Consequential or silly?

New Wells Fargo sign has MPCC seeing red (plus gold and black)

There was a new sign installed at the Wells Fargo branch last week that replaces a very similar sign that had graced the site for many years. The replacement sign has somewhat larger gold lettering for the bank's name, the color red covers more of the surface area than was true of the old sign, and the Wells Fargo Wagon (and, for that matter, the Wells Fargo horses) are now black instead of white. These changes, apparently, are just too garish for some residents (can something be too garish or is just being garish sufficient?).

At any rate, the reaction of the Madison Park Community Council (MPCC) was swift and devastating. A letter was immediately drafted and delivered to the Wells Fargo manager asking for a return to the past: Give Us Back the Old Sign (or better yet, no sign at all!) The new sign is just too out of line with the village character of Madison Park and should not stand, the MPCC insisted.  In a posting to some Madison Park residents, the council urged that citizens voice their complaints directly to Wells Fargo's local representatives.

As of yesterday, we understand from Wells Fargo that there have been two complaints. Here, for comparison purposes, is what the old sign looked like when lit up at night:

Communication (or lack thereof) in the ‘hood

Here’s a little piece of information that close readers of this blog already know: the construction of a new SR 520 floating bridge will necessitate the closing of the on and off ramps from Lake Washington Boulevard for the duration of the project, which is scheduled to begin in 2012. This means that for a period of about two years, everyone who currently uses those ramps will be forced to find an alternative route, thereby changing the traffic patterns along the E. Madison Street corridor, in the Arboretum, and—most especially—at Montlake.

Now maybe this information is of interest to only a few people here in the Park, but I suspect it is something that if the uninformed knew about they would be saying “What? Why didn’t I know about this?” News about future traffic flow, I think, fits into that category of information that might be called interesting or useful, but probably not critical.

The category of critical information, however, might very well include the fact that the State is seriously considering a plan to build a three-story-high floating bridge across the Lake to replace the existing low-rise affair. Many otherwise well-informed neighbors of mine (and probably most of the people living in Madison Park) have little idea of what’s going on with 520 or what the potential impact might be on them personally or on our community. Their probable reaction when all decisions have been finalized and the bridge is being built: “What? Are you kidding me? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Critical information is the kind that if people had it they could act upon it—perhaps even change outcomes. Without information, the possibility of influencing events is forestalled. What you don’t know can hurt you. That’s true with regard to 520, and it’s also true for a lot of other issues that potentially impact the Park. For example, if a water taxi service were under consideration or a light-rail line extension planned for Madison Park, if parking meters were being proposed for our arterials, or if bus service were being re-routed through the neighborhood, would each of us who is potentially impacted become aware and be able to react?

Not hardly. You who are reading this are among the best informed in the ‘hood, but you’re a pretty select group. Those involved with the Madison Park Community Council (MPCC) are also well informed, but they are an even more select group. There are approximately 4,300 adults living within the confines of Madison Park—and perhaps a few hundred of them (I’m being generous here) are actually aware on a regular basis of what’s happening in the neighborhood. Many may not care to know—they lead busy lives, have a lot of responsibility, and are already dealing with too much information.

Many others, I suspect, would like to know what’s going on, but are just not up on how to get the information. Right now the Madison Park Times and Madison Park Hardware (that’s their message board pictured above) are among the best sources. But they both have their drawbacks. In the case of the paper, it’s not timely--and it attempts in its limited space to cover several more neighborhoods than just ours. The hardware store, meanwhile, has a limited audience--and you have to walk there to get the news.
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So how do we widen the circle of people in the know? This blog is one attempt, and the MPCC has now come up with another. Residents interested in getting information by email about happenings in our community can sign up for the Madison Park Email Exchange, a new service designed to promote the sharing of news and ideas. About 70 people are already signed up, I am told.

Well, it’s a start.

Short takes - 6

We’ve just experienced another glorious, sunny weekend in the Park; and I can’t help but wonder whether we might have to pay some future price for all of the beautiful weather we’ve had this year. Of course, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I’ve always been a “glass-half-empty” kind of guy.

Today is Columbus Day and therefore a bank holiday (we bankers make every excuse for a day off that we can). This gives me the opportunity to do an unusual weekday-afternoon posting covering a variety of previously unreported topics.

Official maps promulgated (yawn)

Virtually every other blog in town got all excited and did posts last week about both the City’s new snow-removal-plan map and the Seattle school district’s new school boundary maps. If you are interested in taking a look for yourself, just click on the hyperlinks. I think I can sum up the import of both maps by stating that pretty much nothing has changed relative to Madison Park.

The snow removal plan designates E. Madison Street as a “Level 2” road, meaning that the City will try to keep one lane open in either direction in case of snow. Whether this means that it will actually happen, or not, is something that can hardly be predicted from reading the map. Madison Park was, after all, clearly on a second-priority street (or was it third?) when the last snow fell. And we all remember how that worked out.

With regard to the new assignment plan for the public schools, McGilvra’s school boundaries are changed only slightly. Instead of extending south to E. John Street, the attendance area now extends one block further, to E. Denny. Also, a few more blocks around 23rd Avenue E., up the hill, have been added. The biggest advantage of the new assignment plan is the fact that parents are guaranteed that if they live within a school’s boundaries their children can attend that school. It’s not apparent, however, that this policy change will have any impact on McGilvra’s students, only about half of whom currently live within the school’s attendance area.

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Fishin' is easy in the Park?

It’s news to me, but several websites state that Madison Park is a great place to go fishing. Apparently the dock at the E. Madison Street road end is known for “fair-to-good” perch fishing, in season; and smallmouth bass and catfish are also supposedly catchable from that location (maggots are reportedly good bait, but who has them?). We are past the peak fishing season, I am told, but that hasn’t stopped all of the fishing activity. I accosted several people who were fishing off the dock late last month, but no one had caught any fish—or if they had, they weren't willing to tell me about it. I wasn't checking for licenses.

Book sale a great success

The efforts of the Madison Park Community Council to raise a little extra money through a book sale paid off last month. MPCC President Ken Myrabo reports that about $1,200 was raised, including $250 paid by a book wholesaler who purchased all of the remaining unsold books as the one-day sale ended. The extra income is just about enough, Myrabo notes, to pay the Council’s liability insurance premium for the year.

Tile artists happy with the Park venue

At dinner last night I happened to run into one of the artists participating in the Northwest Handmade Tile Festival, held over the weekend in Pioneer Hall. She told me that the show was a great success, with a lot of attendees and quite a lot of tiles sold. Given that success, it is highly likely that the Park will be the venue for the Festival again next year, she said.