Saturday I had a meeting in south Everett, on 128th to be more specific. Well, traffic on that road was wretched, but I improvised, taking side streets back to Lynnwood. I ended up driving past the door where the Puget Park Drive-In used to be. Now it’s a medical center and apartment complex.
Along this street are now many multifamily/higher-density housing projects. Several duplexes, apartment,s and condos, within this area that was semi-rural single-family homes a generation back.
This got me thinking about density. That we’re going to see the greater Seattle area become increasingly densified (is that a word?). I expect this whole region will become mostly multifamily in the next dozen to two dozen years. The economic forces will drive that hard. I’ve long thought that the Growth Management Act’s limits on development will combine with our region’s continued economic expansion to drive this.
Many will see it as something to lament, and to resist. Me? I see it as a mixed blessing, so to speak. And as something that good planning can make a great thing. Planning for a transit system that will accommodate this load will be crucial. A predominantly car-centric system will not work. When the majority of commuters take transit, things will be more manageable.
In the Seattle area, we real estate agents use electronic keyboxes to access houses. Which means, when we list a home, someone needs to zip to the property and put one on. My team put a house on the market yesterday, and we really wanted to get the keybox on today. So, after getting copies of our keys, I head out. This home isn’t too far from my office, but with afternoon traffic, it took me over 1/2 hour to head out to Snohomish. Oh, a key (see what I did there?) element of this house: it’s new construction…and under construction. Now, per our schedule, the doors are on. And per reality, they’re not.
It was a true Laugh Out Loud moment to walk to the house, past the construction team with a keybox and look at the non-existent front door. So, I’ll be heading back…at some point in the near future.
It certainly has been interesting around the North Puget Sound area the past few days.
First, bigger, news-worthy thingie: plane fell out of the sky. Well, that’s how it was described by an eyewitness. Most important detail: no serious injuries. Reminds of the old pilot joke:
“A good landing is one you can walk away from. A great landing is one where you can reuse the plane.” Not sure if this plane will be in the air again. Not my skillset.
Plane crash in Mukilteo
I live about 5 miles from the crash site, so this messed up my commute, as well as my son getting to his choir rehearsal yesterday. Minor things, I guess.
A couple of my construction projects are coming together abruptly. Great news, really, but I’ve spent a bit of time running around dealing with loose ends. It’s been awesome, though. It’s pretty great to get people into homes. Right now one of the best projects is a custom home we’re building on Camano Island. The proverbial dream home. These folks have worked their whole lives for this. It’s really wonderful, and somewhat humbling, to be part of helping them turn it into reality.
With that, another project’s coming together rapidly. Got to head out to the county admin building twice today! I do enjoy the folks there. Sure, not everyone is bright and cheerful…but that’s true of everywhere…even Starbucks!
I ended the evening at taekwondo (editor’s note: I love my school in Lynnwood: YS Lee Martial Arts! Full Disclosure: I manage the website, Mailchimp and Facebook communications there). Spent our normal class time working with new students, introducing them to their poomsae. It’s fun and an honor. I’m also reminded how much there is yet to learn. I know the structure of it quite well. However, knowing the art doesn’t mean you know how to teach it. Pedagogy is something I don’t know that much about. I’m trying to teach them, keep them excited and interested in the martial arts (there’s so much to learn in the beginning, it can be overwhelming). I want to keep it fun and interesting.
I also got to judge a colored belt test this evening. It’s another privilege of being a blackbelt. I deeply adore being part of these milestones. One of the testees was a girl I’ve known since she was, basically, a baby. It was great to see her making such progress. And I judged a woman I’ve known for the better part of a year now (egads, maybe more…), and I love the power she has. You won’t want to be hit by her!
Above I briefly mentioned poomsae, equivalent in karate to kata, and we translate it to “form”. Poomsae are a key differentiation between fighting and martial arts. Graceful styles, which, when done well, exude grace, strength and beauty. Below is one school’s demonstration of the first 8. I’ve enjoyed this one for years.
