Happy Fourth of July from Seattlest
Seattlest Day Trips to Mount Rainier (in Photos)
Can't Miss It: Weekend Edition July 3-5
Weekend Theatre: July 3-5
Shortly before our car exploded, we were looking for a new place to rent. After our car exploded, our apartment search took a back seat to car shopping. But in the last few weeks, once our new car was settled, we returned to scanning Craigslist and strolling through neighborhoods.
After spending all of our time in Seattle living above the cut (Wallingford, Wedgwood), we were hoping to move to the Rainier Valley (better work commute) and break our string of W neighborhoods. Our secret hope was to live within walking distance of Columbia City's growing strip of gentrifying charm.
That didn't happen -- but we ended up finding an incredible house to rent in Rainier Beach, a bit further south. . We're in the middle of our overlap month, moving some boxes every day and planning our big furniture-moving trip for a couple of weekends from now. We're happy to be an easy drive up Rainier to Columbia City, and a short walk from Atlantic City Beer Sheva Park and the Rainier Beach branch of the SPL. And of course we're now within striking distance of an Ezell's -- and downtown Renton!
And Seattlest Seth is unnervingly excited about our proximity to Rainier Beach High School -- or more specifically, the gym in which the RBHS basketball teams play.
We have yet to really explore the neighborhood -- that'll probably be next month, once we're settled -- but anyone with recommendations for restaurants and other interesting stuff, please speak up. Is Maya's good?
Note to Google and NAVTEQ: Apparently the Seattle City Clerk's maps aren't any fresher -- note Atlantic City Park, above.
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The only food you need is the hot dogs from the concession stand at the Rainier Beach gym (home of Jamal Crawford court).
I don't really need an excuse to go watch Reggie Moore, Mychal Ladd, and ALL the Rainier Beach Vikings, but now I've got one anyway. YAY YAY YAY! It's so incredibly unlikely that I'll ever have a girlfriend again it's almost funny.
Welcome to the neighborhood! Husband and I moved up by Emerson School a year ago this week.
Maya's is pretty good and is really popular with people in the neighborhood. Though its hours of operation are a little unpredictable, Cafe Vignole at 57th and Rainier has good Italian food with kickass soul food desserts like black eye pea cake and red velvet cake. It's run by a really nice African American/Italian family. Tino's pizza on Rainier on the same block as Maya's is great for takeout. You need to check out Randy's on Marginal Way and S. Norfolk for a serious Denny's-like throwback. Open 24 hours, awesome pancakes.
I think I've covered all my favorites!
RB is cool. You can say you live in the '118. I grew up down there. Def check out SAARS, which is weird but sometimes has avacadoes for hella cheap. Go swimmin at Pritchard Beach.
Don't walk around Rainier and Henderson in a new pair of Jordan's less you want to get jacked.
Don't talk to your other whitey's from the north end and act like you are cool and superior now. You're not... you don't really belong in the neighborhood and are probably part of what is driving up rent and driving out the people that have lived there for a long time.
Run-on sentences aside, I hope you enjoy it and get a little culture.
BTW, the only cool places in Columbia City any more are Bob's Meats and Angie's (best jukebox in town).
BTW 2, don't call black guys "Man" when you are talking to them, you are just embarrassing yourself.
Maya's is just OK. Most of the better eating is still up in Columbia City.
I've always heard raves about the Lake Route Cafe (9261 57th Ave S). Another one with random business hours but it's supposed to offer great breakfast and lunch (bring extra Lipitor). Though it's just around the corner from me I've never managed to get there yet.
This area is likely to see accelerated gentrification in the next 10 years since light rail will have a station within a mile of the 'hood.
I've lived in Columbia City all of my life. Welcome to the south end.
I feel you meks.
Not to lecture, but...
James. Please say hello to people when you are walking down the street. This is not Wallingford. We are something of a community. We do not avert our eyes and avoid any social contact with strangers. We say hi. Sometimes we even ask how's it going. We do not cross the street when someone is walking towards us on the same side. Don't stare at the ground. Acknowledge your neighbors. Ride the bus sometimes. I don't doubt your education. And I don't want to be quick to call you an ignorant white man. Maybe you're not white. But retain your open mind and be aware of what's going on around you.
Tim. Gentrification has been rapidly accelerating in the last eight years. It is hardly a new thing. Perhaps we can stop it....? And preserve our diversity.
Verve, Columbia City's new wine bar is opening this week. Check it out.
So I heard this rumor. That there are more languages spoken within 98118 than any other zip code in the country.
I invite you to check this fact.
sophie, I'm white like Casper, and more than probably ignorant, though I can usually transcend my quiet midwestern roots and say hello to people on the street.
And meks, I write for a blog and I have a toddler. Any claims of coolness I might be tempted to make are shot down right there.
Can't wait to try Cafe Vignole.
Welcome to the south side, baby.
Check out the Ethiopian places. Hong Kong Seafood and Jumbo Restaurant both have dim sum. Also, don't forget Da Pino and the Silver Fork. The taco trucks are slammin' especially the white bus. I'm a fan of Tony's Deli and My Cahn, if you don't want to drive the extra mile to the International District.
Check out the yuppie restaurants, too...
This is an exceptional neighborhood for food.
"And preserve our diversity."
Sophie, I'm assuming you mean economic diversity, not skin tone. If that is the case, a little "gentrification" would increase diversity initially, right? Are there grassroots groups developing strategies to retain affordable housing in Rainier? That seems to work if you start soon enough.
In the 80's and 90's, gentrification came to the almost completely European-American section of Boston I'm from (Southie) and, because of grassroots efforts, economic diversity has increased--as has ethnic diversity.
If you are just intent on keeping it "black," you are going to fail like the white bigots in South Boston failed.
Meks, white people aren't a new thing in RB; the census from 2000 shows white, black and asian in equal parts. And yeah, Bob's meats is cool.
There was a move to preserve economic diversity in the South End - the Community Renewal Act. It would have forced developers coming in to take advantage of Light Rail growth to provide affordable housing as part of whatever they were building. The community shot that Act down. I know it's controversial, but from my perspective it could have at least provided some market-rate housing in a neighborhood that will keep on changing due to Light Rail and Seattle's astronomical housing prices.