Weigh in on future planning for Crown Hill Urban Village

The workshop series to involve the community in urban planning for Crown Hill is underway, and city planners are looking for more feedback from residents.

The Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development has created an online survey to learn about how residents use their neighborhood, and what they’d like to see in the future. They’ve also developed an interactive story and map to educate residents about the community planning process.

“[Crown Hill] is home to approximately 2,500 residents, as well as many businesses, services, and facilities that serve and bring people from the surrounding neighborhoods,” the site reads. “However, Crown Hill has never had its own community plan. Through this planning effort, we will work with community to develop a future vision for the Crown Hill Urban Village and within the proposed urban village expansion, and identify short- and long-term strategies to address community priorities.”

Participants at the October 13 workshop responded to several questions put forward by the organizers, including “Where and how could new development help foster a strong ‘center’ for the urban village?” Answers included suggestions to improve transit, plant trees, and improve pedestrian walkways. One respondent suggested two smaller centers — 85th/15th and 90th/Holman — saying that one center would fail to serve all residents of Crown Hill.

Generally, participants said they want to see slower speeds on arterials, more greenery, and more pedestrian-friendly improvements. To read the responses from the October 13 workshop in full, click here.

The Crown Hill Urban Planning includes all aspects of the neighborhood — from transportation to housing and infrastructure. Here’s a list of themes that emerged from previous community discussions (from the city):

  • Create a walkable town center with a variety of businesses and services
  • Improve pedestrian and bicycle connections, especially to parks and schools
  • Foster safe, and engaging public spaces and streetscapes
  • Add and retain affordable housing in the neighborhood
  • Improve stormwater drainage
  • Ensure the design and scale of new development complements the neighborhood

Stay updated on the city’s upcoming Crown Hill workshops here.

60 thoughts to “Weigh in on future planning for Crown Hill Urban Village”

  1. I’m quite sure this plan with be as good for Crown Hill as all the “changes” were for Ballard in recent years.
    Enjoy, Friends!

    -Create a walkable town center with a variety of businesses and services (Haha ok great more Starbucks and dog yoga)

    -Improve pedestrian and bicycle connections, especially to parks and schools (Sorry about that stolen bike or strong arm robbery for your purse. Hobos rampaging near school? Call 911!)

    -Foster safe, and engaging public spaces and streetscapes (Really, call 911 everything is FINE; use that yoga mat to staunch the bleeding.)

    -Add and retain affordable housing in the neighborhood (Really. Really? HILARIOUS)

    -Improve stormwater drainage (for the RV chemical toilets, drug lab runoff, and garbage to more easily enter the Sound)

    -Ensure the design and scale of new development complements the neighborhood (Yep, brutalist, cookie cutter architecture really says “21st Century” and allows the human spirit to soar among the smart phone addicts and mumbling junkies!)

    1. As a Ballard resident I love the changes to Ballard, and am pretty stoked about safer streets, better school access for kids, and improved retail locations that aren’t the current dilapidated decay. The area has tons of positive advances, great value and growth, in spite of the condescending negativity.

      1. If you think the streets are “safer” than 5yrs ago you are perhaps enjoying the legal cannabis a bit too much. 85th and 15th is great place to get robbed, either on foot or as a clerk at a store. Ride the D Line much?
        Ahem:
        Beat:B1, STRONG ARM ROBBERY at NW 54 ST / 26 AV NW reported on 10/25/2018 3:42 AM, Call# 18000398757
        Beat:J1, ASSAULTS, OTHER at 97XX BLOCK OF EVANSTON AV N reported on 10/25/2018 4:03 PM, Call# 18000399324
        Beat:B3, BURGLARY – RESIDENTIAL, OCCUPIED at 37XX BLOCK OF BAGLEY AV N reported on 10/25/2018 3:19 AM, Call# 18000398382
        Beat:J3, STRONG ARM ROBBERY at 78XX BLOCK OF AURORA AV N reported on 10/24/2018 5:21 PM, Call# 18000398017

          1. Take a walk after dark around Ballard or take the bus at night.
            And no, that isn’t some kind of “threat” it’s an invitation to see for yourself.

