Update for December 2022 from Save Madison Valley

Dear Loyal Supporters of Save Madison Valley

 

It occurs to us that there might be some of you who are not aware of the outcome of our efforts to adjust downward the size and scope of Velmeir Corporation’s proposed development of City People’s Garden store.

 

Most of you probably saw the article in the Seattle Times NOW & THEN section November 20 heralding the end of an era, and celebrating the unique service and quality of life provided by City People’s over the past 5 decades. Quoting one customer: "This is my church, my safe place” and Alison Greene, the owner,  “It’s like a park; it’s filled with beauty, and it’s inspiring”, the article captured the spirit of this neighborhood ‘cornerstone’ and bemoaned its loss. “Where is the soul of Seattle going?”

 

City People’s was not able to get an adequate lease extension from the developer, Geza de Gall of the Velmeir Corporation, so they anticipate closing for good on December 31st. The demolition of City Peoples and the removal of the entire hillside, (plus 14,500 sq ft of urban forest!) is slated to begin in the Spring of 2023.

 

In February 2022 SMV lost its final legal appeal, effectively ending our ability to further challenge the project, and giving the city leeway to green light the project.

 

Velmeir Corporation was unwilling to compromise on any aspect of the project over the course of our 6 year long challenge. Every attempt to negotiate a development that would have had a less destructive impact on our neighborhood was ignored, and we are left now with the prospect of a concrete and steel colossus overwhelming the neighborhood, casting the P-Patch in shadow for much of the day, clogging Madison St with an untenable traffic situation, and demolishing the gardening store that has served this community for almost 70 years.

 

It is a sad day for us all.

 

SMV will continue to exist as a 501c 3 nonprofit in order to monitor the project as it proceeds. Already we are hearing that the developer is attempting to bypass agreed-upon requirements from the city. SMV has been in contact with the city planner and other city agencies to track the city’s response and to make sure that now that the developer has gotten their Master Use Plan approval, they follow required procedures.

 

SMV will no longer continue to update our website on a regular basis due to the change in circumstances. We are, nevertheless, still here!  And we have deeply valued your interest in and support of our efforts these past 6 years.

 

Moving forward, we shall make every effort to keep you informed of the developer’s actions, and we will let you know of any opportunities for your further involvement in the preservation and livability of our community. 

Best Regards and Happy Holidays

SMV

Some updates from your friends at Save Madison Valley

It’s been a long time…

…since you’ve heard from us. And like us, you’ve probably had plenty on your minds in recent times - in addition to the status of the potential development on the City People’s site.  

We want you to know that we never stopped our work.  Here’s what we’ve been up to:

We’ve moved our website! We’re now at www.savemadval.org 

Our blog tells the step-by-step story of our fight for an environmentally responsible, aesthetically appropriate development – spanning back to 2016! 

This five-year engagement has taken us through community meetings at MLK-FAME, our presence at every design review meeting held by the department of construction (SDCI), hiring experts who refuted and exposed flimsy, misleading, and manipulative data presented by the developer, and our most recent experience challenging SDCI in administrative court (the Hearing Examiner).

NOW we are preparing to take the next big step on December 17th as our attorneys present our case in Superior Court before an independent judge (a Hearing Examiner is a judge who works for the city).  Cross your fingers – and if you’re able, please write a check or hit the Donate Now button at the bottom of this email.  It’s our community’s support that has gotten us this far.  Now please help SMV have our day in court.

Thank you, Madison Valley!

It’s been a while, but we’re still here, with some news…

Although we’ve been quiet for a while, some things have been happening with the development proposed for the City People’s site, and we want to catch you up-to-date.

Because this has been a 54-month long process details are confusing, so a quick reminder of the most recent events.

  • February 2019 the Hearing Examiner, in response to our appeal, agreed with SMV on two issues—shadow impacts to the P-Patch and drainage for the proposed building.
  • In the following months the developer filed a number of motions protesting various parts of the decision, all of which went nowhere, but forced SMV to spend further money for legal services.
  • October 2019, the City officially presented Velmeir (the developer) with remands on these two issues, instructing them to do further study.
  • May 2020, SMV became aware that Velmeir had completed their work, turned it into the City, and the City was about to issue a decision.This information which would normally be made public on the City’s website was posted weeks late.
  • Due to the City’s lack of transparency, SMV had to scramble on the eleventh hour to submit comments from our attorney and community experts.We successfully got those comments on record before the decision was issued.

