Six Hikes in Brooklyn, part III: Southwest and Its Sweeps

Dear Diary,

None of the individual parts of this page concern all six hikes its title mentions; but this one concerns four of them, the next part too; all the others discuss only three.  Let's look at the whole set here:

• On December 22nd, 2020, I went hiking throughout southern Brooklyn, city and university parks both.  I ended up using some of the photos of the city ones in "Canalwards, Foolish Mortal" on January 1st, 2021, and deleted those from my phone as usual, so all I have left from this date are photos of places I associated with the university.  This hike hasn't featured in the previous parts but is in all the remaining ones.
  
• On October 8th, 2022 I started hiking this area focusing on properties listed in the City of Seattle's 2020 Real Property Report.  This hike is in all the parts except part V, assuming I get that far.
  
• On October 16th I went back, focusing on areas that looked park-like in Open Street Map.  This hike is in all the parts except this one and part VI.
  
• On October 23rd I re-visited I-5 lands; photos from this hike were in parts I and II.  I-5 this far south is well above street level, so there aren't any photos from this hike in this part.  And the remaining parts of this page are east of I-5, so they won't have any either.
  
• On October 25th I photographed two sweep notices in the area this part covers.  So none of the other parts have photos from this date.
  
• And on October 29th I re-photographed the areas of which I still had December 22nd, 2020 photos, because I thought I needed to re-visit them all before telling you, dear Diary, about them anyway.  This part and all those remaining have photos from this hike.
  

This part not only features the most hikes, it also features the most places; even after I took the forgotten island in NE 40th St out of this part, it still has six left to talk about, as does part V; the others, three or four.

As in previous parts and previous pages from my October hikes to Ravenna and the U-District, in each individual part or page I'm going in order of the hikes.

So we start with:

805 NE Northlake Place (H on map)

Oh, oops, I've written myself out of having space for the map in the introduction, haven't I?  But let's continue that for a moment while I show you, dear Diary, the first of the December 2020 photos of places I thought belonged to the university.  In this case, the university's map agrees with the King County Parcel Viewer that I thought correctly.

My unreliable memory claims that I was struck, as I trudged from the Burke-Gilman Trail and North Passage Point back towards campus that day, by this explosion of green (in December, mind!) in a rather grittily urban neighbourhood.

Oh, neighbourhood, map, right?  Here:

That's the only place in this area of which I still have a December 22nd, 2020 photo, dear Diary.

So going on with October 8th:

North Passage Point (I on map)

This park was actually the reason I picked this region to start with.  I'd gone through the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation list of parks and found no additions in North Seattle, but one subtraction:  this park.

Most of it is the property of the State of Washington Department of Transportation, which has apparently stopped leasing it to the parks department and fenced it off because of chips of concrete falling from the I-5 bridge.  A host of sites still document it, but not the parks department's, so apparently the department's taken down its web page.

But such measures don't actually lead to actual land disappearing from the face of the Earth, so I went there to see what I could see.

What I saw was a fenced-off park.  I saw a man inside the fence to dip his toes in the water, who clambered over a shorter fence adjacent to leave; I saw a woman inside the fence to walk her dog, but she left on the other side, so I don't know how she left.

The shorter fence is in the photo immediately above.  But you see, dear Diary, there's also a gate, and if that woman had a key, she might've used that:

The side I was on while taking the first three photos is the parks department's side, which is not fenced off.  It includes the sidewalk whose decorations I praised on first visiting this park early in your life so far, dear Diary, and it includes some grassy land, on which, on this visit, I found an encampment of tents, presumably including homeless people.  Neither of the people I saw inside the fence lived there.

Northlake Park (J on map)

This "park" is simply an overlook adjacent to the sidewalk.  Well, the 2020 real property report claims it occupies 1,660 square feet, which implies that the land below the sidewalk, seaward, is the real park, but that's fenced off.  So most of my photos of this park have been views, and so's this one:

For much more about this park, see "Canalwards, Foolish Mortal", linked up top.

Eastlake Ave NE Street End (K on map)

For much more about this park (not belonging to the parks department, and frankly not much of a park), see the street end page that includes it.

Peace Park (L on map)

My main concern in re-visiting all the parks in this region was to see what had changed.  Specifically whether water fountains had been added, for example, but also to see what had been subtracted from North Passage Point.  Or here.

