Why I love my neighborhood!

Nestled in Seattle’s Rainier Valley, you’ll find a neighborhood that is more alive than ever. For food, fun, friends or family — the Columbia City neighborhood almost has it all. But Patti Scott already knew that. Traveling from “across the pond,” this ex-Bellevue resident said she drove to Columbia City, lured in by fresh produce and the promises of fine dining. Columbia City’s location, rich history, racial diversity and local flavor made it the 67-year-old’s destination of choice. “For nine years I’ve been coming over here for the Columbia City Farmers Market,” Scott said, “and it never occurred to me that I would move here.” But she did. It was over a conversation with Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria co-owner, Joe Fugere, that Scott laid out a plan to make the move. ”

Strong Seattle Market Growth Continues

After stalling for two months, home prices in King and Snohomish counties perked up last month, disappointing potential buyers who thought slowing price appreciation had presented an opportunity. Brian and Jennifer Rutherford are experiencing King County’s strengthening real-estate market firsthand as they shop for a Bellevue home in the $500,000 range. They initially planned to take their time to find the right house, said Brian, who does business development for a software company. Brian and Jennifer, a nurse, own a condominium in West Seattle. “We were just hoping things would cool off. It might have cooled off from its highest point, but not too far,” he said. “Now we’re making more of an effort to step up our looking.” Home-sales data released Thursday by the Northwest Multiple List Service for March prove his point. King County’s median single-family home price rose 6 percent to a record $454,950 last month. Snohomish County’s single-family home price, which also hesitated, moved up 7.4 percent, reaching a median $382,500 in March. In Kitsap County, the median single-family house price was up 2.2 percent to $291,250.Only Pierce County bucked the trend, with the median single-family house price declining 2.4 percent to $280,000 last month.

Median means half the properties sell for more, half for less. Thursday’s news that Microsoft is leasing 1.3 million square feet of Bellevue office space, enough to house 4,000 employees, is a near guarantee that Brian Rutherford is correct about home-buying prospects. More workers in Bellevue may create more competition from other buyers in the Rutherfords’ target neighborhoods. Mortgage rates also have remained near historic lows, making it possible for more people to buy a home.

Still, Rutherford remains philosophic. “It is what it is. That’s the region we live in,” he said. If the Rutherfords decide to sell their West Seattle condo, they will enjoy the upside of a healthy market. “I’ve been here for 41 years, so I’ve seen slow markets, and this is not a slow market,” said Rich Bianchi, owner/broker of the Keller Williams Realty office in West Seattle. Rather, he senses “the market is active, but not quite as active as last year,” and that has confused buyers who thought prices would fall. They haven’t. “I think some people thought they’d wait until after the first of the year to get a bargain,” Bianchi said. “That didn’t happen.” Indeed, West Seattle homes priced at less than $500,000 are drawing multiple offers — the same dynamic the Rutherfords have found in Bellevue. They already have lost a bidding war on a $480,000 Bellevue house. Seven offers pushed the price to $535,000. Builders are adding to the mix. Windermere agent Daniel Toth’s West Seattle listing for a 1928 brick Tudor — original period detailing plus a new kitchen for $499,950 — recently was snapped up by a builder. He plans to construct two additional homes in its back yard. Lennox Scott, chairman of John L. Scott Real Estate, said a shortage of affordably priced homes will keep the local market strong.

Great Time to Buy?

Home Prices Still Rising in Western Washington, Defying National Trends

KIRKLAND, Wash. (Aug. 7, 2006) – Contrary to trends in many parts of the U.S., home prices in Western Washington continue to rise, even in the wake of growing inventory and fewer sales.

The latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks activity in 17 counties, shows prices rose 15.5 percent for July’s sales compared to the same month a year ago. That figure – the sharpest gain for any month so far this year — includes single family homes and condominiums. For single family homes only, the increase was 14 percent, while prices for condominiums that sold last month jump 20 percent from a year ago.

Pending sales (offers made and accepted, but not yet closed) fell 13.9 percent last month compared to a year ago. Most counties reported double-digit drops.

Brokers attribute the slower sales to a combination of factors, including July’s heat wave, which brought 12 days of temperatures above 80 degrees in the Seattle area. Vacationing agents, buyers and sellers also contributed to slower activity. Uncertainty about interest rates and inventory shortages in some price ranges were also factors. In King County, for example, only about 7 percent of the current offerings of single family homes is priced under $300,000.

