Rainier View and Rainier Beach

A friend (who lives in the area) and I were inside and outside the city limits today as we walked 7.3 miles in and around the Rainier View and Rainier Beach neighborhoods.

I was happy to have a guide as we walked the curving streets near the lake.

We walked our share of hills as we wound our way around Lakeridge Park. Part of the park appears to be inside the city limits and part outside. We passed Lakeridge Playground on the southwestern edge of the park







and admired some lovely homes and gardens. One home looked like an updated farmhouse.

We stopped for lunch at Pizzeria Pulcinella (the pizza was great)

and I learned that a prior business on this spot had failed to pay the sign-maker so the sign-maker hung the sign upside down. The current business decided honor the history and have their sign hung upside down too.

Along the way, we spotted vegetable gardens,

turtle garden art,

views of Lake Washington from Rainier Avenue South,

a creek running through a beautifully landscaped front yard,

a street that resembled a country road,

the Community Bible Fellowship

and more great views.

This was a great walk through a mostly quiet residential neighborhood but I couldn't help but wonder how the city limits were ever defined.

North Delridge

Today's 6.2 mile walk in the North Delridge neighborhood filled in streets I had missed on prior walks and included an area tucked in bedween Delridge Way, the West Seattle bridge and the West Duwamish Greenbelt.

Like many neighborhoods with dead-end streets and no reason to enter unless one lives or is visiting there, the area bounded by SW Genesee, Delridge Way and 19th Avenue SW has quiet streets. In this case, each has its own personality. Many homes show pride of ownership - a few do not.

I observed older homes

directly across from new construction (with more under construction),

views of the Seattle skyline and the cranes on Harbor Island (one house had named itself  Steel View), American flags, aproposed and use action sign (along Delridge), a notice that City Light will be disposing of surplus property at 21st and Andover (the community meeting was last week)

and the ample grounds of Pathfinder K-8 School.

Delridge Playfield (it looked as if a soccer camp were under way) and Community Center are west of Delridge Way

as are Southwest Youth and Family Services and South West Plumbing.

A pedestrian overpass took me across Delridge to the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in the old Frank B. Cooper Elementary School.

While I was in the neighborhood, I decided to head over to West Marginal Way to see if I could find 18th Avenue SW and walk another street near there that I had missed on a prior walk. I was successful in finding 18th (hidden behind Global Diving and Salvage off Charlestown).

Next I climber one of the many, many staircases along this walk to get back up to 19th Avenue SW. It would not surprise me if this staircase attracts those looking for a place to sleep.

Back at Delridge and Andover, I saw a small strip mall.

Along the way, a passed painted utility boxes,

Secret Studio (Recording)

and Pigeon Point.

Another walk offering a good workout with lots of hills to climb.

North Delridge, North Admiral, Genesee and Fairmount Park

The Longfellow Creek Watershed dragonfly sculpture at 28th Avenue SW just south of Dakota Street was the highlight of today's 8.6 mile walk in West Seattle. The area I walked surrounds the West Seattle Bridge exit and encompasses streets in the North Delridge, North Admiral, Genesee and Fairmount Park neighborhoods.

There were real differences among the neighborhoods, largely determined by dead-end streets and proximity to this West Seattle Bridge approach.

The area northwest of the bridge approach (Genesee and North Admiral) was hilly with lots of dead-end streets and views of Harbor Island and the Seattle skyline.

It was residential with staircases and one really rural-feeling street.

I spotted what looked like an overloaded utility pole.

This area bordered on the old Luna Park location, home to the Luna Park Cafe and an art glass shop.

The area immediately south and east of the bridge approach (Fairmount Park) had a lot of building proposed and in progress. It was a mix of newer townhomes, single family homes and older garden apartments

but I did see a nice garden tucked in right next to the bridge approach.

The area east of Avalon Way SW (North Delridge) borders on the West Seattle Golf Course, the Longfellow Creek Legacy Trail and the Delridge Skatepark.

This area is a real mix of new and old residential and business park. A large apartment complex

is across the street from a vacant lot and a log home.

It looked as if utilities were underground for the apartment complex and required reinforcement where they resurfaced.

This area is home to All Star Fitness Center and a few business parks including the West Seattle Corporate Center, home of Bartell Drugs Corporate Offices, the Northwest Kidney Center and the Department of Social and Health Services.

Along the way, I spotted a welcoming bench,

a bridge approach overpass

with a few warnings,

Longfellow Creek

and a bike box (with a warning sign).

This varied walk was a real workout.