Comments on: Ballard High student assaulted at bus stop

By: BTown

BTown — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:03:29 +0000

Hahah… more like 20 years. Housing will be down for over a decade.

By: SPG

SPG — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:56:16 +0000

give 'em time.

By: SPG

SPG — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:55:27 +0000

I thought you wrote “troller than…” that would be more apropos.

By: ballardemican

ballardemican — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:16:36 +0000

droller than the average stupid hippie …

By: SeaSpider

SeaSpider — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:14:51 +0000

These people are MS13 in name only. Your'e crazy if you think these knuckleheads are on the same level as MS13 in LA and other major cities. Just because they have the same name doesn't mean they're the same gang. Just like there are Hells Angels chapters in places like Norway and Sweden. There might be Norwegian Hells Angels but it's probably a safe bet none of them are among the Filthy Few.

By: ballardemican

ballardemican — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:14:40 +0000

I struggle with the the distinction between "wannabe" and "is" when it comes to criminals/gang members.

In response to stories like this one there are always comments like yours -- they are just wannabe punks, not the real thing.

But the line between playing at and being a gangster/criminal is fuzzy. Actions, I think, are what defines what's the real deal and what isn't. If these kids claim gang affiliation, and they deal drugs, beat people down, and commit other crimes, then how are they different than "real" gang members? If the girl had be pulled into the car and been gang raped and beaten to a pulp what about then?

I've known more than a few kids who've played at drug thug/criminal/gangster and then they were. It is kind of a stupid movie but Alpha Dogs does a good job of showing how blurry this distinction is.

By: SeaSpider

SeaSpider — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:07:30 +0000

Well said! Amazing how so many people have time to vent on this site but can't find the time to get off their lazy fat butts and actually do something! Newsflash: if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem. Stop being a rock with lips, put on your big boy undies and try doing something productive in the community. Not saying you have to give up every spare moment of your free time but even something as simple as helping a little league team for an hour on the weekend makes a difference. If all the whining, sniveling, “Ballard is going to hell” babies who have commented on this article actually got off their fat butts and volunteered some time we probably wouldn't have this problem in the first place. But no, that would be far too much of a sacrifice. Much easier to just whine and snivel like a 3 year old!

By: boardbrown

boardbrown — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:47:07 +0000

There are gangs all over the place, but the reason we act suprised when we hear something like this is that we live in a normal grown-up world. Unless you are a teen in a rival gang, there's little chance your world will ever collide with theirs. They don't have eyes for us.

By: Name

Name — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:19:35 +0000

These are not MS13 members, they are wannabes. Don't be “afraid” of them, they are just little punks trying to live up to a big name.

By: squeakywheel

squeakywheel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:17:23 +0000

yes, they count, too. it was still lilly white. are you done yet? I don't need harrassment.

By: squeakywheel

squeakywheel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:16:20 +0000

I like the diversity better, too. Just stating the fact there wasn't any beyond 10-15 years ago! So saying Hispanics lived here was bunk.

By: Stupid Hippie

Stupid Hippie — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:14:00 +0000

Do nannies, maids and gardeners count?

By: Stupid Hippie

Stupid Hippie — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:09:41 +0000

Well that's why I moved to Ballard, for the diversity!

By: squeakywheel

squeakywheel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:25:14 +0000

I meant your comment (entering a reply indents it once. it would be indented again if I replied to the other comment)

Can you believe the comment about Hispanics on Phinney Ridge?! That person is a lunatic!

By: ballardemican

ballardemican — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:20:34 +0000

by accurate do you mean the post right before yours? My post was a question, are you saying my guesses were probably right?

gangs problems are generally a class issue -- less adult supervision (due to inflexible shift work schedule), more single parents, less household education (and hence no blueprint for how to make it in life) = unsupervised disaffected kids = gangs.

So I was just trying to figure out what low income areas the problem was coming from, seing as how we don't really have really low income areas too near by.

displaced is what you are going for :)

By: SeaSpider

SeaSpider — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:16:00 +0000

Why is it always someone else? What's stopping you from doing something?

By: squeakywheel

squeakywheel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:13:41 +0000

Another comment that is right on. These kids are being pressured by gangs and have no one else to turn to. No older role models, nothing else to do. If we can't give kids alternatives, they will be sucked into the gang vortex. It really is becoming a crisis that needs more help from everyone. I try to give time to kids, but I am not their parent (other than mine). Part of it comes down to controlling their time and discipline, which there is very little of now from many parents.

By: squeakywheel

squeakywheel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:08:32 +0000

This comment is one of the accurate ones here. Don't forget east of Aurora between 80th and 105th. Aurora is one of the few places in the north end that has actually improved from what it was. Greenwood maybe, too. Maybe they got displaced to Ballard? Or dispersed the better word choice?

By: squeakywheel

squeakywheel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:00:55 +0000

Whaaa? The only Hispanics in Ballard in the 80's were employees of the Azteca. Since when did Hispanics have enough money to live *near* Phinney Ridge?! I don't believe this. You did mean North Seattle, Phinney Ridge, in the State of Washington, right? Where do you get this stuff? Ballard was lilly white until about 10-15 years ago.

