Neighbors from every corner of Ballard came together to celebrate National Night Out tonight — over 50 block parties, by our unofficial count. Thank you everyone for sending photos!
Here’s the view of two block parties along 22nd Ave. from 70th St.
Kids at 73rd and Jones tore it up on bikes.
Bubbles flew at 10th Ave. between 85th and 87th. And there’s video of the Bubble Man at the block party. (Thanks Jill!)
These kids had the time of the lives in a bouncy house at 80th and Earl.
State Rep. Reuven Carlyle made the rounds in Ballard, stopping by 43 block parties (not a typo) by the time he posed for this hot dog photo on 9th and 70th.
Neighbors at 70th and 28th celebrated their 18th annual block party.
Here at 12th Ave. between 96th and 97th, “The chalk art took a CSI type of twist, then it became positively Lilliputian!” says Dennis, who emailed us the photo.
How’s this for neighborhood pride? (Thanks, Scott!)
If you lived in East Ballard and heard all the music, it was coming from Greenwoodstock, and our sister site PhinneyWood.com has the story.
Folks at 62nd and 6th Ave. played games into the night. (Thanks, Summer!)
Dennis sent us this shot of the gathering at 36th Ave NW and NW 60th.
A great time by neighbors at NW 87th st and 26th. (Thanks, Steve!)
Neighbors on 47th NW pulled their party onto the sidewalk. (Thanks, Ed!)
“We had the coolest pinata,” Tracy emailed us. This was at the block party at NW 59th and 11th Ave NW.
This party on Alonzo between 70th & 73rd had “Chris – balloon maker extraordinaire!” And here are more photos from the same block party. (Thanks, Sarah!)
Scenes from Night Out in Ballard
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/My-Ballard-ad-1.png")
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
Too bad the owners of this blog care more about wealthy oil company owners than the kids on bikes and average middle class Ballard residents.
It’s too bad our “neighborhood blog” is run purely for profit by members of a group who would rather sue the city than support the bike trail extension that the department of transportation had approved.
I guess that kid is practicing drawing his bike commuting father on the pavement after he got smacked riding his bike to work.
GeekySwedes instead of posting more pictures in the morning how about doing us residents and our kids a favor by QUITTING THE BALLARD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE and refusing to support their insidious lawsuit on behalf of Ballard Oil.
Posts like this purport to be pro Ballard but the owners of this blog have aligned themselves against the interests of the kids and neighbors shown here.
It is a real shame. The communities that overwhelmingly support the trail should really reconsider their support for this blog and their business group’s effort to sue to stop it.
GeekySwedes are part of the effort to stop the missing link
if you care so much, why not sign your name? own up to your thoughts?
I say: aim for the bikers. I’m tired of single-minded trivia like this.
in non-cyclist related news, I was out last night on a long walk and have to say the pictures in this story paint an optimistic picture of Ballard night out. I ran across at least a dozen streets closed for “block parties” and none of them were close to as well attended as featured here. Some appeared to have 3 or 4 people, some just one household.
So to me that’s the story — Night out against crime very poorly attended on most blocks.
Ballardemician,
Our party was only 6 households this year. But it’s the first year we had one. We started thinking about having one first on Saturday. May be if we started it a week or two earlier. I think maybe small parties are like ours was. They might be seeds of bigger ones next year :)
resident… start up your own blog and don’t make any money while doing it. if it is better than this one i will read it
Ballardemician has uncovered the biggest coverup in Ballard history! Must have been a loooooong walk for you to fully comprehend the enormity of your investigation.
Have you contacted Wikileaks?
The attendance at our block party was double that of last year.
Ranting and raving at 1:19 am about an matter completley unrelated to the story? Sounds like it was it about 20 minutes past PBR at your house.
Sig heil spewed: “I say: aim for the bikers. I’m tired of single-minded trivia like this.”
You should be lined up against the wall and shot.
See? Nice little death threat joke to go along with yours.
