This month’s Golden Transfer goes (for the second time) to the city I’m proud to call home, the S-E-A double-T L-E (don’t trip; you know you have that CD lurking somewhere in the depths of your music collection), Seattle, Washington, USA. On three consecutive Sundays this summer, Seattle will close some streets to cars.
• On Aug. 24, 14th Avenue East will be closed from East Republican Street to Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill from noon to 6 p.m. The park’s Western Loop will also be car-free.
• Rainier Avenue South will be closed between Orcas and Alaska streets on Aug. 31 from 3-6 p.m.
• Alki Avenue in West Seattle will be closed to motor vehicles from noon to 6 p.m on Sept. 7
Pinch me…I must be dreaming! The only way this could be better is if one of those streets was the one in front of my house. (OK, there are many ways it could be better–more streets, more hours, more Sundays–but I can definitely work with this.)
Some business owners are feeling salty (not to mention caught off guard) and are afraid they’ll lose business if their customers cannot drive to them.
“We might as well close for the day,” said Joe Fraser, general manager of Duke’s Chowder House on Alki. West Seattle is one of the neighborhoods affected.
“Closing the street for construction, I can understand. But closing the street just for the sake of closure, that does not seem well thought out,” he said.
Fraser said summer Sundays are among the restaurant’s best days, when customers come from throughout the region for dining on the deck or sidewalk.
(Source: Seattle PI)
I’m guessing they’ll be surprised by the number of people (people who actually live in the neighborhood, for example) who come out to enjoy our streets on foot, bikes, skateboards, and et cetera. I, for, one, will be hitting up all three of these events, and, as we learned earlier today, car-free types have plenty of cash to spare.
So thanks to my city, for stepping out there just a little bit, and for giving me hope that it will be a place little Chicklet will grow up to love as much as I do.
How you like us now, Portland? (Sorry–that just came out. It’s all love.)