Noting the snapshot of the current housing market shows both prices and inventory are up compared to a year ago, J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, emphasized the importance of keeping those figures in perspective.

“One year ago, King County had only 1.7 months supply of housing inventory available; today we have approximately 2.3 months of available inventory. While this represents an increase, we are still well below the national average of 5 to 6 months. This is especially true in the markets close to the job centers where competition and demand for homes are still strong, causing prices to continue to appreciate at a steady pace,” Scott observed.

Eleven of the 17 counties in the NWMLS market area reported price hikes of 15 percent or more when comparing last month’s sales to July 2005. In the four-county Puget Sound region, Snohomish County notched the sharpest price increase at 18.2 percent.

July marked a definite change in pace from previous months, according to Northwest MLS director Dick Beeson. While many people took the month off to enjoy the sun, Beeson said the most telling statistic for Pierce County is the surge in inventory, which is up almost 53 percent from a year ago.

“It’s like a buyer woke up from a five year nightmare of no presents under the Christmas tree and discovered a tree brimming with choice gifts,” said Beeson, the broker at Windermere Real Estate/Commencement Associates in Tacoma. With an abundant selection, buyers are now picking and choosing, he remarked.

Area-wide there are about 9,000 more listings now than at this time a year ago. Five counties (Island, Kitsap, Pierce, Skagit and Thurston) reported inventory increases of 50 percent of more from twelve months ago. At month-end, NWMLS brokers represented 31,910 active listings of single family homes and condominiums; a year ago, there were 22,839 listings.

D’Ann Jackson, president of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors® and the broker at John L. Scott’s Mercer Island office, expects the market will continue to level out. Commenting on the slower sales, she said “I think buyers who entered the market a little later this spring eight bought already or got frustrated with the lack of inventory and multiple offers.” Move-up buyers are having difficulty finding the right properties, she observed, noting some are spending more to get “at best something comparable,” and others may be waiting until after vacation to resume their search. “Lots of my agents are taking time off now as well,” she added.

“We’re still clicking along at a good pace – and I think the key for sellers right now is accurate pricing,” Jackson remarked.

Beeson is equally optimistic, even though he expects fewer sales in 2006. “My guess is we’ll be off about 10 percent from last year, which, when you add it all up, is still one of the top years in recorded history for our region.” People are still moving here, he noted, whether relocating for jobs, retirement homes or vacation property.

Economists expect a “soft landing,” for the housing boom. A recent government report showed investment in residential construction accounted for about 6.1 percent of the economy – close to a 50-year high. Even accounting for declining activity, analysts say June’s rate of home sales is 40 percent above the 20-year average.

Seattle- Superstar City?

Sunday, July 16, 2006
By Elizabeth Rhodes and Justin Mayo
Seattle Times staff reporters
Justin Mayo

As the residential real-estate market cools in other parts of the nation, one question is why Seattle’s market remains robust. Money magazine predicts homes in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area will appreciate 10.5 percent between this June and next. That’s twice the rate predicted for the country overall. Hoe prices are often described in simple terms as products of supply and demand, but several factors — land availability, job and population growth, and interest rates — make the housing market more complex.

Professor Chris Mayer, director of the Milstein Center for Real Estate at New York’s Columbia Business School, says Seattle outperforms other major cities because it’s relatively unusual.

“Seattle is one of a handful of places I’ve written about and referred to as a ’superstar city,’ ” Mayer said. “It’s not quite in the same league as San Francisco and New York, but if you look at census data, house prices in Seattle have grown faster than the national average for 50 years, from 1950 to 2000.”

So major home appreciation “is a pattern that’s been going on for a long time,” Mayer said. He defines superstar cities as people magnets because of their attractiveness and amenities. “But being attractive isn’t enough,” he said. “It’s also necessary to limit supply.” at’s happened here for two reasons. Limited land supply

Restrictions push housing prices higher.

First: Seattle is essentially out of land on which detached houses can be built.

Second: The state’s Growth Management Act effectively limits supply by restricting where homes can be built.

“When you restrict construction you inherently raise the prices of homes,” Mayer said. “So it ends up being the case that the only people who can afford to live there are people with higher incomes. I’m not saying this is good or bad or desirable, but it is an outcome of restricting new construction.”

