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Walking home everyday from my work downtown, I can't help but wish that the freeway was, well, banished entirely from this earth. I know, I know, our city would be an even more dysfunctional mess without it but seriously, crossing Pike/Pine from downtown to Capitol hill is just an unenjoyable experience; the mind numbing noise and sickening smell of gasoline. It just ain't fun.

Don't get me wrong, its not all bad. Of course there is the wonderful view on the way down; I love sitting on the benches in the dog park and seeing the top of the space needle popping out between the buildings. In fact, I think were lucky to have such a transition from the skyscrapers and business of downtown to the older, grittier, culture of the Hill. A definitive neighborhood border is something most Seattle neighborhoods often argue over.

But I just feel that they could do a better job with the Pike/Pine bridge connections to make it more enjoyable for us foot goers. So, since I don't want to just be a whiner, I'...

It's that time of year when it gets dark by 5pm.  As an "post-work runner", this means that it's back to running in the dark.  And the rain.  And the cold.  Ugh.

My adaptations: 1) I stick with the same path so I know what to expect on each block and at every intersection; 2) I try to wear clothes that are light colored; and 3) I assume that cars can't see me.  My bad habits: 1) I wear my iPod; and 2) I refuse to wear blinkies.

I'm wondering how the rest of you post-work runners adapt.  Do you dig out the blinkies?  Do you join a gym?  Do you become a morning person?  Or do you just stick with your same routine?

A huge thank you to all the shovelers who were out working very hard today making the sidewalks safer: especially the guy at the SE corner of 18th Ave. E and E. John who shoveled the entire sidewalk on both streets - took him all day working with a regular shovel, and to Casey for shoveling the NW corner. Unsung and much appreciated heros!

I have kind of a weird job. I'm a reporter/editor/etc. working for my own neighborhood blog. Bradford Bohonus, besides having an amazing name, also has a weird job. He's a 'virtual reality' panoramic photographer. Around 12:30p on Friday, he was setting up for a cold and icy panoramic shot of downtown from the corner of Bellevue and Thomas when three buses entered the frame of his viewfinder:

When the second bus passed me it was as if some horrible stage had been set, a chain of events that appeared hopelessly pre-determined. Two buses sliding down the hill towards a 30+ foot cliff over the I-5 interstate. This is the type of thing that one can certainly play out in their mind. I only hoped that what I thought might happen next wasn’t going to happen.

As the near-tragedy became merely a bizarre entry in Snowpocalypto 2008, Bohonus says he scrambled to set up his VR camera to capture the scene. The result is this odd image of kids scuffling about on an icy street, the bus they just scrambled out of stuck,...

The most reliable forecasts now say snow is likely in Seattle this weekend. Time to break out your mittens, your sled and, most importantly, the CHS snow archives.

Here are a few choice items of snowalicious utility:

• The highest point on Capitol Hill, Volunteer Park at 453 feet above sea level is #5 on Seattle's highest elevations.
• Best place to sled (safely) are these CHS Volunteer Park Sled Runs
  
• When it's really snowy, daredevils sled on Olive but it also seems like a good way to hurt your head. I kind of want to try Galer but usually not enough snow to make it happen.
• This King County Capitol Hill Elevation map shows the range of elevations across the Hill from 200 ft down in I5 Shores to 300 ft on Broadway and 400 ft above 12th. This is useful for both your snow planning and your small plane piloting. Make a note of it.
  
• Don't try to drive down Aloha hill. Pedestrians are not required to help you push your car if you do.
• More places not to even think about driving? Here's the city's map of the steepest...

The night Barack Obama was elected president, people partied in the streets of Capitol Hill, converging in an epicenter of jubilance at the intersection of Pike and Broadway. Earlier that day and in the weeks preceding, the people that live near that intersection cast their votes for Obama at overwhelming levels -- in Seattle's 43rd Congressional District, Precinct 1861, 779 individuals made a mark for Obama vs. 20 for John McCain.

Amazingly, Precinct 1861's 95% level of support for Obama wasn't the highest we found on the Hill in our analysis of the 2008 presidential election voting records. In the map below, the darkest blue pockets represent areas where Obama received 95% or greater of the vote. You can see the strong southern flank of super-support for Obama stretching from Olive to Miller Park. Of course, he didn't fare too poorly across the rest of Capitol Hill -- the only Hill precinct where Obama failed to garner at least 85% of the vote was up in St. Mark's where the voters notched a paltry 81% of the...

