Burien had its early pioneers like Mike Kelly, who homesteaded the Sunnydale area, and Gottlieb Van Boorian, who settled by his namesake lake.

The city still has its modern day pioneers like Renna Pierce.

And like Kelly and Von Boorian found out, pioneers can get lonely when there are not a lot of other people around.

Renna Pierce was the first person to move into the Burien Town Square condominiums. And thanks to a financial housing crisis that hit after she relocated, there are only five other condos occupied in the 125-unit building.

Pierce admits that when she first arrived in May 2008 and was the only occupant for about a week, she felt a little funny.

"I thought if something happened to me, maybe they wouldn't know there was someone living in Town Square," Pierce said.
She had the whole top floor to herself for five months until another retired woman moved in.

Pierce outlined how she became Burien's newest pioneer.

She and her husband had lived in Gregory Heights sine 1970 and when his health began to decline they decided it was time to downsize.

Her husband, a retired airline pilot, wanted to stay near the airport and living in Burien, of course, they had heard about the new town square being built.

They toured the condos and when Pierce found the 1,300 square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath unit, she knew she had found a place big enough to accommodate her hefty organ. And the 7th floor condo had a great view of the airport with Mt. Rainier providing a backdrop for her husband.

Unfortunately, Pierce's husband did not live to see the condominiums completed.

"But I stuck with the plan," Pierce noted.

She moved in about a week before the gala June 2008 ribbon cutting ceremony in front of the city hall-library where officials spoke optimistically about the project.

But then the Great Recession hit. About half of the condominiums had been sold but the buyers could not get loans. Only people like Pierce and the other five tenants, who all paid cash, could move in. Most of the other tenants are also retirees.

Those six condominiums are fully owned and have not been foreclosed on, Pierce noted.

An obvious but still rude question to ask an 86-year-old woman is, "Do you feel foolish paying so much money for a condo that is worth about 30 percent less now?"

Replies Pierce, "I don't feel foolish. Everybody was doing it then.
"It is not unlike others whose home values went down. I regret it, but that's life.

"Any kind of investment is not guaranteed."

Meanwhile, the former vice president for academic affairs at Highline Community College is enjoying her home.

She describes the sunset view of the Olympic Mountains from her unit along 6th Avenue Southwest as "gorgeous."

Pierce declared, "It's a wonderful place to live. I can walk to the bank, the library, the drug store, the post office. I don't have to get into my car."

At the end of her elevator ride, she can go to the farmers market on Thursdays and the Latino farmers market on Sundays in the plaza. Festivals are also held throughout the year there.

On the Fourth of July, Burien's Independence Day Parade passed by beneath her deck.

When Pierce does use her car to take or drop off people at the airport, she's back home in five minutes,

Has she eaten at the establishments along 152nd's "Restaurant Row?"

"Oh, yes, they're very handy. I like them all," Pierce replied.

She and the lady down the hall, whose husband was also an airline pilot, went to the Tin Room Bar the other night and saw a movie in the theater.

Pierce also walks over to the Burien Community Center in the old library building where she signed up for an exercise class and a Spanish class.
When registering, Pierce had to give her address.

"They said, 'Where's that?" Pierce reported.

When she told them she lives in the Town Square, Pierce received the usual reaction.

"They think I will be put out," Pierce said. 'We read the front page of the paper and it is always bad news (about Town Square.) They think we will be affected in a bad way but it hasn't affected us.

"And you should hear what they say at the barber shop---Section 8 (subsidized low-income housing.)"

But Pierce seems confident that when the foreclosure action is cleared up and the Town Square loan is renegotiated, she'll have plenty of new neighbors. A "Sold" sign hangs on the door of her neighboring condo.

"I am confident it will fill up," Pierce declared. "They show the condos a lot."

In fact, she says, "I can't imagine what it will be like when people move here.

"Right now, there is no wait for the elevator, I can make noise. We have assigned parking but if you park over the line, nobody minds.

"They keep it up as if every place is occupied."

Tenants use the entertainment room for Thanksgiving or birthday celebrations.

Sometimes the small band of tenants have social get togethers in the room and "swap rumors.

"Everybody here is very compatible."

And Pierce raves about the bumper crop of tomatoes she grew in the rooftop garden. Although it was a cool summer, Pierce theorizes the heat from the condo buildings and the metal garden containers helped give her enough ripe tomatoes that she had enough to give away.