By Katy Westlund, UW News Lab student

In the last decade, Ballard has undergone some undeniable changes. These changes have been both celebrated and cursed by Ballard residents and businesses. Now, people want to know if there are more changes to come.

“What happened to Ballard was that it went from a residential shopping neighborhood in the 1990s, to a destination shopping area with a lot of fancy boutiques, to a destination drinking area,” said Julie Pheasant-Albright, author of Early Ballard.

“You can see what’s happened to Belltown and you can see what’s happened to Fremont. Fremont was a residential neighborhood and now it’s a destination-drinking neighborhood.”

Pheasant-Albright said that while the nightlife is thriving, other businesses have suffered.

“Everywhere you look there are closed businesses. Epilogue Books, All the Kings Flags, Ballard Camera, Bella’s Women’s Clothing store. It just goes on and on,” said Pheasant-Albright.

“Some of these businesses have been closed for over two years and nobody is renting the space. Five or six years ago, people were clamoring to get into rental space in Ballard because it was a really hot neighborhood. Now they are just empty.”

Rob Mattson, Ballard District coordinator, spoke of the discomfort some Ballardites have with transformation of the nature of Ballard.

“Most people are dealing with a fear factor that Ballard is changing rapidly and losing its character,” said Mattson.

“Its architectural character, its sense of history, sort of the carpetbagger factor. People who don’t have a frame of reference are buying homes and condominiums and moving into apartments. They didn’t go to Ballard High School, or their parents don’t own the house up the street.”

In response, the people of Ballard have been active in attempting to educate new residents on the city’s past.

“Part of the way that the community has dealt with change is that the Ballard Historical Society has become an active force in the neighborhood,” said Mattson.

“They are trying to do their best to create a public education campaign in reminding us all and educating new neighbors that there is history and roots here that need to be respected and honored.”

While some people feel the area has been negatively affected by the growth from the last decade, retail business owners with shops along N.W Market Street have a different perspective..

“Every year is better than the one before,” said Dave Voorhees, owner of Bop Street Records. “I’ve been doing it all my life and I’ve never sold more records. I’m selling records right and left.”

Christy McDanold, owner of Secret Garden Books, said she jumped on the opportunity to move her shop to Market Street in 2000.

“Many of the condo permits languished and delayed for a couple of years,” recalls McDanold. “We kept saying, ‘Any day now Ballard is going to pop.’ And finally it did. So this was a good move and we’ve done fine since we’ve moved here, but the condos have helped.”

The development of condominium buildings has significantly increased Ballard’s population, which according to Mattson, is a disputed topic among residents.

“Many people feel that Ballard has a capacity to take on a lot more density, but there are just as many who feel that that density has no business impinging on the traditionally single-family zoned areas,” said Mattson.

“Ballard has embraced and welcomes the growth and the density as long as it adheres to the urban village strategy that was part of the framework of that planning process.”

An example of that adherence can be found in the mixed-use building on 5700 24th Ave. N.W, which has a QFC on the main floor and 268 apartments on top.

“It’s a pretty high-impact development,” said Mattson. “But that developer was very careful to work in a sensitive way with the surrounding community, with civic leadership, and with the adjacent public park. They approached it with a ‘do no harm’ point of view.”

Barry Hawley, owner of Hawley Realty, has seen firsthand the significant growth in the development of Ballard.

“To date, approximately 1,800 residential units have been constructed in Ballard since 1998,” said Hawley in an email. “In addition, there are approximately another 1,000 units of residential development either permitted or in the process of being permitted and waiting for the economic recession of 2009 and 2010 to resolve itself, so that there will be a demand for future residential condominium or apartment house construction.”

Hawley has worked with developers as an owner’s broker, and said that in his experience the process is always very straightforward.

“Developers make an effort to gain community consensus, but it is difficult for a
developer to have a meaningful contact with the community,” wrote Hawley. “It seems to me that the only opportunities for the community to voice their opinions is through the Master Use Permit Process and Design Review Process. Even then, the zoning and land use ordinances are the ultimate determiners of what can and cannot be built.”

At a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) meeting on Jan. 11, many community members spoke out regarding the parking and traffic issues that condos and big apartment complexes will create.

“Why does a residential neighborhood have to absorb the parking that a developer won’t provide?” asked a Ballard resident, regarding a proposed mixed-use building that includes 101 units and 67 parking spots on 6559 15th Ave. N.W.

Many of these residents had witnessed car accidents due to increased traffic in the area.

“I came home and found a VW bus on its roof in my front yard,” said Ballard resident Tony Wally. “Last year while I sat in my living room, I had the experience of hearing my car totaled.”

Among other things, the economy has had a direct effect on Ballard.

“Ballard in some respects has benefitted from the economic recession,” said Mattson. “If we had built everything that was in the permit process three years ago, we would see even a very dramatically different Ballard today.

“The fact that the recession put some of those projects on ice for a time slowed down that rapid development trend and has allowed the community to adjust and take a breath and deal with the influx of new businesses, new people and the change of character in the neighborhood."

Jody Grage, former chair of Ballard Neighborhood Planning Association and current Ballard representative on the City Neighborhood Council, said there's a tremendous oversupply of retail space.

“I think things are going to get much more difficult and I don’t think they’re going to recover to the level that they were at," Grage said.

“I think we need to plan for the economy to grow very slowly. That will encourage us to be more community minded and work with each other more."

As for the Scandinavian culture that Ballard is known for, Pheasant-Albright doesn’t see it disappearing due to the development.

“People somehow think that Ballard is getting a lot more diverse and it’s not as Scandinavian, but it’s not like we all sort of disappeared and went somewhere,” said Pheasant-Albright. “There is still a big Scandinavian culture here. I think you just have to look a little harder these days.”

According to Pheasant-Albright, some people expect a festive display of Scandinavian traditions when they come to Ballard.

“This isn’t Leavenworth. It isn’t a Scandinavian theme park," she said.

"I was afraid of two things in the 90: (that) it would become Leavenworth and I’d be standing down on Ballard Avenue selling krumkake in a bunad (traditional Norwegian garment). Or it would become what it has become, which is Belltown. Who’s to say which is worse or better?”