Site Report 1
Abandoned House
This house on 8th Ave has been abandoned and boarded up which is expected to be replaced with a new apartment building. Photograph by author, 01/12/17
Normady Apartments
One of the small 3 story apartment buildings along 8th Ave. This building also has an open parking lot. Photograph by author, 01/12/17
Unlike adjacent blocks, the block between 8th and 9th Ave NE and 40th and 42nd NE Street, has not experienced the boom of new construction found on neighboring blocks. Most of the buildings on the block are older small apartment buildings or single family homes which dwarf in comparison to the much larger and brighter apartment buildings on the adjacent blocks.
However, a billboard next to an abandoned house on 8th Ave staes: “DPD is conducting an environmental review of the following project: To construct a 4 story, 30 unit residential building, existing structure to be demolished, no parking is required or proposed, Additional approval required: Design Review.”
At the southern end of the block there is a small park called Peace Park that is between a two way street called 40th St, and a one way below it, which is also 40th St.
Overall it is a quiet block compared to the hustle and bustle of commercial buildings along Roosevelt Way and the main areas of the U-District. I noticed the block was less-traveled than surrounding streets in the U-District.
CenturyLink Building
A CenturyLink Substation Building at the northernn end of the block along 42nd Street. Photograph by author, 01/12/17
University Friends Church
A Quaker Church on the SE corner of the block. Photograph by author, 01/12/17
There are two commercial buildings on my block, a CenturyLink industrial cement building on the north end of my block on 42nd Street and a Quaker Church on the southeast corner of my block called University Friends Meeting place (UFM).
Hand Drawn Map
Besides the two commercial buildings on the NW and SE corners of the block, the rest of the buildings are either single family homes or small apartment buildings that are no taller than 2-3 stories. The dashed boxes show where there are surface level parking lots.
Roads
I noticed that the roads around my block are rather unique. For some reason both 8th Ave and 9th Ave are one ways that both go north from 40th to 42nd, but north of 42nd, 8th Ave becomes a one way that goes southbound. There are also two 40th streets, a 2 way road higher up on a slope and then another one way just to the south with a small park in the middle of the two. Right now there doesn’t seem to be any obvious reasons as to why 8th Ave is a northward one way for only one block. My hypothesis so far is that the two 40th streets exist because of how the University Bridge was built.
Questions
The main questions that I am left with is how far along is the construction on that new apartment building? Is the population of this block mainly college students? What role has the University Friends church had in the area and how long has it been around? Why are 8th Ave and 9th Ave both northbound one ways? Why are there two 40th streets? Lastly, When was Peace Park created and what purposes has it served?