Sweet stuff in the neighborhood

Daily Candy's local edition is asking readers to choose Seattle's sweetest things. Two of the neighborhood's newbies are in the mix in the Word of Mouth division. Take a minute to cast your vote for Quinn's or Cafe Presse.

Another Capitol Hill fire

Eyewitness reports a second Capitol Hill fire tonight -- the first was an early morning blaze at a plumbing business on 12th Ave. E. Oddly enough, tonight's second fire was at 733 Summit Ave E., listed on the always trustworthy Internet as a janitorial service of some sort. Coincidence? I have no idea how many fires there are every day on Capitol Hill. How many fires are there involving janitors and plumbers?

The 98102 blog

Quick note to welcome a new neighborhood blog to the mix -- 98102.net is part of the MyZip.net neighborhood project I'm working on.

Old Broadway QFC is coming down

The good people at the West Seattle Blog are tireless in keeping their neighborhood entertained and informed. They even have enough newsgathering energy to cover Capitol Hill. Here's a note we just received from WSB:

we were down covering the demolition of one of West Seattle's premier eyesores (a Schuck's store at a prominent intersection that has been closed since a fire several years ago and has since become a tagging magnet etc.) and the crew told us they have to be done within a couple days because next week they will be in your hood tearing down the old QFC etc.

Sounds like Broadway's premier eyesore is finally coming down. Unless there's something going on up on 15th Ave. E. we're not aware of.

4 random bits of Broadway-related food info

Dig in.

• Metroblogging Seattle says there's a new taco joint down Olive Way
• Quinn's is averaging 3 of 5 stars so far over in the Stranger reader reviews
• 6 restaurants open late near Broadway
• Seattle Times recalls Seattle's restaurant history, Broadway "fern bar" Boondock's, Sundecker's & Greenthumbs
  

Quinn's leaves comments

Cool to see the folks who manage Quinn's wading into the Chowhound fray. It's a challenge to do this kind of communication right but it's such a useful way to address problems head on and win the hearts and minds of eaters and readers. After writing about businesses on Capitol Hill for about two years, one of the biggest surprises has been how few stores and restaurants get involved in the conversation or contact us -- guess what businesses, we're always on the hunt for something real to write about. If you have something to say, get on the Internet.

Tree removal vs. Taco Bell removal

As a sidebar to today's Slog about development of Broadway's north-end blight, neighbor John writes:

A little off turf, but did you notice the trees along Broadway, north of Republican, are tagged for imminent removal. (We're talking many big trees. They can't all be unhealthy.)

You'll note the presence of similar trees in the project sketches included in the Slog post. Maybe somebody at the city just has their wires crossed. Seems like a waste to cut them down. Still, we're not planning a protest -- any progress that can kill off the cockroach-like Broadway Taco Bell is progress, indeed.

Broadway trick or treating pictures

Halloween on Broadway
Originally uploaded by sea turtle

The fancy pants part isn't the only area of Capitol Hill that has a good time on Halloween. Photo bug sea turtle snapped this and more on Broadway this Halloween night.

Tune into Capitol Hill TV, neighborhood cartoons

In ye olden days, creative types had to go to Kinko's, staple together photocopies and make 'zines to provide an alternative view of the way things are. Now, thank goodness, we have the Web to eliminate that grueling work. Here are two staple-free, alternative media views of Capitol Hill.

Whitney and Wyatt, a Capitol Hill-produced Web video program documents the character and characters of Pike, Pine and beyond. In this week's episode, W&W visit the Galactic Boutique, discuss the stereotypes of gay business owners, retail strategies, and somehow fail to note the coolest haircut on Capitol Hill. (hey W&W, how can we link directly to this episode so the link isn't lame after you update your site?)


Capitol Hill also has its very own webcartoon -- Z's Metro Tales. Can't say all of the art and the storylines are particularly "Capitol Hill" but you can imagine the neighborhood humming along just outside the illustrated boxes.


We're only a neighborhood podcast away from a full menu of alt media offerings. Get on it.

