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Thursday, October 21, 2010

North of the Ballard Library






Today, it was back to Ballard for a visit to the Quilting Loft on Market Street and then a walk through the streets north of the Ballard Library.

A friend and I walked all the streets from Northwest 56th to Northwest 62nd Street between 20th and 24th Avenues NW. We walked about 3.65 miles on well maintained, treed sidewalks. We noticed that some of the sidewalks had tiles with street names different from today's street numbers. We assumed that these streets have been renamed over the years.

Homes here tend to be compact and in the moderate price range but are probably quite expensive per square foot.

We stopped in the Ballard Library and I was amazed (as I always am) at the size of the space relative to the number of books on the shelves. Most of the print collection is probably in circulation and another chunk is probably electronic.

We saw Halloween decorations, passed a hair salon that had an outdoor patio that can be rented for parties, stopped in JoAnne Fabric for an item I needed for a project, ate pastries at Fresh Flours at 60th and Phinney, saw a house (former church) decorated with tricycles, noticed lots of people out and about, and had a lovely walk.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Hawthorne Hills

Last week, a friend and I walked most of the streets of Hawthorne Hills. I went back early this week to compete the 9 mile walk. In the two walks, I covered all the streets bounded by Sand Point Way Northeast, NE 65th Street and 45th Avenue NE.

This is a neat and tidy neighborhood with views of Lake Washington. Homes and gardens are well kept, there are sidewalks and curbs throughout. Utility lines are not visible and are either underground or neatly hidden in back yards. Homes are in the expensive range. The terrain is hilly and homes on the upslope with a view are more expensive.

I saw one other walker, a few construction workers, a crew bailing out a flooded utility hole and a few people getting into cars.

North of Haller Lake

Yesterday, my husband and I walked all the streets between North 135th and North 145th Streets from Meridian Avenue North to Ashworth Avenue North. The walk was about 5.2 miles and again abutted Ingraham High School. This terrain was also flat and the neighborhood was pretty quiet once we were a block away from the busy streets (145th and, at times, 135th). Some streets had sidewalks and curbs, some had only curbs, some had open drainage ditches. Housing prices were reasonable. Some homes had lovely gardens and two had interesting metal sculptures. Some homes were very well kept, some were not. There were quite a few dogs behind fences.

Haller Lake Baptist Church was open so I stopped for a look and met their friendly pastor. Once again, it appeared that Ingraham students were out for walks. Some were eating lunch outside and some appeared to have driven off campus for lunch.

There were two proposed land use action signs up in this area. One was on the Ingraham property and involved cutting down and replanting trees to make room for school expansion. The second sign indicated a request to build homes on the vacant city block bounded by 140th, Meridian, Roosevelt and Burke.

Roosevelt Way North ran through this neighborhood and, again, provided no good place to walk.


Northeast Haller lake

In late September, I walked all the streets between NE 130th and NE 145th from 1st Avenue NE to Meridian Avenue North.

The terrain was pretty flat and most homes were modest with asking prices in the reasonable range. Some homes were hidden, some were well kept, some not. Some streets looked like private driveways. One home had really done a good job of landscaping its open drainage ditch.

The neighborhood abuts Ingraham High School and Helene Madison Pool and I did see some young people who might have been students out walking around the neighborhood.

I stopped into the Haller Lake United Methodist Church to admire their lovely sanctuary. A very nice woman opened the locked door for me and told me about their preschool program which was in session.

This walk was approximately 6 miles and included a portion of Roosevelt Way N which had no sidewalk and a very narrow shoulder which was not walker-friendly.