tiki style denny's avoids wrecking ball!! - General Tiki

W woofmutt Member Seattilite Telstar Joined: Mar 26, 2002 Posts: 2639	W woofmutt Posted posted on Sat, May 24, 2008 10:36 AM "What a crock of political red taped bull...It almost smells like the preservation board in Seattle is in on a little take action. I know that is a stretch, but I'm just saying..." -Tom Slick- My friends and I generally feel that most aspects of official decision making in Seattle are either due to gross incompetence or corruption. The decision to take down the Manning's/Denny's isn't really surprising for Seattle. There is almost no official interest in history here nor is there any concern about the quality of life in neighborhoods. Our historic buildings are still torn down on a regular basis and projects that destroy the personality of old neighborhoods are usually always given the OK. Seattle is annoyingly called The Emerald City because of all our tress, yet the mayor wants to sell city green space to developers because the tax revenue it would generate. Tax revenue and "affordable housing" are the first thing out of official lips when they again want to make another sweetheart deal for the hand over of city property to private concerns. Oddly the city still has to constantly raise local taxes and fees and housing prices have never leveled out due to an abundance of new places. (Though technically a $500,000 1 bedroom condo is more affordable than one that costs a million.) I'm actually not against dense housing in urban areas, I just wish it were more skillfully addressed. In Seattle zoning guidelines are regularly waived so standard sized house lots can be covered with 6 "townhouses" that have no yards (the kids literally play in the street) and not enough room for the 2.5 cars everyone seems to own. There are also no aesthetic considerations. A neighborhood of single level bungalows with yards can have a 3 story box house built right to the edge of the sidewalk. There's an interesting contrast between Seattle and Portland, OR. Portland seems to have had vision from the very beginning (downtown city blocks are smaller than average making it more people friendly) and Seattle seems incapable of looking beyond the $$$. Back to the Manning's/Denny's... Here's a proposed compromise from hugeasscity: Their full story: Genius Compromise On Ballard Denny's

"What a crock of political red taped bull...It almost smells like the preservation board in Seattle is in on a little take action. I know that is a stretch, but I'm just saying..." -Tom Slick-

My friends and I generally feel that most aspects of official decision making in Seattle are either due to gross incompetence or corruption.

The decision to take down the Manning's/Denny's isn't really surprising for Seattle. There is almost no official interest in history here nor is there any concern about the quality of life in neighborhoods. Our historic buildings are still torn down on a regular basis and projects that destroy the personality of old neighborhoods are usually always given the OK.

Seattle is annoyingly called The Emerald City because of all our tress, yet the mayor wants to sell city green space to developers because the tax revenue it would generate.

Tax revenue and "affordable housing" are the first thing out of official lips when they again want to make another sweetheart deal for the hand over of city property to private concerns. Oddly the city still has to constantly raise local taxes and fees and housing prices have never leveled out due to an abundance of new places. (Though technically a $500,000 1 bedroom condo is more affordable than one that costs a million.)

I'm actually not against dense housing in urban areas, I just wish it were more skillfully addressed. In Seattle zoning guidelines are regularly waived so standard sized house lots can be covered with 6 "townhouses" that have no yards (the kids literally play in the street) and not enough room for the 2.5 cars everyone seems to own.

There are also no aesthetic considerations. A neighborhood of single level bungalows with yards can have a 3 story box house built right to the edge of the sidewalk.

There's an interesting contrast between Seattle and Portland, OR. Portland seems to have had vision from the very beginning (downtown city blocks are smaller than average making it more people friendly) and Seattle seems incapable of looking beyond the $$$.

Back to the Manning's/Denny's...

Here's a proposed compromise from hugeasscity:

Their full story: Genius Compromise On Ballard Denny's

Post #382144 by woofmutt on Sat, May 24, 2008 10:36 AM