Tag: lynnwood

Thinking Thanksgiving & Christmas

Carl Setzer

I hope your holiday was lovely, filled with bonding and growing those relationships that truly add meaning to our lives. Ours was spent in one of my favorite NW cities: Bellingham. Since the day was spent with family, we didn’t get to any of my favorite shops or eateries, but I was prepared. The weather was blessedly calm, and traffic rather lite, so the drive was uneventful. Having the Stillaguamish bridge back open was particularly nice.

Over the past week, I’ve noticed several neighbors with Christmas lights up. Add to that Christmas marketing already going, and I find I’m struggling with acceptance. I grudgingly tolerate the Christmas season starting today, the day after Thanksgiving. There’s only so much resisting one can do.

But I still can advocate for Advent, the season of preparation for the coming of the Christ. Preparation, awareness, anticipation; all these elements get lost in the commercial madness that’s modern Christmas. Perhaps it’s intertwined with our overall impatience, or just our inability to filter out marketing.

So, I’m a bit pleased to see the rain, which seems to have built up with it’s delayed delivery. Maybe we’ll have another day or so without the frenetic lights, et al, of Christmas blazing. Of course, this will probably make the malls that much more desirable. So be it, makes the rest of the region that much more accessible to me. So it begins, I guess. For me, it’s clearly a good day to get some coffee, avoiding the roads near the malls.

Wishing you a safe holiday season filled with light, delight and warmth.

Some thoughts on Lynnwood

Carl Setzer

I noticed that the House of Rock restaurant going into the old Celtic Bayou space changed names. What does that means for a business that hasn’t opened its doors yet?  Perhaps there’s some uncertainty about their vision. To me, I worry that they’re more focused on their name and signage than on getting the doors open and serving customers. Thus that this might end up vaporware.

Another building is under construction at the Lynnwood Crossing site. Watching the way they’re developing lends me to believe they already have tenants for the space. I’ve not seen any signage, so don’t know for certain. Looking forward to seeing what lands there.

The changes I’ve witnessed in this area are  amazing. Development along 196th and over by the mall remind me of the changes in downtown Bellevue in the 80s. Lynnwood had a rather unique environment, though, so it will grow into a rather different business community.

Neighborhood Youth Alliance : Success This Weekend

Carl Setzer

My wife has been heavily involved with Lynnwood’s Neighborhood Youth Alliance for years.This Saturday was supposed to be the culmination of a backpack & school-supplies drive. It wasn’t, exactly, though. Due to a few communication snafus, there was a fair amount of last-minute scrambling. However, there were adequate supplies to hand out to our kids in need so they would be prepared for school this Wednesday. Though there were a few gaps in supplies, they will be filled next week. And, also also, this delay allowed us to think and we were able to get donations of graphing calculators for some of our STEM students. Our community came together fast, and went beyond the obvious need. Makes me happy and proud to call this place home.

Below is a shot of the SECOND wave of donations, with the ask put forth barely a day before.

We learned a great deal, and next year will be even more effective. I love this place.

Cafe thoughts

Carl Setzer

As I’m sitting in Lynnwood’s Cafe Ladro, enjoying the cafe vibe, memories are triggered. Thinking of my beloved B&O and bauhaus from the years I lived on Capitol Hill. The ambiance of an urban cafe is unique, and these two captured the emotion of that point of my life.

Now I find myself back in the suburbs that I’d reviled as a young man. Just a few meters from the house my parents settled in, where I consider myself “raised”. Coffee tastes similar, though my relationship to it has greatly changed. The grey skies and driving drizzle pull out similar ties to that time, yet they’re over strip malls not the lovely, gritty buildings of Seattle.

So, B&O moved, then went out of business. I heard bauhaus moved up the hill. Change. Change. Not just me, not just my locale, even the streets and institutions of my history evolve.

Or so I ruminate, listening coffee beans getting scooped. A sound hearkening to before my birth. Little pieces connecting all humanity over the ocean of time.

Ezell’s Coming Back To Lynnwood?

Carl Setzer

On my drive into the office today, I passed the strip mall on the north side of 196th (just east of 40th) and was pretty certain that I saw an Ezell’s Chicken sign. A few years ago, they closed their first Lynnwood store (on 76th & 196th; Ezell’s was still showing on this Google map street view [as of today, at least]). It looks like the store wasn’t performing, so they moved it to south Everett, which is now apparently closed (their website has one in Mill Creek). I started with their chicken years ago, and am fond of seeing local businesses do well. And how much better does one get than getting called out by Oprah as “the best”?