          2. You have no idea whether or not the police blotter in Crown Hill has more or less crime than five years ago. You don’t have any info on five years ago. It’s all ignorant bluster, hoping nobody will notice.

        1. Because you post crime citations as a retort to a comment instead of actually having intelligent discourse. People are downvoting you because you’re an idiot, plain and simple.

          1. I heard you got “enriched by vibrancy” at the Ballard Library and needed retrovirals. Glad that was a only a vicious rumor. Snack on!

          2. You really are evil. Everybody knows Twinkies are the only acceptable snack cake.

  2. This is a waste of money and time for everyone. Crown Hill is an armpit that needs to be turned into townhomes. QFC on Holman Road is dangerous and home to all the drug zombies and theives that are living and camping in Carkeek Park. They steal everyday from the surrounding areas Blue Ridge , Crown Hill & Broadview. This is known and allowed by the park Ranger and police ,Viewlands elementary and Whitman Middle School. The whole area is in crisis and property values are going down while taxes go up.
    It’s so bad people who pay 7-15k in taxes can’t and don’t send their kids to the neighborhood schools due to the skuz factor , needles, garbage, portables and total creeps with backpacks combing the neighborhood every hour looking for something to steal for drugs. Prostitution has gone up and been seen in this area also.
    Every business has closed on the area. It’s totally gross and it won’t ever get better, It willl just get worse and look like 99 in a couple years.
    The Park needs to be cleared out of homeless drug campers every day and violators need to be arrested.
    Then all of the crappy section 8 housing needs to be sold and developed into townhomes
    QFC needs to be flattened and redone into a Whole Foods. Tear down the Walgreens and move the 99 c discount and value village out along with 24 hour massage
    Each neighborhood in Seattle needs a neighborhood mini police patrol center until the city is fully repaired and all of the bums, illegal campers and junkies are in prison where they belong.
    We also need a giant 5k-10 k tiny apartment
    Project like building in the South end and give everyone a free room for 3 years.
    Enough time to get sober , get a job and get mental health help.
    After that it’s jail or a commitment to a mental
    Health hospital for a few years.
    People cannot be allowed to poop on a sidewalk , sleep anywhere they like or ruin our peace.
    Marshal law will soon be in effect.

    We have 1/2 the police as any other big City compare with Boston or New York
    All of our police money is going to pay for urban planners and “homelessness advocates”
    Disgusting …..

    1. Excellent post, Liza. Just don’t tell Elenchos. She’ll chide you, saying you don’t know what you’re talking about and that you’re “fearmongering” because you’re afflicted with “Mean World Syndrome.”

      1. Oh God, you’re still around. What drugs are you on sport? “The world isn’t a scary place” you say. Too rich. Try taking your family for a walk by any of the city approved wet houses and any surrounding areas. Take them all for a walk along Aurora any day too, then get back to us here. If not part of the solution, you are part of THE problem. Just keep yanking that “d” lever and hoping…………….

    1. Are you joking? The comments are what keeps people coming back. And yes, a lot of it is hand-wringing hyperbole, and a lot of it is individuals expressing their unique frustrations and viewpoints. Shutting that down isn’t a step in the right direction. Sure, it’s off-topic most of the time, and it’s probably only a very small percentage of the readers that comment, but perhaps, just perhaps it will one day foster a real dialogue leading to understanding. The Fresh Branzino has spoken!

    2. When people respond to you saying “no” then refer to themselves in the third person, I’d say you’re on the right track.

      1. Andrew apparently doesn’t understand satire. But then again I think liberals banned the Classics and ruined humor, so that isn’t surprising. A whole world awaits you at the Library, assuming you don’t get hepatitis.

    1. Posting MyNorthwest articles just reinforces the fact that all your posts are sensationalist garbage. Read a real news site, not a angry right wing blog masquerading as be a news site.

      XOXO,
      Truth

      1. So, you don’t believe the cop got stuck with a used needle? Or you dislike the mynorthwest page? I can see disliking one as sensationalist fear-mongering journalism, but if the cop did get stuck, that’s an undisputable fact if proven to be true.
        NOW, this doesn’t mean it was a homeless person – could be a housed person who is also grappling with a drug addiction. Either way, used needles don’t belong in city parks.

