Note: I received a comment on my previous blog that is perfect for starting a new topic. The commenter, who goes by the moniker “Union Hat”, provides some interesting and well-thought-out suggestions for making improvements to downtown. His ideas already started a dialogue, so I captured it below his comments as well. Please review Union Hat’s suggestions, add your views on whether they would work, and add your own ideas! Thanks to Union Hat for this and other great comments, and thanks to all of you readers for your attention and ideas.
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Pictured: The storefront west of the Piazza, where a new library had been proposed to replace this tired building. While voters rejected moving the library from it’s over-the-river location, most citizens I have talked to feel it is worthwhile for the council to focus on further revitalizing this section of downtown Renton. I have heard many good ideas proposed
(From Union Hat)
The vote on the library location is in: Renton Wins!
Cedar River Library lovers get to keep the location we all have appreciated for nearly half a century. Awareness of the need for real revitalization in the oldest part of downtown Renton has not been this great since the local improvement district was created in the late 60’s.
There is still lots of work to do, but we have a chance to get things moving in a productive direction. Here is a To Do List to jumpstart the creative dialog between Economic Development Department, the City Council and the downtown business owners. Please add to my relatively random list of ideas.
Pass an ordinance requiring a private kitchen and bath for rented rooms in the historic district and providing tax credits for renovated office space.
Provide property tax credits to owners who strip off all of the ugly 1970’s upgrades to the building facades and/or restore the brick and stone exteriors and windows to their original design using energy efficient materials. For buildings constructed after 1920, encourage modifications that harmonize the visual appearance of the exteriors with the buildings constructed between 1900 and 1915.
Replace all of the old, ugly and increasingly unsafe sidewalks on S 3rd between Main and Smithers. Replace the odd gutters at the corners. Choose a concrete finish that is safe and durable, but reminiscent of the original wood sidewalks or Renton brickworks sidewalks or both. Include modest midblock sidewalk bump-outs for easier pedestrian street crossing and sidewalk vendor kiosks. Include utility hookups.
Replace the odd 1970’s street lighting and the remaining corner mounted traffic signals. Choose a pole and lamp style reminiscent of early 1900’s gas lamps. Consolidate the little hand holes, and improve the underground conduits to add capacity and provide a building entrance to every structure in downtown. This will allow connection of very high speed fiber to the second story offices. Combine superfast Internet with low cost office space on the southern end of the eastside tech corridor and you create a high-tech startup incubator.
Realign SR-900. The Historic District along S 3rd suffers from far too much vehicle traffic and too little foot traffic in part because they are in direct conflict with each other. By extending MLK way diagonally through the Safeway parking lot to connect with S 2nd and doing a modest widening of S 2nd there could be nearly the same traffic carrying capacity on S 2nd as there is now using both S 2nd and S 3rd.
Reduce S 3rd to a single west bound lane with diagonal parking along both sides. Provide traffic calming planters at each intersection with small street trees and low growing vegetation. Consider stained concrete intersections as we have in The Landing. The finish could reflect roadway bricks made at the Renton brickworks.
Bathe the historic district in very high speed, free wi-fi. Include Rainier, The Landing and the Ikea Shopping District. Perhaps Sunset between N 10th and N 12th and parts of N 4th should be included. Municipal wi-fi is not nearly as cool as it used to be, but is increasingly expected as part of any desirable destination. Very young tech startups might ride on free wi-fi for the first year.
DO NOT spend 10 million dollars to renovate the Cedar River Library. Do an essentials only renovation for about $2 million. If KCLS insists that there needs to be an entrance near the south parking lot, put an attractive rain roof over the pedestrian bridge leading from the parking lot to the existing entrance. When the economy improves a more extensive remodel and expansion to a Ragional library can be considered.
DO spend about 2 million renovating the existing Big 5 structure and relocate the Police Patrol Operations Division into the building for at least 5 years. There has been talk of building a new City Hall building in the old downtown for several years. That is not going to be affordable for a decade (never if we get Barack’d again on Nov. 6th). We can do some stimulus and a lot of crime prevention by putting the police who chase criminal’s right into the belly of the beast. Once West Hill annexes, that location will be a more central location for most of the high crime areas in Renton.
Vacate Mill Ave. S between Bronson Way and S 3rd and expand the parking for the Library and the Museum. With the expanded traffic volume on S 2nd/Bronson the Mill and Bronson intersection will no longer be viable anyway. Put a large bus stop bump out on Bronson where Mill used to be. Include a large sign identifying the KCLS library.
Get KCLS to pay for including the Cedar River and Highlands Libraries in the Renton Wayfinding sign system. They promised us some signs, we should hold them to their promises or they will continue to have no reason to respect Renton.
Yes the projects described above will cost something like 200 million dollars and it will be difficult to amass that much cash. It does not need to be done all at once. Something like 15% to 20% must be local matching funds, but once you have the 30 to 40 million budgeted, it is possible to get federal, state and county improvement grants that could provide practically all of the remaining money needed to actually revitalize Renton. The 10 million we dumped into the parking garage might have attracted 50 million outside dollars. We could have SR-900 realigned already if we had leaders with a little less impatience and just a little more vision and faith in our community.
Get the Administrator of the Community and Economic Development Department to move into town. Strongly encourage the other department heads to live here as well. Their perspective needs to be that of a participant, not a detached management consultant.
If you don’t like my crazy ideas, please post some of your own. It is time to come together to move Renton ahead.
Reply
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Commment to above, from RentonBen
I like all of them – a series of rational improvements, and no expensive boondoggles.