That statue is "Sadako and the Thousand Cranes", made in 1990 by Daryl Smith, who is not the glass artist born circa 1973 and is not the artist in wood who was a school principal in Indiana at the time (LinkedIn link, requires sign-in), but is surprisingly poorly documented considering he also made the Jimi Hendrix and other rock legend statues on Capitol Hill.  And what has changed is that Sadako (portraying Sasaki Sadako, 1943-1955) doesn't have anything, not cranes, not candies, not nuthin'.

Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop (M and brick-red line on map)

I still haven't done enough research to reconcile the widely varying online accounts of Cheshiahud, an Indian with whom the 19th century settlers of Seattle interacted.  But at least I've finally paid enough attention to the flimsy little markers with which this sort of virtual trail, made out of existing roads, trails, and whatnot, is pointed out, to establish its path in the U-District.  Which led me to the shocking discovery that the parks department page links to a perfectly good map (1-page PDF) that could've saved me the trouble.  I think when I first downloaded that map on my phone, I couldn't get the phone's software to fix its mis-orientation, so forgot about it.  But I think one of the photos I took documenting my not so trail-blazing effort is worth showing you anyway, dear Diary:

So enough park appreciation.  We now take some time out for sweeps.

805 NE Northlake Place

On the 23rd, visiting various I-5 patches of land, I'd come to the conclusion that the land from 40th to 42nd had been swept.  This surprised me, because I knew that WSDOT had been criticised by homeless-haters as far too slow to sweep encampments for their tastes. [1]  So on the 25th, I went back to see whether my conclusion was right, and concluded, as related to you, dear Diary, in part II, that it probably wasn't.

[1] For more on WSDOT and sweeps, see an article by Leo Brine in Publicola on a bill that ultimately failed.

I don't have a clear record of what I did after that on the 25th, but anyway, I eventually came back here.  And found that a bunch of RVs that had been parked just north of here, essentially blocking drivers from reaching the end of Northlake Place, had been swept that very day, probably while I'd been dithering over I-5 land.  The only notice I found was this one:

Now, this came as a complete surprise to me.  Not the sweep, that is, but the notice.  I'd seen a sweep notice just two weeks before, issued in mid-September.

The two most obvious differences are that the new ones are much easier to read, and don't have dates issued.  The more I thought about it, the more confident I became that they weren't sweep notices at all, but notices following a sweep, intended to help people reclaim their property (or at least, ostensibly so intended).  So I freaked out all over again.  Had Seattle finally decided to stop warning people of imminent sweeps?

North Passage Point

It's certainly gotten looser in its legalese:

Unless I'm living on a different planet from the writer of that notice, North Passage Point isn't in "Burke Gilman Trail to NE Northlake Way and from Eastlake Pl NE to Pasadena Pl NE", it's south of NE Northlake Way.

So I went home and wrote to two real journalists who might be interested, neither of whom has replied so far.  And I stewed.  But six days later, when I came back to re-photograph the university parks of West Campus...

805 NE Northlake Place

I found two RVs parked along Northlake Place again, and the owner of one, who called himself Red, hailed me.  He told me he'd been on the streets most of the time since he was ten years old, and he was 42 at the time.  He said they had in fact gotten notice - visitors.  He also said his RV didn't run, needed a new engine which he couldn't afford.  Which I interpreted as meaning that his RV had been towed (either by the sweepers, or by a friend beforehand), and then returned to him.

So I still don't know whether Seattle is continuing to post sweep notices, physical objects that nosy people like me can see, as opposed to just notifying people they find on-site.  But it isn't (at least in this case) doing something as obviously wicked as not warning people at all that their lives will be up-ended.

Which brings me to the last photos in this photo-heavy part, since I then took a closer look at the explosion of greenery.  It turns out not to be so very green.  In fact, there's a big clearing in the middle of this vacant block.

Although I wanted to spend today at home, I panicked when I saw that both Open Street Map and Google Maps show a building on this block.  Had I gotten something catastrophically wrong?

The Department of Neighborhoods has a photo of a building, dated 2002.