We had a GREAT party on Alonzo. Most of the houses seemed to come out and we took over the street with a firepit, lots of yummy food, and great company. I loved seeing kids being able to play so freely in the street without fear of being in physical danger- apart from the occasional bicycle crash. :)
What did this prove? You want kids to play “in the streets”? What happened to the parks? We ARE paying for them after all. They are there, year round too. I am thankful it’s only a 1 day event, for now. Now if we can all get together for a real cause I’m all for it. These events are similar to the volunteers at schools, in that it’s the same people over and over participating. So go for it poeple, pound your chest and give us a giant HOO-AH, and tell us how this makes you feel.
Hm. I was under the impression that, at the heart, this was an opportunity for neighbors to meet, hangout, and get to know one another. At least that’s what we did. But hey, bickering is cool, too.
The “real” cause is to know your neighbor and know when something isn’t right in your neigborhood. Partipating in your community is as “real” as it gets.
To those who hate on the Seattle Night Out, may many packages get stolen from your front door b/c your neighbors don’t like you enough to give a damn about some teenager running off with your amazon crap!
Resident Who Cares – if you hate this site so much because of their membership in the BCoC, then why do you read and post on it?
Just because this site or any other business is a member of the BCoC does not necessarily mean they support Ballard Oil and the lawsuit.
I don’t believe the Geeky Swedes have ever expressed their opinion about the lawsuit on this site.
I am a citizen of the United States, but that doesn’t mean I automatically agree with everything this country does. I didn’t agree in our going to war in Iraq, nor do I agree in allowing corporations to fund elections with direct contributions.
Was every citizen of the U.S. in favor of keeping slavery legal? Did every citizen in the U.S. agree with prohibition? Did every citizen in the U.S. believe that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote?
Guess what? Most of Ballard doesn’t care about the trail lawsuit. Like myself, an avid cyclist who often rides on the “missing link”, Ballard residents are generally far more concerned about real issues like crime, education, etc.
wow Norwegian! I’m so happy you’ve decided to use your energy for such a great cause. “Bitching on the internet” is highly underrepresented. Seriously man. Night out is a great way to get to know your neighbors and your neighborhood.
How is looking out for each other is a bad thing?
Citizenship in a big country is hardly analogous to voluntary membership and financial contributions to an anti-bike trail group.
The GeekySwedes choose to pay dues and associate their name to the group suing to stop the bike trail in Ballard.
Wow…. such negativity a couple of you! Hugs all around!!
Thank you A Resident for bringing this to our attention.
I did not know MyBallard was part of the organizations suing to stop the Missing Link!
Shame on them!!!
Since we are citizens of the USA we are henceforth all guilty of war crimes as well.
pho,
isn’t reading and posting on this site a way of supporting it? by extension, this would also constitute supporting the BCoC and the lawsuit?
instead of posting complaints about and on myballard.com, why don’t you put together a petition and go out and gather signatures from the allged plethora of ballard residents who want the “missing link” finished?
the ballard seafood festival would have been a golden opportunity to collect such signatures, like others have done in the past. or you could go down to bumbershoot in a month and collect signatures.
that’s what’s called real, effective community activism.
but you won’t do that, you and all the other trolls will just continue to read and post on myballard.com and accomplish nothing towards your goal of getting the laswuit thrown out and the trail built.
Enough with the thread hijacks.
Some of us are pro trail some of us are pro lawsuit to require a Environmental Impact Study to see how the trail will affect the community around it (or in net hyperbole “stop the trail”).
Keep it to relevant posts.
We had a great block party! Thanks to the families that were the organizers!
I bet the babies living on our block are the cutest babies in town!
btw, Swedish Hospital is also a member of the BCoC.
So if any of you anti-BCoC cyclists get in an accident on the “missing link”, make sure you ask the ambulance to take you to another hospital…
Posting pictures of happy kids on bikes while fighting in court against bicycle safety… priceless!
I’ve lost all respect for this blog.
