Ballard becoming a new Belltown?

If you ask just about anyone in Ballard what’s on their mind these days, it’s all the changes in the neighborhood. “Part of what everybody is feeling is that Ballard is just being wiped out,” explains Beth Miller, director of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, in an interview in this week’s Stranger. “I’m not averse to change per se, but we don’t want to be the new Belltown.” Miller says that community members have accepted more density in exchange for more jobs. But the jobs aren’t coming. “These condos often have trouble filling their retail spaces because they often don’t attract pedestrian traffic,” she said.

Jenni adds in comments: “Ballard will be worse than Belltown unless we deal with the parking situation. We have a pay lot (or two) that are absurdly small and we have street parking. That’s it. No one will come to enjoy the Sunday market or any of our great shops/restaurants if we don’t do some planning.”