With New Year's Day now in the rear-view mirror, residents and friends of Queen Anne and Magnolia know what they want to see in their respective neighborhoods in 2013.
“I want Seattle Center to bring rides back for the kids and more family entertainment,” said Queen Anne resident Kevin Hanson, father of two young boys. “They have a glass museum, which is cool, but it’s one of those things that you see once and you’ve seen enough.”
Seattle Center took the rides away sometime last year, Hanson said, which drains options for families with kids. “It’s a nice area, but there’s not much to do outside of touristy things.”
“I would like to see a dog park, definitely,” said Queen Anne patron Noah Duffy. Duffy does not have dogs at this time: He left them on the East Coast when he moved to Seattle, but he plans on getting another dog soon and wants a place best friends and masters could enjoy. “Maybe also more outdoor sheltered areas where I could sit outside and not be in the rain in the rainy months, of which there are many.”
“I’d like to see more growth,” said Seattle Center patron David Glenn. “When I was a kid, there were a lot more things to do, but now a lot of shops are closed.”
Glenn wants stores where he could bring his 11-year-old son to truly take advantage of the neighborhood. “I’d like to see things open up that he would enjoy.”
“I’ve lived in Seattle for 30 years and always like to come back to Seattle Center, even when it’s cold, too,” said Queen Anne visitor Peter Holman-Smith, who now lives in Ocean Shores. “There have been so many changes in this area in the last 40, 50 years, I couldn’t count. But it’s all been good.”
Holman-Smith speculates that the monorail was responsible for creating the thriving area there is today. “It’s been a good thing for us,” she said.
“In 2013, I’d like to see more business in Magnolia Village,” said Magnolia resident Wes Western. While Western does not have any businesses specifically in mind, he said the area would be more robust with a greater business presence.
“I think there should be more food places,” said Magnolia resident Max Blomberg. “The Greek place we have here is awesome. I like the Thai place and the Italian place, but there should really be more food options.”
Blomberg is proud of the Magnolia community but feels the restaurant element is below-par. “We end up leaving Magnolia a lot to go out to dinner, which seems unfortunate.”
“I would like better bus service,” said Magnolia’s Kristina Cairella, a mother of two young boys. “I don’t take the bus very often because it doesn’t run very often.”
Cairella said she would take the bus downtown if that option was available: “I think there are two bus lines, but only one that comes through here.”
“I want there to be more places to publish fiction and nonfiction,” said Magnolia patron Saylor Jones. “Right now, there are a handful of places — the obvious ones like The New Yorker and local places, but I would like it if publications would publish more fiction and nonfiction.”
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