Changing face of Ballard

By Maureen Kearney

Ballard. A separate city until it was annexed by Seattle in 1907. Originally, Ballard was settled by Scandinavian mill workers, boat builders, and fishermen.

Ballard is where my husband, children and I lived when we moved from the East Coast in 1978. We rented a little apartment in a house on 59th Street owned by a Ballarite, Mr. Kapp who also owned a filling station on 24th Street near Market. There was another renter in the upstairs apartment, a young woman who worked at one of the fishing businesses at Fisherman's terminal. Her boyfriend was from Yugoslavia and a fisherman.

The house, filling station, and Mr. Kapp have gone along with many other homes, businesses, and residents of Ballard, victims of the changing face of the community. Two of the most recent facelifts planned for the Ballard Community are: Denny's, at the Northwest corner of Market and 15th Street and The Sunset Bowl, at 1420 Northwest Market.

Sunset Bowl is scheduled to be razed in the near future, with little hope of a stay of execution. The fate of the Denny's building, an architectural piece of Americana with its distinctive, familiar peaked roof, has yet to be definitely decided.

I believe that much of life revolves around courage, motion, and imagination, and inevitably these three things lead to change. Change begs the question, "Is change for the good?" Change of any kind requires careful thought and planning. Many people in the Ballard feel there may not have been enough thought and planning in the changes which have occurred in their neighborhoods and community. Gone are the homes and in their place a glut of apartments, condominiums, and town houses.

What are some of the factors that have created the changing face of Ballard? Area growth has brought with it an influx of people who need housing and a population that has grown older and less able to pay rising property taxes. Many people who now live in Ballard do not work in Ballard. (I stopped to make a deposit into my Washington Mutual bank account at the Ballard location, when I asked the young teller if any of her co-workers lived in Ballard, she said, "No").

Previous owners of the once small ground floor businesses can no longer compete with long-term, expensive leases. Most developers buying up land and small businesses are from out of town in the role of "absentee landlords" who are not involved in the rhythm or welfare of the community's everyday life. Theirs is a business venture only and their concern is with valuation of property and making money on their investments. One of the few development firms that say they are different is the Pryde-Johnson Development Firm committed to "green" projects (go to www.hjartaballard.com).

So what do the disappearances of old buildings and familiar businesses such as The Donut Shop, Denny's or Sunset Bowl mean to neighborhoods such as Ballard? Beth Miller, Ballard Chamber of Commerce, and Verl Lowry, manager of Sunset Bowl say, "it has to do with a feeling of community," "a feeling of living in a small town where you see familiar faces every day," "places in the community that people can walk to and spend time socializing with old friends and new for not a lot of money," "it used to be that people who lived in Ballard worked in Ballard."

Verl talks about continuity, "if an elderly (bowling) league member doesn't show up, you can bet that someone is going to check up and make sure they are OK." Again Verl Lowry, "for me the business has been about appreciating my employees, and providing great customer service ... 25 percent of the employees here at Sunset Bowl have been here 20 years or more ... now over 60 years of age we have to start looking for jobs ... out of town investors don't realize what businesses like ours mean to the community. I can understand owners deciding to sell a business because they get an offer they can't refuse and out of town developers making a killing on their investments, but the community needs something in return." Beth Miller, "when I see The Totem, Scooters, and The Nordic Museum go, I'm going to find a nice small town somewhere."

So what can Ballard and other communities across the country do as the face of their neighborhoods change around them? How can areas continue to grow and still maintain their sense of community and caring? How can they retain that commitment to buy locally, build responsibly, build community?

People need to demand to be kept apprised of planned changes in their community before the growth and change happens and before the community is affected in a deleterious manner. The community has to be involved and has to maintain an ongoing dialogue with city planners, district councils and government. People in the community have to attend and have a say in forums about any planned changes. Local government: the city zoning department, department of transportation, utilities, parks and open spaces, arts and culture, all have an obligation to the citizens but citizens have to stay involved, aware and be ever vigilant.

Citizens have to ensure that developers stop driving the Ballard bus. Their eyes, ears and mouths have to bear witness before they no longer recognize or like the ever changing face of Ballard that was once its own city.

Maureen Kearney may be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com