Jet City Journal

Despite McGinn, Sierra Club Rhetoric, Environmental Groups are Divided on the Tunnel

The Seattle Times has an interesting story regarding the all-too-cozy dealings between Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and The Sierra Club, who are united in their opposition to the deep bore tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct. While addressing the questionable relationship between the Mayor and the organization he once worked for, the story goes on to point out that environmental groups don't necessarily agree with Hizzoner's claims about the tunnel's negative environmental impact. Far from it, actually. From the Times:

Not all environmental groups in the region share the Sierra Club's view that the tunnel is the worst environmental option to replace the viaduct.

Several point out that tearing down the viaduct allows the city to create an appealing green space along the waterfront, reduces surface-water runoff into Puget Sound, eliminates a huge source of noise pollution, and combats sprawl by making the city a more desirable place to live.

"If we are going to preserve wild places like forests and farms, urban living has to be inspirational," said Peter Goldman, director of the Forest Law Center and a board member of the Washington Conservation Voters.

Goldman said that the mayor's alternative to the tunnel — improving surface streets, transit and Interstate 5 — takes all the cars that would use the tunnel and dumps them onto existing roads.

"I stand side-by-side with him in wanting to get people out of cars, but traffic jams in front of Ivar's [on the waterfront] is not a great urban vision," Goldman said.

Precisely. It's great to see environmental leaders like Peter Goldman stand up to McGinn and the Sierra Club and point out the logical fallacies in their opposition to the tunnel and present a more balanced picture of the tunnel's environmental impact. 

If the mayor were serious about changing the car-centric culture of Seattle, he'd spend less time opposing the tunnel and more time working on developing mass transit options that go beyond busses. But the "hair shirt" option of forcing commuters from their cars by making it too painful to drive without first offering viable alternatives is simply foolish.

 

Ram & Rooster Dumplings: Little Pillows of Awesome

I consider myself something of a Chinese dumpling aficionado. I'd crawl across a field of broken glass for good dumplings. OK, maybe not. But I'd jog across a hot parking lot barefoot for some.

Unfortunately, there are too many places in Seattle that serve mass produced, pre-packaged dumplings that are deep fried and served with some indifferent soy-based sauce or, worse, a weird white sauce that I suspect is nothing more than ranch dressing. In other words, pure heresy on a plate. At the other extreme are the tasty but tiny "gourmet" dumplings that you'll find at places like Wild Ginger.

The best dumplings combine a moist, seasoned filling of meat (usually pork or chicken) and vegetables that lets you taste the individual ingredients wrapped in a thick, chewy but still tender skin that's been steamed then browned on one side. And they're big enough that a few will serve as a meal.

That is most definitely the case with Ram & Rooster Dumplings. We had the chance to try their little pillows of awesome on Saturday at the Seattle Square Market in Occidental Park. They were, by far, the best dumplings I've had in Seattle. You can taste the bits of Bok Choy, ginger and garlic in the pork dumplings and the chicken dumpling had flavorful chunks of mushroom and peas. The skins were just the right thickness and browned perfectly.  They offer a variety of dipping sauces, including traditional soy & vinegar, chili pepper paste and others. Needless to say, there's no ranch dressing here. In addiiton to the chicken and pork dumplings, they also have a vegan option which we didn't try.

Jennifer Lim and Thomasin Levin, the proprietors of Ram & Rooster, set up shop at local farmers and crafts markets. You can find them at the Seattle Square Market on Saturdays and the Meadowbrook Farmers Market on Sundays. If you want to know what a real dumpling is like you have to check them out.

New North Seattle taco truck

Okay, so I don't love the name "Chunky Monkey," except when it refers to the little slice of heaven in a pint carton courtesy of Ben & Jerry. 

The Chunky Monkey is the name of the new "taco truck" at the corner of 90th and Aurora, the former home of Paladar Cubano.  Will this Chunky Monkey also be a little slice of heaven?  

We've been three times.  Our first visit was late one Sunday afternoon, shortly after they opened, and they were nearly out of everything since it was just before their closing time.  Lauren Pineda, who co-owns the Chunky Monkey with her husband Gabriel, apologized for the shortages and explained that they make everything fresh and were still in the process of working out how much to make each morning.  Gabriel offered to put something together for us using the special of the day, seasoned beef dish.  It was delicious.

Our second visit was the very next weekend.  Lauren and Gabriel seem to be working out the kinks, as they had plenty of everything.  I decided to try the Taco Plate, which came with two corn tortillas, topped with tasty carnitas and fresh cilantro, with sides of rice and refried beans.  Nothing special about the rice and beans, but the carnitas were full of flavor, perfectly grilled, and I would definitely have them again.

In fact, when we visited for the third time last weekend, I did have the carnitas tacos again.  And again, they were delicious, well worth the wait.  Did I mention the wait?  Yeah, there is a bit of a wait because everything is made fresh, right when you order it. 

I am not ready to say that the Chunky Monkey is a little slice of heaven, but I will say that Lauren and Gabriel seem genuinely dedicated to providing great food and friendly service.  And they are a welcome addition to Aurora Avenue.  Go check them out (and try one of Lauren's homemade cupcakes):  

8953 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103

Scenes from the South Lake Union Block Party

Food, sun and zombies. Really, it doesn't get any better on a (rare) warm Friday night in Seattle. The South Lake Union Block Party at The SLU Discovery Center drew a respectable crowd yesterday. We had a chance to try a couple of the ice cream cookie sandwiches from Diane Skwiercz's Street Treats truck. Two chewy and (in my case) chip-laden cookies with a healthy dollop of Bluebird ice cream between them. A perfectly messy way to celebrate the dog days of summer. Good enough, in fact, to serve as dinner.

New Farmers Market on Aurora near Greenlake?