So… Surprising no one at this point, the City green-lighted the project. They said the studies Velmeir had done were sufficient. Also not surprising, we disagreed. It has become painfully clear over these years that the City sees their role as a facilitator of the developer’s vision. Independent monitoring is absent. As the community has over the years provided that independent voice, bringing in respected professionals who have voiced credible concerns (or, as we like to call it, ‘doing the City’s job’), the City has treated this as an unwelcome intrusion. We are not heard. Simply put, the City is not regulating development. Regulations are used to guide developers how to present their paperwork. Real concerns from the public are treated as backward-thinking grumblings from self-interested irritants, sadly allowing issues raised by the community to be disregarded out-of-hand.

Now, to the present. We have once again appealed to the Hearing Examiner this most recent decision by the City. A date for the hearing has been set: November 3rd (and the 4th and 5th, if needed). Yes, Election Day. Our attorneys, experts, and community members will be representing SMV, remotely, in front of the Hearing Examiner. Hearings are open to the public, so any of you who’d like to attend, let us know and we can send you a link.

Thank you for sticking with us and for continuing to care about how our community develops and grows. Your generosity has gotten us this far. Please consider donating again now.

Working together to follow the rules, assert the will of the people, look to the future, one tree, one building, one election at a time…

SAVE MADISON VALLEY UPDATE-– ANOTHER WIN FOR SMV!

Two weeks after the Hearing Examiner shared her decision—sending the developer back to do more study on drainage water and shadow impacts on the P-Patch—there was a new development. The City filed a “Motion for Reconsideration,” asking the Examiner to reverse her decision regarding the P-Patch (that is, to not require the developer to study and possibly mitigate shadow impacts on the P-Patch).

The City introduced a new document to argue that the P-Patch didn’t deserve the protection the Examiner had given it, and tried to change the boundaries of the P-Patch.

This forced Save Madison Valley attorneys to respond to the motion, and make the case supporting the Examiner’s original decision. You can read an excerpt from our attorneys’ conclusion below:

As representatives of Save Madison Valley testified at the hearing, this appeal has required tremendous community resources. Save Madison Valley has been diligent in its presentation of issues, evidence, and testimony. The same cannot be said of SDCI’s motion. There is simply no excuse for SDCI’s waiting until after the record closed, and after the Examiner issued her decision, to present its new evidence at this late date. It is also frustrating for members of Save Madison Valley to have to expend additional resources combating the frivolous argument that the panhandle plots are not actually part of the P-Patch— when the city itself recognized part of the panhandle in 2001, and the rest of it in 2006. Instead of relying on the city’s Geocortex map, the veracity of which is unknown, Mr. Mills could have simply inquired about that issue with the Department of Neighborhoods. He would have discovered that those plots have been formally recognized (and rented) for a long time. For all of the reasons above, the Examiner should deny SDCI’s motion for reconsideration.

The Hearing Examiner agreed with our attorneys and denied the request. Her original remand stands.

Save Madison Valley Appeal Update

SAVE MADISON VALLEY IS BACK AT IT!

The Hearing resumes today February 5th, through tomorrow – depending upon the length of the developer’s and City’s testimony.

If you missed the Hearing in December, you can listen to the proceedings here. Save Madison Valley made a strong case showing the oversights and guideline/code violations around the project’s height, bulk, and scale; impact to the hillside of exceptional trees; threat of flooding; and unmitigated traffic impacts.

The Hearing was scheduled to end in December, but the developer and City requested and were granted extra time to make their case. These extra days were not in the budget! Thank you for your generous support over these long, three years, and please consider another donation now – every bit helps.

We’ve come a long way together. Help us get through these final days of the hearing so we can hold the city and developer accountable – and ultimately have a project that fits our community!

Help us remind the city of their responsibility to manage development in our city’s neighborhoods!

Some traffic facts to consider:

Did you know that an average PCC supermarket receives 25-35 truck deliveries daily? The delivery dock and front curb on Madison are not sufficient for the volume of deliveries, leading to trucks spilling into the street, blocking traffic. Shoppers and trucks will use the same, solo entrance on Madison to enter and exit. The City has said they will not add a traffic light or center turn lane-- forcing frustrated west-bound drivers to turn right, diverting traffic through smaller neighborhood streets when a left turn becomes impossible. On-street parking will be lost—and no one has adequately assessed how much, where, or what the impacts will be. Most supermarkets are on corner sites, aiding the heavy flow of traffic from shoppers and delivery trucks. This is a mid-block site, with a single entrance for deliveries and shoppers, on an already congested patch of East Madison. Drivers from 82 apartments will enter and exit the garage on Dewey.