The Department of Finance and Administrative Services has an April 2015 notice that the property is for sale (6-page PDF).  The city had acquired it in 1971 thinking it would need it for work being done at the time on Pacific St (which Northlake Way turns into there).  At the time a sculptor they call Theodore Jonsson already leased the land, and the city had renewed the lease as recently as 2014 (10-page PDF), but that was due to expire in 2019.  They worried that his sculptural work, in metal, had led to environmental contamination.

As it turned out, Jonsson, who'd been born in 1933, died in June 2015 at his daughter's house.

So the damage to the land, and a few bits and pieces, are what's left of the building.  This is a surprisingly recent park; its life as such can't have begun before 2015, which means the nearly two years between December 2020 and today are a significant part of its lifespan so far.  That it's come this far without, possibly, any real work by anyone, is impressive.

Meanwhile, I got the impression that Jonsson was another poorly documented sculptor, but that's because I'd looked for him as Theodore.  Turns out there are several pages memorialising "Ted Jonsson" and depicting his art.  He was an important advocate for the 1% for art policy, and an early beneficiary too.  His art isn't much to my taste, but I've liked plenty of other work paid for with 1%, so on balance, I'm grateful.  And also for whatever hypothetical pollution he may have produced that's intimidated anyone from building on his studio's former site.

So, dear Diary, another part with an ambiguously happy ending.  Good night, and happy hours until we meet again tomorrow.

Lake Union's North Shore: Waterways and Street Ends

 Dear Diary,

I began today what I intended as a really long hike, but convinced myself I had some free time today to backtrack and visit a bunch of parks not Parks' (that is, not owned or managed by Seattle's Department of Parks and Recreation).  I didn't have that time, as it turns out; that and other things are forcing me to reconsider the whole idea of this (and perhaps another) long hike, given the weather we can soon expect for months. But meanwhile I do have all these pictures of obscure places, and might as well show them to you.

Cheshiahud Loop

Most of these places were brought to public attention at least partly by the efforts that went into the creation, early in this century, of a trail called "Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop" at the departmental website, but just Cheshiahud Loop on its profuse but relatively inconspicuous signs.

(Cheshiahud was a Duwamish Indian; without serious research I'm unequipped to say more.)  At some point I should figure out where this loop actually goes in North Seattle, go there, and tell you, dear Diary, all about it, but today I'm just giving credit where it's due.  I don't owe these folks just for the research that brought these sites to light, but also for a map (PDF) that allowed me to plan the hike, and for signs, similar to the above, that physically confirm many of the locations.

Weird Law:  Waterways and Street Ends

Most of these sites, and all the photos, exist thanks to two legal quirks.

Back When - this is the older quirk - people who lived around the lake often travelled by boat.  Waterways were places to launch or land them.  At some point the state took ownership, but then, as the waterways lost importance, forgot about them.  Now regulations require that in leasing them out, the state prioritise public access.  The nine on the north shore (other shores have fourteen more) vary greatly both in public access and in public amenities.  A good introduction, focused on the six in Wallingford, and especially the least accessible, Waterway 20, is a September 2020 article by Mandy Godwin for Crosscut.  All 23 are shown on the Cheshiahud Loop map.

The newer quirk is a decision by a Seattle City Council of the good old days when they didn't have tons of crazy ideas.  (Accounts I've read disagree about which council, but it was more than fifteen years ago.)  This decision was, seems to me, a land grab.  The new law declared that the land between the end of a public street and the water would be public land.  The city then set to work identifying sites and negotiating with people who were using them.  Some of these people agreed to pay fees to go on using these spaces.  These fees support a small staff who have slowly added amenities to the rest, and who have produced a kind of hard to use and at least somewhat misleading GIS interactive map of the rest.  Eli Sanders of The Stranger wrote half an article in 2015 about them, which I forgot at the time, but re-found when investigating all those places in Ballard called "street end".  (If my link for the map doesn't work for you, use his, which takes you to Seattle's Department of Transportation, these street ends' owner and the source for map links.)  Only two of these are on Lake Union's north shore.  The state is apparently also in the street end game, but I know, so far, much less about that.

None of the street ends in North Seattle is said to have restrooms or water fountains, so I've been meaning to get to them, just not right now.  None of the waterways have public-facing plumbing either, but I was figuring this would be my last hike past Lake Union for you, dear Diary, and I should get them done.  I took lots of photos because all the descriptions I found were words.

