I had a conversation with Justin a few weeks ago about contributing to the Capitol Hill blog and what would be helpful to readers.  I’m a Seattle native and have worked in real estate for years, as a consultant, sales agent and property manager, so I have some background knowledge that may be helpful to other readers of CHS.  I’ve always lived on Capitol Hill, went to school here and have worked here on the Hill for years, so I would like to think I have a pretty good handle on what’s going on, with an ongoing stake in the neighborhood.  My kids go to neighborhood schools and I try to stay on the Hill for shopping and entertainment.

 

I have many concerns about our neighborhood, mostly involving affordability, gentrification and development.  I’m concerned that the cool unconventionality that first attracted many of us to the neighborhood is dissipating as developers tear down these beautiful old buildings to build boring, sterile and expensive condo’s and townhomes.  And I’m sad that single-family homes here on Capitol Hill are so expensive.  Luckily, there are still some funky old rentals available, but those often aren’t attractive to families.  And we want families here, young people, old people, as diverse a collection of the human spectrum as we can have, we want that here, as that is where our strength lies, in our diversity.  Complicated and varied, the multifarious collection of people is what is ultimately beautiful about our chosen home of Capitol Hill.

 

I know some in the real estate business have a bad reputation, but there are some very honorable folks working in the field.  Some developers, like Liz Dunn have done great things for Capitol Hill, and others like Pb Elemental have designed some unique and wonderful buildings.  We’re very lucky to have both Capitol Hill Housing http://capitolhillhousing.org/ and Environmental Works, a non-profit community design center that specializes in designing non-profit buildings.

 

I’m excited about the Cultural Overlay District promoted by Nick Licata and Sally Clark.  The goal is to devise creative ideas for promotion and preservation of cultural, arts, and entertainment activities and spaces in Seattle neighborhoods, then transform those ideas into recommendations the City Council can implement through ordinance and budget authority, beginning with Capitol Hill.  This could help preserve spaces for artists and other creative people that we need here to maintain our diversity and creative excitement.

 

So I may write a bit about real estate here, not just market statistics or certain listings, but overviews of real estate in general because, after all, next to the human beings, it’s our physical environment here on Capitol Hill and the buildings we inhabit that make up such a large part of our identity. Shelter is right up there with air and food on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and talking about it, exploring it and celebrating it is of interest to us all.