Seattle Sound Transit Light Rail Link

[Capitol Hill]

The site I am most excited for a MASSIVE TOD redevelopment is Northgate. Rip that motherfuc*er of a suburban mall down and get something worthy up there.

[CityView Jim]

Northgate's not going anywhere, but they could certainly continue to improve it. Little by little, it keeps getting better. Something linking the light rail station DIRECTLY with the mall would be a big bonus (not a trek through a parking garage like Sea-Tac). BUt my wish list grows.

[Seasun]

Northgate Mall is becoming a remodeled mess in my opinion but it does work and yes it's probably not going anywhere soon. The renovation they did probably 15 or 20 years ago kept the basic layout of the place but now that they're adding buildings onto the spine and doing U-Village-like courtyards it's hard to know if I can get through one building into the mall or if I have to walk around. I think I'm mainly thinking of the Bed, Bath and Beyond addition which I don't think connects to the main mall but I don't even recall.

[Matt the Engineer]

At 60 years old (and as the first mall in the US), it's holding up fairly well. I don't think they'll ever get a light rail connection right in the mall, but I could see building something tall on the west side parking lot, and adding a bridge right to the station.

[Capitol Hill]

I want them to rip it down. There can still be retail, hell, even a mall, just better, and more connected to the neighborhood. Right now it is an island asphalt.

[alexjonlin]

I could see mixed-use development slowly springing up in the current parking lots (with plentiful underground parking of course, I think I remember them saying in my transportation class that malls generally build enough parking for like the 98th percentile of demand) and the current mall slowly being broken up over the next few decades. The parking lot at 5th & 103rd directly across from Thornton Place seems ripe for development in the near-term, as does the corner of 5th & Northgate with the bank and the little-used corner of parking lots. But for now we'll mostly have to content ourselves with the areas surrounding the mall and the transit center.

[Bart_LCY]

Found on YouTube, TunnelTalkVideos channel.

Besides usual motivational crap, some interesting shots:

[Doomgoggles]

So basically we have about eight years to upzone the U district. 6 storeys is a complete waste in the center of an urban core. UW Tower needs some friends.

[alexjonlin]

I agree, although I think they might not be able to build all that tall directly above a tunnel, just like the project that was limited to eight stories above the transit tunnel across the street from Convention Place Station.

[Doomgoggles]

Sure, that's fine. But look how much develop-able land is within 5 blocks of that stations site.

[RMacherat]

Why anyone would want to own and run a parking lot anymore ... it's almost like they're paved with $1000 bills with current land prices.

[Sounder]

Originally Posted by Doomgoggles

So basically we have about eight years to upzone the U district. 6 storeys is a complete waste in the center of an urban core. UW Ivory Tower needs some friends.

Fixed

[bgwah]

Originally Posted by RMacherat

Why anyone would want to own and run a parking lot anymore ... it's almost like they're paved with $1000 bills with current land prices.

You still have to pay property taxes. If you're not ready to develop yet, parking lots will pay your taxes in the mean time.

[mhays]

And land prices will probably be higher in the coming years and decades (due to the economy and gradually reduced developable inventory), making it a promising long-term investment.

And many properties are owned by heirs or others who aren't paying attention.

[BoulderGrad]

This popped up on the transit blog:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...strict18m.html

And the post on STB:
http://seattletransitblog.com/2012/0...comment-242142

He's proposing a plaza in place of the TOD at the U-district station. I think he's doing it backwards. There should be an entrance on the Ave thats in a plaza on the Ave that leads to the station mezzanine. Then you still have the TOD over top of the station and then redevelop on the ave to surround the plaza and entrance with shops and apartments.

long story short: Redevelop the whole block with plaza and 3rd entrance on the Ave.

[BoulderGrad]

And then while we're at it, run the SLUT up eastlake, cut over to the Ave and run up the Ave for a little bit... With a stop right at the doorstep of the new entrance on the Ave...

[CrazyAboutCities]

Yes please!

[Capitol Hill]

Originally Posted by BoulderGrad

And then while we're at it, run the SLUT up eastlake, cut over to the Ave and run up the Ave for a little bit... With a stop right at the doorstep of the new entrance on the Ave...

Rhe biggest impediment is the Fairview trestle by Zymogenetics. It will need to be replaced in order to handle the streetcar. It's not unsurmountable, but there will be an awful lot of politicing on which entity will pay for it.

[jessejb]

When UW Link opens, are they still planning to use 4-car trains?

[seapug]

New technology to be implemented by 2015 that should have been implemented years ago. http://www.soundtransit.org/Document...02012-2015.pdf