Free frozen custard on Saturday!

It’s not exactly a Madison Park story, but close enough. Besides, the punch line is just too good to pass up: Old School Frozen Custard (1316 E. Pike Street) will be giving it away for free at its grand opening on Saturday, June 6. From 3pm ‘til 10pm there will be a free single scoop cone of frozen custard for every comer. For those not in the know: frozen custard may look like soft ice cream but is quite a bit richer, containing at least 10% butterfat and 1.4% egg yoke by weight. The production method is also much different from that of ice cream, and you can read all about it on Old School's website: http://www.oldschoolfrozencustard.com/.

The new store has had a soft opening all this week, and based on the lines it appears they have a winning product (it’s not free until the official opening). This is the second location for Old School, which has operated in its original store in Bonney Lake for almost two years.

As for the opening of the new Pike-at-Madison location, give the owners credit for good timing on the weather!

Car prowl incidents up big time

Our friends at the Central District News have proven much more resourceful that I in getting neighborhood major-crime data for the East Precinct from the Seattle Police. CDN’s analysis, Crime Stats Released, shows that our beat (C3 on the map in the post below) experienced not a single homicide in 2008, which was also true for the first four months of this year. Vehicle thefts are down for the 16-month period. The CDN reports, however, that the police have confirmed to them that car prowl incidents and the theft of auto accessories (which are not “major” crimes) are up 100% in the East Precinct over the past year.

For our reporting area (which includes Madison Valley and part of Madrona) crimes in the other categories seem to be at a pretty stable level, though non-auto thefts have been trending up—going from under 20 per month in January 2008 to well over 20 per month in April 2009. The run rate for assaults in our community is about 5 per month, and the rate for burglaries is about 10.

While the April numbers for the East Precinct show an increase in overall crime from the trend of the previous 15 months, it will not be clear for several months if this is an aberrant peak in a downward trend or something else.

This is perhaps a good point to reiterate that the Seattle Police make officer assignments each year based on the number of reported crimes. The East Precinct accounted for 18% of reported crimes in 2008 and has been allocated 18% of the total police force, according to the City. That gives us 88 officers out of the 496 total.

[Above graphic courtesy of the Seattle Police.]

Crime up in the East Precinct

[On the night of June 2, the owner of this truck parked at E. Galer and 42nd Avenue E. was the victim of a smash-and-dash that apparently was interrupted in progress, since the perpetrators left items in the truck and a tool of their trade on the street next to the truck.]

As you may have read in The Seattle Times yesterday, the Seattle crime rate was slightly down in 2008 over the level of the previous year, although serious crimes such as murder and rape were on the increase. Just why it took the City five months to report last year’s numbers was not explained. The City also issued crime statistics for the first four months of 2009, however, showing that overall crime is up 9% this year over the same period last year. The East Precinct, of which Madison Park is a subunit, showed an increase of 6% in major crimes. There were 180 violent crimes in the precinct through the end of April, compared with 165 last year, a 9% increase. Property crimes (burglary and theft) increased from 1,404 to 1,477 for the period, up 5%.

Unfortunately, the Seattle Police have yet to break out crime information by neighborhood, so we have to wait until the city is in the mood to report specifically on Madison Park crime. As I noted in a previous blog entry, the last crime information for our part of the world was published in early 2008 covering 2007 crimes. The East Precinct, by the way, encompasses pretty much the whole area between I-5 and Lake Washington and between I-405 and SR520, plus Montlake, and excluding parts of downtown:

When Madison Park crime data is reported, you can read about it here.

Is the worst over for Madison Park real estate?

Madison Park was one of the very few neighborhoods in the Seattle area to experience an increase in home values during the last quarter, at least according to a new survey issued by Zillow. Madison Park had an actual 4% increase in median house value, says Zillow, compared to the last quarter of last year. The next highest neighborhood on Zillow’s list was Vashon Island, where house values were up 1.7% for the quarter. Of the 137 neighborhoods surveyed by Zillow in the Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma region, only 13 experienced an increase in house values. These include North Beacon Hill, Lower Queen Anne, and Meydenbaur (Bellevue). For the 98112 zip code area as a whole, there was a quarterly decline of 2.1%, according to Zillow.

