Hey all, I had coffee today at Tougo Coffee on 18th & Union. My bro and I were in the area. Turns out that Tougo's across the street from my old elementary school, T.T. Minor. A huge Shepard Fairey Obama poster was in the window. The place is as comfortable as an old sweater. Has a genuine community-oriented, coffee shop vibe to it that I miss sorely. Brian was busy but met me with a big smile and we chatted for a spell. He showed us the play area in back where toddlers and Mommies were chilling. I'll just say that once he gets it off the ground, Tougo's going to be a great fit for CC and a big hit!

Thank you very much for your feedback. I am working very hard to make Tougo Coffee Columbia City happen. Thanks for the encouragement.

Best
Brian

I'm all for it. I've been hoping for a coffee shop for quite some time. CC definitely needs one. I love the bakery as much as anyone…but it closes a bit too early (especially on the weekends!) and isn't always the best place to find a quiet corner to get some work done. What'd I'd love is place with some decent, after-work hours…Open late, wifi, places to plug in laptops (the whole Victrola no-laptop-on-the-weekend thing actually kind of bugs me), good coffee, comfortable, community-minded…everything on the Tougo wbsite seems great. I definitely see a need and definitely can promise that I'll spend way too much money there.

Welcome!

To any Columbia Citizen paying attention, SEEDArts is all over, brightening and enlightening the neighborhood scene. SEEDArts believes in the power of art in community building. They offer visual, performing and public art programs that inspire and connect residents in Southeast Seattle.

SEEDArts operates the Rainier Valley Cultural Center (RVCC), Southeast Seattle's only performing arts center, host to the Arts Gumbo Series, the Rainier Valley Youth Theatre and Brownbox Theatre. The Columbia City Gallery is a cooperative gallery of 30 local artists and also includes special guest artists, lectures and special events. Its Public Art Program brings community-inspired public art to the neighborhood by tapping into youth involvement, neighborhood collaborations and partnerships with local developers. SEEDArts is a component of SouthEast Effective Development (SEED), a community development organization that has worked for 30 years to build strong SE Seattle neighborhoods and business district.

For more information or to help out, you can call Jerri Plumridge at 760-4286.

What do you want to see move into the neighborhood?

I am still hoping for a local take-out pizza joint to arrive in our neighborhood - one of a quality better than what we have now at Dawson & Wilson.

What’s next for your loved ones?

Where will you live as you age?

Join us in finding out more information regarding the many
options you have to shelter your long life. Representatives from various companies and organizations including
Assisted Living
Retirement Communities
Adult Family Homes
Independent Living
In Home Care
Moving & Boxing Companies
Chore Services
Senior Housing Organizations

Saturday, November 1, 10AM-2PM
SE Seattle Senior Center 4655 S. Holly St
722-0317

My comment email to DPD, with a cc to the Department of Neighborhoods. There's still time to submit yours.

From: Scott Ringgold
Sent: Sun 10/12/08 10:52 PM
To: vog.elttaes|nosredep.tra#vog.elttaes|nosredep.tra
Cc: vog.elttaes|tdetserf.acceber#vog.elttaes|tdetserf.acceber

Hello Art:

These comments relate to MUP 3003215, proposed development at the Columbia Plaza site.

Height, bulk and scale.

For projects at zone transition, as you know, Design Review generally addresses concerns related to height, bulk, and scale, per SMC 25.05.675 G2c. Note that this project involves no Design Review. The Columbia City Review Committee, the Architectural Review Committee, and the Landmarks Preservation Board have all signaled concerns in this regard, but it's unclear that the basic massing diagram has changed at all to address their concerns. Depending on how the proposed massing relates to the adjacent park and the adjacent residential lowrise zone, SEPA mitigation may be warranted per subsection G2b.

Shadows on public places.

The site abuts Columbia Park, a popular neighborhood gathering space. The images in the linked post are from a September evening — but it would be good to understand whether any mitigation is warranted for shadows cast on a July midmorning. Please consider impacts and any necessary mitigations per SMC 25.05.675 Q.

Construction noise and pedestrian circulation.

Please note that residences are located across Columbia Park from the site, and construction noise limitations are warranted evenings and weekends. Also important, the west side of Rainier Ave S is a primary route from the neighborhood to the library. It's a relatively long block along a busy arterial, with no signal and no crosswalk available at Angeline. Please ensure that the construction team keeps this sidewalk open at all times, unless sidewalk replacement is underway, per SMC 25.05.675 B.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

Scott Ringgold

Zed, I was walking around today and saw the signs up at Salon Adidez and all over. I've lived here almost 5 years but didn't know you did this. What a generous gesture on your part. Thank you.

I read on your web site how kid-friendly Tougo is. Great! It's something I always liked about Vios Cafe. You probably already know how full of kids this neighborhood is.

Hi Brian,

I was at Top Pot on Summit this weekend and said to my brother, "We really need a coffeehouse in Columbia City." As much as I love the Bakery, it's a bakery and not a coffeehouse. So yes, please come to Columbia City. "For."

Victrola has a rule, no laptops on weekends. Top Pot was jammed with laptops and it felt like a library or a very atmospheric morgue. Conversation's still a good thing.

