Broadway Neighborhood of Capitol Hill

A need for art supplies brought me to Capitol Hill today so I took a 6.7 mile walk through many of the streets between Madison and Aloha from Broadway to 14th Avenue E.

This is a high density neighborhood with lots of things to see; it is probably one of the the most walkable neighborhoods in Seattle.

The southern portion is dominated by Seattle Central Community College and Cal Anderson Park. Today, there were lots of people out enjoying the park's sun, shade and water feature.

Broadway is door to door restaurants and shops;

it has a few big construction holes (one for the light rail tunnel) and views of the Space Needle.

The northern portion houses Lowell Elementary School and is close to Volunteer Park. There are many large single family houses and tree-lined streets in this area.

The area north of John and east of Broadway is residential with some single family homes and lots of apartment houses. I spotted a planned park at the corner Federal and Republican, a community garden at 10th and Thomas and a similar sculpture around the block from the Jimi Hendrix sculpture.

This area is home to the Century Ballroom housed in the Odd Fellows Hall on Pine, Parkside School, Central Lutheran Church and All Pilgrims Christian Church.

There was much to see and enjoy on this walk.

Haller Lake

Today, I took a 5.9 mile walk in the Haller Lake neighborhood near Northwest Hospital and Washelli Cemetery. I walked streets between Stone Avenue N and I-5 from Northgate Way to 125th Street.

This is a very diverse neighborhood. The western portion is dominated by the hospital and the cemetery but also houses a trailer park and Halcyon, a community of manufactured homes for the elderly. There is a golf driving range to the west and a large storage yard for building supplies and equipment to the north. Historical markers are placed along the fence and do add interest. They got me thinking about what this neighborhood was like years ago and wondering if an amusement park could still fit in today.

Due west of the hospital is Stendall Place, an upscale private community.

The streets immediately north and east of the hospital and cemetery are mostly residential but close to Northgate Way, there are medical/dental buildings and businesses. Northgate Elementary School is sandwiched between the hospital and I-5 but still one block from each. Its ball field goes all the way to Corliss Avenue.

There were many dead end streets and some of the streets were quite nice

while others looked unloved.

There were some newer dense housing complexes and lots of housing built close to walls and fences.

My biggest discoveries on this walk were the separate religious cemeteries within Washelli. Cemetery. This makes sense since many religions bury their dead in consecrated ground and they probably all have their own ways of consecrating.

Roosevelt near Cowen Park

Yesterday, my husband and I took a 5.5 mile walk in the area around Cowen Park. we walked the streets bounded by Ravenna Blvd., NE 65th Street and 15th Avenue NE plus a few adjacent streets.

This is a really mixed area with commercial areas along Ravenna and 65th and residential areas in between. There is a large Park and Pool area under I-5 and and there are green fields in Cowen Park.

Ravenna Blvd has a nice green median strip and is lined with shade trees. The point at which 15th Avenue crosses over the park is a deep ravine.

Parking strips were lushly planted, many with fruits and vegetables.

This area is home to restaurants, a car rental, a (pet) fish store, two photography studios, an art supply store, some health care establishments, the Cowen Park Grocery, Roosevelt Square (the home of a Whole Foods) and a future light rail station.

This is a nice, walkable, neighborhood.

Downtown and First Hill

Yesterday, I took the bus from Ballard downtown and walked up the hill to a doctor's appointment on First Hill.

Next, I walked to Cafe Presse on 12th just off Madison and met my husband for lunch. This Cafe has the best baguettes and our sandwiches were excellent. I was early so I walked a few blocks into the neighborhood just east of the Seattle University campus and found some nice streets and an urban garden.

After lunch, we walked over to East Pike and treated ourselves to frozen custard at Old School Custard then walked down the hill to the Seattle Art Museum to see the 'Beauty and the Bounty' exhibit.

I walked 5.7 miles but only logged a few new streets. This was a wonderful day.

Northern Roosevelt and Ravenna

Today, my husband and I returned to Roosevelt and Ravenna. We walked 3.7 miles along the streets between Lake City Way and Ravenna Avenues NE from NE 77th to 82nd Street.

There are some truly lovely streets in this neighborhood with charming brick tudor homes and well kept gardens.

It looks as if many trees have recently been planted along the curbs and they are protected and watered through green bags zippered around the bases. A few trees were tagged as being maintained by SDOT.

This area is home to Faith Lutheran Church.

The streets along and just off Lake City Way are commercial with the Little Gym, a salon, a design store, a coffee shop, a cleaners, some fast food shops, the Last Drop (a craft beer store) and the Hudson Public House and Cooper's Pubs.

It is always surprising to find such a lovely neighborhood near a busy street.

Ballard - Adams Neighborhood

Yesterday, my pastry-loving pal and I took a walk in Ballard. We started at 14th Avenue NW and NW 51st and walked 2.8 miles. We parted at the bus stop at Market and 15th where I caught the Number 15 for a short ride downtown.

With the exception of NW 56th Street, all the streets we walked were primarily commercial or industrial. 56th had large complexes (condos or apartments).

This neighborhood is the heart of Ballard and we saw a restaurant in an old fire house, holistic-type health businesses in an old library building and flags and sculptures in the square (which is really a triangle). We passed many interesting shops and restaurants on charming, tree-lined, cobblestone streets.

We stopped at Fresh Flours on Ballard Avenue for delicious pastries. This was a really enjoyable walk and I look forward to returning to complete the streets I missed.