Beacon Hill Residents Suffering from Sense of Entitlement

"Seattle Sunset" by Flickr user hobbes8calvin

KOMO reports this week on the heart-wrenching tale of Nick and Marilyn Papini, long time Beacon Hill residents who are suffering the "big scar" of Sound Transit's new power lines now crossing their view of downtown Seattle.

"My heart sank when I saw this," said Marilyn Papini. "It's like a big scar."
For more than 50 years, the couple has enjoyed a picturesque view from their home. In one afternoon it was taken away.

The Papinis are right, of course. The city is best viewed from a distance, from the front porch, with a glass of iced tea. From here the colors and the angles of the buildings run together. They are geometric mountains, there to provide a stunning foreground contrast to the surrounding flora and the more gentle slopes of the Olympic foothills.

Never mind the guts, veins, and arteries that allow the city to live, to thrive, to support the beings actually working and existing within it. The Papinis do not see these beings. They are not part of their picturesque view.

The Papinis are "suspicious" that their neighborhood was not notified of this wiring project.

Because if they had been notified, residents said, the whole neighborhood would have protested.
"This didn't even allow us to be proactive. This just basically hood-winked us," said Nick Papini.

"It's because they knew what would happen," Marilyn Papini added.

We can only wish the Papinis and their neighbors a speedy recovery from their heartbreak. Get well soon!

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By Jack in News on July 17, 2009 11:00 AM

Comments [rss]

litlnemo

"Because if they had been notified, residents said, the whole neighborhood would have protested."

I went out and photographed the site. The whole neighborhood would NOT have protested, because it only blocks the view of a couple of houses. And even then, it is not the view-destroying behemoth that they describe here. It's actually not that bad.

striatic

i feel for them.

a little.

obviously they loved their view very much, and 50 years is a long time to be settled in a place and develop expectations. their property value probably has diminished somewhat, so they are impacted financially as well. the lines probably could have been run underground at greater expense, but lower visual impact. i think that for long term infrastructure that's usually the better decision.

but people in this city with less money than they have end up losing their views all the time and i don't see how these people are any different. maybe KOMO should run a story every time a new condo development goes up and blocks someone's view. i think this is a little bit unfortunate for one family and i don't begrudge their bitching about it, but the view they "lost" was never truly theirs.