Getting the Word Out

Every participant at each public workshop
was asked to place a pin on the map where
they lived. See where people came from.

UPDATE: On July 31st, 69 people attended the 3rd and final public workshop.  This means that 225 people attended and participated in at least 1 of the 3 public workshops.  After the public workshop, the proposed zoning recommendations and streetscape plan were posted on this website and a public feedback period opened for 2 weeks (August 1st-15th). A letter was also mailed to every landowner who's property would be affected by the proposed zoning recommendations.

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As we approach our final public workshop on July 31st, we thought it would be a good idea to describe the public outreach and engagement that the 35th Ave Committee has undertaken to get the word out about this community-driven planning effort. Spreading the word is important to us so as many people, perspectives, and voices as possible are heard. There is only so much that we can do to get the word out, though. Ultimately, we need your help. We need you to tell your friends, family, and neighbors since word of mouth is the best form of outreach.

As we've written about before, this all grew out of the Wedgwood Vision Plan which occurred in 2010.  The vision plan showed that the community was dissatisfied with the 35th Ave NE business district and encouraged the community to undertake a neighborhood plan.

What Public Outreach/Engagement Have We Completed?

• During January-February 2012 we hosted 2 public meetings to describe the planning process and invite people to join the 35th Ave Committee. One meeting was held in the Wedgwood and the other meeting was held in Ravenna-Bryant.  Together, 67 people attended these two meetings.
• After these two meetings, the 35th Ave Committee partnered with the American Planning Association - Washington Chapter's, Community Planning Assistance Team to host 7 "coffee talks." These coffee talks covered a range of basic and introductory planning principals so that we as a community could become more educated on what is needed to make the business district more successful for both businesses and the community.  Together, 66 people attended these coffee talks.
• We've hosted 2 neighborhood walks down 35th Ave NE to talk about the business district and streetscape.  
• In 2013, we conducted a community survey of those that use the 35th Ave Business District.  The survey was largely completed online through a web-interface that was up for 6 weeks.  The Wedgwood Community Council, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, and Ravenna Blog were all gracious enough to help advertise the survey.  Additionally, we had paper copies of the survey available at several businesses along the business district.  And finally, several members of the 35th Ave Committee took turns interviewing business district users at key intersections along the district to complete surveys.  In the end, 1,038 people completed the survey, 124 of which were submitted via paper copies.
• In December 2013, we were awarded our grant from the City's Department of Neighborhoods to hire a consultant and assist us with the final steps of our planning process.  
• In April 2014, we mailed a postcard to every resident within a 5 block radius of 35th Ave NE, between NE 65th St and NE 95th St, and every land owner along 35th Ave NE between these same cross streets.  The postcard provided a link to this website and had dates and locations for all three public workshops.  
• We've posted flyers/posters at businesses along the business district and put up A-boards before every public workshop.  
• The Wedgwood Community Council, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, and Wedgwood View were all gracious enough to post the dates about all 3 public workshops on their websites.  Each public workshop has also been posted on the neighborhood social media website, Nextdoor.com.  
• In March-April 2014, we visited every business along the 35th Ave NE, between NE 95th St and NE 65th St.  We notified each business of our planning process and schedule, provided them a merchant survey for them to fill out, and invited them to a 'happy hour' event at the Wedgwood Ale House we called "Business & Beer."  We received 20 completed merchant surveys from businesses, which represents approximately 24% of the businesses within the district.  
• A total of 156 people attended our first 2 public workshops (75 people for public workshop 1 and 81 people for public workshop 2).  136 attendees were unique at 20 of which attended both public workshops.  
• In July, we mailed out a 2nd postcard to everyone who lives within 5 blocks of 35th Ave NE.

We've been trying to get the word out for over 2 years about this planning effort.  While we've made great progress, we could use your help.  Tell your neighbors, friends, and family about this planning process. 

The Results Are In. Respondents Want Retail Areas on 35th Ave NE Designated as Pedestrian Zones.

(19) & (20) are proposed Pedestrian Zones
along 35th Ave NE.

