Lake City Needs More Sidewalks

I've lived in Lake City for almost five months now. Almost immediately I noticed how much less walkable the neighborhood is compared to Capitol Hill.  Part of me shrugged it off as an unfair comparison because Capitol Hill is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in the city.  
Then my car broke down.

Once I had to stop driving to the Northgate Transit Center and start walking the six blocks to the bus stop on Lake City Way, I became downright angry.  How is it possible that so many streets don't have sidewalks? These aren't quiet little cul-de-sac's or woodsy dead ends.  These are streets connecting two main thoroughfares - Lake City Way and 35th Ave NE.  Thanks to our short winter days I feel like I'm taking my life into my hands every time I walk between the two; in the pitch black thanks to so many street lights being out as well.

So I did what any good Seattleite would do, I went home and started googling.  Luckily, Northeast Seattle has some wonderful, well-established neighborhood blogs like Pinehurst Seattle and Lake City Live.  Both have covered the sidewalk problem extensively; Pinehurst alone has 45 separate posts tagged sidewalks.

According to both websites, the North District Council held a meeting on December 2nd to hear more details on the various neighborhood street improvement projects being submitted for funding.  Luckily, NE 120th Street - the very road I've had so many near death experiences on - was one of the proposed areas to be fixed.  On Lake City Live, 33rdAveProj posted 14 reasons why the street desperately needs rehabilitation, including:

• This street serves residents in approximately 500 units of multi-family housing and homes within adjacent blocks between Lake City Way and 35th Ave NE.
• There is a high volume of residents walking to nearby bus stops, Starbucks and other core businesses.  At the same time, there are high volumes of vehicular traffic from 35th Ave NE to Lake City Way at high speeds.
• The shoulders are narrow in some sections of the street.  Vegetation covers other shoulders.
• Street edges are broken and uneven, and there are potholes near the edges of the street.

This list of problems is dead-on and it's doesn't even include the problem of at least a third of the street lights routinely being burnt out or not functioning.  That's a separate division within the City.

Yet the chance for funding NE 120th Street project was slim.  It had stiff competition from other projects within the North District; many with a much greater amount of active support.  If it happened to make the cut at that level, the next round is competing against the 12 other districts in Seattle; all vying for the minuscule city budget. 

Sadly, last Wednesday the North District Council met and did not choose the NE 120th Street project as one of the three final submissions.  On the bright side, 33rd Ave NE, a street adjacent to NE 120th was chosen.  It's a step in the right direction but I'm still shocked it's this difficult to get these necessary improvements made.  Isn't Seattle the city touted as being the greenest in the country?

As of last week Seattle has a new mayor set to be even greener than the last.  Known for his long environmental background, Mike McGinn rides his bike to and from work everyday.    Surely he will increase the neighborhood improvement funding, right?  That pesky 40 million dollar city budget deficit might make it difficult but I'm hoping McGinn will prove he really does value making Seattle a more walkable city.

Want to help make Northeast Seattle more walkable? Check out these resources:
Ideas for Seattle: Mayor McGinn's website asking residents to submit and vote on ideas to make the city better.
City of Seattle: North Neighborhood Plans: Very detailed neighborhood improvement plans
Feet First: Advocacy organization promoting more walkable communities