I Hate Seattle

Did anyone else catch this story of the elderly man, Ed Jackson, that set his apartment on fire and shot himself in the head in an apartment-building at 1605 Bellevue Ave. on Seattle's Capitol Hill on October 27th?

The fire, which was reported about 6:20 a.m., was in a building slated to be torn down, according to the city's department of planning and development. The elderly man was the only occupant of the building, said Dana Vander Houwen, fire department spokeswoman. He was brought out by medics but died at the scene, she said.

The fire began on the first floor and quickly spread to the fourth floor of the building, located at 1605 Bellevue Avenue near Pine Street. A second fire alarm went out at 6:30 a.m. and 65 firefighters showed up to fight the blaze, Vander Houwen said.

The 89-year-old man who died lived in the building for about 40 years, said Dennis Saxman, a friend who knew him. According to a land-use notice, the structure was set to be replaced by a six-story residential (aka Condo) building with ground floor retail and parking for more than 100 cars underground. Does this sound like a familiar plan for an old apartment building on Capitol Hill.

All other tenants in the 26-unit building had moved out, said Reneé Witt, spokeswoman for the Seattle Police Department. The owner had told the victim he had to vacate that day, she said.
"Apparently, he was the last hold out," Witt said. She said there was so much stuff in his apartment that "it was spewing over onto the balcony." It's unclear at this point if the stuff impeded his ability to get out in time, she said.

The victim's wife had died a few years ago and he was living there alone, Saxman said. The victim, "a feisty man with nerves of steel," was having a hard time dealing with the impending move, Saxman said. "It was tough on him," Saxman said. "He had been here for so long."

John Werner — former owner of the complex who sold the building in 2006 — said he had known the victim for more than 20 years. In fact, Werner said, he had employed him and his wife to manage the property. Werner described the victim as robust, saying that the first time he saw a doctor was when he was in his early 80's. He and his wife apparently had no children and had lived in the building since 1969, Werner said. "He was a fine gentleman, very dependable," Werner said. "It's very sad."

This is clearly a story of a person that was lost in the mix. The current owner should have helped him with relocation services since he was an 89-year old man. I mean come on Yo! This is so disturbing that he dedicated 40 years of his life to the upkeep of this property and they just left him to literally die in it. What kind of respect of human dignity do they have. I hope that he continues to haunt the building leaving it unmarketable. I am sure his spirit will stay there with such a tragic event. Condo buyers beware.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008319691_firedeath28m.html

Neighbours, Seattle’s venerable gay dance club, filed a lawsuit last week fighting for its right to remain in a warehouse-style building in the Pike-Pine neighborhood. The bar opened there in 1983, started serving liquor a few years later, and has since made a patchwork of remodels, from go-go cages to another dance floor in the basement.

But the building’s owners, a land trust comprising several individuals, sent a letter to the bar owners in early August terminating the lease and telling the bar to vacate by the end of the month.

In the letter, landlords claim the bar of violated terms of the lease signed in March of this year. It says the lease allows the tenant to use the space as a “tavern… commissary, restaurant. … and cabaret.” But, it says, “No food, however, is prepared and served on the premises. Furthermore, the current operation of the Premises as a dance club is not a permitted use.” The letter goes on to say that the club remodeled without permission and allowed liquor to be taken outside of the bar, as examples of further lease violations.

But there is a no secret that Neighbours is dance club. Leases over previous decades used similar language, the lawsuit shows. So it seems extremely unusual that the landlords would, after signing another lease in March, suddenly act surprised that Neighbours is, in fact, a dance club. An attorney for the landlords has not returned calls to comment.

“We don’t think there is any merit whatsoever to the landlords’ claims,” says Mark Kimball, an attorney representing Neighbours. He says owners were informed about how the space was used. “We believe the business is accurately described in the lease.”

Kimball would not speculate on why the bar owners were attempting to negate the lease after 25 years. He says the bar owners and the landlords are currently in negotiations. “I am extremely confident that the dispute will be resolved favorably to Neighbours,” he says.

Neighbours has been a staple business in the Pike/Pine corridor and has been almost solely responsible for establishing the area surrounding its business as an entertainment and nightlife area. I mean how many Capitol Hill residents have actually lived in the area for 25 years let alone 5 years. The Capitol Hill community should come together and show them public support against the building owners. What do you think they are planning to do with the building? More freakin' condos that won't sell? They are probably a bunch of tight wad born again Christians that are pissed that they own a building that is occupied by a gay nightclub.