Canabalism on Capitol Hill

Here's a neighborhood tale involving accidental ingestion of human remains. A sample of what you're in for:

Covered in a layer of uniformly baked grey human ash, I walked home. Thankfully it was near, since the cake of ash on my body was very thick, and I was very nearly at the point of vomiting for most of the trip to the shower. One other factor saved me what small amount of dignity I allow myself - since Capitol Hill was also Seattle’s homeless punk youth and heroin/crank/crystal neighborhood, there were people at least as bizarre-looking as I walking down the street with their children and a bag of bagels, or some homeless 24-year old with a tattoo on their forehead that simply says “Drunk.” Nobody really paid me any attention. And if I had vomited, I would hardly have gained additional attention.

Hullabaloo

Oh, Broadway and John. You attract so many protesters. How could you support the war in Iraq, Broadway and John? Say it ain't so.

Walking up the street yesterday I thought Rite-Aid was trying an unusual new strategy.

But alas, no. No sale at Rite-Aid. Just some fellows mad at Broadway and John for, apparently, arresting people who use marijuana as a medical drug. For shame, John, for shame, Broadway. Whenever you two get together there always seems to be trouble.

Clean up Capitol Hill

Simulcast from the CHS blog -- Capitol Hill Street Sweep this weekend.

WHEN: Saturday, October 13, 2007 • 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
9:00 – 9:30 AM:
WHERE: Cal Anderson Park shelter house, 1635 11th Ave.

My favorite Capitol Hill grafiti right now.

New Restaurant Sighting

Looks like a cafe or a really tiny restaurant of some sort is soon to be opened on Thomas Street between Summit and Bellevue. Yours truly will be first in line. Or at least in spirit?

Naming a neighborhood?

With the addition of Portland's Stumptown coffee on 12th Avenue to the lineup of interesting new places to that street, this street seems to be jumping onto the Capitol Hill center stage. And everyone knows that you can't have a hip neighborhood without a fun name! So I'm wondering what ideas readers might have for a name for this area.

Capitol Hill farmers' market displaced by condos?

Add a move for Broadway's market to the list of crimes against humanity caused by Seattle condo development.

A proposal to close off Nagle Place alongside Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill is one of the possible solutions to finding a home for the Broadway Sunday market, which has relied on a Bank of America parking lot. Nagle Place is one block east of Broadway. Because the market is on Sunday, it is not expected to conflict with Sound Transit light rail construction in that area, council members were told.

Things you'll like at Cafe Presse, things you won't

Ryan is a busy young man so figure we'll help out our Broadway neighbors with a post or two every now and again. Seattle Weekly has a mildly interesting take on 19 hours in the life of 12th Ave's Cafe Presse documenting the eatery's ebb and flow from breakfast to post-midnight snacking. Based on our visit to Presse and other eyewitness accounts we've documented from friends, here's our simple guide to the menu.

Things you'll like
The olives
The falafel
Le croque madame
Le grilled sardine sandwich
The draught Stella

Things you won't
The steak tartare
The salade niçoise

We look kind of boring de-suggesting the tartare and the nicoise while recommending falafel and beer but so be it. Feel free to counter/support in comments.

View the entire Cafe Presse menu here.

Fun things in the park.

Pssst. Supergirl is showing at Cal Anderson Park tonight at 8:30. If you didn't know, now you do. Plus I think there's a music thing going on there tomorrow. I saw a flyer, and took a photo of it. It would probably help if I could find my camera. I failed blogging school.

Shinka!

Noticed this popped up on Olive Way very recently. Looks like it should be opening pretty soon. Shinka Tea already has another store in the U-District. I can't vouch for their tea, as I can't remember seeing it before. Perhaps my memory is just gone.

From the looks of the website, I'd say that it's going to occupy a different niche for tea drinkers than Remedy Teas. I'm excited.
It's a good summer for the Olive-Broadway area.

Fuck Red Balloon, Fuck Light Rail (but not as much as Red Balloon)

I made a stop at Twice Sold Tales today, and the very nicely dressed man behind the counter mentioned the problem that their lovely store is having: they are being shoved out by the government for a new light rail station, and they don't know what they are going to do about it! They were clearly hoping to move into the former Rainbow grocery but the big bad corporation obviously moved in on the turf and overbid them or something.

I wasn't really that sad about the Red Balloon, mostly because it's on 15th and I didn't go to Rainbow, but now I'm mad. Where will Twice Sold Tales go now? This question needs an answer, and soon.

