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| Over 60 members of the local Korean community attended a meeting to provide feedback on what they wanted for the new transit stations and Transit Oriented Development around the stations |
On July 11, 2013 about 60 members from the local Korean Community attended an event at the Shoreline Conference Center convened by Senior Services and facilitated by Yun Sook Kim.
State Representative Cindy Ryu provided opening remarks and connected Senior Services to the Korean Community. The event was made possible by an Equity Grant from the Growing Transit Communities Project administered by Impact Capital. King County Council Member Rod Dembowski, Shoreline City Council Members Chris Eggen, Chris Roberts and Jesse Salomon attended the event.
Successful transit communities are created through inclusive planning and decision making processes, which is why the event was held. Participants were given an opportunity to begin thinking and talking about what kind of community they wanted to live in.
Their feedback is organized under the topic areas below.
Bicycle/Walking/Bus Connections
- Bicycle storage that is safe and secure
- Enough parking spaces particularly for commuters
- Accommodation for elders and people with disabilities
- Expanded bus service to connect the community to the station, especially East-West, but also between King and Snohomish
- Bicycle lanes that connect the community to the station
- Able to get to the station by walking or biking
- Circulating shuttles picking up people to take them to the station so they wouldn’t have to bring their car; stopping at shops, the library and other popular destinations along the way
- Places to visit by foot that are near the station where people can shop, fitness center, grab coffee or a snack
Housing
- Senior Apartments with a green roof that includes vegetable garden
- Residential and commercial mixed use development
- More subsidized apartments
- Apartments in addition to what is mostly single family houses in Shoreline
Recreation/Community Services/Schools
- Sports fields and built environment that supports physical activity
- Exercise in the morning before heading to work; Fitness equipment for all to use
- Open space with water fountain or water feature
- Arts, dances, galleries
- Senior Center for Korean Elders
- Park and Playground
Businesses and Jobs
- Places for students, book stores, coffee shops
- Wedding venue
- Cultural center or concert venue
- Cafés where you can get breakfast before you head to work
- Flea market
- Food vendors and food trucks, especially in the morning
- Traditional Korean Tea House look for the station-roof tiled with Korean tiles
- Large Korean Grocery Market
- Gallery/Museum
- Business center/Internet Cafe near the station for business or personal use
- Day care center for parents to drop their children off before they go to work
- Drug store
- Job opportunities that allow people to work in Shoreline
Other
- Need to feel safe coming and going from the station at all hours; Security cameras to keep it safe; Clean and pleasant environment
- 155th station location not favored; no freeway exit; too “narrow”
- Expand light rail to Everett
Next Steps
- Get involved with the 185th Station Area Citizens Committee. For more info visit website.
- Participate in events organized by the City of Shoreline. For a list of events visit website
- Questions about this report: contact Joanne Donohue at Senior Services 206 727-6206
There are some great ideas in the article. I have some comments that pertain to the first section.
ReplyDeleteI am concerned about bicycle/walking/bus connections to the station at 145th Street, which the City Council has been lobbying hard for. There are some folks that believe people will drive from Woodinville (20 miles away) to get to this station, even though they have frequent bus service - from Woodinville to downtown, and the Lynnwood station is 12 miles away, with triple the parking spaces. "Build it and they will come" applies, and there will be spillover effects in the surrounding neighborhood. I'd expect parking regulations to be introduced in Shoreline shortly after opening. Further, each parking space costs about $40,000 to build and then there's maintenance.
It's instructive to see where bus service is offered today. Out of the three prospective station locations, 155th enjoys the most bus routes passing nearby: the #242 (to the eastside), 330 (Shoreline CC/Lake City), 347 (North City, Mountlake Terrace, Northgate), and 373 (Aurora Village, UW). The #347 also goes by the 145th location as well, but goes opposite the peak traffic, i.e. east, on 145th. That's because there's over 30,000 vehicles/day that travel between 5th and 15th NE on that street, second-highest traffic volume to Aurora.
Bicycle lanes already exist to 185th and 155th, but at 145th are only possible from the north. Pedestrian travel is hazardous for all three locations, but especially 145th due to the considerable traffic.
Places to visit on foot to 185th include the Shoreline Center, the library at 175th, and possibly North City and Aurora. From 155th, the skateboard park, the Crest Cinema, and possibly Aurora. For 145th, there are incomplete sidewalks and lack of destinations. Another factor is the push to get a station at 130th...guess which freeway exit these folks will use to get to that station when they see 145th is bottled up, as it often is?
The reality is that there is no money for transportation these days. We've got great ideas to improve the freeway crossings, for instance, but no money. It's better to ask what would be best under today's infrastructure. A year from now, Metro will begin cutting their service by 17%. When they're through in about a year's time, they will have cut the equivalent of the entire blue and white bus service from Snohomish County.
The proponents need to outline their plans - and the cost for - improving 145th, which they have to buy parts of f from Seattle, King County, and the state. They have less than 10 years to "get 'er done."