The Parks (etc.)

Waterway 15

At the end of 4th Ave NE.

This is perhaps tied with Waterway 18 for "best north shore waterway park".  Credit usually goes to neighbour Ivar's, but a Cheshiahud planners' report (long PDF; see page 89) says the work was done by (or paid for by?) King County Metro.  Anyway, whereas 18 is pure park, 15 is gussied up for us city folks; not only does it have picnic tables and what sure looks like a fire circle:

but the rocks separating the circles have historical documents

and photos

baked into them.  And of course, like most of these, it has a view:

Latona Avenue NE Street End

This didn't really stick well in my memory, but does provide direct access to the water too:

Waterway 16

At the end of 2nd Ave NE.

I hope that crane, though unoccupied around 3:30 P.M., represents a brighter future for this one.

Don't be misled by these current and former plants; I very much doubt there's some safe sea strand on the other side of the rocks.

Waterway 17

At the end of Eastern Ave N.  If you're on the Burke-Gilman Trail, you'll see a stairway continuing Eastern; look across Northlake Way from it.  If you're on foot on Northlake, you might see the thin blue sign. But if you're driving on Northlake, turn south into the parking lot of a building whose signage says "Westward", the name of the ground floor restaurant.  The waterway can only be reached through the "No Parking" space in that lot.

It's a quite nice micro-park:

with, of course, a view:

Sunnyside Avenue N Boat Ramp

Apparently this is a street end turned into a Real Park. Which means it isn't listed on that interactive GIS thingie.  (EDIT 10/19 - Yes, it is listed there.)

Introduced, with a photo, June 9 in "At the Centre of the Universe, Does Gas Work?"

Waterway 18

Mentioned in the abovementioned page but properly introduced, with photos, June 21 in "Past Work and Gas Works".

A park apparently belonging to Gas Works Park Marina

This is a small area with grass, trees and picnic tables, just east of Waterway 19.  It's certainly privately owned, but I'm not sure to what extent the public is welcome (as opposed to residents of the marina's houseboats), so I took no photos.

Waterway 19

Just east of Gas Works Park.

Introduced in the same manner as Waterway 18 and in the same pages.

Godwin says this is closed due to toxic waste.  Maybe she means closed to boating? It's just as open to hiking as it was in June.

Gas Works Park

Introduced in the same pages as Waterways 18 and 19, with photos in the June 21 page.

Waterway 20

Not just west of Gas Works Park.  I'm not sure how big it is, but it has to be between the Seattle Police Harbor Patrol building and the Center for Wooden Boats building.  This area, adjacent to the latter, most closely fit the description in Godwin's article:

Anyway, that's south of Gas Works's western tip.

Waterway 21

This has a Cheshiahud Loop-style sign, and is reputed to line up with a street called Carr Place, but the most reliable way to find it in the short term is that it's west of a gray building home to the Northlake Shipyard, and east of a blue and white building home to the Divers' Institute of Technology.

It's a nice one, a deck with two benches to take in the view, greenery on either side:

Waterway 22

This is just east of Stone Way.  It's also easy to find because, coming from the east, for some distance, there's good sidewalk, that abruptly ends where this waterway begins.

On the other hand, its view makes it worth seeking out:

Waterway 23

You've actually seen this one before, if you've used the part of the Burke-Gilman Trail that's directly under the Aurora Bridge.  It's got a very good view of its own:

which unfortunately isn't what you see from the benches:

on which, however, I found an indifferent cat:

Fremont Bridge Street End

This is the only street end on that GIS thing that has its address in "N" rather than "NE" or "NW".  (EDIT 10/19 - That depends.  The GIS thing claims Sunnyside Ave is "NE". So its address there isn't "N", but in other contexts, such as reality, it is, which makes two "N" street ends.)  I think a "street end" for a bridge is obvious nonsense, and what we're told of it - that, as with Waterway 23, it's incorporated into the Burke-Gilman Trail - is just as implausible.  Tell me, is this part of the trail?

Or this?

I'm pretty sure the idea is that people who actually believe in a street end for a bridge and demand to see it should see this:

but I don't buy it.

Sorry to end on such a grumpy note, dear Diary, when there was some fun along the way.