Water, Neighborhoods, and Light Rail

I've had alot on the mind the last few days as to all that is going on in the Planning realm. Today is going to be the hottest day on record in Seattle, which means I'll be hiding out in an air conditioned office for most of it. Most folks on the west side of the state do not have AC in their homes. I'm especially concerned for the older folks and others without a good gauge of their needs. Drink lots of water....

A great segue into the issue of Water. The State Department of Ecology has just recently trumped the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners and has enacted a moratorium on all new wells for upper Kittitas. This reflects a serious fact that our finite natural resources are not keeping up with the demand for development, especially in the rural areas. Water is fundamental. In planning, this is a required utility which would likely cause for permit denial if no water was available. There is a complex water rights body of laws which are based prioritization and grandfathering. Wells to serve new residential uses likely fall to the bottom of the pecking order.

On Monday evening, I attended a Neighborhood Planning "Status Check" and sat down at the Central Area neighborhood table. The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is conducting feedback sessions to get a sense of how the 1999 Neighborhood Plans are "doing." The room at the Rainier Valley Community Center was a sauna, but people still participated, and I learned heaps about the CD.

Getting dropped off the bus at around Rainier Avenue and Alaska St., I had to cross the newly opened Light Rail tracks. A little like Frogger, I had heard that it was impossible to make it across four lanes of traffic AND the bi-directional rail tracks. After waiting 5 minutes for the signal, a 32 second countdown allowed pedestrians to get all the way across without confrontation. Sadly, a man was killed this week in the middle of the night. Whatever motivated him to hang-out in the middle of the LR track is still a mystery. Reminded me of all of the suicidals in NYC jumping in front of subway trains over the years. I guess it comes with the territory. - RH