The hallmarks of great world cities have been the same for centuries. With downtown Seattle at crossroads it’s time to revisit the elements needed to make it a desirable place to live, work and visit.

Design of buildings without consideration of people will never be successful design, because the ultimate result will be no people....

As our new Downtown Seattle Council member, Andrew Lewis, is sworn in, we look forward to a New Year with a new City Council that is more responsive to citizens’ legitimate concerns and priorities for a livable community.

The tone deaf SDCI rolled over once again on transportation matters, accepting the applicant’s “fantasyland” info virtually verbatim, forcing Escala to Appeal their approval of the nonfunctional design.

We’ve had it with broken promises at all levels of city government. This Alley Code Amendment is not an unreasonable request. It’s something that is long overdue in order to have functional design of loading, waste, and delivery facilities in downtown Seattle.

For District 7 Candidates, you have no excuse for “waffling” on the issue unless you really don’t support us and don’t have the guts to say so.

I’m sure it’s easy to forget that you are not a Monarch, but a public servant elected for a four-year term. And if you want another term, we'd suggest you start acting like a public servant and become responsive, not defiant, in response to citizens’ legitimate concerns.

I went over to the alley behind Escala to take a look at a big truck sticking out of their loading dock and blocking all alley traffic. And sure enough, a picture of this truck belongs right at the top of any list showing why a downtown alley code amendment is absolutely necessary here in Seattle; and why none of these new pending high-rise projects downtown should be approved without demonstrating that large trucks such as this one will fit completely in their loading berth(s) and not extend out into the alley right-of-way.

“By my grading [2016], Seattle scores six out of 11, at best”, said Westneat. "At my kid’s middle school, this would prompt an after-school retake.”  So how has this changed since 2016, for the better, or for the worse? We went through the same list again this week, and we could only give Seattle a four out of 11, at best. "Whether it’s poor leadership, misplaced priorities or just a temporary struggle with too much runaway success, something’s not quite right.”

When will this human madness end? As I walk different alleys to try to find a safe place for my family and me, I just find more of the same. The proposed tower at 2nd & Virginia [#3033067] will hold 1,000 people in condos, hotel rooms, restaurants and offices yet it has no working loading berths and no space for trash collection on the alley.  It will share the alley with two other recent developments with no loading facilities. Between the trucks that line the alley and drivers trying to access 461 parking stalls, a worker on the block calls this alley a "nightmare.” 

As I walk the alleys of Seattle every day, I see more and more evidence of why an alley code amendment is long overdue. When I heard that the design team for the high-rise proposal at 1516-2nd Ave [#3032531] said they wanted to make the already busy alley behind the tower the "front door" of the building, I meowed under my breath “you cannot be serious!!!” 

My dad, Dac*, started this series of posts three years ago. Now that he’s retired, I have decided to come out of the shadows to continue his good work and share with you what I see today walking the downtown alleys. And I’m afraid it’s not pretty. If the Mayor and City Council don’t “see the light” and make some meaningful improvements to Alley Code, you’re going to see some real “cat fights” in these alleys (See what we need and why we need it at the end of this post).    --*Downtown Alley Cat

The original TENW Traffic Study for First Light #3026416 at 2000-3rd Ave. and its Update of 1/3/19 (posted 1/16/19) are incomplete and misleading. The foundation of the study’s projection of future traffic volumes (and cumulative impact) is completely invalid having excluded the project’s closest tower neighbors .

Nothing has really changed on the 5th & Stewart [Altitude] plans. The tower's loading and waste design will cause major back-ups in its alley and surrounding streets. None of its berths will fit the trucks for which they're intended.  There is no space on the alley for garbage collection. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. If you agree, please express your concerns to PRC@Seattle.gov.

The Applicant ignored all substantive design guidance from EDG1: loading design, turn radius study, alley circulation, waste storage niche --only to focus on ribbons, colors, palette, etc. That’s like saying "The patient is terribly sick and may die...but is wearing a lovely color of hospital gown.” And what did the Board do in response? They passed the project on to the Recommendation Meeting phase. Unbelievable! If you agree, please voice your displeasure by writing to prc@seattle.gov.

A recently released UW/SDOT study (click here for full report) confirms the inadequacies of Seattle's 100 year old downtown alleys. Why does the City continue to allow irreversible disastrous decisions with generational adverse impacts in Downtown Seattle? There can only be one answer.…The city sees a way out of their budget problems, and the developers are more than willing to accommodate them.

After over 4 years, the 5th & Stewart Altitude project [#3018037] still has major unresolved issues with its loading and waste management design and should not be approved.

Just as in what appears to be the Design Review standard script, the Downtown DRB approved yet another major downtown Seattle high rise apartment building (MUP3026266, 2025-5th Ave) with only one, symbolic and for all practical purposes, unusable loading berth! 

How can the Design Review Board keep a straight face while claiming loading berths, waste storage, or parking aren't issues for them to consider? This is the same endless loop of pass the buck we've been fighting for over four years.The DRB says it’s not their purview and will be taken up in SEPA. In SEPA, it is presumed that it has been considered by DRB, when in reality no one has considered functional design.

Density done right could alleviate traffic congestion, but no one is considering the cumulative impact of spiked demand for access and service in alleys from a new round of mega-towers in downtown Seattle.