The median value of a Madison Park home now stands at $885,000, down only .2% from one year ago. This compares with a median value of $379,013 for Seattle as a whole, where overall values declined 2.2% during the quarter and by 14.6% during the past year. The bottom line is that Zillow, at least, believes that Madison Park is doing quite well relative to the rest of region and the country as a whole. Madison Park‘s median home value of $885,000 represents 7.6% average annual appreciation for the past decade. Not bad.

For comparative purposes, it is interesting to note that only three Seattle-area neighborhoods in the Zillow analysis show a higher median home value (the point where half the homes are worth more and half are worth less) than our community: Medina ($1,431,018), Clyde Hill ($1,287,403) and Market/Downtown Kirkland ($939,417).

Kathryn Lister, a realtor at Coldwell Banker Bain, says it may be too early to say for sure whether the market has really turned in Madison Park. What she’s seeing is reluctance by some buyers to make a move right now. “On the upper end of the market,” she told me, “we’re dealing with savvy people,” the kind who are willing to wait to see if the interest rate and requirements for jumbo loans are eased by the banks in coming months. While prices may be at a good point, she said, there’s still the issue of how to finance. She believes that the differential between a conventional mortgage and a jumbo mortgage loan rate (5.0% versus 6.5% as of today) is too big, and the down-payment requirements for a jumbo (in the 25-30% range) also make this kind of loan problematic for many people. So there’s perhaps a wait-and-see attitude on the part of some buyers.

On the other hand, Madison Park is a special community “with a great neighborhood feeling,” she notes, and this just may be a big differentiator for houses in the Park, relative to other Seattle neighborhoods.

We will be providing an in-depth look at real estate sales and trends in Madison Park on a regular basis beginning next week, including statistical reports and analysis by area realtors. Stay tuned.

Zillow’s US real estate market surveys are available here: http://www.zillow.com/reports/RealEstateMarketReports.htm

[Photo of 1427 39th Avenue E., listed at $1,675,000, courtesy of Kathryn and Wendy Lister, Coldwell Banker Bain-Bellevue.]

Elephant causes pandemonium in the Park!

Well, it was exactly one hundred years ago today that it happened, but on May 28, 1909, a circus elephant named Queenie escaped from her handlers and ran amok in Madison Park for awhile before being recaptured. Queenie was one of the many animal attractions of a short-lived amusement park called White City located right here in Madison Park for several early years of the twentieth century.

As told by Alan J. Stein in an essay on HistoryLink.org, Queenie’s adventure started when a couple of little white dogs crept too close to her while she was being moved from her tent to another location in the park. The handler lost control, and the spooked Queenie gave chase to the dogs. As she rumbled through the park she managed to crash into the merry-go-round, breaking some of the wooden horses. Giving up on the dogs, which had broken to freedom by scampering under a fence, the pachyderm decided to take a break at the fruit stand, where she helped herself to a selection of apples and oranges. While she was munching away, she allowed a chain to be attached to her leg so that she could be tethered to the ground until her trainer arrived to lead her back to her assigned place.

The Seattle Times report of the incident has two women fainting as a result of the ruckus (this was apparently considered perfectly understandable female behavior in those days). It is lucky the two ladies did not stay around after their ordeal to witness a much more horrific event. Later that day, “a fox terrier owned by the manager of the animal menagerie wandered too close to a cage containing a Bengal tiger. In a flash, the feline reached through the bars, pulled the dog inside, and…” well, let’s just say that the poor terrier had a fate that was quite different from that of the two little white dogs that got away from Queenie.

Located south of Madison Street on the shore of the Lake, White City was a rather brief affair. It was apparently opened to take advantage of the crowds flocking to Seattle for the Alaska-Yukon Exhibition, which ran at the site of the University of Washington from June 1, 1909 until October 16, 1909. The Exhibition was Seattle’s first world’s fair and brought visitors from around the globe.

Admission to White City was ten cents; and in addition to its merry-go-round, the park boasted a Ferris wheel, side shows, and a miniature train ride for children and adults called the Lake Shore Railway. Some of the attractions were apparently brought over from the site of the Alaska-Yukon Exhibition after the fair closed.

White City appears to have lasted as a summer attraction only until 1912, when the park’s owners, the Borderland White City Co., finally called it quits. Queenie’s later career is not chronicled.