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Follow-on Comment from Union Hat
OK Ben,
How about this? Annex West Hill and extend Renton level police service west to Seattle. Cleaning up crime in downtown Renton needs a regional approach and the King County Sheriffs don’t get the funding they need to hold up their end of the deal. If we are going to beat the crime in Renton and West Hill, we need to join West Hill to Renton first.
Still rational?
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Readers, please join this discussion with your ideas by clicking on the comment button!
I do feel for DTR – we’ve spent or will spend millions on Ranier Ave, The Landing, Hawks Landing, and sadly we don’t have the budget to spend million on DTR.
But I don’t think we need to spend millions – we basically have some really nice people in DTR that have invested their money only to have a few slum lords drag the whole place down.
We need really strict code enforcement, or perhaps we need better code to enforce. For example – the burned out spot looks like crap – either they need to put a building there, or some nice fencing that doesn’t look like a Guantanamo Bay prisoner housing.
There’s that grocery store in South DTR that looks like someone glued trash to the windows.
Even something list stenciling in a painted pattern into the pedestrian crosswalk would help.
http://www.playhousedistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/pic-moonwalk2012.jpg
I love those crosswalk stencils. They are dead cheap, easy and quick to apply, and show that somebody cares.
Now that you have had a chance to read my post in a little more detail it must seem enormously expensive. Wait till you seen my next post. You and I have typically been very critical of unnecessary spending, so some of my brainstorming might seem out of character.
My first excuse is that I’m brainstorming so fewer of my usual intellectual constraints apply, and I was hoping to see others post a few more outside the box ideas.
My second excuse is that no matter how Barack’d the economy gets, the city is going to spend lots of cash on transportation.
At the City Council meeting this Monday (August 13, 2012) the Council will hear testimony on the 2013 to 2018 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). The agenda for the meeting can be seen at the link below:
https://renton.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=22414
The TIP starts on page 132. The table on page 144 shows that planned transportation spending for 2013 is 24.6 million dollars, 2014 is 13.3 million, and 2015 is 28 million. More than three years into the future, the plan, like the Pirate Code, more of a guideline than an actual plan. So don’t take the 40 million, 40 million and 49 million for 2016-18 too seriously just yet. Those numbers will get refined a lot in the next three years, but they do indicate what planners are thinking and help to coordinate projects with adjacent municipal governments.
These numbers seem huge, and they are, but much of the revenue for this spending is required by state law to be expended on transportation projects. Real ODTR revitalization must tap some of these funds.
Check the TIP map on page 137. There are 42 TIP projects, of which about 18 actually build new capacity. The only project anywhere near old downtown is the Rainier project (TIP 3 & 7) which is projected to spend 42 million in phase 1, now in construction, and 15 million in phase 2 starting in 2015 which completes the widening north to Airport Way. This project might actually provide negative benefit to ODTR as we need fewer cars on S 3rd, not more.
Too few cars is a serious problem for business, but too many cars is actually worse. Look at The Landing. Do we have a state highway with 22,500 cars per day speeding right through it? Park Ave. N. has about 10,000 vehicles per day and Logan runs to about 11,000. They provide easy access in and out of the area, but don’t make it dangerous and uncomfortable to walk on the sidewalk between your car and the store you want to reach.
There is no TIP spending for old downtown Renton anywhere in the plan. If city leaders really want to provide some economic stimulus to ODTR, they need to start thinking about it and put SOMETHING into the TIP.
If you agree, think about a visit to the Council meeting this Monday. The Renton Council actually does listen to citizens from time to time and recent events have shown them what can happen when they don’t. If you want to see some real revitalization for ODTR, take a few minutes and ask the Council to consider it. I think they just might be in the mood to hear some well thought out ideas presented in a polite and concise fashion.
One of DTR’s problems is there is a lot of traffic on S. 3rd. However, they’re not stopping, they’re using the street as a means to get somewhere else. Stop cars randomly and ask them where they’re going and why not stick around awhile?
Yes, I know that’s silly, but, realistically, there’s just not much to shop for in DTR. Better shopping is available elsewhere within a reasonable distance. DTR will never be able to compete with that.
So what do other cities do with their downtown areas to revitalize them? Randy posted (quite awhile ago) a picture of a revitalized downtown somewhere that was lovely. It was inviting, it was a place people actually wanted to go to, not just drive by.
Unionhat has some good ideas. Some doable, some won’t work because any zoning changes will no doubt have to include grandfathered clauses and some of these old buildings are owned by long term owners who aren’t looking to sell.
Is the piazza building available for rent for parties, special occasions, or business conferences?
Here is the link to my blog from last year about the revitalization of Livermore California, my home town.
Thanks, Randy, that was it.
This is exactly what Renton should become….with the river being the main road in Livermore
Union Hat’s traffic calming would really help – slow the traffic down so you don’t think you’re next to a freeway.
Our city transportation officials will be working on a study in the next year or two examining whether we could convert our one-way streets back to two way streets. For instance, Second and Third Street would each be two-way again, as they were prior to the 1960s. I think this could help our downtown businesses because it will calm traffic, and because visiting drivers that pass a destination that interests them can actually turn around and easily find it again.
A couplet is safer for pedestrians and there is no study needed to prove that as it’s already been done. We don’t need to cater to more vehicles downtown wandering in circles aimlessly. They can park somewhere and walk.
We don’t need to cater to more vehicles downtown wandering in circles aimlessly
That’s exactly what is needed.
My girlfriends and I just went to old downtown to get drinks for my sister’s birthday. We were set on going to A Terrible Beauty, but since they closed at 11 (it was 10:30) we moved on to the Berliner. Then we left there to see what else was around in the way of nightlife, we ended up walking to the Whistle Stop.
