Site report 1
Looking south down the Alleyway that divides the block down the middle, flanked by the two Roosevelt Commons buildings
The retail strip on the NW corner of the block
An old single-family home on the SE corner of the block that has been repurposed for the Seattle Taiwanese Center
This block is made up of three main components. The first area of the block, the northern third facing NE 45th street contains commercial establishments. There is a Shell gas station on the NE corner of the block with a small convenience store and a carwash. Adjacent to the gas station lot is the opening to an alley that splits the block in half. This area was mainly empty of people and seemed to be used mainly for trash collection, with all buildings on the block contributing. To the west of the gas station is a row of small retail spaces with parking in front. The businesses housed there are mostly small eateries and health shops, with a bus stop on 45th that provides a reasonable amount of pedestrian traffic on that sidewalk.
The second main section of the block is the middle half, which houses the Roosevelt Commons complex that includes two major apartment buildings split by the alley running down the middle of the block. These buildings are large, five stories each, and mostly used for residential purposes. Each building has a parking garage underneath for resident use, with a driveway splitting the block east-west allowing for the passage of vehicles. The entire compound is quite new and modernly designed, contrasting with the rest of the block.
The final major component of the block is the lot in the SE corner that contains an old house with an unpaved parking lot to the south. The house seems to have been originally built for residential purposes but it now contains the Seattle Taiwanese Center, an organization I plan to do more research on. To the south of that building is an empty unpaved lot that serves as a parking lot. I’m assuming that there was a single-family house here similar to the one that still stands next door based on the interesting elevation and size of the lot.
The most obvious question this block raises is why the old single family house in the SE corner remains despite the rest of the block being much more dense and modern. The second question stems from an observation I made on how the character of the block quickly changes from being very loud, busy and commercial near the northern end along 45th street to quiet and residential not even halfway to 45th. Why does this happen, is it a result of zoning, and is it a pattern in the U district as a whole? Finally, the Roosevelt commons property dominates the block, why was this ambitious project built on this block, and what purpose does it serve? Despite occupying the largest part of the block, these buildings were also the least lively, begging questions on how they fit in with the larger area and neighborhood.