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Georgetown

Seattle Streetcar Ten Million Dollar Plan

After the shock and disappointment of the election, I thought I would try to make a fresh start in my thinking and try to accept the fact that i just don’t fit into the way most Washington voters think. I thought I might just sort of give up and go with the flow, then the Times runs this big article that Mayor McGinn and the City Council are going to spend ten million dollars planning where some new street cars would go. This is just planning, and they don’t really have a clear cut idea of what they are planning so for sure they will run out of money fast. They say the city is broke. Had to re-do the bus routes and cut service to thousands of people. Georgetown had 3 buses and now we don’t have one bus along the highway or 4th ave. We have to either walk a half mile or so to get to the only bus stop in Georgetown that will get us to town without transferring. We have a little community of residents that the 131 got us downtown and to Burien for years but now it comes from Burien over the 1st Ave Bridge and the only stop at what they call their new and improved service for Georgetown is at Keep Reading

Seattle Metro Trip Planner – Confusion

Metro Transit has a great slogan. “We’ll get you there”. What they don’t say is you can’t find out what bus to take and where. Let me start by giving you Bus riding 101. This is so simple and easy to understand.

#1.  BE SURE YOU BUS IS LISTED ON THE SIGN.

#2.  IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM CALL info listed on your bus schedule. Customer Service  (206) 553-3000.

Now look at the two photos of the bus signs. These pictures were taken a block apart on the same day, so I had no idea which one was right.

I don’t mean this to sound like I think Metro has a vendetta against me, but I will write my experience and it has to be happening to hundreds and hundreds of people.

My story:

I had my green bus schedule in my hand, headed to East Marginal way to catch bus 131 to Burien for a doctors appointment. But my bus number was no longer listed on the sign. Look at the picture of the two bus signs. The bus numbers on the signs had been changed. The buses that I ride are 124, 131, 132. These get me to down town Seattle on 4th and to Burien. You will see that the on the sign these three numbers have been removed. No rider alert on the post, nothing explaining anything. Remember rule #1. If your bus is not listed, it wont be coming to that stop. I was bus less in Seattle all of a sudden. Missed my appointment, walked back home and called information. Nothing but a busy signal for over ten minutes. I had relatives and neighbors try to find out for me and no one could get anyone to answer the phone but a Grandson was told to leave his number and they would call him back. THEY NEVER DID. I emailed Metro and left a comment/complaint and it said they would try to answer me within two weeks. I finally wrote a snail letter to the Mayor. The secretary had no idea what to do with it, but bless her heart she sent out an email all over the place called, How can I help an 89 year old catch a bus? I am sure there was a lot of laughs about a little senile old lady but the flood gates opened. The Mayors Secretary or whoever answered me was Becky Stanley. Without her I don’t think I would have ever got an answer about the buses.  She assured me it’s not Mayor Mcginn’s problem but she got Deidre Andrus attention at Metro and I got my answers.  These girls/woman were courteous and helpful. The message was awful but the messengers were great.

The answer I got from metro was this. THEY ARE VERY SORRY I GOT CONFUSED. well duh.  Here is why I was confused. I was supposed to just stand at the old bus stop and wait for my old bus, although it was not  listed. They are changing 50 bus routes and had to change the bus signs early to have them in place by Sept 29th. How is anyone to know, without a notice on the bus sign post? Lets say I go stand and wait for a bus that is not listed on the sign, when I get to Burien Transit station how am I going to know what sign to stand under to get home?

This is not only unnecessary, but is actually cruel.

I have now heard the information that my bus 134, will not exist anymore. To get the 131 I would need to walk from Corson to past 4th and Michigan, and it would take me to town, NOT TO BURIEN like it always has. The 124 bus I can catch on Carlton and it will go down airport way to 2nd and Jackson.

To sum up what these changes did for me (and many many hundreds of riders) was to take away my independence completely. I have rode the buses 66 years from this same address. I could take a bus that would go by here to town and all the way to Federal Way. I could ride it to the Grey Hound bus station and see the Christmas lights along 4th and get to the Monorail. Its gone. The 131 took me to Burien and downtown. My doctor and hearing aide office is in Burien. They tell me I need to take the 124 either to South Park or Tukwila Link and catch a bus to Burien. Every time you change buses you can count on an extra half hour. I would be afraid to stand in South Park. So the new BIG change just ruined the bus service for Georgetown completely. We have no buses that we can take to Costco, Food bank of the businesses along 4th. Can’t get to Burien without a major mess. Think of the millions they spent to give us this NEW AND IMPROVED SERVICE. I asked the Mayor if he was able to get me a three wheeled bike but did not get a response. Before you ask, age does not qualify me to get a senior shuttle. I would need a doctors slip saying I have trouble walking. I can walk a couple blocks fine, can climb on to a bus fine, but first I need THE BUS.

Now look at the 2013-2014 Transportation Budget Highlights below. This is from the Mayor that didn’t have a clue about how I could get a bus. Look what they spend for studies and analysis and planning. They want funds to get a 4th street car to Paul Allen’s Vulcan spread. We can’t even get a bus in Georgetown.

My neighborhood has lots of woman and little kids, guys in wheel chairs and we just don’t count in the scheme of things. He talks in some of his other plans how he will have well lit places for people to wait for their buses. WE DON’T EVEN HAVE A BENCH, but heck we don’t have a bus either. Call the information number and let them know what you think, or better still go to the comment section of Metro Transit and tell them. While you are at it leave a comment on our Journal.

2013-2014 Transportation Budget Highlights

FAST AND RELIABLE TRANSIT
Nearly $6 million to connect our neighborhoods with high capacity transit

  • $2 million      for a corridor analysis of a high-capacity transit line from downtown to the University      District, via Eastlake. If approved by the council, this      work would begin next year.
  • $850,000      for a corridor analysis of a bus rapid transit line on Madison Street,      starting at Colman dock downtown.
  • $500,000      for a study of a pedestrian,      bike, and transit crossing of the ship canal. Identified      as a need in both the Bicycle and Transit Master Plans, a north/south      crossing of the ship canal between the Ballard and Fremont bridges would      allow transit to flow more freely past this obstacle without getting stuck      in traffic.
  • A $2.5      million Transit      Master Plan Reserve fund to help pay for the next phase of      design work on these corridors, starting in 2014

At Metro, we’re working hard to give you easy, convenient access to the places you want to go, while helping you save money, control stress and protect the environment. So when we say, “We’ll Get You There,” we mean it!

If you have questions or need help planning your trip, call Metro Customer Information at 206-553-3000 (TTY Relay: 711) or visit our Trip Planner.

– This really meaningless.

Georgetown Garden Walk (July 8th)

Well folks you all know about the Jingle Bell Run, then last week they had the Rock and Roll run where people paid between $40 and $150 dollars to participate. It was not to “cure” anything but was put on by a for profit outfit. I have never been able to understand why hundreds or thousands of people buy a new shirt with a logo, pay a big amount to go run when they most likely don’t even like to run. Well that being said, lets forget the “runs” that cost a lot.

How about taking in the Georgetown Garden Walk for free? You can get a lot of nice exercise by walking and have fun seeing what people raise in their yards. This is the 17th year of this experience and it gets bigger every year. One of the very best features – it’s absolutely free. You don’t have to worry about being on time. It is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. until 5 p.m. You can pick up maps of the tour at the Bank of America parking lot in Georgetown. It is located at 1112 S Bailey st.  You can check out more on the website. http://georgetowngardenwalk.com

There will be lots of artist’s and restaurants included on the map for you to visit besides wandering through yards. There will be sandwich boards on the sidewalks in front of houses that you may visit. I am sure there will be lots of really interesting things to see and learn from.

I raise succulents commonly called Hen and Chicks for rockeries or dish gardens or whatever you want to do with them. I will be having a sale that day on my parking strip and front yard. If you are into creating walls or outdoor living wreaths etc this is the place to come. I cut off little water bottles (think green here), and will have hundreds of little starts in those for only 50 cents each. I have many many colors but this time of the year they look a lot alike. I have whole trays of sedum . Stop by and take a look while you are out walking. Looky lous are welcome for sure. Hope to see you Sunday July 8th.  Look on the map for Lilly and it will give my address.

See pictures for a sample of what you can see at my house. If you want groovy things I have planters made from old phonograph records. Some planted – some empty.

Arsonist Arrested For Fire At 6710 Corson Ave. Georgetown

The SPD Blotter has reported that the Arsonist for the fire at 6710 Corson Ave. in Georgetown has been arrested. I thought the report should be copied and pasted verbatim, but now want to add my spin to the on going saga with some pictures.  The previous article about the Arson fire was posted the morning after the fire and at that time all the officials that were talking to us all gave me the impression that the building would be torn down. I was standing talking to the owner Allen Hua at the time and I think he thought it was going to have to be bulldozed. They had not let him in to look at it yet. That was then and this is now. I am posting 3 pictures taken 2/16/12. If you look at all three you can see the entire top floor was on fire. The flames were shooting out of the windows until the fireman could get the people off the roof and cut holes in the roof so the fire could go straight up. If you look at the white light in the first picture you can see daylight through a hole in the roof.  The night of the fire I could stand on my balcony (I was very close to the fire and could see the fireman going to the roof from inside). That being the case it had to burn the ceilings all out and I am sure it could not have missed doing damage to the studs or beams or whatever holds a roof up. Partitions are all burned. One fireman told me the entire top floor would have to be torn off at the very least but said he was not a building inspector. That is not happening now it seems.