Stop posting pictures of our kids, you hypocrites.
Oh good gawd… y’all need to lighten up! It’s a neighborhood blog fer cryin’ out loud!!
Thanks Bubble Man. That was cool. =]
you’ll also have to cancel your Costco memberships as they are also a BCoC member, as is Fred Meyer…
and I hope you don’t do your banking in Ballard, because pretty much every bank is a member as well, including BECU…
no more late-night hot dogs from Dante’s after drinks at Hattie’s’ (both are members)
no more cupcakes and lattes at Cupcake Royale…
no more before- or after-school care, or summer camp for your kids at the Boys & Girls club…
and you’ll have to workout in Fremont, because Olympic Athletic Club, Ballard Health & Fitness, and LA Fitness are all members…
and the list goes on…Hi-Life, Secret Garden Books, Limback Lumber, Carter Subaru/VW, Sonic Boom…
How about the 99.9% of the other things that the chamber does?
I voted for Obama, I dont agree with 100% of the things he does, but you better believe I am going to vote for him again.
snoopy –
YES! you obviously understand the purpose and mission of the BCoC, or of any local CoC for that matter.
too bad that Pho, Jenny, Resident Who Cares, etc. don’t understand.
Swedish Hospital? So one of the biggest private health care companies in Seattle is standing tall with one of the biggest oil companies in Seattle?
What. A. Shock.
Much fewer than half of Ballard businesses choose to be Chamber members.
Some Ballard businesses do have principles that put people before profits. And many of them detest the Chamber, its Director, and its misplaced priorities.
Kudos to those bringing visibility to the issue.
Hopefully MyBallard will reconsider their involvement, and quit the Chamber.
“Some Ballard businesses do have principles that put people before profits. And many of them detest the Chamber, its Director, and its misplaced priorities.”
Therefore, Ballard businesses that put profits before people include the Ballard Boys & Girls Club, the Ballard Food Bank, Ballard Junior Football, the Loyal Heights PTA, the Loyal Heights Community Center, and a couple local churches
Can’t go to Fremont with your business. The Fremont Chamber is part of the North Seattle Industrial Association also party to the suit.
I doubt if many of these bikes supporters on this site even live in Ballard, so they may have a wrong idea about the big issues facing the neighborhood.
I know they would be shocked and a little sad to find out that the topic never comes up at Ballard Chamber functions. Never.
You may envision the members of the Chamber as bunch of fat cats lighting cigars with Ben Franklins laughing about sticking it to the bike riders the truth is they are businesses owners trying to do the best they can for their families and their employees.
I have never once heard mention of the lawsuit except when the Director makes an annoucmenet like “The Judge in the lawsuit ruled thus and so” or “The Chamber has signed on to the appeal which will be filed on whenever”. No wild cheers and fist pumping or torrents of tears, the members know it is a long haul process and are committed to it but no more than they are to other ways of doing what they see as best for Ballard.
I’ve never heard the issue discussed at Ballard Rotary, Ballard Kiwanis, Ballard High School Foundation meetings. I know that all you bike people are laughing at that list as a bunch of “old Ballard” blockheads. Well those are the people who live and work here and do a lot of the things that have made Ballard a great neighborhood.
There must be some appeal to the place other wise why are you all here?
And no one at our block party even knew what I was talking about when I asked if they had any thoughts on it, a couple of “was that in the sunday paper a couple of weeks ago?” Except for one guy who said “A bike trail cool? Where?” and then said “That’s not a good place at all” when I told him.
I think that most of these pro bike = anti chamber posts are from the same people posting with different names.
Go to Bank of America or Chase. Neither are members.
Olympic Athletic is way too dirty.
LA Fitness, Fred Meyer… I do expect some big and greedy corporate chains to fight against community and local interests. That’s their thing.
I don’t expect my local neighborhood blog to sue my city and cost my tax dollars on behalf of an oil company that would rather have free parking on city property instead of a bike trail.
Maybe that’s me.
