Comments on: Ballard named one of country’s best neighborhoods

By: Ballard_is_still_OK_with_me

Ballard_is_still_OK_with_me — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:37:11 +0000

There's a special place in our country for xenophobes like "Ballard_Sucks_Now" and it's called Texas.

Seriously, I read it in a magazine article called "Top 10 Places for People Who Don't Like Outsiders and Have an Inexplicable Hatred of Los Angeles and the People Who may or may not be from There."

As for Seattle, love it or leave it, guy.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:31:42 +0000

“whenever I head back down to Ballard, I see a new building. And the Denny's is gone.”

So I'm thinking about moving to Ballard in a couple weeks. But there's one thing that gives me pause: why is everyone so obsessed with a Denny's that got torn down? Seriously, these forums are just filling with people complaining about the new condos and how they're somehow displacing elements of “real Ballard”, and by far the most commonly cited example is this Denny's that is not longer around. I mean, is it just one weird guy who keeps making these postings? Or do people in Ballard actually think that no neighborhood is complete without a Denny's?

By: Ballard_Sucks_Now

Ballard_Sucks_Now — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:34:35 +0000

Spoken as a true newcomer fleeing LA or some other dystopia.

I blow you a kiss, short-timer.

By: Ballardmom

Ballardmom — Sun, 31 May 2009 07:26:57 +0000

I agree. I moved to Ballard from Capitol Hill 9 years ago and when I go back to our little neighborhood off 15th Ave East I don't recognize anything. Most of the businesses have been replaced by something else and good lord – Broadway it totally different than it was. I don't know where anything is there anymore. It even looks completely different. Don't even get me started on how wildly different it is from 20 years ago. Of course Ballard is a lot different from when we moved here just 9 years ago too. Saying something is “unchanged and unspoiled” is just the way you're supposed to write to make your article sound appealing. These are the same people who think Reno, NV is wonderful. And where is the DogPatch neighborhood in San Francisco??? I guess that is new since I was last there 15 years ago.

By: boardbrown

boardbrown — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:15:02 +0000

that women think we're stupid, and we don't care

By: boardbrown

boardbrown — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:12:44 +0000

It's a Ballard myth.

By: boardbrown

boardbrown — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:11:21 +0000

A place to live with their Klan brethren?

By: ethel

ethel — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:33:13 +0000

I still think of the India Bistro as “that new Indian place where whaddyacallit's used to be.”

By: Archibald

Archibald — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:23:27 +0000

I'm all for more people moving here. So long as they aren't as whiny as you.

By: Hans

Hans — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:21:48 +0000

Capitol Hill hasn't changed as much as Ballard?? I would have to strongly disagree there. Ballard's a quaint fishing village compared to the condo/belltown/douche invasion that's happening on The Hill. I moved to Ballard 1.5 years ago from The Hill (so I guess that makes me part of the problem), and I can tell you it's WAY better off.

By: sawii

sawii — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:23:11 +0000

A Boise 'hood got more details in the article than Ballard? That's just as lame as Reno. What does the Journal think men are looking for?

By: angelatini

angelatini — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:31:28 +0000

No, Madame K's is going to stay after all. I can't remember when, but MyBallard wrote about it a while back.

By: chermoni

chermoni — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:51:34 +0000

I was also born and raised there. Well, in Sparks and Stead but close enough to anyone that hasn't lived there. Every time I have to go back to visit family I'm reminded what a dump it is. Unlike you, I don't have a love/hate relationship, I just have a hate relationship. I'd much rather stay here where a body of water is only a mile away, in two directions. I've always loved Seattle and Ballard is my home.

By: Ballard_Sucks_Now

Ballard_Sucks_Now — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:58:23 +0000

Oh, great, just what we need. This is the kiss of death.

Once every moron with a magazine to sell started naming Seattle as one of the 10 best places to live/work/find-a-soulmate, the city's big decline started. The idiots who read and believe such things all came, and things went downhil fast. Now they'll all be heading for your block. Things can only get worse now.

By: Trix

Trix — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:31:06 +0000

Madame K's! That's it.

