On the Mayor's Mind 4-13-15 Why Shoreline is special

Shoreline Mayor Shari Winstead

On the Mayor’s Mind

4.13.15 - Why Shoreline is Special

By Shoreline Mayor Shari Winstead

In the recent months I've heard a lot of different opinions about Shoreline. Some people think our City is almost perfect, they don't want any change (or very little change); others see it as “boresville”; and still others ask, “where is the downtown of Shoreline, where is the action?”  

As an almost 20-year old city, we are a city in transition. Many good plans have been thought out and laid out. But big things take time. How our City will look in 20 or 50 years is yet to be seen. As many of us have probably experienced in our lives, sometimes the best laid plans don't work out. But still, we try. The difference here is that there are so many different ideas. For instance, the idea of a “downtown”. To most people that means one central place, for instance something like Lake Forest Park’s Town Center. While there are many advantages to having one action hub, I am just not sure that Shoreline has the layout that is really right for that type of “downtown”.  

Instead, we have 13 different neighborhoods - all with their own characteristics. When I first ran for Council in 2009, one of the things I heard over and over from folks was how they wanted a walkable community. They wanted to walk out their door and go for a short stroll to a coffee shop or local market or café.  Fewer cars and more feet. Personally, I love that idea because I believe it fosters a community feel. However, I'm not sure that it is exclusive from a true downtown.

The Council continues to work on developing a “town center” at the area designated as Shoreline’s town center between 175th and about 185th, a block or so east and west of Aurora Avenue.The City zoned it as “Town Center”, but now it is up to developers to make it happen. We can provide the zoning and permitting, but that is the extent of the City’s influence. The same goes with the recent rezone of the light rail station area at 185th. The tools are in place, but rebuilding at a higher density is really up to residents (to decide to sell) and developers (to decide to buy and rebuild). 

What I think really makes Shoreline special is the people. Whether you are an activist or a quiet resident, or one of our many, many great volunteers, it is because of you that Shoreline is unique.

This week we will celebrate our volunteers at the City’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Soiree. It’s open to the public and of course to all volunteers, on Tuesday, April 15 from 5:30- 7pm.

Our volunteers allow the city to provide many quality and unique services. Often our volunteers are experts in the field they volunteer in, like the former dancer who helps with the youth ballet classes, or folks interested in having a certain activity or program, like the neighbor leading the Shoreline Walks program. We have dozens of people who do many great things, in fact, too many to list here.

But I can tell you that in 2014, the recorded volunteer hours totaled 12,834 hours. Using the Washington value of each donated hour, the monetary value of this donated time is equivalent to $342,924. Pretty impressive! Even more important than the dollar amount though, is the impact on the quality of life here in Shoreline. Our volunteers are what makes Shoreline a great community.

So next time you run into that neighbor who organized your block watch, or that you see at your community party, or that you know is a volunteer, consider taking a moment to thank them for helping to make Shoreline a great community.

Thanks to all of you who make Shoreline such a great place, and to the City Staff members who put all the statistics together, and support our volunteers.