Hot dogs and cupcakes are for losers.
Here are some Ballard businesses we can all love. None of these support the Chamber of Commerce.
Blackbird
Cafe Besalu
Fresh Flours
Rudy’s Barber
Habitude
Ballard Automotive
Ballard Family Auto
Monster Clothing
Venue
Ballard Inflatable Boats
LFS Marine
Second Wave
Office Max
Hale’s Ales
Brown Bear
Gymboree
Cafe Fiore
Sparkle Cleaners
Paramount Oil
Ballard Blossom
Emerald City Gardens
Ballard Home Comfort
Space Oddity
QFC
Sage Yoga
Shakti Yoga
Bop Street Records
Guitar Emporium
Miller Paint
Parker Paint
Mud Bay Pet Store
Bark Pet Store
Bastille
Ballard Smoke Shop
Bartels
Bal-Mar
Carnegies
Conor Byrne
Dish D’Lish
Hazelwood
Ivars
Jhan Jay Thai
Kings
Carta de Oaxaca
La Isla
Le Gourmand
Lock and Keel
Lockspot Cafe
Malena’s
Matador
Mike’s Chili
Monkey Bridge
Old Peculiar
Old Towne Alehouse
Other Coast
People’s Pub
Portalis
Senor Moose
Shelter
Sloop Tavern
The Tractor
Volterra
Zak’s
Gifted
Dutch Bike Co.
Movie Cycle
Stone Gardens
That’s a small sample of non-members. I guess they “obviously do not understand the purpose and mission of the BCoC, or of any local CoC for that matter.”
Huh
Three out of eleven churches listed in the BCoC directory are members.
Three.
And one of them is Mars Hill. Do we need any more evidence the BCoC is evil?
I couldn’t make it out this year but looks like everyone had a great time. Seems that there were negative posts on this event. These community events remind me of the community event in the mid west where people can meet and great share stories and food. Keep rocking Ballard!
bank of america and chase obviously, to use your own words “put people before profits”
your argument just contradicts itself.
just because those businesses don’t support the CoC, doesn’t necessarily mean they support the missing link.
i actually know the owners of several of the businesses you mentioned and i know for a fact that none of them even know (read: care) about the missing link and the lawsuit.
Biker, you really don’t get it.
Just because a business is a member of the BCoC doesn’t automatically mean they want to “fight against community and local interests”.
As I mentioned, BCoC members include many non-profits and charities as well as a local school’s PTA. Are they all against the trail and local interests?
As a poster who has actually attended a BCoC meeting said, the BCoC rarely ever even discusses this issue.
Besides yourself, who do you know that is actually all up in arms about this? I don’t know a single resident of Ballard who is.
Nice church bashing Biker. How’s that whole community building goin’ for ya?
But nice to see that Bank of Amercia and Chase don’t fit into your profile of big greedy corporate chains.
I keep picturing Ken Lewis of Bank of Amercia and Jamie Diamond of JPMorgan Chase on a bicycle built for two.
Biker,
so where did you come up with your list of Ballard businesses that are not BCoC members?
you got it from the BCoC’s directory of Ballard businesses, which includes all businesses, regardless of whether or not they are BCoC members, which you found on the BCoC’s web site.
Biker +100
I don’t think he is saying BofA or Chase are admirable.
And Mars Hill IS evil. That’s not church bashing, that’s just common sense.
I guess I expected the GeekySwedes to hold themselves to a higher standard than Ken Lewis and Jamie Diamond as well ;)
Ballard can do better and if all these nonprofits and charities are Chamber members, maybe shining some light on the issue will force them to wake up and pay more attention to what is being done in their name.
It is very hard to believe the Chamber is suing Seattle and barely discusses it at their meetings.
I’m happy to find out all my favorite Ballard business are not members. Except, MyBallard.
I know tons of people upset and angry about it.
You sound old and under-educated so I am not surprised that you and your overweight out-of-shape car-driving church-going friends are not too concerned.
