26 Sep Pioneer Square in the News

Seattle’s Pioneer Square: a whole lot of building going on? (Crosscut)
Paul Allen’s sports operation strikes a deal with King County and developer Kevin Daniels, and lifts its opposition to a long-awaited apartment project between Pioneer Square and the football stadium.

Stadium parking shift coming for Pioneer Square development (King5)
But Seattle sports fans are concerned about the nearly 500 precious parking spaces in the North Lot that will go away during construction. “No, they should not be concerned. There will be 900 more stalls,” said developer Kevin Daniels, who signed the purchase papers Friday after planning the project for 15 years.

McGinn’s 2012 budget to include funding for streetcars/rail (Ballard KOMO news)
Mayor Mike McGinn’s proposed 2012 budget will include $1.5 million for planning up to five new streetcar or rail lines in order to fulfill the city’s responsibility for connecting its neighborhoods. The five potential routes – (inc. Queen Anne to Downtown and Westlake to Pioneer Square) – will soon have more riders than buses can handle, according to a Sept. 22 blog post from McGinn.

15 public eyesores Seattleites might be used to (Big Blog)
I’ll give you one guess to figure out what made this list from our neighborhood? (hint: it’s big and made of concrete, hosts unsavory activity and is the reason our neighborhood created a preservation board)

Council members: McGinn’s budget may not replace patrol officers (Seattle Times)
Sally Clark told The Seattle Times Editorial Board Thursday that she’s concerned about the drop in officers on patrol in the city and the mayor’s apparent intention to not replace them. “I understand crime is down, the response time (to 911 calls) is good. In these hard times, leave the spots unfilled. On paper, it sounds good,” Clark said later at City Hall. “But that’s not what I’m hearing when I’m in the University District, in Belltown, in Pioneer Square. If you call those neighborhood leaders, they’d tell you who’s out selling drugs right now.”

The ultimate guide to Northwest freebies (King5)
Klondike Goldrush National Park — Most people don’t know this, but Pioneer Square is a National Park. There’s a museum that gives the history of Seattle’s connection to the Klondike Gold Rush. During the summer there are also free tours of historic sites at Pioneer Square.

Introducing the Seattlest Loft Sessions – October 6 (Seattlest)
A friend of Seattlest and talented musician, BC Campbell, suggested we start putting on shows in his artist loft home in Pioneer Square. We, of course, immediately jumped on the opportunity…the pieces just fell into place, and now, we’re happy to announce the first Seattlest Loft Session will be during Pioneer Square’s First Thursday Art Walk on October 6th.

Improvements pitched for Safeco Field area (Ballpark Digest)
As noted, it’s a draft report, but it’s a fascinating look at how downtown Seattle and its core components (Pioneer Square, the 1st Avenue corridor, Chinatown, SODO, the waterfront) can be better integrated to take advantage of the traffic already flowing into the area. These sorts of second looks don’t usually happen after a facility opens; maybe it can be a blueprint for other cities looking to leverage the traffic generated by a popular ballpark.

Lib Tech Bringing Back Downtown Throwdown (TransWorld Business)
Lib Tech announced it will be bringing back the popular Downtown Throwdown as well as a new stop in the series. The urban snowboarding event will take place in Pioneer Square in Seattle on Oct. 8, and in San Francisco on Oct. 29. The events will feature 25 of the worlds most progressive jibbers, including Scott Stevens, Forest Bailey, Johnny Lazz, Ted Borland, Jake Kuzyk, Dylan Thompson, Austen Sweetin, Jess Kimura, and Chris Larson