        1. No one doubts the cop got stuck. MyNorthwest spins it as “OMG COP GOT STRUCK, SEATTLE IS A DYSTOPIAN SHITHOLE.”

          The article should have been a couple of paragraphs about a cop that stepped on a needle and is currently seeking medical treatment. But instead, it goes on and on for pages about how terrible Seattle is and that we should all be very afraid.

          That’s not journalism nor news. It’s the over-sensationalist, fear-mongering rhetoric of a right-wing blogger who has a clear grudge against Seattle, likely because a successful, progressive city triggers him.

          But I guess that fits in to your bizarro agenda of blog comment shitposting and fear, so I can see why you read it. Just don’t expect anyone to take you seriously when you post “articles” from it.

          1. “Successful city”
            https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/is-seattles-homeless-crisis-the-worst-in-the-country/

            You guys call Seattle a “liberal success” because of what? Amazon? Vulcan? Google? Then you complain these giants don’t pay enough taxes after they ruin the unique character of the place and drive up housing costs. So I’m confused why you think Seattle, like SF, is some kind of model of socioeconomic progressivism. The working people are saddled with obscene taxes and deal with scumf*ck junkies on their daily grind to make a buck. The cops seem to want to work in less dysfunctional municipalities. Is success defined only by Dan Savage’s rainbow flags and the number of yoga studios?

            What color is the sky on your planet? Pink?

          2. Yes, it’s all just “fearmongering.” No increase in crime, needles, open drug, nah.

            To echo Chico Marx, “…who ya gonna believe me or your own eyes?”

          3. I’d believe my own eyes. Put the crime rate in Crown Hill today and the crime rate 5 years ago in front of my eyes and I’ll believe what I see. Let’s take a look see.

          4. Well how many times has the Walgreens been robbed recently? And why exactly are all the 24 hour stores now closing @ 1am? Crime-if you haven’t noticed.

      2. So the head of the Police Guild lied? Is that what you saying?

        Weird. Because you guys want only the cops to have the guns, then don’t trust the cops. Sad that you have no compassion or concern for an officer perhaps INFECTED while trying to keep Crown Hill safe. Pathetic. Your mom must be proud, Soyboy.

        1. “So the head of the Police Guild lied?”

          Whaaaaaaaaaat!? Oh my stars and garters. You’re talking about the likes of Rich O’Neill. Or Ron Smith. Remember him? That guy was a piece of work, wasn’t he?

          Yes, sometimes they lie, cupcake. SPOG’s president doesn’t work for you, and he don’t work for the city. He works for the cops and the cops alone. His job is to say and do whatever it take care of his fellow cops, nobody else. The fact that Rich O’Neil would even appear with a lowlife like Jason Rantz says it all.

          I know how much it triggers you when anybody dares to question the holy writ handed down by your beloved cops. Cops are people, not angels.

          Hey, isn’t there a police contract that gives SPOG everything on their wish list, hanging in the balance right about now? What a coincidence!

          1. Huh. Didn’t see any facts there, cupcake. Just name calling.
            Yes I’m sure the police guild is as corrupt as something like, I dunno, the CITY COUNCIL who have a VESTED INTEREST in taking our money and denying reality. Besides, the SPD actively hires people of color (hello Chief Best) and is probably more diverse than most forces at this latitude. Your cornball “evil white cop” angle doesn’t wash anymore.

            Do I “trust” the cops? Well if the choice is between trusting them and a city FULL OF JUNKIE SCUMF*CKS then that’s a pretty easy choice. I’d love to hear your views on the city PAYING people like “Gorgeous” Dre Taylor (rapist’s bro) the ex pimp. Nice people you’re defending.

          2. You don’t know the facts about SPOG? GO OUTSIDE! Or at least read something besides that mynorthwest crap. The rest of the world knows Ron Smith shot a guy in a bar fight in Sturgis, SD. The cops all knew about it BEFORE they elected him president. He’s the one who had to resign over racist Facebook posts.