As we wrote about earlier, the City of Seattle is considering designating retail areas within existing commercial areas as "Pedestrian Zones."  Earlier this year, 902 respondents completed a survey hosted by the City to collect data on whether or not these areas should be designated as Pedestrian Zones. Of those that responded to the citywide survey for 61 different potential pedestrian zones, 14% of the responses were for the Wedgwood-North area and 6% of the responses were for the Wedgwood-South area.  When these respondents were asked, "Should this ("Wedgwood - North" and "Wedgwood - South") area be designated as pedestrian zone," the results were:

Wedgwood - North 
Yes = 70%
No = 9%
Unsure = 20%

Wedgwood - South 
Yes = 69%
No = 17%
Unsure = 15%

This designation would include adopting rules that would only apply to those parcels within the Pedestrian Zone which would be enforced as those properties redevelop. The City has posted draft rules, intended to create a safer and more inviting pedestrian retail environment within the Pedestrian Zones, which include:

• Require buildings to have pedestrian-oriented businesses (e.g., shops and restaurants on the ground floor)
• Enhance pedestrian safety with rules on parking and driveway placement
• Waive some parking requirements to encourage businesses to move into the area

The City is also considering rules that would:

• Require overhead weather protection for new buildings
• Limit businesses with drive-in lanes on the edges of  pedestrian zones.
• Establish a minimum size for new development in areas designated as "Urban Centers, "Urban Villages" or "Station Overlay Districts" (Note: 35th Ave NE is not designated as such.)

No decision has been made by the City as the survey and its results are still only part of the public engagement process.  Over next couple of months, the City will be finalizing its analysis and recommendations.  But if the majority of those who responded to the Wedgwood - North and Wedgwood - South areas have anything to say, they may be designated in the future.

We Surveyed the Businesses and Here's What They Said!

Our data suggests that most people who use the 35th Ave NE business district don't consider it their primary business district and when they do visit the businesses it's for short and specific trips. While our data also suggests that 92% of those surveyed would like more retail than there currently is along 35th Ave NE, we also learned from our very first Coffee Talk that businesses, including retail, need shoppers in order to survive.  So in March and April of 2014, we reached out to the businesses by visited every business and asking them to complete a short merchant survey and invited them to an event we hosted for them at the Wedgwood Ale House, which we called "Business and Beer."  The intent of this was to listen to our businesses, learn what their needs were, and inform them of our 35th Ave NE planning effort.

Of the 83 businesses we've previously inventoried along our business district, we collected 20 completed surveys which represents about 24% of the business district.  Unfortunately, the survey monkey tool that we've used in the past has changed their export formats so they're less reader-friendly on websites.  But, here is the data collected (XLS download) and a summary of of the results (PDF). (Disclosure: We have removed the name of each business that responded from the survey results for their privacy.)

Here's what we learned!

• The average length of time businesses have been along 35th Ave NE is 18.3 years!
• Business seems to be generally okay, with a slight improvement over the past 2 years. 
• 60% of businesses who responded leased their spaces while 40% own.
• Leases are generally 3-5 years.
• On average, 72% of customers are from the neighborhood while 42.8% of customers are from outside the neighborhood.
• Most customers appear to be white (81.7%) and between the ages of 30-65+.  
• Business have described the uniqueness of the 35th Ave NE business district with such words as: "friendly community," "hidden," "charming," "quiet," "Mayberry," "neighborhood," "suburban," "restaurant-poor," "spread out," "homey," "lots of families," "close-knit," and more.
• Business described the greatest strengths of the business district as: "a good mix of businesses," "everything is close and people are very friendly," "a large amount of independent businesses," "local vendors, friendly people," "prevalence of small locally owned business," and more.  
• Business described the weaknesses of the business district as: "a lack of a chamber of commerce," "would like more open/green space," "need more updated restaurants in the area, catering to younger crowds," "parking," "no larger space to accommodate other businesses," "spread out patches of businesses," "restaurant 'poor', daytime only business district, just 1 street (no depth)," and more.
• In general, businesses would like to see improved pedestrian safety, improved promotions and advertising, and improved storefront appearances/window displays/signage.  
• According to businesses, the changes needed to improve the business district include: "updated facades, new zoning regulations, a bit more variety," "defend 35th against the cycle track...," "better parking and better signage," "better businesses, pretty outdated," and more.
• Things that are preventing changes that could improve the business district include: "zoning and funding," "the City," "getting organized as a business community with agreed upon goals," "not enough land," and more.
• According to the businesses surveyed, the biggest needs for our business district include: "integration, coherence," "parking...," "always more customers and encourage them to shop in the business district," "drive new customers...," "more businesses," "higher density," "attracting new customers/patients," "more foot traffic," and more.
• The business types most desired by the businesses who responded include: "family oriented retail," "restaurants, deli," "a hardware store...," "restaurants," "all kinds, but especially more retail," "more retail! - restaurants and coffee shops," "small restaurants," and more.