Unless the Central District takes it away from us! Just kidding, Central District News -- we can share.

CDN reports on the repercussions being felt from the passage of Prop 1 on Election Day.

...if things go as planned, preliminary engineering work could start as soon as February 2009 and the system could go into service sometime between 2012 and 2016 depending on the availability of funding.

The street car is intended to fill the gap caused when First Hill lost their light rail station due to the risk and cost of constructing a facility deep underground at Broadway & Madison.  The streetcar's route would connect the International District light rail station with the forthcoming underground station on Capitol Hill at Broadway & Denny.  As originally conceived, the tracks would be run east on Jackson to 12th, then north on Broadway to Denny Way.

But, CDN notes, the plan is still ripe for modification. There's hope for a route that would also pass through a portion of the Central District -- meanwhile, some are advocating...

CHS Capitol Hill Seattle, LLC recently filed a FOIA request for certain reports generated by my office's paranormal investigative unit. I am complying with the request to produce the contents of these reports with some details redacted.

Case #21169 -- XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX -- XXXXX 15th Ave E -- XX-XX-200X -- Eyewitness reports second level contact with demonic spirit. Upon ordering latte, witness states that latte disappeared. Witness reports hearing laughter and feeling as if "someone was looking at me." Measure #313a was executed. Latte was not recovered. Case is closed.

Case #23513 -- XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX -- XXXXXX 21st Ave. E -- XX-XX-200X -- Eyewitness reports first level contact with unknown spirit or ghost via baby monitor radio broadcast. Female eyewitness was sole adult in home. Male resident had left one hour previous to contact episode. Eyewitness reports hearing baby crying on monitor radio. After inspection of second-floor nursery, witness said baby was asleep with tears on cheeks and had been disturbed....

Tonight Vermillion is kicking off a one-month show featuring local designers specializing in repurposed materials to create lighting, furniture, and clothing. Meet the designers behind JOIN: Design Seattle, tonight 6pm - 11pm.  Get there in the first hour to take advantage of happy hour discounts on beer and wine, but don't strain yourself: regular prices are reasonable, too.

I am particularly looking forward to seeing what Capitol Hill-based Graypants have been up to. Graypants are the guys behind the nifty cardboard-sourced pendant lamps hanging above the bar at Vermillion. Additionally, Greypants showed furniture made from recycled The Stranger issues (really!) at the McLeod Residence earlier this year. 

Also showing during the JOIN: Design Seattle show are a select group of fine artists. Be on the look out for a couple of my favorites of the moment: Kate Protege and Chris Sheridan, who happen to share a studio space in the artist warehouse building at 619 Western, and are part of the La Familia art collective....

Hello from Broadway on this gloomy, very Seattle-in-Winter kind of afternoon. (But it's not that cold yet, so, hooray!) I went out last night and fell in love with a bartender. How was YOUR Thursday evening?

You didn't know where to go, you say? You're new to the Hill? You were sitting at home with your nose pressed against the glass, hoping someone cool would call you? Bless your heart, you little Belltown Biscuit, you. Thanks for joining us. (Hey, I'm not a hater.) I've brought several people out of the burbs and into Seattle's Heartbeat, and I'm damn glad to have done it. You stick with Aarwenn and she'll guide you right.

To list ALL the places I go would be a seriously long post, because as you may start to realize, I hang out on the Hill constantly and basically never leave. So this'll be an ongoing series. I'll cover Places To Drink, Places To Eat, Places to Hang, Places to Dance, Overrated Places, Places I End Up In Spite Of My Better Judgment, Scenester Places, and Places I Wish I Went To More.

Because...

I asked Seattle neighborhoods that have already gone through light rail construction what Capitol Hill should know about the process. Here's an interesting answer from Beacon Hill:

It would be worth talking to some of the folks who were involved in the NBHC and the Beacon Chamber of Commerce back in 2004-05, I believe, when construction issues and mitigation methods were being addressed. I was involved in the noise issue and can suggest some ways to address this. The Beacon HIll construction required a variance of the standard noise rules and an application was made available for public review and a public comment meeting was held. My first suggestion to the Capitol hill folks would be to find someone in the neighborhood who knows permitting, contracting, or general construction issues. As a last resort, pool your money or get a grant to hire a construction management professional to spend a few hours here and there reviewing documents. I found a few substantive errors in the noise permit application. Prior to...