            Rich O’Neil has been lying to us about police misconduct for decades.

            Maybe he’s not lying on the Jason Rantz show. But Rantz is a liar, his show exists to spread misinformation, and O’Neil lies whenever it suits him. Draw your own conclusion.

            Which people have I defended? Tell me who I defended.

          3. Irrelevant anyway. This particular officer who got needle stuck is not brass, nor a politico, so your predictable liberal squid ink/obfuscation/deflection game is almost as sad as your lack of concern for the officer or public safety in that (AND ALL OTHER) parks.

            I’d rather have a guy who shot a scumf*ck biker in charge than some soyboy who defends junkie thieves or some lunatic who thinks Jesus is watching her feed the junkies at St Lukes. Bunch of morons. We can see the results all over this city.

          4. Sturgis authorities determined that the three SPD officers getting blitzed were the scum-whatevers in this particular scenario. Do you even read at all? They shot one of the tens of thousands of accountants on Harleys who converge on the town every year to dress up as bikers. Sad, but not a crime, not a reason to open fire. The LEO biker clubs are no less sad than the accountants and lawyers who pretend they’re Sonny Barger. What’s next? Cops dressing up as Charles Manson every weekend? Osama bin Laden?

            What was Ron Smith and his two SPD pals even doing prancing around Sturgis pretending to be ‘outlaw’ bikers? You need to either respect the law or not respect the law. You don’t get to do both.

            It’s OK for cops to drink, but if you’re going to get blotto, maybe leave your gun at home? This is who the SPD rank and file chose as their President. Speaks volumes.

  3. In all seriousness NW Seattle along the main corridor has some serious conflicts that peak around the middle and first of the month. Many of us in Ballard and Crown Hill don’t call 911 due to shortage of Officers and shift change. Most of the time law enforcement gets the blame and their hands are tied. I have never in all the years seen so much addiction and mental health issues in our neighborhood. Although, the residential community is my favorite with the change in colors of the landscape. Crown Hill is not a dream world being on a bus line is a target for drugs and theft. I believe the Crown Hill Safeway ranks # one for theft in the district. I see individuals travel from the methodone clinic from Shoreline go and target our neighborhood store. Walk in with back packs and suitcases and use the bus line for their getaway. I have observed the women who work at the store verbally assaulted and threatened to watch their backs when they leave for home I have seen Fed Ex staff abused and threatened. I definitely don’t sit back and let it fly and I will call 911 so at least it is posted a a trend that maybe the North Precinct can deal with at a later time. I have been called by the women who work at the store if I would give them a ride home. There are some in Ballard where I grew up that just makes me sick. Some of uswork very hard by working with others to make Ballard a safe and healthy working environment for the young and not so young in all Communities. However too many Ballard community members hide behind their posting and insults. I don’t agree let’s block him he is fear mongering and a racist bigot for supporting Blue Lives Matter.

    1. Yes. This is the reality for all of us who have lived in and around Ballard for the past decade or more. Shocking turn in the last few yrs. Crown Hill Safeway’s Starbucks is a junkie/dealer rendezvous spot. Calling attention to the madness is panned as “altright fearmongering”.
      It’s insane and our “leaders” should be sued for negligence and perhaps even jailed.

      The stupidity is so bad because CRIMINALS TALK TO EACH OTHER and the word got out out (thanks Seattle Times!) that the SPD is running a skeleton crew and many of them want to leave. If I were a junkie, where would I go? BALLARD! Where I can get free meals at St Lukes and steal without worrying about cops and then have SOCIAL JUSTICE MORONS DEFEND my right to camp and FEEL SORRY FOR ME. It’s the stupidest scenario I’ve ever seen.

      1. Oh come now, those people are committing ‘survival crimes’! They’re just experiencing a bout of campgrounding! They’re all fine, upstanding ‘vulnerable’ community members – the most vulnerable community members, or so I’m told. Really, once this trend of ‘homeless chic’ passes, Big Hobo will move out of the area and these people will all go back to their jobs, their houses, and resume their normal, productive lives.

