Comments on: Undercover stings, WiFi planned for Ballard parks

By: studio5412

studio5412 — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:16:02 +0000

fnarf,

You may well have a good point about the bogus "park" killing the streets on all sides of it. It does, however, create a no man's land that better defines the cohesive, vibrant Ballard Avenue neighborhood.

Christopher Alexander in his classic book, "A Pattern Language - Towns, Buildings, Construction" has a lot of suggestions as to how to transition into a neighborhood like Ballard Avenue. Your idea of buildings with shops would, indeed, enliven all sides of the street and tie Market Street with Ballard Avenue.

The junction of Market Street and 22nd Avenue is complicated by the addition of Leary, an aggressive portal into Ballard. There are too many streets with too much hard, open space. Leary has been softened somewhat by Canal Station, but more needs to be done ( perhaps a tree-lined planting strip?).

Anyway, serious, intelligent urban design is much needed and Bergen Place would be a good place to start. Who is willing to write the request for permission from the King and Queen of Norway?

By: fnarf

fnarf — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:23:08 +0000

I”m sorry, “boxed in”? That's one of the least boxed-in intersections in the city; due to the configuration of the streets and the mile-wide sidewalks there are thousand-yard vistas in every direction. It's like standing on the freeway. And another more accurate way to say “boxed in” is “streetscape” — streets can and should be “urban rooms”, with interest on all sides. Buildings built out to the sidewalk, with shops, that could tie together side streets like Ballard Avenue with the main drag, and pull the neighborhood together.

“Open air design” is just another way of saying “waste ground”. Why do you think the homeless encamp there? Because no more valuable use can get a foothold. No one else WANTS to go there. It's not a “park”; you can't have a narrow triangular park work in a space like that, with heavy traffic never more than ten feet away. Triangular lots are meant for buildings, with shops.

Read your Jane Jacobs and William Whyte; this particular type of problem was solved fifty years ago. This is a city, not a roadside out in the country. Street use is synergistic; by taking away the three sides of this triangle — a density of interesting land use that a rectilinear lot cannot match — this bogus “park” is killing the streets on all sides of it. Why not have a space that people are attracted to instead?

By: SPG

SPG — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:09:25 +0000

It does make for a good central gathering point and the open air design keeps that intersection from feeling boxed in.
I don't really get the sculpture either, but I'm not a big fan of modern sculpture to begin with. I've always viewed the mural as more of a Scandinavian pride/history of Ballard thing than a pure art piece, so I've never had any beef with that.
What's the alternative for that spot? We could always one up Fremont…I know where we could get a Stalin statue cheap.

By: demian

demian — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:54:13 +0000

wow. intense. When bergen place was a big covered bus stop it made a bit more sense. I think the mural is fine, but yeah, the sculptures are pretty rough. I have to say haven driven through every major city in the US more than a dozen times that Bergen Place absolutely does not have the worst public art in America. Maybe in the top 50 but not the worst. It gets way worse.

By: Fnarf

Fnarf — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:31:18 +0000

Bergen Place is the crappiest “park” in the city, with some of the worst public art in America. The mural is putrid, and the sculptures, oh my god. There is no way to have a decent usable park on a narrow triangular lot like that; they should put a building there.

By: demian

demian — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:21:04 +0000

I certainly have no real issue with graffiti until it ends up defacing someone else's artwork. I guess tagging the front of businesses and murals is much different than making an interesting painting in an ugly alley.

Tagging is kinda lame.

By: boardbrown

boardbrown — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:35:27 +0000

When I was a kid growning up outside of DC in the late 70's, there was a family two doors down with a father who was an undercover narcotics cop. And I thought he was the coolest mofo in the whole world. He had long blonde feathered hair, wore amber aviator sunglasses, and drove a Pontiac Firebird…one of those with the big ass bird painted on the hood.

But then they got divorced and moved away after he was caught cheating on his wife.

By: bmvaughn

bmvaughn — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:24:07 +0000

Unless it's free WiFi, it's useless.

By: gurple

gurple — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:12:26 +0000

I'm not so sure it's a good idea to post another pic of the Bergen Place tag. I think it was effective to post it when it happened, to let people know, but now it's just giving publicity to the tagger.

By: changehappens

changehappens — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:05:12 +0000

people complaining creates action.

By: changehappens

changehappens — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:04:37 +0000

I have a hunch they probably don't.

By: eric

eric — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:06:15 +0000

i think its funny that people would want wi-fi in a park. anyone just sit, relax, and have a moment of reflection anymore?

*shakes fist* Hey kid, get off my lawn!

ahem. anyway, i'm surprised to hear of this when just recently it seemed there were no funds or available cops, etc...wonder why the sudden turn around?

By: TooTall65

TooTall65 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:11:23 +0000

Sure hope the drug dealers don't read MyBallard.com. Shouldn't we be told AFTER the sting was successful?

By: chopper_74

chopper_74 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:38:51 +0000

Agreed. Also, it wasn't so long ago that we were told it wasn't possible to get patrols here. We've come a long way.
Thanks to everyone's effort, we can see some result.

By: SPG

SPG — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:30:59 +0000

You would think that the police would already be doing this, but since we have such a shortage of officers we have to be happy to get anything.