By: lyl

lyl — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:28:56 +0000

lived here over 30 years. Hasn't changed? Ha!! Way better back when

By: Trix

Trix — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:28:12 +0000

On Ballard Ave. Before Hattie's Hat. Smells like pizza. Red, brothel-esqe decor. Sorry, don't remember the name of the place.

By: Trix

Trix — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:22:15 +0000

I will admit Greenwood is actually improving a little. There used to be no place to go for a beer that wasn't scary. Now they've got Naked City and Pillager's Pub. There used to be no place to go for a decent espresso. Now they've got Wayward and Neptune.
Just waiting to see what happens to that McDonald's spot.
But the streets themselves aren't as pretty as the ones here. I walk the side streets and main streets (not having a car) and it's a more pleasant experience than I had when I lived in Greenwood. Or even now when I visit my mom. Not as nice. IMHO.

By: prudy

prudy — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:12:34 +0000

I think the writer was intimating that the 'soul' of the neighborhood has not changed, aka, even with all the buzz, etc. Ballard is still a lot of what it used to be – i agree with that.

Geez…

By: anna

anna — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:01:46 +0000

Where/what is the ex-brothel pizza joint?

By: Greenwood for Locals

Greenwood for Locals — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:51:59 +0000

Greenwood is really the best neighborhood. Ballard = Fremont

By: Edog

Edog — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:35:36 +0000

Yes me too, had this appeared in Cosmo it would be much more interesting. But I don't think Ballard would make their list as I'm sure there are better areas for oversexed underworked housewives.

By: Belly

Belly — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:49:49 +0000

I blame the patriarchy.

By: kim

kim — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:23:27 +0000

what do men know?

By: Edog

Edog — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:18:34 +0000

Does anyone in Ballard subscribe to Men's journal? Sure its better than Maxim, but that’s not high praise, not that I'm damning them with faint praise.

Anyhow, I always thought being concerned with how a national publication rates “ranks your whatever” was an east cost daughters of the american revolution stepford sort of concern.

By: Queso

Queso — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:48:22 +0000

Ha! Yeah, I'm aware of the sinking problem. I used to live on 87th and Greenwood (in the Towers on Greenwood) back in the day. That roundabout on 87th and 1st is just ridiculous. It seems to have gotten a bit better since they put in the reservoir right behind the new condo complex that Mud Bay Grainery is moving to. The water subsidance caused by the building of the Towers helped create that sinking roundabout.

Quite frankly, I'd rather live in Greenwood than where I live now. I absolutely adored Greenwood when I lived there, which wasn't very long ago.

:)

By: Trix

Trix — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:41:37 +0000

Greenwood has had so much new development it's now sinking. My mom's street alone has two new buildings in construction and one newly constructed.
My point was that Ballard is not alone in being a changed place, yet it's still better than living in Greenwood. IMHO.

By: jules

jules — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:32:25 +0000

hogwash i say

By: Queso

Queso — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:23:12 +0000

True, Trix, they have. But Ballard has changed dramatically over the last year or so. So unless this reporter has been to Ballard twice in the last year, then it is not "unchanged".

Even "unspoiled" is pushing it. The vibe in Ballard has definitely changed since I lived there just a few years ago, before all of the condos started going up. I'm just glad that the India Bistro is still going strong. I love that place.

Greenwood, Queen Anne and Capitol Hill don't seem to have changed as much as Ballard in recent years. I don't know about Magnolia because I haven't hung out there very much.

By: azbat5

azbat5 — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:15:54 +0000

Ugh, Reno? Seriously? I was born and raised there and have a real love/hate relationship with it. There's hardly anything good about Reno except for real seasons (freezing winters and hot summers) and the easy drives to places like Lake Tahoe or Pyramid Lake for skiing, hiking, or boating. Now that it's summer time, I'm really missing Tahoe. You'll also never find any kind of good food or neighborhoods like we do in Seattle. If I remember correctly, a couple of years ago a Reno poll rated Round Table Pizza as their favorite pizza. ROUND FREAKIN' TABLE! That should tell you what Reno's like. As much as I love my hometown, if I had to move back after living in Seattle for 6 years, I'd freak out.