The Town Hall residency is a little known and incredible opportunity for creative people in Seattle. The Residency, like Town Hall’s more well known programming, encourages many ideas; it supports projects that connect to the community as well as stimulating interactions among different types of artists. There have been 35 residencies since it began in 2012, in theater, performance, poetry, music, visual art and multimedia. James Kuehn, who runs the program, explained to me t

On summer Saturdays at North Leschi Marina, something remarkable happens. People arrive in wheelchairs or with other disabilities, volunteers begin readying boats and equipment, and before long, a group of sailors is heading out onto Lake Washington. “Sailors” is the word Footloose Sailing Association uses for the people it serves. And that distinction says a lot about an organization celebrating its 35th year in Leschi. Footloose provides sailing experiences for people of al

Approximately 50 community members gathered on October 7 for the Leschi Community Council's nonpartisan election forum, featuring candidates for two races that will help shape our region's future: Washington's 37th Legislative District State House seat and King County Council District 2. Neighbors had a chance to talk informally with candidates before and after the forum, while the two-hour program itself covered everything from affordability and education to public safety, h

Construction on Seattle Parks and Recreation's South Leschi Marina Wave Attenuator and Facility Improvements project was scheduled to get underway in mid-September, with initial work focused on preparing the site and beginning utility work. As of this writing, the contractor was scheduled to begin mobilizing the week of September 14. Early activity was expected to include bringing equipment to the site, installing fencing around the Seattle Parks parking lot, establishing tre

Early in the summer I put out a new bird feeder and perhaps coincidentally a few minutes later about 15-20 large birds flew into a big tree across the street overlooking my garden. They perched for about half an hour and then flew together south and disappeared from my view. With my new binoculars (and new interest in birding, thank you Nick Djunic for the beginner course at Seward Park Audubon) I could see they were Cooper’s Hawks. I learned there are many active nests in th

Sept 27th Update: We are sharing one more reminder to submit feedback to SDOT (Seattle Department of Transportation) on the Lakeside Ave Improvement Plan! The Leschi community can submit feedback using the form or email SDOT directly at VZ_SaferSpeeds@seattle.gov. Please do so by September 30th EOD. If community members are interested in viewing more of the traffic data, you can find the studies here, as well as a demo video on this page on how to use the platform. After the

Some of the decisions that most directly affect life in Leschi aren't made at City Hall. They're made by King County and the State Legislature. This November, Leschi will vote on two offices that get much less attention than a mayor's race but reach further into daily life here: King County Council, District 2, and the 37th District State House, Position 1. Rebecca Saldaña and Toshiko Grace Hasegawa are on the ballot for County Council; Sharon Tomiko Santos and Kelabe Tewolde

There are a number of wonderful art exhibitions for you to visit in Seattle this September. At the top of the list is Carletta Carrington Wilson’s large exhibition at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. “Carletta Carrington Wilson: Object Lessons” closes on Sept 20. The Museum makes a perfect day trip with a bus to downtown Seattle, a beautiful ferry ride and a short walk to the museum. Wilson is a poet as much as a visual artist, and her wonderful sense of the multiple mean

Sept 2nd meeting recap, with links to the Lakeside traffic plan and options for submitting feedback.

The FIFA World Cup came to Seattle this summer and one of the popular spots for a watch party was Leschi’s Bluwater Bistro. There were TVs outside on the patio and an 85-inch screen indoors with additional TVs set up indoors. And the crowds poured in. Owner Bart Evans said that for the final game between Argentina and Spain there were as many patrons as for the Seahawks Superbowl last January. Bartender Fran Martin researched drinks to match the competing countries. If you we

Buster Simpson’s Plantings First in a series of occasional photo essays As we slide out of summer, let’s have a look at some of Leschi’s distinguished trees. Seattle has about 730 different kinds of street trees, which is to say, trees planted along a street right-of-way. This does not include trees in parks or on private property, categories we’ll also look at in coming articles. And I write “planted” advisedly: the last remaining original tree downtown was cut in 1879, and

On July 19, neighbors, friends, and volunteers gathered at Powell Barnett Park for a community work party led by Maisha Barnett, continuing the shared commitment to caring for one of Leschi’s treasured neighborhood parks. Approximately 17 volunteers spent the morning pulling weeds, spreading mulch around trees, and patrolling the park for litter. The event brought together a wonderful mix of community members, including a Garfield High School student volunteer, descendants of