In an article here last week, it was reported that one of the sites in Ballard brought forth as a suggestion for a possible new pocket park is the post office on 17th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 57th Street. While it was purely an informal suggestion, I believe the idea of replacing the post office with a pocket park is ill conceived and the people of Ballard should not stand for it.

The post office on 17th seems to be one of the busier ones in the city. Every time I go in there is a line, and to their credit, the post office staff deals with everyone quickly and efficiently.

When there is a huge line, they have someone come out and try to help people with simple transactions. It is a well-designed, well-staffed and well-placed post office.

The only bad thing that I can think of to say is that there is no parking lot, but then again, I never driven there. That's one of the great things about the location - it's a location that the neighborhood can walk to.

Having more parks is a good thing, but what is the rationale behind replacing a post office that is a model for walkability with a pocket park?

In case you haven’t heard, there is already a wonderful new pocket park, Ballard Corners Park, located just five blocks away. Not only would it be redundant to build a new park near a brand new park, but questions remain, where would the new post office be built or would it be replaced at all?

Obtaining the land to build a new one around Market Street seems prohibitively expensive and would be a big hidden cost in making this new park. Would the Ballard Post Office simply not be replaced?

I fail to see what would be the benefit of removing the post office from its current location except to beautify the area on behalf of the condo developers. I do not want to have the post office removed from its current location just so the condo dwellers can have a convenient place to walk their dog.

I’m also willing to bet the condo dwellers would probably appreciate a post office they can walk to a lot more then they would a small patch of grass with a couple of benches.

The fact that people in the Seattle Parks Department are even considering this location for a moment speaks volumes to the fact that city government is out of touch with the concerns of the neighborhoods, and Ballard in particular. Ballard has seen some of the most intensive densification of any part of Seattle yet we have not seen an increase in bus service or road improvements to handle the influx of new Ballardites- and now they want to take away the post office?

The city should not mess with the Ballard Post Office. There are plenty of other neighborhoods in Ballard that would love to have a pocket park. If there was ever a time to tell the city “thanks, but no thanks,” it is now.

If you don’t like this idea, you need to make your voice heard. Now is the time to tell Seattle to leave our post office alone.

Do you have a column suggestion or a comment for Brian Le Blanc? Leave a comment on this story or reach him directly at brianleblanc76@yahoo.com.