There was a good article in the Seattle Times about the recent Sub Pop 20-Year Anniversary and how Mayor Nickels tried to get a little PR spotlight to act like he actually gave a shit about Seattle's music and nightlife which is the cornerstone to why anyone in their right mind would want to move to this city in the first place. Seattle's music scene and culture is what attracted me back in 1995 to move to Capitol Hill.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2008057827_nite18.html

Nickels is so influenced by Seattle builders and the commercial real estate community that he has developed a Seattle Nightclub task force and is implementing a Seattle nightclub license that business owners that have a venue of 99+ with live music will have to renew every year with some real funny stipulations on trash, fighting, noise, etc.

He has recently pushed through a new sound ordinance for music venues that I am sure will start getting enforced as soon as their can figure out how to measure ambient noise on the street that can already be louder then the allowed decibel levels from cars passing by and people talking. I wonder how this will effect events like Bumpershoot and outdoor festivals like the Capitol Hill Block Party which is now pretty close to some new condos in the Pike/Pine corridor.

http://www.seattle.gov/council/newsdetail.asp?ID=7052&Dept=28

In the last year, Seattle bar and club owners have organized themselves to have a voice with the newly proposed regulations and laws that the City Council are considering. The Seattle Nightlife and Music Association was formed and has membership and tons of information on this issue:

http://www.seattlenma.org

What would this city be without it's vibrant live DJ and music scene? I am sure drug usage would go through the roof way higher then it already is but in a bad way. I do agree that there should be some guidelines to shut down venues that aren't being responsible in their operations but the mayor is really gunning against our highly cherished nightlife just to appease these new condo dwellers that want to live in an entertainment corridor or downtown in the bar district.

Support your local pub, bar, live music venues and nightclubs. It is bad enough that Seattle lost the Crocodile Cafe this past year.

-Nostalgia B

I just heard today that the old Capitol 1524 sneaker boutique that moved out of 1524 E. Olive Way is turning into a Checkmasters check cashing / money advance B.S. business. It is always super frustrating how some residents on the Hill complain about businesses saying that they don't mix in with the neighborhood and I have heard some negative conversations for businesses on this particular block. This is some hard Karma for anyone that ever complained about this store attracting bad clientèle. I am sure they'll put up a nice 24-hour neon sign on both sides of the block (E. Olive and Denny).

Other upcoming businesses on this block that will add some much needed character and flavor are The Bus Stop (being relocated from the new 'mound' parking lot on Pine and The Buck (log-cabin cowboy themed) a few doors down from The Elite gay bar.

I wrestle with myself often on whether I hate Seattle drivers or pedestrians more. It usually depends on whether I am driving around Capitol Hill or on I-5. I think that most Seattle drivers aren't from the city and as soon as they get within 10 miles of downtown they forget how to drive. This is in my radius of what I have to drive and deal with on a daily. The biggest area of deficiency I have seen is "Merging" into traffic. They might want to have a few hours dedicated to this in the traffic school manual. All you need to do is look over your shoulder to see if it is clear and if there is someone next to you then either speed up if you are driving faster then them or slow down if they are driving faster then you. It's that easy. The other big issue I have with Seattle drivers is that they don't know how to use the commuter lane and fast lane (that is the one on the farthest left). I miss California dearly on this one. I try to not tailgate as I hate it when people tailgate me but it is hard to do when you have traffic moving faster in the right lanes on the freeway. I can't even say that it is usually older people, women or Asian drivers as I have surveyed the violators and they cross the gamut.

Now, the pedestrians in Seattle really think they are drivers and will walk out in front of you with no car behind you just to make you come to an abrupt halt. What is the matter with waiting 2 more seconds for me to pass before stepping out from an unmarked crossing area?

I have actually seen someone walk on top of another car's hood for pulling out into the intersection to look around in order to take a left turn down Pike off Summit Avenue which is a bit tricky sometimes. If that was my car, the pedestrian would have had a karate kick to the neck. Seriously. I don't play. Remember if you ever see a dark grey Acura TL driving around Capitol Hill that is pulling out a little to look around the corner to see if a car is coming not to walk on or slap his window.

Pedestrians in Seattle also like to wear dark clothes and do the step into the street routine at dusk too and will always give you dirty looks even if you aren't wearing your night vision goggles.

Don't even get me started on Seattle transit drivers even though they are nothing compared to the Portland transit demons.

- Nostalgia B