Fremont is a state of mind. Ask me about the boundaries - where Fremont lets off and Wallingford begins - and that's the answer I give automatically.
I don't do it just to irritate; I can give clear lines of demarcation.
The east side of Fremont runs south along Stone Way from North 50th Street. South of 40th Street the line takes a small jog east for one or two blocks (it zigzags) before ditching into Lake Union. That is our border.
Wallingford's border, however, runs crisply south about five blocks west of Stone, on Highway 99 (Aurora for those of you who live here), which neatly bisects our community.
On maps, Wallingford appears smartly boxed between Aurora and I-5, except for the strong black line of Fremont's border slicing out a sizeable chunk.
The City of Seattle Department of Planning & Development calls this gray area of overlap the Joint Planning Area (JPA).
Gregory Hill, a resident who lives in the shaded space, more concisely refers to it as "the disputed area."
In the 1990s, Seattle neighborhoods worked on designs for their communities under the City Comprehensive Plan. Fremont, after much grumbling and a staged secession, participated and drew a line. Wallingford did, too.
The problem came when the city expected these two lines to match and for the two diverse communities to agree. It just makes a big, ol' mess.
To do planning, design/review and zoning, some organized body must decide on guidelines for the area. Wallingford overlaps with Green Lake, and they've found ways to work together - using the guidelines of both communities - in defining their shared area.
Karen Buschow, a Wallingford resident, has worked on neighborhood planning and hopes to see the same cooperation come to FAWN (Fremont/Aurora/Wallingford Neighborhood). "If we can get over the issues and put the baggage to the side," she declared, we can find "opportunities to collaborate in the future."
Issues, however, loom large. QFC currently is working on constructing a new grocery store at 40th and Stone Way. Located inside the JPA, the large project impacts both neighborhoods - and both have visions of how to mitigate and manage those impacts. Whom do the contractor, the architect and the tenant talk to about local regulations?
"Two villages abutting up against each other" is how Gregory describes it.
On March 3, South Wallingford planners had a city hearing on their Neighborhood Design Guidelines. Will their guidelines supercede Fremont's? Or does Fremont get what they want first? Debate rages.
I've heard that Fremonsters want it all their own way. I've heard that Wallingford won't cooperate.
As to where Fremont lets off and Wallingford begins, Karen responded, "For what purpose?"
For city planning and regulating, the issue must be decided.
"A lot of energy being spent," Gregory described it, and for what?
"How many hours have I put in on this?" Toby Thaler, a Fremont resident, said, sighing.
"At one time it was fairly clear," he said. Toby worked on the Fremont plan that defined our border as Stone Way.
However, "the boundary is where the neighbors want it to be. My experience is that they feel like they are in both. I don't think it needs to be decided" as long as we work together in the JPA, he explained.
I called Randy Morgan, store manager at Morgan Electric & Plumbing. The store sits at 36th and Stone on the west side of the street. When it first opened, its ads called this location "Wallingford," but in recent years, the announcer started saying "Fremont," or Stone Way. When I asked why, Randy answered, "It's a more recognizable name."
Gene Slagle, of AAA Mailing, considers himself the graffiti sheriff of Wallingford. His business, at 36th and Stone sits on the eastern side of the street - of the "mythical dividing line," as he calls it.
"The east side is Wallingford," he told me, although I ran into him at a Fremont Security Forum.
After study and research, I've drawn my conclusion: Fremont is a state of mind.
I give thanks to hard workers like Toby, Gregory and Karen - and all the rest - who continue to cobble out a compromise for city planners.
As to the rest, it depends on where your mind is at. Mine remains firmly entrenched in funky Fremont.
Kirby Lindsay thanks Lish Whiston, of the City of Seattle Department of Planning & Development, and Antoinette Meier, of the Fremont Neighborhood Service Center for their research assistance for this column. Kirby welcomes your comments at fremont@oz.net.
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