Plenty of King County residents can afford houses. The percentage of households earning more than 150 percent of median income — that would be more than $90,000 today — grew faster than any other income category between 1990 and 2004. It now accounts for almost one-third of all households, a county study found. They number amost 250,000.

Newcomers abound Job market lures out-of-staters, who drive prices up. But Mayer says having well-off local residents isn’t the whole story.

“In superstar markets, including Seattle, you can tie the price of housing to the incomes of the wealthiest Americans — not just the people who live in those cities right now,” he said.

“This means house prices can grow faster than the incomes of existing residents if there are new residents from outside the metro area who can afford to move in and buy those houses.” That’s happening here. Puget Sound’s already strong economy is growing — a trend expected to continue at least through 2009 with the addition of 140,000 jobs, according to Conway Pedersen Economics. This growth has made Washington one of the top 10 states attracting more people than they’re losing, the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council reports.

Caifornians account for roughly 30 percent of our newcomers. Their state’s housing prices make Seattle’s look like a fire sale and nearly guarantee that California homeowners arrive here equity-rich. Just one example: Late last year, San Francisco’s median home price was $825,000 — more than double Seattle’s. “In a regional sense, it’s job growth that’s driving housing demand and house-price growth the most,” King County demographer Chandler Felt observed. “The demand is there and continues to be there.”

Mortgage-rate factor-Higher interest adds yet another jolt to monthly bill. Rising interest rates are making the situation worse, said Glenn Crellin, director of the Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University.

Crellin compiles a “housing affordability index,” which factors in housing costs, mortgage rates and local annual income. At the end of 2003, the King County index was 116.9. That meant a median-income family had almost 17 percent more income than the bare minimum required to buy the median-priced house. By the end of 2005, King County’s index had dropped to 80.1. That meant that a family fell almost 20 percent short of the income needed to buy the median-priced house.

In Snohomish County, late last year median-income families made 95 percent of what they needed to buy a median-income house; in Pierce County, they made 104 percent.
But first-time buyers everywhere were hammered. In 2003 King County novices had 65.6 percent of the income needed to purchase a low-priced “starter home.” By the end of 2005, that had fallen to 44.7 percent. “That tells me the typical household looking to purchase their first home has severe problems,” Crellin said. “It’s a long-term cycle we’re dealing with.” Thirty-year mortgage rates are now 6.81 percent, up from 2003’s record-low 5.83 percent. That rise translates, for example, to an extra $154 a month in house payments, presuming a $250,000 mortgage.

Plotting the hunt-Finding a home takes hard-headed planning. With affordability shrinking, real-estate agents such as Robin Tomazic find a big part of their job is helping buyers plan a strategy.

A John L. Scott agent, Tomazic begins by asking what areas they’re willing to live in, how far they’re willing to live outside the Seattle/Bellevue core, and whether they’re willing to take on a fixer.

“If someone is saying they have to live close in and can’t do work, I have to ask, are you being realistic in wanting a single-family home? You might have to look at a townhouse or condo,” Tomazic said. “Or they may have to move further out. I’m saying Tukwila, Burien are not so far away. Will you consider those?”

Even then, Seattle buyers whose budgets top out at $275,000 — last year’s affordable limit adjusted to reflect this year’s appreciation — will have a challenge.

To get a single-family house, they may have to go farther afield to towns where the median detached-home prices are below that figure, as reported by Northwest Multiple Listing Service data.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

June Report

More homes for sale in King County, but prices keep climbing

By Elizabeth Rhodes
Seattle Times staff reporter

Frustrated recently by a shortage of available homes, King County buyers finally saw some easing last month. They had more homes to choose from in June than they did in May or even in June 2005.

But prices continued to rise, according the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which released June home sales statistics today.

Some highlights from Central Puget Sound counties:

King County reported 6,489 single-family homes for sale last month, an increase of 462 over May and 951 above June 2005. The median sales price hit $434,950, up from $427,950 a month earlier. West Bellevue was the most expensive area; the median sales price in that waterfront community was $1,187,500. The county also reported 988 condo sales last month — unchanged from a year earlier. However, the median price rose 16 percent to $250,000.

Snohomish County had 3,483 detached homes on the market last month, up from 3,255 in May and 2,747 last June. The median sales price was $349,825 — 17 percent above a year ago.