It’s not that we aren’t aware of the suit. We just don’t see it as one of the big issues facing the community. The suit has been filed, we are aware of it but until something happens with it the discussions are done.
We discussed it, decided to join the other members who had filed the suit. I know you would love to imagine we are eating our lunches and plotting ways of hurting the biking community but we aren’t. Because you aren’t as big a deal as you think you are.
As a business owner and a member of the chamber I would expect that if I was involved in a suit against the city over an issue that would negatively impact my business and businesses around me the chamber would join me in the suit.
Chambers of Commerce have always been politically active, a lot of little voices made into one big voice gets the ears of City Hall, even if that has to be done through lawsuits. The Downtown Chamber sued the city over closing Westlake to traffic years ago. They’ve also sued over raising parking rates a couple of times.
“You sound old and under-educated so I am not surprised that you and your overweight out-of-shape car-driving church-going friends are not too concerned.”
so that’s what your argument has come to? calling people names and making unsubtantiated assumptions about them?
where did you get your degree from einstein?
“I know tons of people upset and angry about it.”
So, like I suggested, put together a petition to the city and the BCoC and get these “tons of people” to sign it. That might actually get something accomplished towards your goal of ending the lawsuit and getting the trail built.
But you won’t do that, you’ll just sit in front of your PC and call people names. Now that’s a real community-oriented atitude.
“You sound old and under-educated so I am not surprised that you and your overweight out-of-shape car-driving church-going friends are not too concerned.”
Seriously dude, you’re swinging at your own imaginary phantoms here.
How about the 99.9% of the other things that the chamber does?
Yeah, how about that? Like what? Seafood fest, and, and, well, uh, and that’s it. They don’t do squat to help businesses that aren’t run by their high school buddies which is why my business is not a member and won’t be. It’s also why we needed another organization like the In Ballard Merchants Association to jump in and launch the Tuesdays in Ballard promotion. The BCoC wouldn’t do it.
Are you really using “church-going” as an insult?
Oh snap!
How do you even turn your bike in a circle when your world is so small?
So if someone doesn’t agree with you they’re old and fat.
If they are in the chamber they are automatically against the trail.
If they are in chamber they are actively engaged in a fight against community interests.
If they are not in the chamber they are automatically for the trail.
If they are for the trail they are good.
Churches and the people who go to them are bad.
What if someone rides bike to a church that is not a member of the chamber? Are they good or bad?
Nobody tramples more on the rights and equality of women and gays more than organized religion.
But on the other hand, 8 of 11 Ballard churches are smart enough to avoid the Chamber of Commerce.
But Biker is right that there are way too many overweight people in Ballard who could benefit from jumping on a bike every so often.
…and of course the Sweedes will go silent about their association with a group that is in the midst of a frivolous lawsuit against the trail.
if they are a member, they are suing us. plenty of tax $$ wasted fighting the inevitable.
ooh but they post pics of cute widdle kids…
“Nobody tramples more on the rights and equality of women and gays more than organized religion.”
” too many overweight people in Ballard who could benefit from jumping on a bike every so often.”
Ah, so freedom to choose a lifestyle is only ok for skinny women but not fat women?
WOW! I was told to look at this as an example of how to alienate a support base. They weren’t kidding.
To the poster who called out the Mars Church by name as being evil – from a demographic stand point urban professionals with children are your best bet to jump on this bike trail, same demographic as that church.
Point anti trail people.
Also the two Catholic schools in the neighborhood = kids on bikes, but mom and dad probably don’t like being called out as bad by you because they go to church.
Point anti trail people.
Anyone looking to loose weight or get in shape by biking, apparently they are too fat or old to be recognized as important.
Point anti trail people.
You can narrow your customer base only when you have a sought after product that is recognised as exclusive, when you are trying to build consensus cast your net wide.
If you want this trail to happen stop being so judgemental of people who could be on your side.
Yeah good luck getting answer to that one, SPG.
