I've read through all of the comments in this thread and I'm beyond disgusted. The kind of vitriol you people spew is a sad commentary on the degenerate state of the Slog, the Internet, and humanity as a whole. Never in my life have I read a more putrid catalog of bodily functions, fluids and orifices flung and smeared across the name of one person. Your insane obsession with ECB is beyond sick. Just having read this far in the comments makes me ashamed for you all.

Gurl!

I for one welcome our free market overlords.

This just ain't right! There needs to be a law that prevents owners from selling their businesses!

@1 - Huh?

Just as some people will miss the old Cha Cha/Bus Stop/grocery/Manray/Kincora block, others will miss Sunset Bowl.

market forces provide incentives to sell, property laws facilitate the sale.

I for one welcome our Free Trade overlords and worship at the alter of property rights.

Death to those who believe in civil rights and fair trade!

All hail the almighty dollar and the ultra-rich keeping the middle class salaries lower!

(Do I get my cookie now?)

And what about my right to have a large luxury apartment "community" grow up there like a boil on Ballard's lumpy ass? That's some sweet, sweet resentin' I aim to do as I pass by the construction cranes. Don't deny me!

Not so much protesting as saying, "hey this sucks!" I agree, it will be sad to see it go.

they also didnt match the type face correctly.

I think elenchos was just delivering a preemptive strike there, Levislade.

I have to admit I have not previously detected a great amount of concern for market forces in Erica B's writings, but there it is.

i don't think you have to be genius to understand that they are protesting the fact the "market forces" continue to trump "quality of life", here and everywhere in seattle, and all over the place, actually. you all will probably call me a filthy communist, but that's something worth protesting, no?

I support change as long as nothing I support changes.

@#1: Seeing as yours was the first comment in this thread, you must be referring to your own vitriol and putrid catalog of bodily functions, fluids and orifices, since yours was the only post when you submitted it.
And if ECB is tough enough to take it and keep on posting, she sure as hell doesn't need your sympathy.

john, a fucking bowling alley provides what kind of quality of life? seriously. bowling and arcade games? if it truly was something that was bringing a greater quality of life to a large group of people, it might be successful enough to trump the opportunity cost.

ECB's just bent because they forced her to rent shoes.

Um yeah. Couldn't Erica's same exact comment be made about any beloved business that is ever sold? A protest (well, really more like a "we're sad" meeting) could take a lot of tacks other than "people shouldn't be allowed to sell their property."

Me, I'd like to see a group trying to come up with a bunch of alternatives for how the Bowl might be saved. And "Bowl Shit" isn't really funny. I don't get it.

Don't you think an outdoor bowling alley would be cool? Not that that has anything to do with this.

@16, you forgot karaoke, and beers in those cool bowling pin bottles. i think that might tip the scales?

i am hard-pressed to rrecall a time in recent memory when market forces didn't win, no matter what the issue or the number of people affected. i think this is what frustrates people, forcing them to make ugly t-shirts, et al.

also, i think absurd protests only enhance seattle's quality of life, so i'm all for it.

This may be the first thing I've heard ECB say that I agreed with.

Maybe people who like the [bowling alley/favorite bar/low-rent apartment building] should buy it and keep it the way it is instead of complaining about what someone else does with his or her own money.

I support change so long as it doesn't affect me.

Oh, wait, maybe we should have a few meetings and discuss it for a few years and then change our minds.

You tell 'em, Erica C. Barnett! Giving Seattle a completely fresh, totally original shot of glib bitch! "Market forces" indeed! You're like Ann Coulter with a vagina!

@16 go read the book Bowling Alone.

I guess that's why the Taco Bell on Broadway closed so suddenly. So nobody would have time to make T-shirts saying "Tearing down Taco Bell is Bell Shit".

Oh wait, everyone supported that closure. Nevermind.

I don't support the closure of any Taco Bell, regardless of how much of a cesspool it is.

Where's the guy who did the "leave Britney alone" video? Maybe he could do one for Erica.

Yeah, but you didn't tell us how WE can get those shirts.

@1 brilliant post.

Any one know the tear-down date?

Leave ECB Alone!

market forces invaded iraq.

Y'all should go over to 4th Avenue NW, Phinney Ridge area, and look down on the "new" Ballard with all the stacks and stacks of same-color, same-shape condos and mixed-use (Edward Jones/Somebody's Nails/Somebody Else's Tanning Salon/Best Damned Teriyaki) buildings.

It looks like some midwestern small city's downtown - nondescript, jumbled, boring, and - well - ugly. I realize Market Street and Ballard Avenue at eye-level are none of these. But, what an unseemly mess these market forces are creating.

I'm now glad I don't live on that hill, distant Olympic view notwithstanding.

Maybe if more of you actually frequented the establishment, it would still be in business.

@33
what they replaced wasn't that great really.

@34, the Sunset is pretty much packed to capacity all the time, with waiting lists for lanes. No amount of bowling and karaoke income can match the return of all those rents.

and why are people complaining about housing supply being added to our city?

Once again folks are bemoaning the loss of a place that they didn't bother to support when it was around.

If ECB won't fight for The Man and his Property Rights, who will?