In Pierce County, 5,098 single-family homes were for sale last month. That’s 381 more than in May and 1,634 more than in June 2005. The median home price was $279,900, up from $237,243 a year ago.

Kitsap County reported 1,634 homes for sale in June, up from 1,525 in May and 1,073 the previous June. Median sales price climbed to $284,950, up from $250,000 a year earlier.

Rising home prices come on top of rising mortgage interest rates — a double whammy for homebuyers. Mortgage-money provider Freddie Mac reported today that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages now average 6.79 percent — the highest rate since May 2002. Last year at this time the rate was 5.62 percent.

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

FOR SALE: Charming Columbia City Bungalow!

This house is loaded with great features in a great location! 2 bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms, a brand new remodeled kitchen with a granite bar, pendant lights, and stainless appliances, updated plumbing & electrical, new roof, great expansion potential, and more! Walk 4 blocks to the Columbia City strip or Seward Park. Very quiet neighborhood across the street from an elementary school. The photos speak for themselves, but also check the details below. Asking $329,950.

4512 S. Dawson St.
2 bedroom, 1.5 bath, 800 sq ft, 4180 sq ft lot, 1 car attached garage

*Excellent location!
-walk 4 blocks to Columbia City strip or 3 blocks to Seward Park PCC
-very quiet residential street
-hot investment neighborhood near proposed LINK light rail station

*BRAND NEW remodeled kitchen:
-all stainless steel appliances (Whirlpool/Kenmore)
-black granite bar with amber pendant lights
-new maple cabinets

*Beautiful finishes throughout:
-honey oak hardwood floors throughout living area and bedrooms
-new crown, chair rail, and base moulding
-new paint throughout
-brushed satin nickel fixtures throughout: plumbing, lighting, hardware (Price Pfister/Schlage)

*Other great features:
-light-filled open floor plan
-energy efficient pellet-stove heat
-new insulation
-new composite roof
-updated plumbing and electrical
-remodeled bathroom
-vinyl siding
-perfect yard for gardening
-great expansion potential with open backyard space

Builder Incentives with Strings Attached?

Just say no to builder incentives with strings attached

By Kenneth R. Harney
Syndicated Columnist

One of the federal government’s top housing officials has this practical advice for anyone negotiating with a builder to buy a new house: You can always say no.

When the builder dangles thousands of dollars of “free” upgrades or closing-cost discounts in front of you if you’ll agree to use the builder’s affiliated mortgage lender — and threatens to withhold those incentives if you get your loan elsewhere — you don’t have to roll over and play dead. As Brian Montgomery, federal housing commissioner, puts it: “Often, consumers feel compelled to use a builder’s hand-picked mortgage company because they feel they’ve been offered an incentive they can’t refuse.”

But federal real-estate settlement rules “require that these incentives be legitimate and not built into the price of the house or the cost of the loan.”

In other words, builders cannot tempt you with illusory benefits — alleged discounts that you’re actually paying for somewhere else in the deal.

Montgomery was commenting on reports of consumers being forced — or feeling compelled — to sign on with a builder’s mortgage company even when competing loan offers from unaffiliated brokers or banks were far superior.

In one case described by Marc Savitt, head of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers’ consumer-protection subcommittee, a major builder in Arizona told buyers that they could not buy a house in a desirable subdivision unless they used the builder’s affiliated lender. The buyers, who had deposited $11,000 and signed a contract for the property, found the in-house lender’s rate a full percentage point higher than competing quotes from independent lenders.

The buyers decided to sign up with the independent broker offering the best rate and fees. The builder retaliated by refusing to participate in the closing, pocketing the $11,000 good-faith deposit, canceling the contract and threatening to sell the house to another buyer.

Although federal officials declined to discuss the case, Savitt says Montgomery’s real-estate settlement staff quietly intervened and persuaded the builder to put the $11,000 back on the table, proceed with the sale and even contribute $3,800 to “buy down” the buyer’s interest rate.

In a case in Tennessee, Memphis mortgage broker Roseann Sullivan says a builder offered one of her clients a $3,000 rebate off closing costs if the client agreed to go with the builder’s wholly owned mortgage company. The buyer “figured that nobody else is offering me $3,000 in cash, so why not?” Sullivan recounted.

Then the builder’s mortgage company pulled a bait-and-switch maneuver. It informed the client that after a second review of her credit history, underwriters concluded that she only qualified for a high-cost interest-rate package. The buyer’s near-700 FICO scores, however, actually qualified her for market-rate mortgage money.