By: squeakywheel

squeakywheel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:55:56 +0000

You have to be kidding?! This *WAS* unusual then. People were shocked and up in arms. It changed security at Seattle Public Schools that banned guns near schools. The kid went to prison and is still there. Yesterday a gang was *in the buildings* walking about unchallenged with a baseball bat ready to kill someone. No, not the same. Name another shooting in Ballard before that one. Some of us have lived in Ballard a little longer, so while this may seem “normal” to the “New Ballard Boomers”, it isn't to people here before that. (The shooter kid was shooting at someone else in a retaliation and hit an innocent bystander killing her. The driver also went to prison. I am not aware of any other fatal shooting at any school in the north end ever besides this one, UW excepted.)

By: squeakywheel

squeakywheel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:48:37 +0000

No, I think you missed the point. He right, Ballard used to be relatively crime free. The only violence was fist fights between people who knew and loved each other when they weren't annebriated. The new crimes really are ruining the reasons to live in Ballard. It isn't much different than Capital Hill or Belltown now.

By: kirs10t

kirs10t — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:41:01 +0000

Just a suggestion but instead of bitching about these types of problems – GET INVOLVED!

There are lots of organizations working to give kids a safe/healthy/productive outlet instead of joining gangs and doing other unproductive things. Just to name a few: Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Girls On the Run, Washington Mentors, Communities in Schools, and there are also many others. They are always looking for volunteers.

By: can so

can so — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:50:54 +0000

oh, so you're a stranger now? I thought you were a neighbor in Ballard. your comment about relying on strangers to do “my” work was snarky — i don't expect anyone to do my work. I was just curious if anyone has thought to research this and would share what they'd learned. Too much snarky nanner-nanner attitude on myballard commentary — hopefully this will change.

By: Idle Activist

Idle Activist — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:57:58 +0000

No doubt these gangbangers were bused in by the former geniuses at the Seatlle public schools. New school boundaries ( welcome QA and Magnolia!) and gentrification (pushing out any home grown Ballard homeys) should continue to drive this trash out.

By: ballardemican

ballardemican — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:03:09 +0000

I get your drift for sure, and clicked like, but there is no such thing as “always will.” Neighborhoods do change, and the force of gentrification will do more than anything else (such as police) to reduce crime and criminal elements in Ballard, probably at the expense of some of the local flavor unfortunately.

By: ballardemican

ballardemican — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:57:28 +0000

hey just an informational point — I grew up in cities with tons of latino gang bangers (one set used to bare-knuckles box on a front lawn down the street for fun). But in ten years in North Seattle haven't seen many gang bangers except occasionally at Greenlake and the Northgate Mall.

Where do our relatively few gang member types tend to live in the Ballard area? Apartments between 8th/15th south of 65th? Greenwood Ave area North of 85th?

By: ballardemican

ballardemican — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:49:35 +0000

why is it that when the gun slingin' cit'zen get fired (feared?) up they break out the old-timey language?

"why that magistrate will set you scott free to pedal the avenues on your velocipede, fddle dee di doncha know!!!"

Seriously? A call to murder the "worthless" so their genetic material doesn't get reproduced?

I think I'd rather have gang bangers next door.

By: cyclistandSUVdriver

cyclistandSUVdriver — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:36:05 +0000

Exactly! and that gritty side is one of the reasons I love living here.

By: DanishbyDesign

DanishbyDesign — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:30:13 +0000

Anyone who is lamenting the “change” in Ballard has no understanding of what real Ballard has always been: an urban soup of rich, poor, blue collar, white collar, families, singles, owners, renters, homeless, elderly, saints, sinners, fewer people of color and more than a few drunken fisherman. It has *never* been the gentrified, yuppie-fied, crimeless and carefree hipster haven of homogeneity that the realtors and merchant boosters wish it to be. (Oh my goodness, a banner is missing!) Add as many condos, coffee shops and trendy restaurants as you will, but at its core, Ballard has always had a gritty side, and always will. Crime is no stranger to this area, and that hasn't changed for decades. I would know; I've been here for half a century. When my age group were kids, Golden Gardens was considered 'sketchy' and 'unsafe'; I would consider it only slightly improved today! In the 70s, Ballard High School didn't have drive-bys, but it had plenty of other issues. This is not Laurelhurst, folks. If you take on residence in a large, diverse urban neighborhood…be prepared to encounter the realities of city living. To new transplants, Ballard may seem to have it all – and in a very literal sense, it does. I sincerely hope and pray that our SPD gang units are up to the challenge of keeping the MS-13 hoodlums in check, but until they are gone, you have no choice but to be vigilant, exercise common sense in your day to day routines, and watch out for your neighbors. That's what real Ballardites have been doing all along.

By: shawnigan

shawnigan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:09:24 +0000

All good points – Ballard has a history of gang activity, information flows more rapidly, and is available to most everyone. Bottom line though: Ballard is the next Bell Town.