Slog - Comments on "Historic" Ballard Denny's

Comment by Dawgson

Dawgson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:10:20 -0800

I actually expected more gloating.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:18:00 -0800

I'm far more concerned about the UW IHOP at 44th one block west of University Ave.

Strange thing, while I remember the building, I can't recall ever going there, even though I lived in the neighborhood and used to visit there from Vancouver BC ...

So, guess I won't miss it.

Cool design tho.

Comment by bree

bree — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:30:48 -0800

More things in this world need to be smothered in either cheese or gravy.

Comment by lostboy

lostboy — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:34:00 -0800

If there had been any plausible hope of a serious restoration and a new restaurant opening in the space, I'd be more bummed. As it is...

Comment by Sad Comment

Sad Comment — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:36:12 -0800

Oh, Boy! More high dollar condos that we don't need.

Comment by Non

Non — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:40:31 -0800

It was sorta shocking to see it razed this morning after it was there last night.

With that space open, it struck me how wonderful a park or something would be to be threre...it is the "gateway to Ballard" so to speak because that intersection is crazy busy.

But alas, that's living in a city.

Comment by michael strangeways

michael strangeways — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:42:28 -0800

sniff...

I'd kill for a Grand Slam breakfast right now.

Comment by NaFun

NaFun — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:44:06 -0800

In other news, Deano's was being torn down when I went to Safeway yesterday. Wahoo!

Comment by holz

holz — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:44:36 -0800

way to go jack!

that thing was a friggin abortion waiting to be demolished.

Comment by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me

You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:56:15 -0800

Yeah, because nothing says "Welcome to the (neighbor)hood" like crack addicts sketching out in a urban park...

Of course the developers are intentionally flooding the "high end" real estate market with unwanted units so that the surplus inventory will force prices down and generate huge losses for those same developers... That's exactly how supply and demand work in a free market! (Are you posting form an urban park by any chance?)

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:08:55 -0800

Bout time.

Comment by Sad Comment

Sad Comment — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:09:54 -0800

@10
Ah, yes the old "free market" routine. If only the world really worked that way, unfortunately, many a bad decision hides behind those very words.

And, no I am not in a "urban park" because according to you if I was I would have already pawned my computer for drugs by now. Are you by chance on the top floor of some luxury penthouse looking down upon all of us commoners?

Comment by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me

You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:15:35 -0800

@12

More or less, yes. Come up and see me sometime. (Take a bath first though... commoners smell funny... kinda like desperation...)

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:22:06 -0800

how many times have I heard "if you only knew how the world really worked" when the basic principle of economic theory are denied in favor of some kind of constant malevolent aristocratic scheme.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:30:23 -0800

The "free" market is crack addicts way of justifying stealing your stuff for themselves.

Parks, on the other hand, are fun.

Comment by elenchos

elenchos — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:31:27 -0800

I remember when I was saying all the money being thrown into the Internet bubble was a defect in the way markets worked. Everybody wanted to lecture me on basic economic principles.

Faith in markets is unfalsifiable: if the condo developers make money, that proves markets work. If they don't make money then it was a "bubble" or an "aberration". Or just dumb investors. Anything but admitting that half the time markets don't work.

Comment by pretentious

pretentious — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:36:01 -0800

predicted next tear-downs:
-the shanty cafe
-the block with the 5 point
-the sloop
i give it 5 years, max. and yes, these are some of my favorite places in seattle.

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:36:56 -0800

elenchos, markets don't work in achieving ends that you'd like to see.

markets work in lining up buyers with sellers in a medium that is less obstructed by values of other people.

Comment by jess

jess — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:39:53 -0800

@2 you mean the IHOP that has been gone for over a year now?

Comment by Sad Comment

Sad Comment — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:43:05 -0800

@14

Perhaps if we started by removing the government tax breaks and subsidies from the equation we might really begin to see a "free market."

But usually terms like "free market" are thrown around by people that refuse to make responsible decisions instead of self serving ones.

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:00:18 -0800

@20, I'm all for removing subsidies and tax breaks from the equation.

Comment by Sad Comment

Sad Comment — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:34:05 -0800

@21
Me too.

Comment by Catalina Vel-DuRay

Catalina Vel-DuRay — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:13:10 -0800

Oh, just tear it all down. It doesn't really matter. We all die in the end, don't we? As Kansas helpfully points out, "Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky"

Hopefully, it will be replaced by something that promises "A new level of upscale living in the heart of Ballard". That would make me very happy. I love upscale living.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:48:49 -0800

@19 - yes.

@18, 20, 21 - glad to hear you're supporting Obama.

Comment by so what

so what — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:16:52 -0800

so what. none of you ever went there and read the paper over coffee silently. at least it was a diner in seattle, not that there are any others. you don't know what you want because you want what you don't know. condos = so what. it's not about the buildings, it's about the PEOPLE.