My point in all this is that we felt pretty unsafe walking down the alleys to and from Whistle Stop, but if we had driven, we probably would’ve gotten really turned around from all the one-way streets. So in that case, walking was better, but the walking paths could DEFINITELY use a facelift to encourage bar-crawling.
Having a Trader Joe’s in Renton tops the list of what folks in Renton want, from what I hear. It seems like we have given up. If I was in charge I would do what West Seattle did to get a Trader Joe’s– A Bring Trader Joe’s to Renton Day, A parade, send them a City Council Proclamation, send them Denis Law’s cool book. Invite them for a tour hosted by Denis and the Council. Then, offer them a WHAMMER DEAL– like almost free, for the Big 5 location. Many people say they would not go downtown– bet me, they would go downtown for a Trader Joe’s.
Brillant!
Marcie and Randy–the reason I came up with the Trader Joe’s idea is that I think we need to throw something gigantic and compelling at downtown. Most of the buildings are not leasable. I know an owner on 3rd who cannot give their space away. Even Armondo’s closed. When you see something new open you think yea sure let’s see how long they can hold out. It is really so sad. People love Trader Joe’s and will go where they are. My suggestion is give them the building as a partnership to plant a seed downtown– explain to them our strategy. Do it for the sales tax and property tax revenue. Otherwise, I suspect the Big Five building will remain vacant for years and serve as a reminder of the contentious library controversy. If you think there is any merit to this idea would you be willing to pass it on to Susan Del Esty (sp?)
Trader Joe’s does not need to pay high rent at places like the Landing. Where they go people flock. At the University District store for example, people cruise the area until they find a parking spot.
Thanks for listening.
Marlene
West Seattle has a much more educated customer base though. It’s not really comparable and Trader Joe’s probably knows that.
I’m confused.. what does a more educated customer base mean?
Our money in the south end is not as good as money in West Seattle?
I was thinking the same thing! I avoided that corner when it was a Big 5 because it’s a pain to get to and there were other Big 5 locations that were more convient. However, I would certainly navigate the one ways and look for parking if it was a Trader Joes.
Oh my gosh. I want a Trader Joe’s SO BAD!! My mom lives in Ballard and we visit often, so I get my fix there. But if there was a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s here in Renton, I’d never shop anywhere else!!
Excellent ideas, Marlene. But don’t let them take out that spirally park with the trees in it right next door. Perhaps a bilevel TJ’s? Or incorporate them into the Roxy bldg, like the Grocery Outlet that moved into a bowling center in the Highlands?
A few years back I snailmailed the HQ of Trader Joe’s, because I could not find an e-address for them, saying their presence is needed in Renton. All I got back was some sort of automatically generated sheet of nonsense topped off with some thing implying that we are in Oregon. I like shopping at TJ’s, but I don’t need that craziness.
We don’t need to lose any more trees, either.
Kerrick, Here’s the link for a Trader Joes site request.
http://www.traderjoes.com/about/location-requests-form.asp
Question:
Didn’t Renton’s City Council sign an agreement to GIVE TO KCLS two new libraries? Does this vote mean that Renton is going to give valuable and scenic property over the Cedar River to KCLS? Did the City just vote to give property over the Cedar River to KCLS while keeping the far less valuable, scenic and desirable Big 5 site?
Perhaps citizens need to speak to that issue.
Thank you for the courtesy of a thoughtful response and an effort to address this question here and before the Council.
As I understand it, the agreement with KCLS does let KCLS use the property rent free provided they maintain library service, but the ownership of the building and property remain with Renton.
Of course none of these simple things would ever be looked at by the old “city planner.” It wouldn’t build his resume. Let’s hope the new one has some brains.
Where the heck is TCC anyways… we need him here to stir the pot.
Renton needs to create a riverfront destination or promenade. Create a boardwalk along the river that has restaurants and shops lining the sides….outdoor restaurant seating, amphitheater, good lighting along the boardwalk.
Good ideas everyone. Phil, I like your riverfront promenade. In Oklahoma City they even created a man-made “river” to give the downtown some waterfront. You can read more about it here: http://www.randycorman.com/?p=2107
exactly!!! how do we make this happen?
Seems to me that a Trader Joe’s downtown will face parking problems; it’d fit right in at the Landing. Someone needs to get in touch with whoever achieved success in West Seattle, and see just how they did it. We don’t have to stay uneducated. Anyway I did the site request thing that Melissa linked to.
I didn’t know that there were apts. downtown that didn’t have private bathrooms; if there are, their tenants might not be able to afford the cost of renovation.
I wouldn’t mind seeing something done with that triangular building across from the donkey park, that used to be an office supply store. But I’m not sure what it would be. A Trader Joe’s? Folks still might not want to have to park over in the Burnett region. I don’t know for sure. Anyone here go to the South Renton neighborhood meetings? That includes the residential part of downtown S of 3rd, and I think there’s one tomorrow night.
For those who thought my previous post about old downtown revitalization was a little out there, please suspend your disbelief for a little bit and try to get into the spirit of the brainstorming that is about to blow through. The ideas that follow are impractical in the near term, but the idea is to play around with the future options that only become possible if we get started by doing a few practical things today. Assume that the previous suggestions have already been implemented.
Pave S. 3rd with recovered Renton paving bricks, or pave it with stained concrete formed into brick and/or stone cobbles. Allow horse drawn Hansom Cabs to run a circuit through the area during the seasonal events.