Sullivan says she sees this “all the time.”

“Builders think they can play games with people because buyers are in such an emotional state,” she said — they don’t want to lose the house and they’re willing to believe that they really are getting a discount or rebate.

Savitt, who for more than a year has urged federal and state officials to police builder incentives, says antitrust and unfair-trade-practice issues also are involved.

According to the Federal Trade Commission’s Web site (www.ftc.gov), “tie-in sales” may violate federal antitrust law: “The sale of one product on condition that a customer purchase a second product, which the customer may not want or can buy elsewhere at a lower price, is a tie-in. Requirements like these are illegal if they harm competition.”

Savitt and other mortgage brokers argue that when a builder links an upgrade or closing-cost rebate to the required use of its affiliated lender, that fits the definition of a tie-in.

And when the tied-in mortgage is at a higher cost than others available in the marketplace, preventing the customer from choosing the lower-cost competing alternative, that fits the definition of “harming competition.”

“You become their captive, and there appear to be huge disincentives for you if you choose to get your loan elsewhere, even if it’s cheaper,” Savitt said.

Bottom line here for you? Listen to Montgomery: As a homebuyer, you cannot be compelled to use the builder’s lender. You can be enticed. You can be wheedled. You can be attracted by the builder’s incentives, which may be entirely legitimate and a great deal.

But you should also shop around vigorously and see what other lenders or brokers have to offer. Nobody can stop you.

Kenneth R. Harney: kenharney@earthlink.net

Why We Love Beacon Hill

Neighborhood gem Beacon Hill right next to heart of city

By Lisa Chiu
Special to The Seattle Times

Sitting so close to downtown, it still surprises residents of Beacon Hill that their neighborhood is as overlooked as it is.

When Oscar Castro moved to Beacon Hill 13 years ago, he was shocked to find that in Seattle, of all places, there wasn’t a single neighborhood coffee shop. The closest thing was the Texaco station on Beacon Avenue South, near the area’s north end.

Tired of going to a gas station for a cup of Joe, Castro, with his brother Luis Castro and Tim Prichard opened Java Love nearby. Since then, a few more small cafes now dot the landscape, but it still has that away-from-the-city feel.

Residents stroll the sidewalks, parents bring kids to Jefferson Park, and such stores as the Red Apple supermarket or MacPherson’s Fruit and Produce stand provide popular neighborhood anchors.

Beacon Hill’s seemingly slow pace may change, and quickly, once Sound Transit’s Beacon Hill station for the light-rail system is completed in three years at Beacon Avenue South and South Lander Street.

“It’s going to be discovered. In 10 years it will be unrecognizable,” Prichard said. “Once the rail station is open it will go condo crazy.” As Castro puts it: “It’s black gold waiting to be had.”

Beacon Hill is bordered by Interstate 90 to the north, Rainier Avenue South and Martin Luther King Jr. Way South to the east and Interstate 5 to the west. It stretches nearly to Tukwila, but the Beacon Hill Chamber of Commerce puts the neighborhood’s southern boundary at South Myrtle Street.

At the north end sits the historic former U.S. Marine Hospital, built in 1934. The art-deco building now houses the Pacific Medical Center and the headquarters of Amazon.com.

The shops along Beacon Avenue South are diverse and include Asian video stores, a yoga studio, Mexican restaurants and the Beacon Hill Pub.

The neighborhood is one of the city’s oldest. It was named after Beacon Hill in Boston by financier M. Harwood Young, who came to Seattle from Boston in the late 1800s.

Since then, it’s long been home to waves of immigrants. For years, Italian immigrants ran bakeries, restaurants and shoe shops along Beacon Avenue South.

By the 1950s, the neighborhood was predominately Asian American, and that group still makes up more than half the neighborhood’s population.

In recent years there has been a growing Latin American, African American and African immigrant population as well.

“It’s really diverse. We’re a mixed bunch of cookies here,” said Brent Moore, a Seattle police officer who has lived in Beacon Hill for 10 years and brought his son to Jefferson Park to play.

Moore’s wife is of Japanese descent and he is African American. He’s proud of his ethnically diverse neighborhood where residents speak a variety of languages.

The residential architecture is a mix of classic box homes, Craftsman bungalows, apartments and town homes.