There is the possibility I read that wrong, but I’m pretty sure I saw the logo on the banner. It’s an interesting location, as it’s right across 40th from KFC, which has been in that location as long as I can remember. Perhaps that will help? Will it hurt? That area gets massive amounts of vehicle traffic, so that should help things.

Anyway, if I’m right, I wish them the greatest success.

Ruminations from my walk

Carl Setzer

I’ve long adored my walks. A magnificent way to get exercise and explore a community. Walking today in this place I’ve spent most of my life had deeper meaning than most. I reflected on my friends, on several issues I care deeply about, and on how this area is both the same yet different.

Also, I listened to the birds, looking at the flowers. I considered communication. How much information is being transferred. Dangers, sexual availability, food presence, territorial marking, all that and more, in these pretty sights and sounds floating across the air. Simultaneously. Really, when considered in this context, a late spring day is laden with data.

Such are the things that concern my mind. I hope each of you had an equally enjoyable day.

An Evening At The Lynnwood Rollaway

Carl Setzer

My son’s school had their final skating party of the year this evening. My memory calls this the Lynnwood Rollaway, though it’s now called Bowl & Skate. Whether Rollaway is legit, or some weird memory glitch, I’m unsure. Whatever the name, these are fun, though it’s different for the kids than the adults. Catching up with the other parents: fun. For me, though, there’s one additional piece. This rink is where I spent a great deal of my pre-teen and early teen years. Many formative moments happened here. It’s a key part of my, as well as the city’s history. I wonder how many first kisses, romances, fights, breakups, ups and downs, all within these same walls.

Oddly, to me, the space looks very much the same. Now, that could just be a memory trick. Memory is quite malleable. But, the visual cues seem unchanged.

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I’m not sure how clearly these pictures will come through, but you should at least glean the basic idea. Anyway, it’s pleasing to me that the space has maintained that essence, and that my son gets to experience it…at least as close to that as we can. History continues.

A Lynnwood Eyesore Is Gone

Carl Setzer

Between 76th and 68th on 196th, South side of the street was this old, dilapidated building, which was just decaying due to neglect. This building one housed the Enterprise, years ago. Before that weekly was absorbed into the Herald. Later in its useful life, it became an AA meeting hall. Finally, though, it became uninhabitable. Boarded up for years, it housed graffiti, pretty vandals, and drugs. Fencing it off simply slowed things them by a few minutes. As time wore on, ownership ignoring the space had me convinced this would either simply collapse from decay, or catch fire.

Yesterday, though, driving past, the building was crashed. Clearly deliberate work. I’m glad to see the space finally being cared for. The space really brought down the area, which is otherwise pretty nice.

I’ve wondered if there was soon be legal issue being wrangled for the space. Those sorts of things can drag on for years, and often are why one sees terrible properties sit for ages. Who will be benefit from it, who will pay? Things that must be figured out before work can even start. And, there always the chance the City ordered the work done and will the seek a judgment against the owners.

Anyway, I’m quite pleased the eyesore is gone. And I look forward to finding out what will go in.

Lynnwood’s Changing

Carl Setzer

It’s been a rough couple of years along the 196th Street corridor. With Alfy’s, Prime Pacific, Amante, and now Celtic Bayou vacant (along with several other major storefronts in the general area), it’s been a bit worrisome. Most of the rest of that strip, though, seems to be strong. Which is good news for the city. I’m pleased to see work being done around there.

Verdant’s efforts to launch their new space this Spring (in the old Prime Pacific Bank building) seem to be moving along nicely. That should be a great space for Verdant’s on-going work. It’s pretty solidly covered by transit, and seems to have adequate parking.

I’m not at all certain what the new owners plan to do with the old Amante restaurant space, though it’s pretty clear they’re doing some drastic work. Whether they’re fixing it up to attract interest, or if they have a tenant and it’s being readied for their use, I’m not sure. I hope for the latter, since it’s good for all of us to have those spaces used. It looks like Alfy’s is up for any sort of adoption you’d like. They dropped a huge banner that covers the old Alfy’s sign (all the way to the ground). It’s sure a funky space, though pretty big. I’m trying to remember if it’s 3 or 4 floors. Not traditionally laid out, with flowing access to the different spaces/floors. I remember (seems like eons ago) there being a huge video arcade in the lower room. That’s the space which was recently used for banquets. Anyway, I’d love to see someone make something great there.

That’s what I noticed this week. How about you?

New Life At Lynndale

Carl Setzer

Quite the elaborate construction area around the Lynndale amphitheater. I’m realizing that I don’t remember the last time I saw real work here. At this point I can see they’ve replaced the long non-functional light over the theatre. The ripped up topography makes think they’ve got quite a bit of work planned. I look forward to seeing the final product.

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