[Picture of Queenie pushing a White City concession building on rollers is from the Seattle Times May 30, 1909, courtesy of HistoryLink.org. The White City postcard courtesy of Jim Abbate.]

Citizen journalism alive in Seattle

Although most of us are well aware of the recent demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer print edition, there are many who probably don't know that in addition to keeping the on-line P-I website in operation, Hearst has indirectly spawned a second web-based news source for the Seattle area, the Seattle Post Globe. Hearst's role in helping create this new site, of course, was by firing most of the P-I staff, many of whom are now tying to make a go of this non-profit alternative.  The site is being operated in partnership with KCTS-TV. Post Globe editor Kery Murakami assesses the situation bluntly when asking for donations to keep the site up and running: "the future of journalism is now in your hands."  Among the staffers of the Post Globe are writers Art Thiel and Mike Lewis and Photographer Grant Haller.  

Murikami reports that at this point they have enough funding to operate the site for one month, so success will only come with a quick rise in readership and donations.  I recommend you check out the Post Globe by taking a look at Kathy Mulady's great story, Tracking Down Seattle's Vintage Street Cars.

POLICE BLOTTER
MAY 18-21

There were several car prowl incidents in the area during the past week, including a report by one of my neighbors that Friday night at about 11pm they discovered that several men were going through their car, which was parked on the street. The men got away, but not before taking a digital camera from the glove compartment. In another incident, thieves stole a cell phone and GPS system, gaining entry to the car by smashing the passenger side window. Another smash-and-dash incident occurred in the Arboretum parking lot, where a car was broken into and a debit card was taken, along with other items. Charges of $400 were made on the debit card before the card was reported stolen.

The bottom line appears to be don’t leave valuables in your car, especially if it is parked on the street or in another public location. One of my fellow bloggers who does the blog for Wallingford (wallyhood.org) raised the issue of car prowling with the Seattle Police earlier this Spring. In response he was sent a document entitled Preventing Car Prowl, which he describes as “more depressing than helpful.” His summary:

· Thieves will break into your car and there’s nothing you can do about it
· Your best bet is to remove every worldly possession you have from your vehicle
· Even so, they’ll assume you’re hiding something under the seat
· It doesn’t matter how crappy your car is, they’ll still break in
· They’re going to wreck your window and probably the door.

If you experience a car prowl incident please do report it to the police via 911. As noted by Wallyhood, the police state that "part of the calculation used to determine how many officers to assign to an area is based in part on reported crime."

If you’d like to read Police’s official document, you may do so here: Preventing Car Prowl.

Madison Park was apparently fairly quiet, crime wise, during the past few days. Here are a couple of out-of-the-ordinary crime reports:

In the wrong place at the wrong time: The manager of an E. Madison Street apartment building in Madison Valley called the police to report that he had seen a woman enter an apartment using a key! He supposedly felt this was suspicious since the apartment in question was not rented by the woman. The police came and made contact with the woman, who told them that she had sub-let the apartment from a man who had later assaulted her. She said she had a restraining order against the man, which the police were able to verify. However, while doing this verification, the police also did a check on the woman and discovered that there was a warrant issued by the Spokane police for a woman using that name as an alias. The description on the warrant seemed to be “very similar” to the woman in question, so the police promptly arrested her and transported her to the police station. After some delay, the arresting officer was able to examine a photo of the woman described in the warrant, finding the woman to be “markedly different” from the woman just arrested. She was released. Her commentary on the incident was not recorded in the police report.

Am I missing something?: A Madison Park resident reported to the police that in early April he had answered an ad on Craig’s list to become an “executive driver” for Victoria’s Secret. The ad stated that the job would entail providing limousine service for Victoria’s Secret “executive family members” when they flew into western Washington. He later was contacted and told he had won the job and that he would be receiving advance payments for taking the assignment. He did receive a $4,000 check, following which he said he checked with both Victoria’s Secret and the issuing bank to determine that the check was good. He was assured that the check was valid. He later received additional checks from the same source, but he told the police that he didn’t deposit them because he had become suspicious. Sure enough, his bank soon informed him that the original $4,000 check he had deposited was fraudulent. The “victim” then sent an email to the source of the check stating that he was reporting him to the police “and never to contact him again.” All of this happened over a two week period. There was no information in the police report on whether or not the man's limousine services were ever utilized by Victoria’ Secret executive family members while in Seattle.