for the full ferocious effect of a puffball lineup (scorned).

Yep, we've got a new sign up!! Has this little puffball been for a dyejob at All About Hair?

No puffball, no respect. Now if we could just get them to pick up after themselves.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Totem Lake Mall

Sledgehammer asks the burning question: How would you redevelop Totem Lake Mall?
here
and here


Hell-o! Check out the puffballs. Not good.


Trader Joe's? Check.


Labelscar? Check.


Plenty of free parking? That would be a yes.


Warm and friendly welcome? Could use a little tweaking.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Place to Hang in North Bellevue

OK, so some might say the grocery store is butt-ugly. But hey, it's open. And there's actually a lot going on here. In the parking lot. Families from the surrounding neighborhoods pull up alongside one another and let the kids run around the playground. Guys listen to the game on the car radio. A couple of dogs frolic with their owners in the buffer behind the QFC. Bicyclists headed for Kirkland pull up for a hotdog.


The park
The buffer
The Chevron
The signboard
The coffeeshop

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Sunny Day Newport Hills

My response to Mayor Grant Degginger's challenge to come up with a vision for Newport Hills would look something like this:



1. New grocery store (smaller footprint with two stories of condos above)
2. Fruit and produce stand
3. Neighborhood kiosk for announcements, etc.
4. New site of Mojo Espresso stand
5. Farmer's market
6. Community garden and outdoor movie theater


Out of sight, out of mind?

We all need aerial photographs for dreaming purposes. They let the sun in on a cloudy day--every one of the areas I circled above gets full sun for most of the day, even while leaving plenty of spaces for parking. I always wondered as I parked my car near Pike Place Market or at the top of a parking garage why my car was getting a better view than I was.

Another way to look at these photos is to see the number of spaces we provide for our cars: then imagine exchanging one parking space for a raised garden bed. One little island of 20 spaces could provide a lot of space for a community garden.

I originally came up with this little daydream about six months ago. Since then Newcastle Fruit and Produce, whom I've been wooing to open a branch here in Newport Hills has let me know that the idea doesn't hold much potential. In the words of one of the owners: "Out of sight, out of mind."

PCC + Condos = Mixed Use


These images are from a visit to Fremont in Seattle we took just over a week ago. This is an extremely dense area of the city, with lots of employers and retail as well as apartments and condos.

The idea of a mixed use development has been floating around Newport Hills for a long time now--dating back to when I was part of a citizen committee to write the subarea plan in 1994/1995 or thereabouts.

Because Fremont is so much denser than Newport Hills, you have to figure that the mixed use development is also denser--by several stories. If you stick to just two stories above retail you have the perfect size for a small community business area.








The transparent awnings let in light to the sidewalks below.

Outdoor Movies


Bear with me as I offer up yet another cool idea from Fremont: an outdoor movie theater. A lot of communities do this, and there's a reason why. It's one way to take back an empty parking lot at night. There's another reason: it's a great way to get out with your neighbors once a week instead of spending yet another night in front of the tv.


(click to enlarge for view of poster)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Surrey Downs' Historic Designation

Beautiful example of the relevant historical architecture by Mithun and Neslund that defines the Surrey Downs neighborhood.



From the Bellevue Reporter 6/9/09: A recent report from the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation lists Bellevue's Surrey Downs neighborhood among the state's most endangered historic properties. The designation adds weight to a long-trumpeted argument that Sound Transit should avoid building its East link light-rail line through the area.

And weight to the argument that East Link should follow the I-405 configuration idea from a previous Red Apple blog entry (August 12)?

This morning's harvest 2


From the garden this morning: persimmon tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet million cherry tomatoes, and a very small beet.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

East Link Debate


The debate continues to rage over the east link light rail segment through Bellevue. What I don't understand is why they don't just follow the freeway? It is an established route, with major development nodes. It appears the Bellevue route is going to bypass Factoria entirely in favor of the controversial Surrey Downs/Bellevue Way alignment. (Bellevue Reporter/August 12 2009 "Surrey Downs Making Noise About Light Rail")

The neighbors there don't want it. I'm sure, however, Sound Transit would get no complaint from Factoria store-owners. When we moved here 16 years ago I asked why there weren't shuttle buses between Factoria, Crossroads, and downtown Bellevue (the three major development nodes in the city). I was told that Kemper Freeman doesn't like competition with his downtown retail developments. To ferry people to competitive malls would be intolerable. The buzz is that he's not fond of the proposed BelRed Community Development either. But that's another story.

If you click on the map here and look at segment B you see a red line following 405 and another line to the left. Apparently the Sound Transit preferred alternative is the one to the left. This will run adjacent to six residential neighborhoods and a sizeable portion of Mercer Island Slough, a wetland preserve. Trains currently average 65 decibels, exceeding federal nighttime limits and the levels promised by the agency (Bellevue Reporter) Residents refuse to be placated by sound walls.

In addition, Surrey Downs has recently been place on the list of most endangered historic properties by the Washington Trust for Historic Properties. That's another story, too.

Sunday, August 9, 2009


ALL of Piper's teeth--she lost the last one a week ago. She called me in for a private viewing of her arrangement.



And stones from three holes dug in the garden for bamboo. Piper arranged them according to size because that's how she was paid: a penny each, a nickel each, a dime each, a quarter each and 50 cents.