Seen with mine own eyes. What a drag! Suppose owners could paint the door white but, guess what!, the garage down the Hill has plain white paint and you can see covered tags all over it. (mobile post)

As first reported over on CDN, Google Street View is now available for Capitol Hill and the rest of the city. Armchair journalists now will never need to leave their dark "blogging" basements to see the intersection where that Real-Time 911 log entry occurred.

Pike-a-boo, we see you

Election Day has become Election Week. With 90%+ in the state voting by mail this year, tomorrow is likely the end of regular old-fashioned voting as we know it. We'll be out and about to get photos and stories from the day but right now, we're here to address the slackers. You already have your plan on where to party and watch the results. But according to the county, 46% of the absentee ballots in legislative district 43 have already been received.

Well done, early voters. For the rest of you -- er, us -- here's some info that might help finish our deed of democracy. The key: Don't just drop your ballot in the mailbox. You waited. Pay the price for democracy and take it to the right place. Fortunately, you have many to choose from:

• At this point, we're not taking any chances so our CHS ballots are going to be dropped off at a local polling location. Here's the google app that shows polling locations in your neighborhood -- in this example, where you'd go if you lived at the Broadway Post Office.
• If you don't take...

Want the real scoop on the Barbarella-Obama mural transmogrification? The artist has a blog with details about the reaction she's received from the neighborhood and what's she's learned about the tagger who broke a few rules of the tagger creed.

he is what we refer to as a "toy" and that was a definit toy move…That kid has no can control, he writes for a whack crew that gets no love in seattle and doesnt even existed outside the 206 like the better more prolific crews that have cells here.

Some dipshit thought it would be cool to tag over the garage door space mural on E. John Street heading up the Hill toward 15th. The response to the vandalism is this "NO" sign and lots of Sharpie-written notes expressing sadness for the space warrior princess's passing.

Thanks a million to neighbor ERIK98122 for this contribution to the CHS flickr pool. Like Erik, we wonder. Will she return?

Neighbors (and you, too, Neighbours), here is the most massive pile of CHS links... ever. Normally, we might hold a few of these back for future link posts but given recent events and these uncertain economic times, there might not be a tomorrow. So link em when you got em!

• Pictures from last night's CHS happy hour at Liberty.
• '66 Mustang stolen from Capitol Hill garage.
• '67(?) Lotus spotted at Bauhaus.
• Turns out, Capitol Hill's runoff "flows across the streets of upper Capitol Hill collecting silts, oils, heavy metals and other pollutants before being piped downhill, under the Cascade neighborhood, and flowing untreated into Lake Union." Small part of solution? The Yale swale.
• LA Times highlights new SoCal coffee shop run by Vivace alum.
• PI fashion blog stops by new JJ Boutique.
• Belltown follows CHS mnemonics trend.
• Neighbours situation examined by an expert.
• After big-name departures, PI names Hill-residing journalist to Microsoft beat.
• Apartment Therapy visits Area 51, finds vintage medical cabinet.
• Yet another foodie...

We're in for a cold and icy Monday - not a bad day to snuggle your laptop and enjoy a warm caffeinated beverage. If you can't do the work from Victrola/Vita/Vivace thing, here are a few handy bits of info to plan your trip. Me? I'd bus it so you can at least relax a little bit on the long commute (provided the bus isn't packed to the gills). Thankfully, I work where I live. Now I just need to score one of the tables with a power outlet.

Bus or road issues? See something interesting on your commute? Send in a tip to jseattle@gmail.com so we can spread the word.

• Commuting by bus will require patience but is probably the best way to go. You can see Metro's latest adverse weather alerts here.
• Traffic cams and travel times also available, of course.
• If you must drive, stick to the city and state's "primary routes" -- dark teal and black in the map below. They're the first and most sanded and snow-plowed roads. The dashed streets are low prio. No marks? Gonna have to sand on your own. You can see the complete area...

Sunday in Capitol Hill or: How I Learned to Stop Loving New York

 - get up, to Victrola for latte or doppio

 - walk home on 17th, look at tree colors, other pedestrians, For Sale signs

 - NYTimes, Miles

 - trip to Bitters in Fremont to see Katie the super owner, find iron works studio on the way

 - walk down to Baguette Box for lamb and yogurt sandwich, head to the park if sunny or a dry bench along the sidewalk if it's raining

 - check street art along Pike

 - more music, split wood for the fireplace, guitar, catch up on magazines, catch a movie, head to Trader Joe's for indian food for dinner and mint chocolate chip for dessert, maybe check work email, relax