Many of these responses echo what we learned during our first Coffee Talk (The Conditions Needed for Neighborhood Businesses).  There also appears to be a lot of overlap between those improvements desired by the businesses, as reflected in the merchant survey results, and the users/shoppers of the business district, as reflected in our 35th Ave NE Business District Survey.  Both businesses and shoppers would like to see improved retail and restaurants; protecting the prevalence of small, locally owned businesses; and improved pedestrian safety.  Businesses and shoppers also appear to be concerned with maintaining or improving convenient and available parking.

These survey results and the contact information provided were shared with those businesses who responded to help them organize among themselves if they so chose. We have also shared with them information on the Seattle's Office of Economic Development's Only in Seattle Initiative, which is intended to assist business district like the 35th Ave NE business district.  

What We Learned From You at Our First Public Workshop

On April 22nd, we held our first public workshop to about 80 people where our consultant team (Makers & SvR) led a short presentation on the planning and data gathering that's already occurred, the goals of our planning effort, and the existing conditions of the 35th Ave Business District.  After which, community members spent the rest of the meeting in 8 small groups working together to discuss land use, building types, and streetscape features along the business district.

35th Ave Plan Public Workshop #1 from Wedgwood Community Council

The group exercises included marking up a map of the business district with comments on the business district and then reviewing photographs and ranking different building sizes, types, and designs as well as different streetscape design features.  After about 45 minutes of group time, each group presented a summary of the group exercises to the rest of the participants.  Comments, questions, and conversation grew out of these presentations while the consultants took notes.  Here's what we learned.

Click on the image for larger PDF of results.

Using these results and the data collected from the 35th Ave Survey Results, the consultant team will develop zoning and streetscape design alternatives for the 35th Ave Business District to present at the upcoming Public Workshop 2, on Wednesday, June 11th, 7-9PM, at Messiah Lutheran Church.  

"Life Along the Corridor" - Guest Post

The following post is a summary of the first public workshop posted on the Wedgwood Community Council's website and written by Valarie Bunn, lauded NE Seattle historian, who attended the public workshop.

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The arterial 35th Ave NE is the main business and commercial corridor of the Ravenna, Bryant, View Ridge and Wedgwood neighborhoods, including the areas from NE 65th to 95th Streets. There are zoned “commercial areas” at the intersections of NE 65th, 70th, 75th, 85th and 95th Streets. For a pedestrian walking along the 35th Ave NE corridor, there are some places to eat and shop, and places to access businesses and services such as churches and the library. There are other stretches of the corridor which don’t have much to offer. Some of the commercial “nodes” are underdeveloped or have aging buildings which may be targeted for redevelopment. When trudging along 35th Ave NE as a pedestrian, how well-designed is the streetscape? Is it safe, convenient and functional? Are there clusters of businesses and services which are accessible on foot?

The Future of 35th Ave NE
The Future of 35th Ave NE project kicked off on April 22, 2014, with an introduction to land use, building character, and streetscape design.  Then community work groups gathered around tables to identify key issues. This project is grant-funded and is led by consultants from MAKERS Architecture and Urban Design, and SvR Design which includes landscape architects.  These same consultants worked with Wedgwoodians on the Vision Plan completed in 2010.  The current 35th Ave NE project builds upon the principles established in the Vision Plan. The evaluation questions of the current project include asking how the form and function of the pedestrian streetscape on 35th Ave NE will help create a safe and vibrant business district. What the 35th Ave NE project is not, is a “City” program which would address the roadway itself and traffic issues. What the project scope is intended to do, is create documentation for concerns for safe-crossing to businesses and services and the kinds of commercial options endorsed by neighborhood residents. With that documentation we can then interact with the City on issues of streetscape design, commercial zoning and the design of business buildings.