Park or P-patch?

Exciting things are happening in Capitol Hill. As J of Capitol Hill Seattle mentions, there's a parking lot at 16th and Howell that's going to either be turned into a park or a p-patch, as part of the wonderful Pro-Parks Levy. The other day I saw signs mentioning that the same thing is going to be happening to a parking lot at John and Summit. I don't really know much about the 16th site, but as far as the one on Summit goes, I vote p-patch. There's already Thomas Street Park about a block away, and I don't really see that many people there, really. All that matters to me is that the parking lot go away. But I'm aggressively anti-car. What do you think? Maybe half patch and half park?



Parking lot, your days are numbered.

En Route to the Hill

So I'm walking up Pine. Then, all of a sudden, I'm attacked! By horrible public art.



I guess it's not finished yet, but I can't imagine a context in which this shit looks good.

Ugh.

Page Turning

Everyone knows the best way to look smart without actually being smart is to carry around lots of books with impressive looking titles. And the quickest way to the heart of an intellectual (or pseudo-intellectual for that matter) is through the battered paperback that you keep in your messenger bag.

But where do you pick up said paperback? Or if you're in it for the long haul, a hardcover?

Clearly the best bookstore in Seattle is Elliott Bay Book Company. There's not really a contest, in my mind. But Pioneer Square can't always be on the itinerary of the Capitol Hillian. So I thought a nice rundown of the fine booksellers in the Broadway area might be a little helpful, just in case you're in a jam and need to find a copy of, oh, I don't know, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, or Life of Pi.

Directly on Broadway you have Baily/Coy books. Mostly new books, but they have a few used ones too, and they intersperse them with the new ones. Separate but equal doesn't apply here. This place is pretty nice, and the staff seems to know their stuff.

Just off Broadway on John is Twice Sold Tales. The draws here are clear: cheap used books, late night sales, and cats. And they are open super late on Friday nights, and you can get a quarter off the price then too.

On the other side of the 'Way just off Olive on Belmont sits the corporate behemoth that is Half Price Books. While I normally try and stay local, sometimes the prices here sway me to cross over to the dark side. The fiction section in the basement is not often beat, in my book. (pun probably intended)

I guess those are the big players. But don't forget The Spine and Crown on Pike, and the Occult bookstore over there as well. These are super little stores with great staff.

Broadway's bibliophiles will probably agree that it's impossible to pick a favorite bookstore. But if it weren't it would SO be Twice Sold Tales.

Stage Fright Slam

I love the Richard Hugo House. And I love free entertainment. Wednesday in the Cabaret* is a free slam for writers aged 14 to 24. And it's free.

You should go. It's probably better than what's at Elliott Bay that night, and you don't even have to leave the hill.

*Why can't my house have a Cabaret?

EDIT: Forgot the time. It's at 7.

Spotted on Bellevue

I think I found where the Seafair Pirates buried their treasure. Personally I would have picked a less conspicuous spot.



Anyone up for a dig?

Hopefully not brought to you by Geiko

Say, hypothetically, that the corporate-sponsored Capitol Hill Block Party didn't completely satisfy your need to feel like being at an actual block party, to actually be a part of your neighborhood, and instead made you feel part of a herd of cattle. Well, there's a solution. I heard about it from Chumley:



A flyer on a neighboring street filled me in. Apparently it's a pot luck. And music and entertainment will be provided, though there's no telling what that might entail. Probably not Spoon though. Oh well. Seems fun. I don't think this technically is my neighborhood, because I live on the other side of Olive. But I'm seriously considering going. I haven't decided if my cooking is up to "pot luck" standards yet.

Tuesday August 7 at 5pm, on Howell Street between Bellevue and Olive.

A Start.

Unlike a lot of streets in Seattle, Broadway is bigger than the sum of its parts. It has a mythology, and it has a reputation. It feels a daunting task, stepping up to blog about this place. But I'm going to give it a go.

Just a small bit about me: I'm not from here. I have an outsider's perspective. In fact I've only been in Seattle for 10 whole months. Whether my views will be at all unique, completely slanted, or even remotely correct remains to be seen.

Who knows what will happen? All I can guarantee is that I'll try and make it interesting.