If you want Madison Valley to grow in a manner that maintains it’s walkable character, rather than turning into a car-centric stop along Madison, then say NO to reckless development and help fund our appeal. Show the City you care about your neighborhood. Your support matters!

(Thank you to our traffic consultant for gathering these data and studying similar sites to provide this information.)

SMV appeals permit granted by Department of Inspection and Construction to proposed development at 2925 E Madison

Save Madison Valley has submitted its 105-page appeal of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection's approval of plans for the 82-unit mixed-use development--The Madison. A few members of our community feel strongly that this project is NOT RIGHT. Together they have donated $17,000 as a matching grant to jumpstart our appeal.

• A building that towers 80 feet high in an “NC-40” zone (four-story zone)? • Clear cut a protected grove and exceptional trees? • A massive building in a liquefaction zone with a history of flooding? • Inviting in traffic that will overwhelm our streets and intersections—turning our walkable neighborhood into a drive-through?

Does this sound like responsible development to you???

Let’s tell the City we want them to do their job to protect communities and manage development. We want our neighborhood — and our City — to grow in a way that is healthy and livable.

Please consider donating today to double your donation. And please pass this email along to your friends and neighbors, or ask them to sign up for emails at "Take Action" above.

Don’t believe HALA upzone hype

Originally published December 6, 2017 at 1:03 pm Updated December 6, 2017 at 1:17 pm. Why more than two dozen community groups from across Seattle are filing a legal appeal, claiming the city’s environmental impact study on HALA was woefully inadequate.

By Susanna Lin

Special to The Times

Our city is growing, and everyone is feeling the growing pains. But are city policies exacerbating the problem by catering to for-profit developers and urbanist ideologies?

Since former Mayor Ed Murray introduced his Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda, known as HALA, in 2015, the city has been on an aggressive public relations campaign to sell HALA as a deeply necessary solution to our affordable-housing woes. And, of course, everyone wants a Seattle that is affordable and livable — who wouldn’t? But while the city claims this plan, which is now proposing significant zoning changes across 27 urban villages, will increase affordability, many community groups and residents don’t believe the hype.

The upzones proposed under HALA allow developers to increase their profits by building denser and taller. In exchange for the ability to build more lucrative buildings, developers are supposed to contribute to a fund to build affordable housing elsewhere or set aside a small percentage of the units in their building as affordable (most will likely chose the fee option). But the major flaw in this plan is that the upzones increase the value of the land, which will likely increase the rate that our older, most affordable housing stock is torn down and replaced with luxury apartments. And the replacement affordable units we are promised from the HALA upzone plan will likely be too few, too late and built somewhere else.

Because the HALA upzones, which are known as Mandatory Housing Affordability, are such a large change in our land-use codes, the city was required to complete an environmental-impact study.

The city has produced a biased study that does not honestly or accurately assess the impacts of those zoning changes on displacement, the loss of tree canopy, school capacity, historic and cultural resources, transportation, small businesses and infrastructure. The city’s document also fails to study alternatives beyond upzones that could better address our affordability crisis with fewer adverse impacts.

The concern about the city’s upzone proposals are so great it has spurred more than two dozen community groups from across Seattle to come together to file a legal appeal challenging the adequacy of the study. The new coalition is called Seattle Coalition for Affordability, Livability and Equity. It is composed of neighborhood, housing and homeless advocacy groups, small business and environmental groups from across Seattle.

We all know the city is growing. As part of this coalition of concerned neighbors, we seek to maintain and enhance every neighborhood’s character and livability while accepting the new neighbors that are joining Seattle every day.

Susanna Lin

SCALE - a coalition of 25 neighborhood groups including Save Madison Valley

Some of you may be aware that there is a plan to raise building height limits (“upzone”) throughout Seattle to create more housing, including affordable housing.
 