Bonus back to school question: how much was she paid?

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Economic Development Meetings in Newport Hills



FOR SALE: BGN Properties Inc. Stod's. Built in 1969. 1.72 acres/75,100 square feet. Appraised value: $1,180,000.00

(From an earlier post)


Last March, A PROJECTED TWO-YEAR planning process got underway at a meeting at Newport Hills' Bank of America. Mayor Grant Degginger was in attendance, along with the City's Neighborhood Planner Cheryl Kuhns and Economic Development Director Bob Derrick as well as Bellevue City Council member Conrad Lee.

In the audience were about 40 or 50 concerned neighbors and merchants. Newport Hills Community Club ran a great presentation, with special credit going to President Cheryl Nygaard and Vice President Julie Rossman for encouraging inclusiveness by asking for written questions from the audience and using a large aerial map of our neighborhood business area to keep our focus in mind.

In his opening remarks, Mayor Degginger cited the new Newport Heights Elementary as a "game-changer," It puts Newport Hills on the radar and gives us a central focus. The City of Bellevue, he said, will now facilitate the neighborhood's community-building efforts by involving the community in future development decisions.

Degginger goes on to say that Newport Hills is now at the "top of the list" of six or seven similar neighborhood business centers in desperate need of an overhaul, and "now is the happy time" for Newport Hills to achieve theirs.


Step 1: The mayor's first suggestion was to come up with a neighborhood working group who could identify a shared vision to present to prospective developers. The city is more than ready to work with us at this time.

One model to watch is Lake Hills' neighborhood business center, pictured below, following the end of a lengthy 10-year planning process and the subject of a previous entry in Red Apple Elegy. The developer there is Cosmos, and the record of ups and downs the neighborhood has gone through with them is lengthy, and instructive.













The Follow-Up
There was never much of a follow-up effort to this meeting until the personable, patient, diligent and articulate Dorothy Bracken stepped up at the 4th of July barbecue at Newport Hills Park. She's shown here giving me the thumbs up.




There she polled neighbors queuing up for burgers about what they'd like to see at the Red Apple: Trader Joe's, PCC, hardware store, etc. as well as programming: swapmeets, community events, farmers market and sustainable gardens. A little like Crossroads, but not so big. There was a lot of mention of Third Places and Third Place Books. Both are subjects of previous blog entries.

Enter Pallis Properties
A few weeks later: Pallis Properties met with the newly-activated Newport Hills Economic Development Task Force composed of Dorothy, Dan Nygaard and Alex Golan. The big surprise is they want to develop Stod's, not the Red Apple.

NH Economic Development Task Force Meetings
The following week I attended two meetings held by the Task Force: one with Tom Boydell and Dan Stroh from City of Bellevue Econ Development and Long Range Planning, respectively. The atmosphere was cordial, albeit with a topdown meets bottom up dynamic.

The second meeting, on August 4, was before a larger group and included Pallis Properties and the two tenants, Thrive (a fitness center) and Kids Country, a daycare facility. PP goes public with a rendering. At this point I'm going to limit my comments to the ideas inspired by the rendering.

The drawing supplied by Pallis Properties shows the original Stod's, but now made unrecognizable behind a sort-of suburban stripmall facade. The parking lot is exactly the same, with some container plantings accentuating the stalls. I want to inject some ideas to consider before we lock in this look.



NW Regional Neighborhood Retail
Fuller/Sears Architects who have designed neighborhood retail in the Pacific NW Regional style all over Washington.


















Pickering Place, where Pallis Propertiespallisproperties.com did Trader Joe's and UW Physicians deals.

Chris Pallis has said he's interested in a coffee shop/kiosk and will look in to PCC.





Mixed Use
How about a PCC below and condos above at the Red Apple? Adding density in a sensible, appropriate way will win the neighborhood transit points. Or at least that's the theory....



Award-winning Design in the Neighborhood
BLRB, the architects of Newport Heights Elementary, itself the subject of a previous Red Apple Elegy blog entry and the object of praise by Mayor Degginger. It's stunning design is environmentally friendly and a building the whole neighborhood has begun to take pride in.


http://www.blrb.com/

(From their website)
Inspired by its heavily forested site, Newport Heights Elementary School draws from the surrounding palette to create a canvas of environmental expression. Landscaped courtyards connect buildings and act as learning gardens, roof forms act as rain collectors, continuous windows in corridors enable connections with the outdoors, and an outdoor amphitheater employs surrounding trees as a backdrop for school performances. Blurred lines between outdoors and indoors enable students to experience the natural beauty and environmental intrigues of the Northwest.
...This layout breaks down the school's scale to ensure a more intimate setting, uphold relationships between facility users and maintain the residential feel of the neighborhood. To retain a sense of community, a large gathering plaza near the entry encourages socializing and outdoor team teaching. The exterior building form, comprised of masonry, glass and metal paneling, creates a traditional setting with a northwest architectural expression.

Old growth conifers were retained to perpetuate wildlife habitat and plant biodiversity. The Northwest native plant palette and drought tolerant species ensure reduced water consumption throughout the site. Rainwater diverted from the butterfly roof structures into the storm system showcases the reuse of rainwater as an exciting water feature.


Suburban Contextual
And of course, there is the beauty of the original Stod's, unique to this neighborhood's history and it is, in its way, honest and familiar: