Emergency Preparedness Meeting
- Open To All NE Seattle Residents -
Thursday, March 15th from 6:30 to 9:00PM
Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (8008 35th Ave NE)

At some point in the future, Seattle will get hit by a major earthquake. Hopefully that will be decades or centuries from now, but it is too predictable an event to not make basic preparations which will help reduce the impact of such an occurrence. The Wedgwood Community Council and Sustainable NE Seattle, therefore, are working throughout the year to encourage preparedness.

Once individuals have taken care of their basic individual preparedness needs (see 3days3ways.org), they often want to take the next step to organize with their neighbors. On Thursday, March 15th, the Wedgwood Commuity Council and Sustainable NE Seattle are hosting a meeting which will demonstrate one way that neighbors can come together to create an emergency plan.

The meeting will take place from 6:30 to 9:00, Thursday, March 15th at the Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (8008 35th Ave NE). This meeting will focus on how to organize your street or block. There will be a short video called “Map Your Neighborhood”,with moderator-led activities and discussion designed to get us ready to plan our responses to potential emergencies. Those who want to take the first step to organize their block will be provided with the information and materials needed to start the process.

Expect to hear from local experts in emergency response, and to have an opportunity to meet and network with neighbors who share common goals. This will be a fun event, with lots of information, answers, and even incentive gifts. Please join us if you have any questions or interest in nighborhood organization. All NE Seattle residents are welcome to participate.

Coffee Talk: “Creating the Conditions to Support Neighborhood Businesses”
Thursday, February 23rd, from 7-8:30PM at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (8008 35th Ave NE)

As part of the ongoing neighborhood planning process for 35th Ave NE, we are hosting a series of Coffee Talks on various planning concepts.  These Coffee Talks are hosted thanks to the help of the Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT) of the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association.

We are hosting our first Coffee Talk this Thursday, February 23rd, from 7-8:30PM at the Wedgwood Presbyterian Church on “Creating the Conditions to Support Neighborhood Businesses.”  We will hear from Theresa Barerras from the Office of Economic Development on the “Only In Seattle” Initiative, Beth Dufek from Impact Capital on what other neighborhoods and business districts are doing to support their business districts, and Wendy Schwartz from Fresh Boutique (pictured above) which had to close their doors in 2011.

We are thankful to our local Top Pot for providing coffee and some other deliciousness for the meeting.  All are welcome.

Mayor McGinn will be coming to Wedgwood on Saturday, March 10th to host a town hall meeting from 11AM – 12PM in the Fellowship Hall (downstairs) of Wedgwood Presbyterian Church is open to everyone in the community.  Despite rumors, we do not believed that the mayor will announce plans for a new arena in Wedgwood.  All are welcome.

Jasper, Wedgwood’s soon-to-be newest apartment building, has been remains largely under a “veil” as work continues. However, part of the veil came down this week unveiling a glimpse of what the finished Jasper building will look like.

More news on the project, including how the name “Jasper” came to be, can be found on an earlier post HERE.

Note: Viewing the Photosynth image requires the Silverlight plugin.

On January 17th, the Solarize NE Seattle campaign was launched by Northwest SEED’s Solarize Washington program and co-led by Sustainable NE Seattle.  Solarize Washington is a program to make it easier to “going solar,” like this house on 33rd Ave NE to the left, by aggregating interested neighbors together with local installers to realize bulk purchasing rates of solar panels and reduced overall costs.  In the one month since the program launched, nearly over 170 folks have registered for a solar site assessment and 4 homes have contracted to install 21.4 kilowatts of power.  However, the goal of the Solarize NE Seattle campaign is to install 200 killowatts by the end of this summer.

To achieve this goal, they’ve made it very easy to get started and learn more about the campaign and the benefits to going solar. There’s 5 easy steps for those who ultimately choose to go solar.

1. Register for the program (no commitment)
2. Attend a free workshop (February 29th, March 24th, or April 28th)
3. Have your home evaluated (no commitment)
4. Sign a contract (okay, this is a commitment)
5. Get your solar on

So, what are you waiting for? This house isn’t.

Hopefully, by now you’ve heard of the neighborhood planning process that residents in NE Seattle have begun for the 35th Ave NE corridor.  As part of this neighborhood planning process, we are trying to provide opportunities for us, the community, can become well informed.  We’ve created boards on Pintrest for Planning Articles and Posts, Streetscapes, and Architectural Style and Design.  Now, thanks to the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association’s Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT), we are hosting “Coffee Talks”.

First and foremost.  No, these Coffee Talks don’t feature Mike Myers nor are their topics the many gifts of Barbara Streisand, although the question of ‘Romanesque architecture’ is closer to point.  Instead, these monthly Coffee Talks provide an informal opportunity for the NE Seattle community and anyone else interested to learn about various neighborhood planning concepts from various professionals.  The intent of these Coffee Talks is to learn about key concepts eluded to in the Vision Plan that could help guide the community-led neighborhood planning process.

The first Coffee Talk will be on  Creating the Conditions to Support Neighborhood Businesses.  Speakers will include Theresa Barerras from the Office of Economic Development to discuss the “Only In Seattle” Initiative.  Beth Dufek from Impact Capital will be sharing what other neighborhoods and business districts are doing to support their business districts.  And Wendy Schwartz, the owner of Fresh Boutique which had to close their doors in 2011 (and where rumors of 7th bank in 11 blocks is coming), will share her experience about what local neighborhood businesses like hers need to survive and thrive.

With the help of CPAT, we are identifying speakers, dates, and venues for additional Coffee Talks.  Concepts for Coffee Talks include the following:

• Creating the Conditions to Support Neighborhood Businesses – February 23rd, 7-8:30PM at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (8008 35th Ave NE)
• Density and its benefits – Date and location to be determined
• Making a neighborhood walkable and the importance of proximity – Date and location to be determined
• Design at a human scale. A primer on architectural design concepts and “design guidelines with teeth” – Date and location to be determined
• Place-making and successful streetscape features – Date and location to be determined
• Financial realities of development.  Incentivizing successful development – Date and location to be determined
• The trade offs of land use planning (e.g, up-zoning increases property taxes, increased traffic/parking, etc.) – Date and location to be determined
• Incorporating affordable housing and economic diversity into land use planning – Date and location to be determined

Everyone is welcome to these Coffee Talks, you know, no big whoop. You don’t have to be a planner, architect, engineer or policy wonk. If you have any questions, other ideas for Coffee Talks, or would like to present on one of the topics above, please email » Per Johnson.