A coalition of 25 neighborhood groups (including Save Madison Valley!) filed an appeal with the City stating that the City hasn’t evaluated the impact to each neighborhood adequately—that they have adopted a “one size fits all” approach to growth.  Most disturbingly, there’s strong evidence that the way the upzone is currently planned we will lose more affordable housing than we gain, lose tree canopy, and destroy small businesses and neighborhoods.  It looks like the only group gaining in this move would be developers!
 
Save Madison Valley has lent our name to this important cause and a few board members have donated some time and some of their individual money.  As always, ALL donations from you are directed solely to our work here in Madison Valley with the City People’s development. 
 
Check out our neighbors throughout the City who share our concerns about responsible development and who are working to preserve the health and vitality of our City:
 
Baker Street Community Group
Beacon Hill Council of Seattle
Cherry Hill Community Council
Citizens for Architectural Diversity
Eastlake Community Council
Fremont Neighborhood Council
Friends of the North Rainier Neighborhood Plan
Friends of Ravenna-Cowen
Greenwood Exceptional Tree Group
Georgetown, Duwamish Valley Neighborhood Preservation Coalition
Jackson Place Community Council
Madison-Miller Park Community
Magnolia Community Council
Morgan Community Association (MoCA)
Save Madison Valley
Seattle Displacement Coalition
Seattle Fair Growth
Seniors United for Neighborhoods
South Park, Duwamish Valley Neighborhood Preservation Coalition
TreePAC
U District Small Businesses
University District Community Council
Wallingford Community Council
West Seattle Junction Neighborhood Organization (JuNO)
Westwood Roxhill Arbor Heights Community Coalition
 
Want more info?  http://www.seattlefairgrowth.org/appeal.html

It's not over yet!

The Design Review Board met for the fourth time to hear about the City People’s
project Wednesday evening, and this time they moved the project the next step
forward.

If you weren’t able to attend the design meeting, you should know that your
neighbors spoke eloquently, thoughtfully, and presented hard data and heart-felt
messages. This project has helped our community grow closer and stronger in our
awareness of what it means to be a community, and why that’s worth defending.

The Design Board’s decision is disappointing, but not surprising. They are not
standing up for communities, and not standing up against irresponsible, profit-
driven development.

What’s next? The developer will be receiving the MUP (master use permit) some
time in the coming weeks or months. At that point we can appeal their MUP. Our
land use attorney will make our case before the Hearing Examiner.

Join us in the fight. All of us together can make a difference in our neighborhood.

 

Pat Murakami visits Save Madison Valley meeting

Pat Murakami, who is running for position 9 on the City Council, participated in our community meeting this afternoon. We discussed the proposed development with her and gave her a tour of the neighborhood. She was an energetic and thoughtful participant and we were glad she took the time to join us. She is very interested in listening to what people have to say and would like to meet with other neighborhood groups. Thanks Pat!

GOOD NEWS!

City People’s lease has been extended!

You may recall that City People’s was invited to stay through this year (December 31, 2017) while problems with the new project’s design have been addressed.  We’ve learned that City People’s lease has been extended another 6 months, through June of 2018!  At that point they will move to a month-to-month lease. This is great news for all of our gardens!  Great to have our good neighbors a bit longer.  And more time for us to work to positively impact the coming development.

P.S.  Also, remember:  
Design Review
September 13, 6:30 pm. 
Seattle University, 
965 – 12th Ave, 
Pigott Auditorium
Please put it on your calendar!  We hope to see you there.

City of Seattle hosts community meeting concerning the City Peoples Site

What an amazing community we have!  Speaker after speaker got up on Tuesday evening and shared their thoughts, wishes, concerns, anger, and frustrations about the development proposed for the City People’s site with city officials.
 
The City sent four representatives who listened carefully and took notes. Both SDCI and SDOT were represented.
 
People passionately highlighted the myriad difficulties with the project: the loss of tree canopy, the lack of buffers, the overwhelming size, and the dramatic traffic impact. People also offered suggestions and ideas to improve the project. A number of people repeated clearly that as a community we don't oppose development and would welcome an appropriate development for this site. 
 
The City Planner advised us that we could expect a decision about whether the permits are granted some time in the next months. 
 
Remember: there will be a final Design Review Meeting with the Design Review Board in the coming months.  Watch for notice about when and where.  That will be the next opportunity we have as a community to attend a public meeting and speak out about this project.  We made an impact last night – please plan to come and do it again.

Thank you for your continued support!

 

Build Baby Build!

