We were reading in the Ballard News Tribune that city council member Sally Clark is considering regularly shutting down Ballard Ave to cars to promote commerce. I'm sorry, but when was the last time you strolled leisurely to a restaurant in pouring rain, through the snow, in omnipresent drizzle or rode your bike down a windy wet street to get to a restaurant? Are you crazy? Did you notice the nice weather we had this summer? No, we didn't either.
We at BGG have been stuck in traffic back ups that extended miles due to such cutsey fun-time street festivals as The Greenwood Car Show or The Ballard Seafood Fest. Sure, those festivals are fun and you get to feel very EUROPEAN whilst strolling around in the road with your street food and your overpriced tchotchkes in reusable shopping bags. Yeah, that's just awesome! But pity the poor asshole who is trying to get home who can't get across town because some neighborhood decided they wanted to party in the streets.
Give us a flippin' break! Ballard and the City of Seattle can't get their transportation issues together enough to synchronize street lights (something which would save us millions of dollars in wasted commute time/jam time) so you really think this would make people who live here happy? We don't.
4 comments:
Holla!!!
Respectfully, I wholeheartedly disagree. It's a great idea, would have minimal disruption, and -- as a fellow Ballardite -- I would participate regularly. And it could be great for local neighborhood businesses.
I disagree as well. They should just perma-farmers-market the street ala Boulder's outdoor mall (or, better yet, cover it like downtown Vegas [minus all the vegas shit of course]).
I work on Ballard Ave, there's no parking, the effective speed limit is 2mph, you're walking to whatever you're visiting anyway on Ballard Ave.
This is a wonderful idea. Yes it rains in Seattle. When we are lucky, it snows! This rad neighborhood's strollability is one of the reasons I moved here. You can discover some great things when you take a minute to get out of the car, get a latte and walk down the street. You run into neighbors and chat with them! Wow!
Ballard ave isn't the best street to drive on, anyway. I'd rather walk it any day, rain or shine. It's fun, try it sometime.
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