Seattle City Buzz

The American Planning Association (APA) released its 10 Great Streets and 10 Great Neighborhoods list. Among among the contenders the Pike Place Market district was selected as one of the 10 Great Neighborhoods in America.

The Pike Place Market neighborhood continues to lead by example. Its compact, pedestrian-oriented design and range of housing options served as the inspiration for the city’s Downtown Livability Plan, passed in 2006. Despite ongoing financial and other challenges, its community continues to fight to sustain its viability. It serves as a reminder that it is not just a mix of buildings that define a place but, rather, the mix of people that infuses a neighborhood with a distinct voice and personality of its own.

Read more from the APA review of the Pike Place Market district.

The Pike Place Market is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year…August 17th to be exact.

To celebrate their centennial year the market is reviving the Pigs on Parade event featuring 100 new fiberglass porcine beauties.

The parade starts at 10:00 AM on June 2nd at Westlake Center and will makes its way to the Pike Place Market to kick-off the Market Foundation Street Festival. The festival hours are 10:00 am - 7:00 pm on Saturday and 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday.

After the festival, the pigs will make its way to sidewalk locations throughout downtown Seattle where they’ll enjoy the sunny summer days.

Pike Place Market Tidbits

• Founded August 17, 1907
• 10 million people visit the market annually
• Washington’s #1 tourist attraction
• 240 street performers known as “buskers”
• Fresh fruit & veggies available 362 days per year

One of the things I look forward to on Sunday mornings is checking out the 2nd to the last page of the Sunday Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine. Called “Then and Now”, they juxtapose a vintage and current image of a location or building in Seattle. It’s a great little snippet about Seattle’s past. Here’s an online version.

A new blog just started called Vintage Seattle. Though it doesn’t necessarily compare then & now images, it does focus on vintage images, mostly from postcards and other sources of a time long passed. It’s a great idea and I’m sure I’ll be stopping by often.

Citizen Rain is the latest entrant to Seattle blog aggregation. The difference is this one is maintained by King5, Seattle’s NBC affiliate, thus providing a potentially large viewership source for many local blogs.

The blogs are segmented into several categories which includes news, sports, scene, music, outdoors, real estate and politics. So far over 100 local blogs are featured.

The WE (Womens Entertainment) channel is premiering a new pet reality show shot right here in the Emerald City. The show is called “Adventures in Doggie Daycare” that takes place at the Downtown Dog Lounge.

From the WE’s website:

Dog lovers know that only the best will do for their best friend! Welcome to the Downtown Dog Lounge…a daycare center like no other. Dog owners pay upwards of $12,000 a year while their pooches are pampered in ways most PEOPLE aren’t used to!

The show premieres Saturday, April 7th at 9:30 PM. And, as it turns out, one of the doggie stars, Molly, is a friend of a friend’s dog. Just want to get as close to stardom as I can. Here’s the PI’s write up about the show.

Espresso Vivace announced they will be moving their flagship store to the new Brix condominium project on Broadway. Vivace will be the anchor tenant with a 2,200 sq ft store.

The new flagship Espresso Vivace Roasteria at Brix, which will take the place of the Denny Way Roasteria, is expected to take the art of coffee a step further - into the design of the coffee bar itself. The interior will not only bring in design elements of both the Sidewalk Bar and the Roasteria, but also will feature a mural under the main bar dedicated to Espresso Vivace’s history on Capitol Hill. Vivace is nearly as famous for its drink-topping coffee art patterns, including its caffe latte rosetta, as it is for its pioneering research on coffee-making techniques.

The current location at Denny & Broadway is expected to become the Capitol Hill station for Sound Transit’s light rail system.

Who knew sculptures could have offsprings. First there were “splinters” and now there’s “eaglets”.

© Seattle PI

Read more - Seattle PI article

Near the Market Theater and the Alibi Room in Post Alley is the affectionately named Gum Wall. I’ve been to the Abili Room…I just don’t recall seeing the gum. But, it was night-time and dark.

Have a look:

• Vitural Tour from VR Seattle
• Flickr images
• A bit in Frommers