Build a thirty foot by thirty foot paint spraying printer something like a giant ink jet printer. Program it to print period murals on some of the ugly blank walls around town. Some walls are prominent enough that the murals could be changed seasonally. Some might be simple simulations of old bricks.
There are a random collection of aging awnings along S 3rd. Before too long, they will become a safety hazard as well as an eyesore. Require the removal of all structures over the right-of-way. Consider installation of an attractive rain cover inspired by the Pioneer Square Pergola. It does not have to be an expensive cast Iron and glass structure, but it should reflect or embellish the 1900’s architecture of the area. Include pedestrian level LED sconces to softly illuminate them at night. It might be possible to work solar panels into the design to power the lighting.
Once all of the car traffic is moved to S 2nd, or S 2nd and S 4th, consider putting a rain cover over all of S 3rd between Main and Logan to create a walkable mall with parking right in front of the stores. Include a few gas, quartz or flame tornado radiant heaters and the area might actually provide a Retro alternative to SouthCenter. The style of the structure might include some Steam Punk elements. The weather around here is certainly reminiscent of old London much of the time. Let’s make that an asset. This kind of expense would require some significant commitment on the part of business owners to upgrade their buildings and everybody would have to agree to a particular style like Leavenworth did. As a destination retail area, more shopping space would be needed, so those second story flophouses would need to be refurbished into boutiques or pubs. Design the cover to be easily extended along the Avenues as retail traffic increases.
Old downtown needs more foot traffic. Large office structures yield breakfast and lunch customers, draw visitors all day long, spin off dinner meetings and occasionally need catering. Converting S. 2nd to bidirectional traffic would move potential shoppers east and west very readily, but downtown also needs an efficient north south connector to The Landing. Extend Talbot through the gas station and car wash on the NE corner of Talbot and Grady Way. Build a five lane north south arterial through Burnett Linear Park, through the Transit Center and continue following the old railroad right of way to Logan and Airport Way extending SR-515 to I-405 around The Landing. Preserve the mature trees by careful design of the parkway. Rezone the blocks on either side of the Talbot/Burnett/Logan to high-density commercial, residential, and retail mixed use. There are plans to double the office space in the Triton Towers, once the economy improves, so there is some demand for commercial space in the area. Providing space for offices along Burnett might eventually put enough office workers in close enough proximity to provide quite a bit of foot traffic downtown. The same zoning could be extended to the east side of Logan north of the Cedar. The important thing here is to be open about the project so the current land owners derive the benefit of the increased land value, not some politically connected developer who knows just when to quietly acquire the land along the new arterial as so often happens. It will be difficult to move that many families, but there is no long term future for single family residences in downtown. Fair compensation will ease the burden on these citizens.
Note that the new vehicle traffic is proximate to old downtown, but not through old downtown making it easy to get there, without putting more vehicle pressure on the narrow streets. It is entirely possible that the newly connected downtown would not only be a busy retail, restaurant and office district, it might be busy enough to expand onto S 4th. Implement architecture design rules that impose a uniform look and feel to the new business in keeping with the early 1900’s theme.
The new north/south corridor would interact with the BNSF railroad at S 4th. When the 737 reaches full production there may be as many as three body tubes passing through town each day. This could be managed by working with the railroad and Boeing to schedule rail traffic outside of commuter hours, but when I-405 is expanded it will displace the railroad right-of-way between about S. 3rd and N 8th. Rather than just pushing the line a few feet west of the new freeway alignment, sweep the tack onto a new elevated trestle along Shattuck and Logan over S 3rd, S 2nd, Airport Way and the Cedar River joining existing tracks on the west side of Logan at N 8th. The visual design elements of the elevated roadway would reflect the historic district turn of the century style. The new alignment places the track right next to City Central Parking, which practically requires a new period themed Sounder station on the west side at the second floor level. Perhaps we could get our own steam engine and period coaches. Put a small station at The Landing and run a special back and forth from Tukwila. The new Sonics Arena could be built at either the Longacres site or The Landing and still be served by the new line. Renton could become a natural place to host a Steam Punk convention in the summer and a Victorian Christmas festival in the winter driving even more retail traffic in old downtown.
Finding a way to extend the Lake to Sound Trail through Renton is going to be difficult. The new alignment of the north south arterial moves most vehicle traffic off of Logan between Airport Way and S 3rd. Add bike lanes on Logan between Airport Way and S 3rd, jog over to Smithers south to S 4th, west on S 4th to Shattuck and south to S 7th. This links two existing TIP trail projects, completes the trail through Renton and gives bike riders a chance to take a break in Historic Renton, where we stay ahead of the cure without losing sight of our roots.
Vacate Riverside Drive South between Williams and Wells and reconstruct and extend the Southside Cedar River Walk between Logan and Houser Way. This would be above the river and would minimally disturb the existing shoreline. Provide period lighting and surfaces that discourage wheeled traffic, which is welcome on the north side of the river, but do allow Hansom Cab traffic in season. Refurbish Jones Park with Victorian themed structures, fencing and plantings which harmonize with the expanded Riverwalk. Zone the parts of Logan, Burnett, Williams, Wells, Main, Bronson and Houser that are close to the River to encourage small restaurants and specialty shops that cater to pedestrians as vehicle access will be limited. Parts of the walk might have weather covering that reflect the design of the sidewalk covers along S. 3rd.
Once revitalization takes hold on the south side, extend the historic district to the north side of the Cedar between Houser and Logan. Zone the property between Riverside Drive North and N 1st St. for larger venues as they will have vehicle access along N 1st. Provide some decorative nonstructural additions to the inelegant Williams and Wells bridges so they fit the period theme of the area. Find someplace else for the community garden and the Parks and Facilities buildings so that high value property along the river can be included in the upgraded Historic Renton River Walk.