According to the latest newsletter from the folks at GAIN (not yet posted online), the former Half Price Pots location on Aurora Avenue at 81st street could become the city's newest farmers market.  The lot is currently for sale and one prospective buyer, a Wenatchee farmer, hopes to rent space to other farmers to sell produce.

That would certainly be a welcome addition to the neighborhood and a step up from the vacant lots, empty storefronts and the payday loan shops that seem to be attracted to Aurora.

 

Our summer of (weather) discontent

 Over the last couple of weeks, a persistent marine layer has made Seattle mornings seem more like those in San Francisco. As if the heat-sapping fog weren't enough, now we have a new issue: haze from several wild fires in British Columbia.  Cliff Mass has an interesting graphic that shows how the smoke is flowing south and adding an orange glow to our afternoons and evenings.

(Un)intended Consequences of Seattle's Bike Masterplan

The image to the right shows one of the consequences of Seatle's Bicycle Master Plan. Taken this past Thursday at roughly 8 in the morning, it shows a 4-block traffic back up on 7th avenue from the Westlake intersection west.

There were no extenuating circumstances causing the back-up. No accidents, police activity or anything else. Instead, it's a direct result of the decision to convert what was formerly a shared bike/car lane on 7th into a dedicated bicycle-only lane from Dexter Ave. all the way to Virginia. And it's created a serious traffic bottleneck where none existed before.

With so many riders coming up from Dexter and riding a few blocks on 7th before heading downtown, the dedicated bike lane is a good idea. But there's no reason it should extend all the way to Virginia. In fact, there's a good reason it shouldn't.

There are two sets of traffic lights close together at Virginia and Westlake. That's also where 7th ave switches from a two-way to a one-way street eastbound. Since the lights aren't synchronized, only 4 cars at a time can get across Westlake before hitting another light at Virginia without blocking Westlake. With a lane of traffic gone, it's now impossible for more than a couple of cars to queue up at Westlake to make the light at Virginia. In addition,  there's now a cascade effect as more cars get caught at the lights at preceding blocks on 7th.

Keeping in mind that the photo above was taken in late July, when car traffic volume during rush hour is low, there is a strong likelihood that this problem will only get worse as the year goes on. It's not inconceivable that the back-ups could extend all the way back to the Aurora interchange.

There is an easy solution, however: end the dedicated bike lane at Lenora Ave and allow cars and bikes to share the same lane from Lenora through Virginia. That would relieve the bottleneck at Westlake and reduce or eliminate the cascade back-up it creates on 7th. As the vast majority of bikers turn south before reaching Lenora, it should have a limited impact on bike commuters. Another option would be to change the light pattern so that there are greens at Westlake and Virginia at the same time.

Still, it's odd that no one thought about these issues before and, at a higher level, raises questions about the overall Bicycle Master Plan. How much research was done before determining where dedicated bikes lanes should be created? Does the plan offer the flexibility to adjust routes if assumptions about car and bike traffic prove erroneous? Who is actually monitoring the impact that these new bike lanes are having for traffic and traffic patterns in the city?

Now that more of the master plan is in effect, it might be time to reassess these questions. It will be interesting to see whether our bike-loving mayor has the interest of all commuters in mind or just those of his fellow bike commuting constituency.

Fixing Aurora Avenue North

If you live within a quarter mile of Aurora Avenue North, you're probably familiar with the problems highlighted in a recent Seattle Times story. 

"About 20 motels operate now from North 40th to North 145th, the Seattle city limits, and peeling facades, burned-out neon signs and buckled asphalt lots hint to conditions inside."

[...]

"The density of cheap digs has fueled Aurora's reputation as a magnet for drugs and prostitution. An average room goes for $50 a night."

[...]

"'Crime on Aurora has been a deeply ingrained problem that's lasted for decades," said Seattle police Capt. Mike Washburn, commander of the North Precinct. "Aurora is a state highway, it's easy to get in and out of ... and the motels are certainly a piece of this.'"

While the article points out that many of the hotels on Aurora are well-managed and not contributing to the area's crime problem, there are clearly some landlords who permit illegal activities to take place on their premises.

I'm probably not alone in wishing that the motels would just go away. But advocates for low-income and homeless families insist that the motels are a necessary evil, as they provide much-needed housing for the city's less fortunate. That's a fair point, but many of the motels charge outrageous sums for rooms that are, in a word, horrible. Even worse, the city, state and Federal government are actually paying for this squalor through various housing assistance programs. Put another way, you and I are keeping slum lords in business through our tax dollars.

So, here is a modest proposal to address the problems of Aurora Avenue. The city and state should start a program to acquire the offending motels through eminent domain, refurbish them, manage them and rent them out to low-income residents at reasonable rates.  Couple that with the establishment of a Seattle Police storefront station on Aurora somewhere between 85th and 120th streets and the initiation of regular foot patrols. Clean, well-managed motels and a stepped up police presence would do much to eliminate the underlying problems that have made Aurora Avenue a boulevard of broken dreams.

As long as Aurora Avenue continues to be a haven for petty crime, drugs and prostitution, there is no hope that it can rise above its current seedy circumstances. Respectable businesses won't want any part of a neighborhood where potential customers fear to walk.

Yosemite on fire

DSC_0128, originally uploaded by Kevin Pedraja.

Tina and I happened to arrive in Yosemite just as the Big Meadow wildfire took off. This was not what we expected to see in the park. I shot this from Wawona Road, about 2 miles outside of the Tunnel View area on August 27th.

Mono Lake

DSC_0111, originally uploaded by Kevin Pedraja.

Mono Lake is a high desert lake that sits outside the eastern edge of Yosemite National Park. It's fresh water springs pumping up through its alkaline waters produced tall limestone spires, called tufas, which look like sand castles.