What would you include if you could make a wish list for Capitol Hill? Cleaner streets? Safer public parks? Affordable housing? CHS commenters have no shortage of ideas, for sure. But on Wednesday evening, dozens of people—including Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and a representative for Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth—gathered inside the Hugo House’s Lapis Theater for the Capitol Hill Community Council’s (CCHS’s) Great Ideas Festival to brainstorm what they would like to see the recently revived neighborhood group pursue.

During the 90-minute meeting, attendees jotted their ideas down on Post-It notes and displayed them on a wall under nine categories ranging from public safety to parks, transportation to planning development, arts & culture to sustainability, and more. Hands down, the most interesting board included ideas for the catch-all “Everything Else” category—rename Capitol Hill to Capitol Mountain, bring back the Mystery Soda Machine, and open a combination yarn store and sex shop. Visitors were invited to take the stage and share their ideas toward the meeting’s end during a one-minute “lightning round.”

Closing East Barbara Bailey Way to vehicle traffic earned applause, as did more public restrooms, rapid flashing beacons for pedestrians crossing 14th Avenue East and East John Street (like the crosswalk four blocks west near the Link light rail station), and changes to the Pike/Pine nightlife district, such as reducing crowd sizes by closing bars at staggered hours instead of all at once at 2 a.m. and turning sections of Pike/Pine into pedestrian-only corridors during certain times. Popular ideas for Cal Anderson Park included more lighting for evening volleyball players and a dedicated area for dogs. On Broadway, installing planter boxes filled with seasonal flowers and removing empty newspaper boxes proved popular with the group.

After going dormant roughly five years ago, the CHCC relaunched last September, mainly under the leadership of Capitol Hill resident Chris Paulus. In December, the group hosted a holiday party and collected warm clothing for Lowell Elementary School students.

The CHCC’s history dates back more than 50 years, when the group formed to challenge a revision to the city’s comprehensive plan that would allow high-rise apartment buildings along 15th Ave East, according to an article published on February 6th, 1968, in The Seattle Times. The group went on to help create a successful neighborhood block watch program in the 1970s, lobby for the creation of Metro Route 8 during the 1990s, and champion the mixed-use, five-story, 44-unit Broadway Crossing affordable housing development during the early 2000s.

Unlike 50 years ago, Seattle’s current process around its comprehensive plan update was not a hot topic during the “great ideas” conversation. That could change. In nearby Madrona, groups are forming to oppose upzoning in the neighborhood as Seattle leaders say more areas of the city need to rise to meet the city’s housing and affordability challenges.

The Madrona neighborhood, they argue, should be treated differently than the rest of the city when it comes to efforts to increase density.

“LR3 zoning would forever alter and potentially erase the historic character and charm of the existing, tiny business district and neighborhood, where many homes are over 100 years old and lovingly maintained,” a new petition against the rezoning plan concludes.

Hollingsworth will be in the middle of the debate. The District 3 representative has taken on what will be an increasingly challenging role as chair of the council’s Comprehensive Plan committee.

The CHCC will review ideas gathered Wednesday during a public meeting via Zoom on Thursday, February 6th, at 6:30 PM. More information is available online here.

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