Perhaps the River Walk area could be thoroughly modern to allow visitors to choose between new and old. Renton has much more to offer than history. The Boeing Renton plant is the most efficient commercial aircraft assembly facility on earth and is the most important asset on the company’s books, producing about three airplanes for every one built in Everett and scaling up to produce about six planes for every other bird Boeing delivers. There is an audience for a tour here. Perhaps we could work with Boeing, the Museum of Flight, and King County to spin off a tour of the Renton plant that starts at the Museum of flight and busses to Renton. Once the tour is established, a facility can be constructed in Renton to support the tour, expanding in phases until it can support some standalone tours. Done correctly, the program could be developed with minimal upfront cost expanding only when revenue justifies it.
Just for fun, a zip line could be operated from the stairwell tower of City Central Parking diagonally across the Pavilion to the opposite corner of the Piazza Park. If it gets popular, a second line could run from the other corner. If the Piazza is too boring or too far from The Landing, it could run from the parking garage in The Landing. Probably there will not be a zip line, but there are no bad ideas at this point in the process.
It could be twenty-five years before most of the redevelopment above gets done, but it will never happen if we don’t get started. By adopting a plan and investing a little transportation money now, we might overcome the inertia that has held old downtown Renton in its grasp since a City Council refused to locate Southcenter in Renton fifty years ago. Where do you want Renton to be in another fifty years? Please post one of your own ideas, even if they seems silly to you. Some of all of the above will seem silly to someone, but it is finally time to talk about real revitalization.
More bike trails and bike lanes for sure…including a convenient connection to the Interurban Trail in Tukwila. That one was not easy for me to reach the other day.
How will new homes be found for anyone displaced from the “flophouses” mentioned above?
Although not much of a steampunk myself, I like the idea of making this town in that flavor. The state needs a steampunk nexus. Might as well be here. Annual steampunk events could be here too and give the one at Seatac some competition maybe. That’s one way to stay “ahead of the curve”.
Find a way to borrow the airport runway one Saturday in the fall and use it for a pumpkin hurling event like they do in Snohomish and Burlington. This region needs one. People who already compete in those could come here, do it some more and popularize the sport. Then, local talent could join in.
So Mr. Corman, are is Renton giving away its waterfront property to KCLS?
No… while Renton taxpayers are on the hook to spend a bunch of money for KCLS’s benefit, we will own all land and improvements.
In total, Renton taxpayers will spend about 70 million in new taxes and bonds in the next ten years for KCLS.
I personally favor a de-annexation vote to gt us back to the 2 million per year we used to spend on libraries.
Ben is correct about the land stays in Renton ownership, and all buildings/structures revert to Renton ownership if KCLS ever stops operating them as a library. Here is a link to the Interlocal agreement that has the details.
http://www.kcls.org/about/interlocal_agreements/Renton,%20City%20of%20-%20Interlocal%20Regarding%20Library%20Construction%20Projects%202011.pdf
The arrangement is similar to the land the city owns around the airport.
(Thanks for the question, and thanks Ben for answering)
I applaud Union_Hat for brainstorming and for doing so at great length. Bravo! To revitalize downtown, it must become a desirable destination rather than just a conduit for vehicles.
Some of Union_Hat’s ideas touched on something important to me: relaxation and amusement. Downtown should be a place to go to lie back and relax or have fun. I’m a big fan of moving water. Whether in streams or fountains, it is interesting, soothing, and drowns out unpleasant sounds. There is a wonderful water sculpture in the main lobby of Valley Medical Center. When I was there recently, I was enthralled by the water as it flowed over a huge glass block.
How about a small amusement park? That empty former McLendon’s Hardware building is large enough to house a miniature golf course and other forms of amusement. Looking is a form of amusement for me, so every time I go downtown I visit the top of the parking garage to look around.
My biggest gripe about downtown is the north wall of the BankAmerica bank. That’s the side facing South Third. That wall, nearly blank, is an insult to pedestrians. That the building won some architectural award is baffling, considering its rejection of pedestrians on South Third. When I had to use the temporary bus stop there years ago, I cringed every time I went there. Stuff like that drives people away. A nearly-blank wall is fine in a commercial alley, not on the town’s main street. The architect must have had a screw loose and the city permitting process sadly allowed the travesty. Imagine a downtown with all the storefronts like that—the place would dry up and blow away from lack of use.
I’d like to see the wall remodeled to include large windows for passers-by to look in, even if there is little of interest inside. Better yet, pull the wall farther away from South Third, plant trees next to the sidewalk, move the cash machine to that side, and install the big windows. If necessary, condemn the structure and remove it, creating more park space (trees, benches, lighting, fountain, artificial stream, etc.). Retain the parking lot as a municipal facility offering free parking or dime parking meters.
Perhaps a nice mural would be a simpler solution. And we could have it designed through a mural contest of the local high schools. Whichever design wins, we’ll pay for the paint and they get paint their mural for all to see.
Downtown Renton, including the Rainier corridor, really needs to be more pedestrian-friendly. For example, when I take the bus to the transit center, if I want to cross 2nd Street legally it is necessary to cross Burnett Ave, then 2nd St then Burnett Ave again, and finally Burnett Place. All because the west side of the intersection across 2nd St has no crosswalk.
Similarly, for shoppers who patronize Safeway and who wish to catch a bus on Sunset at the Walgreens, it is necessary to cross 3rd Street, then Rainier, then re-cross 3rd Street in order to navigate the intersection as a pedestrian legally.