I've been following a discussion on a Land Use Forum about why homes and rentals in Seattle are becoming more and more expensive despite the frenetic level of construction. I came across an interesting analysis written by a Seattle Times staff columnist Brer Dudley. Here is an excerpt.

"Seattle should reconsider policies based on the false assumption that this is a simple supply and demand problem. The supply of various types of in-city housing will always be limited and demand is practically unlimited, so supply and demand will never even out.

Yes, growth in apartment rents is expected to moderate and vacancies will increase as new units become available over the next few years. But the city will always be relatively unaffordable as long as it's economically strong. Yet we still cling to promises that it will get better "if only we build more, more, more!"

At what point will the city pause and assess whether its "build baby build" policies work as promised for renters and buyers (vs for developers and politicians they support ...) and their downsides?"
 

What's next for the proposed City People's development?

On Wednesday, January 25, the Design Review Board passed the proposed City People’s development on to the next phase, completing the early design guidance phase. Those of you who were there know that the community turned out and spoke up. People were eloquent, informed, and clear about their concerns and wishes for this project. With an extensive “to-do” list the Board gave the developer a green light for this step.

The most important thing to know at this point is that nothing is a done deal yet, and there’s still a place for community input. Lots of folks are wondering what’s next. Here are some of the big questions, and the answers we’ve found so far.

Q: If the Board gave a green light doesn’t that mean they’re satisfied and we can’t really expect much change now?

A: Nope. In fact, one Board member specifically said that she felt the community and the Board were responsible for most of the positive changes on the project so far, and issued a warning to the applicant (developer and architect) that ‘eyes will be watching.’

Q: Well, sure, that’s nice. But how can we expect any changes if the design review is over?

A: Some aspects of the design haven’t even been decided yet. For example, the Board passed on giving an opinion whether the entrance should be exclusively on Madison, or split between Madison and Dewey. They said they wanted more traffic data and they wanted to hear from SDOT (Department of Transportation). The Board can’t get that data and SDOT can’t weigh in until the project moves out of the early design guidance phase. That was one of the Board’s reasons for punting the project on. They wanted input from more sources.

Q: So what comes next?

A: In the coming weeks the applicant will file an application for a Master Use Permit (“MUP”). First they have to finish a check-list of things – completing early design guidance was just one of those things on their list. The City will let us know when the application is filed – one of those giant white boards you’ve seen around town on construction sites will suddenly show up in front of City People’s.

Q: What happens after the developer applies for a Master Use Permit ("MUP")?

A: That begins a two-week comment period for any interested parties (all of us!).

That’s when the community can make comments (by letter) about any concerns related to water, trees, slope, height, mass, code compliance, traffic… All the stuff we weren’t suppose to bring up in design review (e.g., traffic), but also some of the things that have been discussed in design review but are still relevant at this phase (e.g., height, bulk, and scale). The focus is no longer design of the building, but now aspects of the project that impact the environment.

Q: This sounds a lot like SEPA. Are MUP and SEPA related? And what’s SEPA anyway?

A: SEPA stands for State Environmental Policy Act. And yes, they have a relationship. Once the MUP comment period ends then the City begins a SEPA review – looking at all the potential environmental impacts a development will have.

The City can assert their authority and put limits on a project if they decide the potential environmental impact should be mitigated.

Q: You said that they’ll be looking at traffic now, but the design review already approved a garage for 150 cars and a six-story building! If the development process were really that backwards in Seattle – designing a building before evaluating the environmental impacts -- we’d end up with a lot of oversized buildings around town, and probably some terrible traffic messes, and – Oh…. Oh, I get it now… never mind.

A: In short: there’s still lots to do to help our community grow in a way that increases the beauty and vitality of Madison Valley.

Design Review Board approved proposal to move forward to MUP

The third Early Design Guidance meeting for the Velmeir development took place last night. The Board heard from the architect and the community. They praised the architect’s efforts, but had a laundry list of items that still need to be addressed with the building. Nonetheless, they said the proposal could move on to the MUP (Master Use Permit) phase. This didn’t seem to be as much about the achievements of the design, as that the Board wants more information about aspects of the project (e.g., traffic impacts to the neighborhood) which they can only get from the MUP phase and SEPA (State Environmental Protection Act) which now will follow. The Board also stated that they would like to see several options for the proposal to address the outstanding issues including massing, depth of modulation, and better relation to the neighborhood. 

