Seattle Culture
Antiquers Meet DIY Thrifters in Snohomish
New coffeehouses and vintage-style boutiques breathe new life into downtown Snohomish.
Historic Snohomish (located a 45-minute drive northeast of Seattle) has long been a destination for classic antiques, but a popular new antique mall—plus a slew of vintage-style boutiques and a cozy new coffeehouse—has helped breathe new life into a four-block stretch of First Street downtown, transforming it into a paradise for every lover of old…
Business Owners Protest Seattle’s Plan to Amp Up Bike Access on City Streets
Seattle’s Bicycle Master Plan draws fire from business owners, who say creating bike lanes makes ind
Last summer, Seattle put Nickerson Street on a “diet.” The four-lane road was chopped down to two, with the sacrificed lanes becoming a center turn lane and a pair of bicycle lanes, one on either side. Many people were unhappy that the city Department of Transportation (DOT) eliminated auto lanes on busy N Queen Anne…
How Seattle Measures Up Against 1962 Predictions
Predictions for the growth of ‘Pugetopolis’ were off—but not always by much.
Fifty years ago this summer, Seattle was in the middle of a major transformation. Planners were rushing to build the first World’s Fair in America since World War II. Construction was under way on a second floating bridge across Lake Washington, and the I-5 freeway was marching toward the Canadian border. Seattle was being spruced…
Dream Big: Seattle Mag Wants to Hear Your Big Idea For Improving Seattle
We want to hear what your one big dream is for Seattle. Share it and we might publish it!
What if you were in charge of Seattle—and had unlimited funds? What one single thing would you do to improve our city? Your answer can describe a project or idea that corrects a problem, rectifies a missed opportunity or creates an exciting new vision for our city. It can be as realistic (or as unrealistic!)…
Bicycle Diaries: Essentials for Bike Commuting
In this series we ask Todd Sheer for some tips and tricks for making bike commuting a little easier.
Here are Greg’s “essentials” for bike commuting: “I was thinking about some of the “essentials” for bike commuting. It’s easy to find the list of the best lights or the best jacket or the easiest panniers, but here are some of my tricks for making bike commuting routine a little easier (or I should say…
Bicycle Diaries: Shopping for Groceries on Your Bike
In this series we ask Roddy Sheer for some tips and tricks for making bike commuting a little easier
As part of my ongoing series this month on urban bike commuting, I have pledged to do all my grocery shopping by bicycle. With a couple of tester panniers from Seattle-based Detours to help distribute my load, I am ready to roll. Last week on my initial bicycle grocery run to a Safeway a mile…
Bicycle Diaries: The Competitive Side of Bike Commuters
In this series we ask Roddy Sheer for some tips and tricks for making bike commuting a little easier
It seems that bike commuting gets the competitive juices flowing for Greg Widmyer, one of our resident blogging bike commuters this month. Here’s how he puts it: “I’ve kind of got a nice routine going this week with early morning calls. I leave my house about 7:30, ride about 500 yards to a coffee shop,…
Kippen House Chicken Coops Make Backyard Baryards Modern
A Seattle architect has invented a chic coop perfect for urban backyards.
The shabby chicken coops of Old McDonald’s farm might look out of place in the city, but thanks to architect Traci Fontyn, owner and founder of Bothell’s Kippen House chicken coops (kippenhouse.com), urban dwellers can still enjoy fresh, organic eggs from their own small lots. These cool coops combine chicken housing with human gardening for…
Washington is a Hotbed for Three Dangerous Diseases
Our state outpaces the nation in rates of three serious diseases—tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis an
We take pride in it: Our state regularly earns top honors as one of the most livable in the country, thanks to our old-growth forests, vast waterways, and our literary and recreational lifestyles. But Washington state also tops a few not-so-pleasant lists: We outpace the nation in debilitating, and sometimes deadly, diseases. Washington is a…
Seattle Homeowner: Can You Cut Down that Tree?
The City of Seattle is considering new rules that would remove protections on some ‘exceptional tre
It wasn’t a native tree. It wasn’t what most would call pretty. And it was so big it dwarfed the little cottage it had grown beside for the past 60 or more years. But the spiky, Seussian monkey puzzle tree that was cut down last January in Ballard by the home’s new owners had been…
Bicycle Diaries: Celebrating Urban Bike Commuting in Seattle
Since May is Bike Month around the world, I am devoting my Outdoors blog posts for the next few weeks to urban bicycle commuting around Seattle. I will be virtually following two urban bike commuters as they make their way to and from work every day on two wheels under their own power, and I…
Vertical Garden Art at Ballard Floral Shop Midnight Blossom
In the April issue I reported on the vertical gardening trend currently climbing Seattle walls. Now Ballard floral design, plant and gift shop Midnight Blossom is offering its arty take on the trend with tillandsia (air plant) wall gardens (like the one pictured above). They’re “living art,” Amoreena Herbage told me by phone. She’s one-half…
Best Place to Be a Mom is…Not the U.S.
Report ranks countries based on health, education, economics for women and children
I am in the midst of another crazy day of juggling work, family, volunteering, life and just came across a Twitter headline from the San Francisco Chronicle about a report ranking the best and worst countries to be a mom. The United States ranks 31st. Norway ranks No. 1. You can download the full report to…
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