  4. I’mopposed to this up zoning plan. Our sewers and streets are now grossly over burdened, and crime in the greater Ballard area is a serious problem that seems to correlate with all the new cheap multi-family attached homes. This used to be a nice community, but is being targeted by Seattle as a relief valve for low cost housing and tiny homes.

    No to this up zoning, which is a euphemism for making Crown Hill a low cost housing project.

    1. So you seem to accept, in principle, the idea of building more housing, but not in Crown Hill, where you live. Not in your, so to speak, “back yard”. Perhaps in someone else’s, you know, “back yard”, but not in yours. Because yours is different than theirs. Obviously.

      You have an insightful and fresh perspective of the situation. It’s amazing that nobody else has said what you just said until now. Perhaps we can coin a new term for this kind of thinking, you know, the “do that thing, but don’t do that thing in my back yard” point of view.

  5. Is it true that a six story apartment building will replace the area that includes Grumpy D’s, blocking views in the 3 or 4 story apartment complex recently built across 15th NW? Why can’t the city’s rules that make it so much easier for builders to throw up apartment buildings be replaced by easier rules to build condimuniums? People could buy them, some could be subsidized AND pride of ownership would improve the neighborhood.

    1. Even more government policies favoring homeowners over renters? Really? The feds spend $70+ billion a year on the mortgage interest deduction; 90% of that benefits people making over $100k. Easy lending terms for homebuyers, if they’re rich enough. Natural disaster bailouts for homeowners, tax relief for homeowners who can’t cover their property tax, energy efficiency upgrade subsidies — and nothing for renters. If you have money, the government gives you more money. If you don’t, they give you nothing. Inequality isn’t accidental. It’s policy.

      The reason poor people are poor is not that they’re defective or lack “pride”. The reason is they have less money. A pro-condo policy at the expense of renters is a policy of making Seattle’s inequality even worse, which means making the housing crisis worse.

      It’s not “pride” that owners have. It’s elitism, and class hatred. Which is more likely to bring people of color to your neighborhood? A new condo? Or rental apartment? Everyone knows the answer. Excluding renters is tantamount to redlining and housing discrimination.

        1. ALL these YIMBY/urbanist nitwits are angry and resentful. They are call anyone who has committed the crime of buying a home “elitist,” “climate arsonists,” “NIMBY’s,” “racist,” “privileged,” “exclusionist,” “boomer,” “old white cranks,” you name it. They don’t offer one word of thanks for the hundreds of millions we spend on affordable housing levies and all the other programs they demand for “equitability.” They argue that those of us who actually live in the neighborhood don’t deserve a say in the future of it. They whine it’s unfair that a barista can’t live in the most expensive neighborhoods in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

          And the junkies breaking into our cars and homes? That’s our fault too, apparently. It matters not to them that most of these miscreants are able bodied young men in a city with very low unemployment. No, we’re the ones making them stick needles in their arms, because we don’t them all free housing. The YIMBY’s refuse to understand it’s not an affordability issue for the vagrants, it’s an ADDICTION issue.

          1. Blah blah blah

            Bottom line is renters are your class enemies, and they bring racial diversity to your 99% white enclave. “Pride” my ass. White pride is more like it.

            What’s your solution for addiction? The same failed tactics from the failed drug war? That stuff didn’t work. Got new ideas? Something that does work? Got evidence? Make your case.

          2. You jump to a lot of self-medicating conclusions. It’s probably better if you die from an aneurism so the people who want to fix shit can get on with it.

          3. Is that you? A man of action? You’re somebody who gets on with it? Fixes shit? Because a guy who sits around waiting and hoping I die of an aneurysm doesn’t sound like somebody who gets anything done.

            But don’t let me keep you. If you’ve got big plans to get up out of that chair and go do something for Crown Hill, more power to you. Get out there and do something.

          4. Oh look, it’s YET ANOTHER “racial equity warrior” who is really just a deluded stalking horse for nihilist developers who want to see the whole city turned into a homogeneous SoCal strip mall consumerist hellhole. Muh white privilege. Muh patriarchy
            You guys talk more about race than anybody. Nonstop. Lemme know when you move to Tukwila, Skippy.

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