Ballard Chamber of Commerce seems to do whatever Ballard Oil wants and small members like the Swedes don’t seem to know or care.
Are Mars Hill women allowed to ride bikes?
Serious question.
As much as bikers want the trail, I think the vast majority of them would surrender if it meant they had to form any sort of alliance with an organization that preaches as much hate and intolerance as Mars Hill Church.
Really +50 comments about Night Out all pro/anti trail rants?
People: eat some pot luck, meet your neighbors, give a side eye when the weird neighbors go off on something, draw with some sidewalk chalk and call it a night.
I don’t know anything about that church so maybe it’s a known bad character in your neighborhood, just seems imprudent to call a group of people evil when they appear to be in your target demographic.
And by extension to call anyone who goes to church bad, seems like buying bad press for no obvious upside, it’s not like they are lobbying to have the trail open on Sundays and church groups are opposing them.
You know your neighborhood better than I do.
Just saying a municiple project like bike trail can’t afford to appear exclusive and those posts were.
Madman, please don’t offer the lunatic left fringe any advice on ‘coalition building’, watching them shoot themselves in the feet is far more entertaining.
“How about the 99.9% of the other things that the chamber does?
Yeah, how about that? Like what? Seafood fest, and, and, well, uh, and that’s it. They don’t do squat to help businesses that aren’t run by their high school buddies which is why my business is not a member and won’t be. It’s also why we needed another organization like the In Ballard Merchants Association to jump in and launch the Tuesdays in Ballard promotion. The BCoC wouldn’t do it.”
Actually, the BCoC does more than just the Seafood Festival, including providing a directory that lists *all Ballard businesses* regardless of whether or not they are members.
But you knew that because you’ve attended BCoC meetings.
Here is the list of what the BCoC does, right off their web site:
•Offer networking opportunities for members to help them promote their goods and services and keep business within our own community.
•Inform members and the Ballard community about local issues and events via our website, broadcast e-mails and through collaborations with the Ballard News-Tribune.
•Provide hundreds of referrals to the general public for area shops, restaurants and businesses.
•Produce and promote special events such as SeafoodFest and the Ballard Jazz Festival, bringing thousands for the festivities, but also to shop and dine.
•Organize and promote monthly ARTwalks, which enliven Saturday evenings in Ballard and promote patronization of retail, service and restaurant business in our community.
•Work with local and regional publications and media to promote Ballard and to spotlight issues facing this community.
•Create and distribute Ballard area maps, both in local businesses and at such tourist attractions as the Ballard Locks, Shilshole Bay Marina, the Nordic Heritage Museum, the University of Washington Visitors’ center, the Seattle Visitors’ Center.
•Partner with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) on the Ballard Parking Study to better utilize our existing parking supply and identify ways to provide more.
•Work with Seattle Parks Department to ensure that the Ballard Municipal Center Park fulfills the promise made to the community during the Neighborhood Planning Process and best serves us now and in the future.
•Confer with the Office of Housing to explore options for developing affordable housing.
•Meet with Mayor Nickels and other City officials to lobby for programs and funding.
•Provide representation at public meetings for the Monorail, the Viaduct and Port of Seattle projects, as well BINMIC (Ballard Interbay Northend Manufacturing and Industrial Center) and NSIA (North Seattle Industrial Association) meetings and events.
•Provide contact names and information for people looking to invest in or launch Ballard businesses, thus helping to keep our economy growing.
So the Ballard Chamber of Commerce does about as much as the phone book? Awesome.
That list all wag, no bark!
Ballard Chamber is the ultimate joke.
Hey Kelly –
Weren;t you the one who called me a racist for equating the sound of a vuvuzela with the annoying posts of the pro bike people?
But no problem with calling “organized religion” an oppressor? And dissing on the overweight? You don;t find that to be offensive to religious people or people of a certain size? At least I was using a metaphor.
Sword doesn;t cut both ways I guess.
Actually I think she agreed with the poster who called a group of people “evil” based on where they go to church.