What does that mean for Save Madison Valley and the greater community? Our work continues. It’s not over by a long shot. There’s room for community involvement and input during this very important time when issues like water and traffic are more closely studied and the developer’s reports will be evaluated. We’ll be consulting with our attorney and architect consultant and will let you know the next steps soon. 

What else? Our disappointment in the Board’s decision to pass this project on at this point is mitigated by our gratitude to the greater neighborhood for your involvement. It was a great turnout and a very impressive presentation from folks: you were thoughtful, informed, passionate, and creative in your feedback to the Board. What an amazing place to live – and we’re going to be working to keep it an amazing place to live. We look forward to continuing to work with you to Save Madison Valley.

The city needs your feedback!

The city is requesting your feedback about the proposed development on the current City People's site.

We’ve seen the latest design from the architect for the City People’s property.  While some improvements have been made, much of the feedback from the community has not yet been incorporated:

  • The height, bulk and scale of the building are still too big.

  • The setbacks are too small to grow full-sized trees to maturity.

  • The building is over 70 feet tall on Dewey (zoned 40') and is out-of-character with the neighborhood.

  • No exceptional trees are saved.

  • There is still a blank wall on Republican.

  • Please add a community space on Madison, as the public has repeatedly asked for.

  • The garage entrance on Dewey will ruin the pedestrian-friendly character of Dewey and the surrounding streets.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Please take a few minutes to write a letter to the Design Review Board by clicking below:

The above link will open an email to the city referencing project number 3020338.  Feel free to write your own letter, or to submit this example letter written by Save Madison Valley.

JOIN US IN PERSON: The large community turnout for the previous two meetings with the city have shown the board how important this project is to Madison Valley.  Let’s show the city, the developer and the architect that we are invested in seeing our neighborhood grow in a way that that preserves and enhances its livability and vitality. 

We'll see you at EDG #3 on the 25th!

Wednesday, January 25th at 8:00pm
Seattle University: Pigott Auditorium
901 12th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122

Save Madison Valley met with the Developer and Architect on January 4

At the Second Design Review, the Board asked Velmeir and Meng-Strazzara to work with the community as they incorporate the Board’s guidance in preparation for the third Design Meeting. We reached out to Charles Strazzara and Geza De Gall and invited them to meet with some of us.

During our meeting on Jan 4th, we offered specifics based on the Board’s Report of how we hope they will incorporate the guidance the Design Review Board has offered at the last two meetings (July and October). We covered four priorities:

● If the current tree canopy can’t be saved, we asked that any replacement provide habitat for small animals and insects, intercept rainwater, have large and smaller native trees and plants, and provide understory for foraging. This language was provided by ecologist Matt Patterson of Steinbrueck Urban Strategies, who suggested that we move the discussion from numbers to function or service – he suggested we look for any replacement to be ecologically responsive and maintain the current link to the larger urban forest corridor.

● A minimum of a 20-foot setback. While one could argue the bigger the better, Patterson felt this is sufficient to create an ecologically responsive landscape that maintains urban ecological functions, and benefits the neighborhood. This is also the standard used in residential neighborhoods.

● The garage fully underground on all sides: no one should have to see it, smell it, or hear it.

● No entrance on Dewey. Traffic engineer Ross Tilghman strongly questioned the viability of putting traffic from 70+ residences on the small, oddly configured streets of Dewey, Republican, 29th, 32nd, and the surround.

Strazzara and De Gall listened, but repeatedly emphasized that while they are listening to the community, they will take their guidance from the Design Review Board. At the October meeting the Board asked that the developer offer an option that has residences on Dewey; Strazzara and De Gall said they will offer that as one option at the EDG on January 25. Their next design will be available on the City’s website ten days prior to the EDG meeting on the 25th. Strazzara and De Gall said this design is different from the first two in substantial ways. We’re waiting to see and will be looking closely.

Meet Neighbor - Amy

 

 

I moved here twenty years ago because my husband insisted upon living in the "core area". Well he was right. Love living here in Madison Valley. Love being so close to the Arboretum and having such easy access to downtown Seattle. Love having had a "reverse commute" for several years. Especially love the walkability of Mad Valley and surrounding areas. Love the wide variety of home styles and sizes and people styles and sizes too. All kinds of interesting people and no snobs! Hope it stays this way through all the growth and development.