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 Our walk with the mayor was a much larger than we expected! Many high-level city employees were there, such as the SPD North Precinct captain, our District 5 City Council member, the Fire Department chief, head of Parks & Rec, head of Department of Neighborhoods, head of Utilities, engineers from SDOT, and of course the Mayor. On top of that we had a police bike escort to sort out traffic for us.
We hope that the city will take our requests seriously and help us improve the neighborhood.
Thank you to all the neighbors who came out for the social hour and who walked with us! It was actually a lot of fun.
If you have any ideas for how to use the $3000 grant from doing the Find It, Fix It Community Walk, please let us know, or make an application yourself. The application form is here. Applications should be made soon, and definitely anyone interested in submitting one should contact the city within two weeks (see the application for contact info under Frequently Asked Questions).
The idea is to get neighbors together to improve the neighborhood. After a grant is approved, the project organizers do the work and pay for any material costs or services. Then the city pays the money back out of the grant after receipts are submitted.
What can you do with a Community Project Grant?
- Host litter pick-up or graffiti clean-up events (we already have an Adopt-A-Street route, but an extra cleanup elsewhere would be fine)
- Paint a mural on a public space (how about the shelter house at Pinehurst Playground?)
- Create and install new educational or way-finding signage
- Plant trees or flowers along a sidewalk or street median
- Learn more about past Community Project Grants by visiting www.seattle.gov/finditfixit
Pinehurst Community Council is submitting a proposal for more plantings in the Pinehurst Pocket Park, but if chosen, that will leave lots of money for other proposals.
Businesses in the Northgate/Pinehurst area can also apply. I thought it would be fun if Great Dog did something to beautify the stretch along their store.
If someone from Hazel Wolf K-8 wanted to submit a proposal for more crosswalk flags they are welcome to do that!
What else?
The Northgate Pedestrian and Bike Bridge will improve connections between the east and west sides of the Northgate community, helping knit together a neighborhood historically divided by a 10-lane interstate and maximizing the use of transit facilities. The King County Transit Center currently serves over 6,000 passengers a day, and the future light rail station is expected to serve over 15,000 passengers per day.
When complete, the bridge will help connect the neighborhood’s thriving job and retail centers with the rest of the city and region. The project will also connect to nearby walking and biking routes with a multi-use bike and ped path along 1st Ave NE between NE 92nd Street and NE Northgate Way.
The original bridge design exceeded the approved budget, so in late 2016 a new team was formed to design a bridge within the budget. The new bridge design includes several cost-saving changes, such as reducing the bridge width, shortening the bridge length, enhancing the user experience with overlooks and more direct lines of sight, and reducing the overall project duration through changes in construction techniques. The team cut the project cost by half. See how here.
SDOT’s bridge project team will be at a May 6 open house organized by King County for the county’s transit-oriented development project at Northgate, and SDOT will be holding a project-specific open house later this spring/summer. For information about the May 6 open house, click here.
The Find It, Fix It Community Walk includes a $3,000 grant for improving the community. Anyone may apply, but note that you must spend the money prior to being reimbursed by the City after you turn in your receipts. Pinehurst Community Council will no doubt submit some applications, and you can, too. Usually the City gets only 3 or 4 applications, so maybe there won’t be much competition for your idea! Applications may be made from a week before the walk to two weeks after, so that would be April 18 – May 9.
Here is the application form, which includes more information. We are part of Northgate, so that’s the box you would check.
 SPD tunes its policing plan by precinct and neighborhood because it knows no two neighborhoods in Seattle are the same. The Micro Community Policing Plans (MCPP) were designed to address the needs of each community. The plans take a three prong approach that brings community engagement, crime data and police services together to get direct feedback on perceptions of crime and public safety. MCPP are tailored to meet the individual needs of each community, with a unique approach owned by the community.
You can use the interactive tool here to see North Precinct strategy and individual policing plan strategies. Pinehurst west of 15th Ave NE is in the Northgate plan, while Pinehurst east of 15th Ave NE is in the Lake City Plan. Here is the current strategy for Northgate:
And here is the strategy for Lake City:
Seattle University did a public safety survey in 2015. The survey results are here. The final report is here.
Northgate residents’ public safety concerns are:
Lake City’s public safety concerns are:
The plan is all set for our Find It, Fix It Community Walk with the mayor, police chief and city council member. This walk provides a unique opportunity for us to identify neighborhood needs and discuss challenges directly with City leaders. All the things we’ll spotlight were suggestions submitted by Pinehurst community members. The suggestions were whittled down to fit criteria for a one mile walk. We will, however, show the mayor photos of some of the suggestions that were too far away to be on the route.
Here is the agenda, starting at 5:00 pm Tuesday, April 25, 2017:
Meet at Uncle Mike’s BBQ at 11740 15th Ave NE
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
- Sign-in, refreshments, volunteer sign-up opportunities for various City programs, and Orca Lift registration
- Pinehurst bumper stickers available for $1 donation to Pinehurst Community Council!
6:00 pm – 6:20 pm
• Welcome remarks from Mayor Ed Murray and Council Member Debora Juarez
6:20 pm – 7:25 pm
- Walk commences along the following route, (see map) and below
7:25 pm – 7:30 pm
• Walk concludes at Uncle Mike’s Barbeque
- Department representatives and City staff available for follow-up questions
We had our first meeting with city staff to plan the April 25 walk with Mayor Murray, the police chief and everyone else who wants to come (the more the merrier – it shows community cohesion of Pinehurst!). There was a good turnout – thanks to those of you who attended. Many of the suggestions you submitted on this blog and on the Pinehurst Seattle Facebook page are included in the walk. The choices were constrained by the need for the walk to be about a mile long, and to include about 6 stops. A map of our proposed route and stops is below. It will be refined at the next meeting. We will bring photos of some of the areas not on the walk to show the Mayor.
The next meeting is to finalize the walk route and speakers, and if time permits, walk the route and practice using the PA system. This meeting is Tuesday, April 18 at 6:30, at Uncle Mike’s BBQ, 11740 15th Ave NE. Please do come!
Here is a partial picture of Pinehurst property crime for the month. Click on the map to enlarge it.
You can see ALL the types of crime at http://web6.seattle.gov/mnm/policereports.aspx. Select the North neighborhood and enter a date range.
 As part of participation in the Find It, Fix It Community Walk, we get to submit proposals for a $3,000 grant to do something to improve safety or appearance of our neighborhood.
Proposals are accepted starting a week before the walk (which is April 25) and for two weeks afterwards. Please read the blurb below and send your ideas to info@pinehurstseattle.org, or contact the city directly as shown in the blurb.
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