What’s the old saying: “The more things change in Kirkland, the more parking stays the same?”
Simply put, downtown parking is an issue today, yesterday — maybe always.
Today, most family-wage jobs in Washington require some form of post-secondary education or training. By 2014, 77 percent of those jobs will require training or education after high school — in King and Snohomish counties the number jumps to 85 percent. And yet, Washington allows too many of its children to graduate from high school unprepared for post-secondary life.
After watching its July 1 meeting on streaming video, you have to wonder: Are some members of the Kirkland City Council credible elected officials? Or do they just try to play them on TV?
Note: A proposed acquisition of Puget Sound Energy by a group of investors from Australia, Canada and New York was announced last October. PSE is currently in the process of finalizing the sale.
We bought our house in 1989 in Kirkland’s Bridle Tree neighborhood. Near Bridle Trails State Park, the development featured large stands of trees left everywhere.
Child safety should always be a priority during any public event where children are present. Child safety was not a priority on Third Street during the Fourth of July parade this year. Children between the approximate ages of five and nine years old were allowed to stand 10 and sometimes 20 feet from the curb during the second half of the parade.
Had Kendall Watson attended any of the meetings at City Hall prior to the first big public hearing? I’ve been at nearly all of the Design Review Board and Planning Commission sessions. My impression and opinion (and strictly my own) is that at all meetings prior to the big one, very few people spoke in favor of Touchstone’s Plan (now labeled “B”).
To those living in Upper Juanita, Finn Hill and Kingsgate (the Proposed Annexation Area), the message is now clear: On annexation Kirkland fiddles while the PAA get burned.
Kirkland, it seems, might be a little wilder than you think. Most locals are probably familiar with the downtown’s nightly commitment to revery -- a situation that helps make Kirkland one of the DUI capitols of the state -- but did you know the city is also home to a veritable “who’s who” of North America’s signature animals?
I’ve covered a variety of issues since I started writing this column for the Reporter. Looking back at what I’ve written, the underlying theme becomes obvious: community and community involvement. It takes a neighborhood or a village or a city to solve many of the issues a community faces.
Should the city grow up and out through annexation and new, bigger developments? Or should it put on the brakes and maintain its small-town suburban feel?
It’s an interesting time, indeed, with Kirkland currently working through an identity crisis.