I get it that the intersections are designed this way to prefer the flow of automobile traffic. Is it really necessary? I would ask that pedestrian flow be considered on an equal footing with automobile traffic flow.
Full disclosure, I’m not currently a resident of Renton, but may become a resident in the future.
–Mark
We had the same problem on Logan and 5th – I have no idea why anybody could have thought it was a good idea, but when the city repaved the intersection, they fixed the crossing. Hopefully as work is done, they’ll continue to fix each intersection.
It’s part of the warped theory permeating the traffic engineering community that providing convenience for motor vehicles has a much higher value than providing convenience for persons on foot. If you are driving a vehicle, you are important, but if you are on foot, you are not. Two ways of implementing this theory is by equipping four-way intersections with only three crosswalks and by forcing pedestrians to push a button to get clearance (a “Walk” signal) to cross a street.
A related annoyance is sidewalks containing numerous curves that serve no good purpose. They look pretty on diagrams and in aerial views, but force pedestrians to use extra effort (pay greater attention) to avoid walking off the edge of the sidewalk. This is most often seen in parks and on exercise courses. In limited instances it makes sense to curve a right-of-way (for example, to avoid an obstruction or follow a contour line) but I think planners often use curving sidewalks to satisfy some aesthetic whim. Pedestrians suffer for it.
Agreed on unnecessary curves, which to me are not even pretty. And I’ve always hated being made to feel like a 2nd class citizen because of not being owned by a car.
Cyclists once helped make possible the spread of smooth roads that cars benefit from, I read somewhere. Our reward was to get run off the road. I was just in Bellingham and there’s bike lanes all over the place. More streets here need to have them–even if just some do that would help.
Question Mark, were you once with The Mysterians?
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_Mark_%26_the_Mysterians )
Dave,
No, I’m a new generation of Question Marks. Actually, I spell my name out, and my predecessor used the symbol “?”, from what I’ve been told.
It’s gratifying to know that I’m not alone in experiencing frustration as a pedestrian.
On further reflection after posting above, I wondered what would happen if the city staff and/or elected officials were to regularly (say once per month) commit themselves to traveling to work, lunch, etc. on public transportation and as a pedestrian. Could that be a way to spark productive conversations about what changes might make downtown a better place?
–Mark
not to sound rude but does this work on Caasaciun hair also ? ( iv been told certain products cant be used for Caucasian )i used to have thick long hair i bleached it back to back with in a 3 day time span 4 times .. my hair is THIN n BRITTLE and it seems that no matter what i do nothings working
I went in and received a prompt haircut without an appointment. Was very satisfied with the courteous service and the straight razor neck shave. I understand they offer straight razor shaving classes including sharpening, honing, and technique. I now wish I lived here to take advantage of this class and learn this amazing skill. I plan to return to receive a straight razor shave and enourage anyone looking for quality hair care to give this establishment the chance to impress you.
This wasn’t seriously consider calling stop his or her employment along with could not start up perusing various other posts on this web site, since this report drew us a while. Amazing you just read your site content
Nearly two decades ago Times Square in New York City was a squalid, ugly, dangerous place that was internationally famous for the number of tourists that got mugged and the number of sex oriented business. Then Mayor Rudy Giuliani applied a new technique in city management called The Broken Window Theory, which in its simplest form, means take care of the little things like broken windows and graffiti and larger crimes will be less likely to be drawn into the area because the lowlifes who commit that crime will be not be comfortable. They also did quite a bit with code enforcement to move undesirable business out of the area. At the root of those codes was the Renton ordinance passed in the seventies to prevent showing porn movies in Historic Downtown Renton theaters. New York was smart to learn from Renton, perhaps Renton’s leaders can learn from New York about cleaning up the oldest part of downtown Renton.
Giving credit where it is due, Renton has done quite a bit of graffiti fighting in the last couple of years. Most graffiti is gone and quickly removed when it appears. Stepping up the police presence near the Transit Center and relentlessly punishing even the most superficial crime is also laudable and will have a positive effect on reducing future crime and increasing the feeling that the area is a safe place to shop. Blanketing the Transit Center with video cameras so crimes not directly observed by officers can be prosecuted will also help and should probably be funded over the next couple of years in order to expand video coverage from Main to Rainier on S 2nd and S 3rd and along Rainier from Grady to Airport Way. The area should be geting a lot of fiber as a result of the Rainier and F-Line projects, so the cameras will cost half as much to install in about a year.
On the other hand, there are some fairly obvious things wrong with Historic Downtown Renton that won’t cost that much to fix and that somebody at the city ought to be encouraging business owners to get busy fixing them. The city is doing much of its part applying the Broken Widow Theory; it is time for the business owners and operators in the Historic District to start doing more of their part. It appears that some of them need a little push to do the right thing. Here are a few obvious problems that require some immediate attention.
The old service station on the SW corner of S 2nd, Main and Bronson has been unoccupied for half a year. The lot is choked with weeds. The building is ugly and starting to decay. There are plans to build a six story apartment complex on the site, but they have been on hold since 2008. The developers have been thoroughly Barack’d by the Obama recovery, but enough is enough. The old building will have to be demolished sooner or later. Make it sooner. Make it now. Code enforcement is clearly not doing their job at this location.