A More Vibrant Commercial District
In survey results which are posted on the project page, 92% of respondents wanted increased commercial services along the 35th Ave NE corridor. This may require some redevelopment in present “empty spaces” and in older, low-rise buildings. Businesses need to be clustered together for viability, rather than strung out in isolated spots. Pedestrian safety and comfort have direct impacts on local business districts. In a recent project in the University District, businesses enjoyed a 6.18% increase in sales within the first four years after the street improvements. Vacancies of commercial storefronts decreased there, and one business owner said that better street lighting had increased sales by creating a safe nighttime shopping experience for his store.

Getting Ahead of Development
We know that some businesses along 35th Ave NE are in old buildings, and the property owners are beginning to turn over control to the “next generation” of their family. We are likely to see some of the present buildings replaced by new ones. To have a say in what will be built, we must get ahead of the projects by providing a framework of what is wanted by neighborhood residents, supported by zoning regulations and needed improvements to streetscape.

One of the biggest “wake-up calls” in Wedgwood neighborhood history was the construction of what is now the Jasper Apartments at 8606 35th Ave NE, completed in 2012. By the time it was learned that a new four-story building was to go in, it was very difficult to have any input with the developers because they had already drawn up plans and applied for permits. It costs money for developers to do all the architectural plans and they resisted changes to the building requested by neighbors, because it would cost more money for re-drawing. One of the purposes of the present 35th Ave NE project is to document streetscape and building-type plans to be presented to and consistently requested from developers, so that future commercial buildings along 35th Ave NE would meet the needs of residents.

Join In, Let Your Voice be Heard
The Future of 35th Ave NE project has been endorsed by the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association and the Wedgwood Community Council. Anyone who lives in the area or uses the 35th Ave NE commercial corridor is invited to participate in the project. It’s not too late for you to join in on the process and let your voice be heard for improvements along the 35th Ave NE corridor. The next public workshop will be on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 PM at Messiah Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall, 7050 35th Ave NE. This workshop will address streetscape design and zoning: effective tools to balance competing interests along the linear and fragmented business district of 35th Ave NE. We need your voice! 

Save The Dates: Public Workshops Scheduled on the Future of 35th Ave NE

We have scheduled 3 PUBLIC WORKSHOPS for our consultant team to listen and learn from the community about what they hope 35th Ave NE looks like in the future.  Each public workshop will be held in the Fellowship Hall at Messiah Lutheran Church at 7050 35th Ave NE (across the street from Starbucks).

The information captured at these public workshops, along with the data received through the Wedgwood Vision Plan and Survey and 35th Ave NE Business District Survey, will be used to develop streetscape design guidelines and zoning recommendations to help shape the future of 35th Ave NE as the inevitable change occurs.  This planning process is occurring thanks to a grant received by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

Please help us spread the word by telling your friends, family and neighbors!

Add these public workshops to your calendar, here: HTML, ICAL, XML

We've Selected A Consultant! Introducing Makers & SvR.

You may recall that the 35th Ave Committee was awarded a Small & Simple grant by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods to hire a planning and urban design consultant to assist us with developing streetscape guidelines and zoning recommendations. You may also recall that we released a request for qualifications (RFQ) to solicit responses from qualified consultants.

We were privileged to have had 3 very qualified consultants respond to our RFQ for our review. Ultimately, we selected a consultant team of Makers Architecture & Urban Design and SvR Design. You can review the consultant team's response to our RFQ by clicking on the image at right. Both firms, Makers and SvR, are exceptionally well regarded and have a lot of experience working on similar projects. Makers worked with the Wedgwood Community Council on developing their Vision Plan in 2010.

Since making our selection, we have met with the consultant team and met with the City with the consultant team to refine scope and expectations. We are currently working to schedule three upcoming community workshops in the coming months. Stay tuned!