The place has been nothing but a hot bed of trouble for years. Drug sales, prostitution, fights, and all of us neighbors get to listen to the most filthy talk. It appears the owner is going to just be able to cobble it together, cover the burned stuff with plywood. His last fight with the city at another slumlord complex (he owns 6) he fought on the fact that they were discriminating against a poor Chinese farmer. He lives in a million dollar home in Issaquah and keeps these dumps open because he will rent to people who do not dare fill out a credit check or prove anything. I read where he makes approx $195,000 a year on these so called “low rent” places. We neighbors have no recourse, police, fire department, everyone is aware of the problems at 6710 Corson but do absolutely nothing to correct the situation. I would think after a certain amount of drug over doses, people sitting on the curb hand cuffed, the place would be boarded up. I have had to have bars put on my windows and have always been expecting the place to burn up. You can’t have 11 (single occupancy rooms) with several buddies (visiting) 24/7 doing drugs, fighting, drinking and not expect something bad to happen. One time I thought one guy was going to kill another one (yelling that he was). I called 911 and they arrested the fellow. I ended up with a subpoena to come to court. Wasted a whole day. I got paid $10.00 before taxes and neither guy even showed up.

I do not know how to end the cycle there but felt I should put it in the paper for Independent Thinkers and hope some of  you will get to thinking and leave comments below. LLL

Arson Fire in Georgetown

During the night of Jan. 22 and morning of Jan 23 there was a huge apartment house fire at 6710 Corson Ave. This fire was ARSON. It is a three story building and the entire top floor was engulfed in flames. This happened right between wind storms or the house right beside it would be gone too. At least 8 people lost their homes and everything they owned. No one got killed. The tenants were lined up across the street for a few hours with nothing but what they had on their backs when they escaped. Approx 3 hours later a red cross car arrived and handed out blankets. Another couple hours later a red cross van came and took them all away.  A photographer took pictures of that so it was basically a Red Cross photo op.

This apartment house has been a hot bed of trouble. It might be what you call low low income people but I want to expand on that a little. These were housekeeping rooms and I believe there were 2 apartments that had their own bath, so there was a lot of people that had to go down the hall and share a bathtub on the main floor or go to the basement or upstairs to share a shower. Lots of street people or people who would park an old motor home on a side street would come and use the facilities. It was impossible to know how many or who really lived there. The police and fireman came at least once a month for drug busts, or over doses or fights, you name it and it happened over there. This was an accident waiting to happen. Why I wanted to expand on low income it appeared to be non working people who paid HIGH RENT because this was a place where the landlord did not do a background check. He got paid double what the room was worth and if you didn’t like it you couldn’t just move because half didn’t even use their right name. One would rent a room and a few buddies moved in. The place should have been closed down years ago but somehow managed to exist. Fights where yelling was I am going to kill you etc. over and over and over. Until the 23rd.

Fireman, detectives, a tenant that lived there, and the owner of the building all have told me it was ARSON. Right on the start they said it was. I am not sure how they could tell immediately but that seemed to be obvious to them all. There have been several versions which is common to any story. But when I asked one fireman if he thought a firebug was loose and we neighbors were in danger he said he didn’t think so. He said this fire was set to hurt or kill someone on the top floor. It was set in the doorway at the top of the back stairs. A fire bug that wants to watch a fire would usually just torch something at the ground level and make a fast get away. Also, a tenant said just before the fire there was a loud explosion which woke them and they all escaped because of that. Of course the detectives, fireman or police are not going to tell any of us neighbors the details and we know that but none the less this was a BIG BIG STORY. That being the case why was it not on the front page of the Times? Why was it not on every TV channel as a leading Seattle news story? KIRO and KOMO had about a 2 second spot of the red cross handing out blankets. No story about how big the fire was, no story about ARSON.  How can that be. It is scary to think you are actually getting the news when you read the only paper in town or watch the local news. If a story this big and important wasn’t mentioned how many other really important things are they NOT telling us. My point completely is we are only told what officials want us to be told.  That is very scary. I am going to try to find out from the times why they did not even mention it at all. Hope all of you readers do too. I am sure you can check with the fire department to know my story is true. At least 3 blocks of Corson Ave was full of fire trucks, medics, etc. LLL

 

Remember the Georgetown Garden Tour Sunday July 10

The weather this spring has been the worst gardening weather possible, but no one told the weeds not to grow. I have attended the garden tour since its beginning but it is changing every year. Used to be hundreds of gardens open but this year it will be new businesses showing what they do, arts exhibits and I believe 19 gardens. One garden down the street from the Hat and Boots park always has the neatest little plants for sale. She plants them in cut off water bottles and everywhere you walk you will see people with a box of little plants. Its really interesting to see the new ones she has each year. Hope she is listed on the map this year but you will get lots of new ideas of what you might do in your yard by looking at other peoples yards. Georgetown has gotten a bad rap over the last few years and has really changed but you cant go wrong by looking at the mistakes others make.

Related Posts:
Big Assortment Of Hen and Chicks Plants Here….

 

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