When Moore bought his home 10 years ago, it cost $170,000. The median price of a home in the area sold for $327,500 last month, up 13 percent from the year before, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

“I love it, it’s central. You can get anywhere you have to in the city,” Moore said.

Moore’s neighbor, Todd Lefkowicz, said he loves how friendly everyone is. When he moved to Beacon Hill four years ago, he was busy digging in his front yard when Moore approached him and asked if he needed any help.

“He showed up a half-hour later with a shovel and we were digging up dirt together,” Lefkowicz recalls.

“You hear about the ‘Seattle chill’ where people aren’t so friendly — I really don’t feel it here.”

For First Time Home Buyers

Buying a home for the first time can be scary, but as with anything else in life, the right preparation can bring about good results. Remember: The right home for you is one you want and can afford.

Here are some tips for first-time buyers:
“Ask yourself if you’re ready. You need to decide whether you’re financially ready to buy a home,” says Connie Barbosa, vice president and branch manager of Slade’s Ferry Bank in Somerset, Mass. She suggests that first-time buyers ask themselves some simple questions:

• Do you have a steady job and income?
• Do you plan to stay in the same area for a few years?
• Do you have enough money set aside for your down payment and closing costs?
• Do you have an emergency fund?
• Do you live within your means, avoiding credit-card debt?

“Another consideration is whether you’re mentally prepared for the responsibility,” says Charles Glass, a real-estate agent in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland market.

“A first-time home buyer is probably used to renting,” Glass says. “They’ve got to get used to budgeting a little differently in terms of having a reserve when things go wrong. And whether it’s a new home or an old one, things will go wrong. Experienced homeowners know this. First-time buyers don’t.”

Find out what you can afford. When you’re sure you have the right mindset to be a homeowner, it’s time to determine how much house you can afford. Probably the best way to do that is to get pre-qualified for a loan. Some agents won’t work with someone who isn’t pre-qualified.

There are three options for pre-qualifying: go to a lender with whom you have already established rapport, find a real-estate agent you trust and follow the agent’s recommendations for a lender, or research lenders online.
Glass says the first option is the best because “if you’ve built a relationship with a lender, they will go to extra lengths to make sure they qualify you for the loan.”
Your total monthly mortgage payment — principal, interest, taxes and insurance (or PITI) — should not exceed 32 percent of your monthly gross income, Barbosa says. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) suggests that figure should be 29 percent. So this is not an exact science. You can calculate a ballpark figure from this information, but then talk to your lender to get a better feel for how much flexibility you might have with different lending arrangements.
Remember, the bigger the down payment, the less you’re borrowing, and the less expensive your mortgage will be in the long run. HUD offers programs to help first-time buyers, too.

— Salvatore Caputo, Bankrate.com

Capitol Hill

— From Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf:

Real-estate values on Capitol Hill have climbed in recent years.
The median price of a home (single-family and condominium) in the part of Seattle that includes Capitol Hill was $415,000 in April, up 18.4 percent over the past year, according to figures compiled by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. And many houses on Capitol Hill go for more than $1 million.
Capitol Hill is a unique, urban neighborhood that real-estate agent Marlow Harris describes as having “incredible diversity.”
“You go from gritty urban trendy/cool lofts to glorious turn-of-the-century mansions on tree-lined streets,” Marlow said. “There are artists, musicians, software designers and others involved in the creative fields drinking lattes side-by-side with hip urban families with children.”
Gabriel Stromberg is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer who moved to Capitol Hill from New York City four years ago.
He’s also part of an artist’s collective called No Space, which hosts shows for all types of artists — and helps to create a sense of community.
“Just walking to go get coffee, you meet like 15 people you know,” said Stromberg, who is on a first-name basis with the staff at nearby coffee shops.
Stromberg walks or takes the bus other places and said he likes the fact that you don’t have to have a car because it forces people to say “hello” to each other.
Alex Ward moved to Capitol Hill in order to walk to work downtown, but his plans don’t include buying a house on Capitol Hill.
Last year, the city raised the height limit along the street from 40 feet to 65 feet and created design guidelines so that new buildings would fit into the neighborhood.
Now, a development company plans to build a six-story building with condos above and businesses at the street level at East Mercer Street and Broadway.
Two projects are under construction at Broadway and East John Street, and Broadway and East Pine Street.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company