The Berliner is a very welcome addition to Historic Downtown Renton. A full restaurant produces a full parking lot. The lot just north of the Berliner is in horrible shape. It adjoins back alleys in the blocks between S 2nd and S 3rd and Main and Williams that are unpaved or formerly paved dirt and rocks. When it rains they become muddy. The dirt is tracked into the street and washed into the storm drains. When it is dry, dust is tracked or blows off the lots. The surface water systems in this area are far older than the current ordinances that require settling ponds or water quality vaults. Do these drains wash the dirt straight into the Cedar River a few blocks away? If so, these lots are in violation of the NPDES Phase II and the city is in violation of federal regulations until the quality of the discharged water is improved. This is bad enough, but in addition to being a threat to fish part of the year, they are ugly and trashy looking all of the time. Some parts are so bad they are a liability risk to all pedestrians but especially those who may have had a drink or two. These areas should be paved or planted with grass or shrubs before the end of the year. The appearance of the backs of the buildings from these service areas is especially run down. They need to be painted again or preferably, sand blasted and sealed and many windows repaired. There are utility connections barely hanging on to some of the buildings that must be just skirting the National Electrical Code and could easily cause another building fire.
The unsightly appearance of the buildings drives away affluent shoppers and attracts the kind of people who make the rest of the shoppers uncomfortable. If any of these buildings were in my neighborhood the local HOA would go nuts. Peer pressure, visits by the HOA president, fines and threats of legal action would force them to clean things up. Is it possible to amend the titles of the properties in the Historic District to create a Historic Property Owners Association which would have some legal recourse that the good property owners could use to encourage or force the bad property owners to behave less like slum lords? Shopping centers, malls and lifestyle centers like The Landing usually have a single owner who is responsible for the appearance of the entire area and whose bottom line will suffer if shoppers are not attracted to the area. An old style community of individual business and property owners might significantly benefit from having a legal structure that makes the shared destiny of the area a legal reality.
On the west end of S 3rd between Shattuck and Freddie’s Club there is a vacant lot that is also choked with weeds. There are a few very small buildings nearby that are unoccupied and unlikely to ever be occupied. Trash is visible through the dirty windows and collects around the area. Several other buildings along S 3rd are not currently occupied, but this is not an excuse for them to be ugly, dirty and trash magnets.
It is particularly insulting that the owners of these properties campaigned for the construction of a Library in Historic Downtown that would cost taxpayers over 10 million to build and a couple of million a year to operate, while they can’t be bothered to perform the most basic maintenance on their properties.
If the slumlord owners of these intentionally run down properties are not in violation of any city ordinances, one or two new ordinances need to be passed forthwith. Can the city pass an occupancy ordinance that requires owners of derelict properties to repair them or demolish them?
There are a few businesses along S 3rd that appear to have a very flexible understanding of the concept of a paved parking lot. Some of them have fatal cases of alligator cracks and even large potholes. They shed muddy water during the rainy season and look unattractive all of the time.
Western Washington is wet so much of the year that stuff grows on the sidewalks causing them to become dingy and gray. This is easily resolved with an occasional pressure wash. There are parts of the sidewalk in old downtown that look like they have not been pressure washed in decades. The property owners or business operators who get that an attractive business has a far greater chance of attracting customers occasionally clean their sidewalks. The city should clean the filthy sidewalks at least once a year and bill the property owners a premium for the work.
There is a lot on the south side of S 2nd between Logan and Morris. There are a couple of very old structures on the lot that are posted No Trespassing. There are tracks on the lot that indicate it is regularly used for parking and vehicle turnaround. These bare areas shed muddy water much of the year. Every undeveloped lot in Historic Renton should be either paved or leveled and planted with grass that is regularly mowed. Undeveloped property should not be allowed to detract from the appearance of the area.
Convenient parking is a perennial problem in Historic Renton. The city owns four parking lots in the area in addition to City Central Parking as can be seen on this web page http://rentonwa.gov/uploadedFiles/Business/_HTML/DT%20parking%20lot%20map.pdf Perhaps this parking is intended for longtime residents who know where it is. Only a few of them have signs and they are the very small 12 x 18 inch signs that are effectively invisible to visitors. Install much larger signs identifying the free public parking. The city has its own sign shop. This could be done in a month or less.
Lots that are being held for future development could be converted to interim parks and/or parking lots. There are systems that provide support for moderate vehicle traffic and allow grass to grow. The city could find some money to convert the empty lots if the owners would agree to leave the interim park or parking lot in place for three to five years. If Obama is reelected, no significant development will happen for at least another five years.
Monday August 20, 2012 the City Council will hear a report from the staff regarding Community Development Block Grant funds for 2013-2014 in the Committee of the Whole at 5:30 PM. This is Federal money that Renton can use for a range of projects including “preservation and restoration of historic properties in low-income neighborhoods.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Development_Block_Grant Could some of this money go toward funding preservation of the most historic structures in downtown? Could it fund the activities of the Historic Renton Property Owners Association?
The Community and Economic Development Department has a program that provides money for homeowners associations to use for community improvements. Perhaps the city could fund some programs to improve the appearance of Historic Renton. The city used to sponsor a cleanup day once a year. Perhaps it is time we did something like that in Historic Downtown. However, it will probably be necessary for the Council to also put some iron in the city’s code enforcement glove.
The oldest part of downtown Renton is a special place. Owning property there and operating a business there is not like running a bodega in Fairwood. This is one of the most historic districts in all of Washington. If the people who own those properties don’t recognize this privilege and responsibility, it is up to the city to help them do so. The look and feel of old downtown Renton reflects on every one of the 94,000 residents and has a significant effect on the annexation votes of areas adjacent to Renton. Renton citizens have already spent close to twenty million dollars in the last decade on parks, pavilions, parking structures, new signals, sidewalk repair and fancy wayfinding signage to stimulate business activity in Historic Downtown. There are a few simple things that the city can do and should do, but it is far past time for the area’s property owners to step up again, like their parents did in the late sixties, and do some simple maintenance. If they won’t or can’t afford to act like they respect Renton, the city must reluctantly and carefully but with unmistakable resolve, make it too uncomfortable to continue to do business as usual in Historic Downtown Renton.