Hi this is Zed from SALON ADIDEZ as we know Thanks Giving is on the way and I always have a Thanks Giving dinner at the Salon on 3705 S Edmunds St. , this will be my fifth year doing it and I really had a good amount of people who come and enjoy that meal. It give me a great deal of satisfaction when I see those who in need happy. I want to send this message to all of you that if you want to be a part I truly appreciate your time or donation. Thank you and God Bless.

Hello all my name is Brian and I am the operator of Tougo Coffee Co in the CD. My wife and I are working on opening our second location in the CC neighborhood and would like to know your thoughts and feelings about it.

If you don't know about Tougo Coffee please feel free to shoot me an e-mail or check out our website www.tougocoffee.com or stop on in. we are located at 1410 18th ave.

If you are against this kind of business in the hood I would like, or not I would love to hear your reasons why. For/Against. I am waiting on the President of the CC BA to as me to the e-mail list, and to send me an invite to the next meeting that takes place Tuesday evening.

Best
Brian
moc.eeffocoguot|nairb#moc.eeffocoguot|nairb

Point taken about the park — we use and enjoy it. But let's leave the name calling out of it — insanity diagnoses and conjectures about where people live… they just diminish the argument.

"What do you think of the bylaws?"

I won't belabor my point.

All of you who say that Columbia Park is underutilized are crazy. You obviously don't live over here. Everyday the kids from the New School come over here, many people have their lunch, walk their dogs, jog. There are also events from the library and the cultural center. People are in this park all the time so please stop saying no one uses it. You are wrong.

what os are you using? c64? free office .doc readers are widely available on windows and mac and unix, no?

what is the link that you can't open? all i can find is a link to a pdf, but maybe it was updated?

OK, looks like Open Office 3 Final will be officially released 10/13/2008, but can be grabbed, early, from the mirrors.

So I've waited four days for an answer. I'm downloading a 163Mb installation package now. In half an hour I'll be able to run the installer. I'm unfamiliar with Open Office, but that's OK because I'm savvy. Then I can read your Bylaws.

Could you make it any less convenient? I'm just saying.

Go get Open Office - http://www.openoffice.org/

… before it was ever on one. Here's an email from Tony Mazzella and Eric Widstrand from Seattle's Department of Transportation.

Rainier Ave S meeting follow-up
From: Sara Robertson (voG.elttaeS|nostreboR.araS#voG.elttaeS|nostreboR.araS)
Sent:Fri 10/10/08 3:23 PM

Hello,

Thank you for participating in the recent discussion of the technical analysis of the mobility impacts of a potential conversion of Rainier Ave. S from its current 4-lane cross-section to 3-lanes with center turn-lane. The issue is technically complex and can be quite emotional for some, particularly those who are strong advocates for one alternative over the other. While the discussion became heated at times, it was very satisfying to experience such a high level of participation among those who attended. I hope you had an opportunity to get your points across. If you have more to say, please don’t hesitate to contact any of us.

While we will continue to hold discussions with community stakeholders on the proposed conversion, it is clear to us that using the best available information and traffic projections, conversion to a 3-lane cross-section in the near-term would result in very significant delays on Rainier for transit and all other traffic. Severe delay would also occur for motorists trying to turn on to or cross Rainier. Traffic would be diverted, some into the neighborhoods.

However, we recognize the need for improvements for all corridor users including bicyclists, pedestrians, transit users, and motorists. Therefore, as a near-term solution SDOT plans to move forward to design a 4-lane street section that includes transit, pedestrian, bicycle and traffic calming improvements. These improvements include:

• Bus “bulbs” that reconstruct and widen sidewalks at bus stops, provide additional waiting space, and allow buses to stop in-lane and not have to fight to get back into traffic
• New pedestrian lighting and bike racks
• Striping the parking lane to better distinguish the travel lane from the parking lane; striping the centerline in such as way as to help calm traffic and thus improve safety
• Special treatment at existing crosswalks and special signs in the business districts
• Bicycle “sharrows” to increase motorist awareness that bicycles are present

SDOT will continue to monitor traffic patterns on Rainier. If, in the future, traffic volumes fall or are projected to fall as more traffic uses MLK Jr. Way or people make other travel choices, we will reconsider the 3-lane alternative. In the interim, we will work diligently to improve the design of Rainier to better accommodate all travel modes.

SDOT is available to meet with individual groups to discuss both study results and the proposed corridor improvements. Please contact Sara Robertson via phone at 733-9973 or via email at vog.elttaes|nostrebor.aras#vog.elttaes|nostrebor.aras.

Thank you,

Tony Mazzella and Eric Widstrand

Sara Robertson
Associate Transportation Planner
Seattle Department of Transportation
Phone: 206.733.9973

Some other web links for determining the stability of your bank(s) —

http://bankimplode.com (more recent info and summaries; includes a forum)

and also quarterly data, which is likely too outdated to be useful, but here it is…

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/safesound/ss_home.asp

http://www.bauerfinancial.com/btc_ratings.asp

http://us1.institutionalriskanalytics.com/www/index.asp

http://www.fedfis.com/