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You don't have to drive 5 minutes to buy a bottle of water in Belltown. You can do that in a 5 minute walk, and there are multiple grocery stores within a 5 min

You don't have to drive 5 minutes to buy a bottle of water in Belltown. You can do that in a 5 minute walk, and there are multiple grocery stores within a 5 minute drive.

trome 9y ago
The point is development in Belltown has been highly restricted for decades, preventing dense, multi-purpose buildings from being built in that neighborhood. Even the newer buildings being built right on Denny and Queen Anne Ave N in Belltown are entirely the creation of zoning, as they are height capped and forced to subsidize parking (which rents for $0.XX per sqft a month) over usable space that rents for dollars a square foot. Most of the people living and working in that area are using transit, with 70% not driving: https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/2014TrafficReport.pdf https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/2014TrafficRepor...
bllguo 9y ago
Could we not fixate on the choice of example? I'm not familiar with Belltown and I don't really care, I'm much more interested in the parent's point and whether it's true.
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hunterwerlla 9y ago
I can walk across the street from my apartment in Bellevue and get food, furniture, and groceries but this is the exception even in Bellevue: outside of downtown areas many apartment complexes require getting in a car or bus to get anything.
lunch 9y ago
I'll bite; Belltown has barely any bodegas and no grocery stores. The closest grocery store is Whole Foods in SLU or QFC in Lower Queen Anne. However I think the real takeaway from the parent comment is that US cities are not designed for pedestrians[0]. [0] http://www.newurbanism.org/pedestrian.html http://www.newurbanism.org/pedestrian.html
- sitkack 9y ago
  There is an IGA on 3rd below Pike. But yes Belltown has (mostly) always been a wasteland. There used to be a pretty good grocery store kitty-corner from the Cinerama.

You don't have to drive 5 minutes to buy a bottle of water in Belltown. You can do that in a 5 minute walk, and there are multiple grocery stores within a 5 minute drive.

trome 9y ago

The point is development in Belltown has been highly restricted for decades, preventing dense, multi-purpose buildings from being built in that neighborhood. Even the newer buildings being built right on Denny and Queen Anne Ave N in Belltown are entirely the creation of zoning, as they are height capped and forced to subsidize parking (which rents for $0.XX per sqft a month) over usable space that rents for dollars a square foot. Most of the people living and working in that area are using transit, with 70% not driving: https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/2014TrafficReport.pdf https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/2014TrafficRepor...

bllguo 9y ago

Could we not fixate on the choice of example? I'm not familiar with Belltown and I don't really care, I'm much more interested in the parent's point and whether it's true.

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hunterwerlla 9y ago

I can walk across the street from my apartment in Bellevue and get food, furniture, and groceries but this is the exception even in Bellevue: outside of downtown areas many apartment complexes require getting in a car or bus to get anything.

lunch 9y ago

I'll bite; Belltown has barely any bodegas and no grocery stores. The closest grocery store is Whole Foods in SLU or QFC in Lower Queen Anne. However I think the real takeaway from the parent comment is that US cities are not designed for pedestrians[0]. [0] http://www.newurbanism.org/pedestrian.html http://www.newurbanism.org/pedestrian.html

sitkack 9y ago
There is an IGA on 3rd below Pike. But yes Belltown has (mostly) always been a wasteland. There used to be a pretty good grocery store kitty-corner from the Cinerama.