I just happened to drive through downtown Puyallup the other evening. It was after six, a weeknight and it was packed with people. What is the difference between downtown Puyallup and downtown Renton? They’re both one-way streets. They’re both old cities. They both have a piazza and a park-like setting for people to gather. So we know what *isn’t* the problem, so you go after what is the problem.
The first thing you notice is that each and every old building is in tiptop shape and, this is important, occupied by a viable business. There is a feeling of nostalgia and appearance of a community that comes together; downtown Renton is lacking seriously in this regard. We look like a ghetto in comparison to other old downtown communities.
Changing the streets to a two-way system after a lengthy and expensive bout of testing is a waste of time and money. The parking would have to be changed to diagonal, there’s more costly construction, and honestly, there is very little reason to stop downtown no matter how slow you make people drive.
Downtown Renton gets a lot of traffic. But so does the on-ramp to 405 which is where the majority of those cars are going. They’re not driving to downtown Renton, they’re driving *through* downtown Renton to get to another place. The City planners need to get a clue. What will make them want to stop?
Go look at downtown Puyallup. There are businesses, dress shops, restaurants, and many different types of stores. No empty storefronts advertising failure and depression. This is Renton’s biggest problem. There are very few businesses to attract the numbers of people we need.
I like most of UnionHat’s ideas, although I feel the constant political jabs are off point, irritating and unnecessary. I especially agree with his comment about the store owners downtown, the place is a dump. Make them responsible. You don’t really want to kick them out, you want them to work with you.
I like Marlene’s idea about adding a Trader Joe’s. However, I don’t think Trader Joe’s would be amenable to moving to a downtrodden area. The price would have to be not just right, but really really right.
Perhaps Trader Joe’s could work with the City. Get some other shops in, not just one or two, but several of them, and get rid of the empty lots and empty storefronts. Clean the place up and have some pride.
When I was a kid, there was always something to do in downtown Renton. It was busy. If you needed something, you simply had to walk and within a few blocks, there was what you needed. It’s not that way anymore. You can walk your ass off, but you’re not going to find a place to buy a birthday card, or a pair of shoes.
Yes, we have some good businesses but we don’t have enough. The more businesses, the more people. It’s simple and that’s the problem that isn’t being addressed. Forget the streets. Clean it up and get some businesses in here.
Agreed on the recurrent political jabs. But I too find the empty buildings unappealing–the old wooden ones tween Logan and Morris are downright creepy; I got close one day and saw a power-meter moving, but I don’t know what is going on there.
And the concern for the river is spot-on. If we pave everything that is unpaved, though, the runoff won’t be much healthier. When I see an outfall dumping into the river, I wonder what all is in it. There are installations called “rain gardens” that are supposed to help with this, and I wonder if that would be feasible for any part of downtown.
All one has to do is walk around downtown Renton or the length of S Third and S Second and the intersecting streets to see what is going wrong with “downtown Renton”. One special treat is the vomit and trash in the entry way of the empty store front next door to CajunAsian. Across the street from this you will find all refurbished and well cared for businesses.
Is it fair of the City not to pass ordidnances that would demand that the derelict businesses to maintain their businesses? No it is not fair to those businesses that do take care of business and their businesses. Those that don’t are simply parasites…users and abusers.
The downtown sidewalks are dirty and need to be power cleaned. The same is true of the Piazza. Yes….clean is a good thing.
The building on the Piazza should be used for art shows instead of sticking them out in the Carco Theater. The building sits idle most of the time and should be utilized. It has to be losing money for the City sitting idle most of the time.
Keep the Christmas lights in the Piazza year round for a more festive look. Use LED lights to keep down the electrical cost.
The Christmas decorations downtown are pathetic and should be rethought or skipped altogether. Did the City get a good deal on the pole flags? They are kind of sad too.
The people that put on the yearly car show mentioned that they wished that more downtown merchants were “more involved”. This is a sad commentary.
Until the downtown merchants get their act together and decide “they” want to do that which will draw more customers downtown nothing is going to improve much. Of course the City has to help with effective ordinances.
I live in downtown Renton so I know whereof I speak.
Why would we want to revitalize downtown if we didn’t want to start this revitalization by moving th library in the heartbeat of this city. I worked for city of Renton for 7 years loved it left though because my job was in danger due to budget cuts. But talks going in within the city was the fact that the ceder river library is impossible to modernize
What renton lacks is vision. Look around us, Kirkland,redmond, bellevue. There are quality establishments,restaurants,galleries,events,etc. renton is a sinkhole of lack of imagination, and leadership. We need to make Renton appealing to new businesses so there’s more to the downtown that will in turn bring in more people who want high quality. A win win. Right now there’doesn’t seem to be a long term plan, nothing to draw high quality businesses.
I’ve lived in Renton for about 15 years and rarely go downtown.
It has a lot of one ways and for some reason, I can’t get it in my mind where things are, except I recall how I got there the last time. I could never connect things in my mind where everything is and how it all connects. I’ve often found that the route I went to get places was always the long way around….Just something about Renton, I guess. I’ve heard it said that few people know where anything is. Maybe they avoid it as I do for the same reasons. It seems too confusing. But when I am downtown on a nice day and walk around a bit. I do like it as it is. Still, I don’t like to drive around in that area, I would still like to avoid it.