Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, January 11, 2011
City Neighbors Try to Cut Off Third Day of Capitol Hill Block Party
Posted by Dominic Holden on Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 5:37 PM
Two property owners along East Pike Street are attempting to lop off the third day of the Capitol Hill Block Party, according to city officials who issue permits for events on public property. Parks department spokeswoman Dewey Potter says the city permitted the Block Party to open on Sunday last year (in addition to the traditional Friday and Saturday permit) on a "trial basis," but since then have received complaints that the event causes too many neighborhood problems.
"Their objection has been that three days is just too disruptive for businesses," says Potter. "Their storefronts are blocked, and for residents, it's just too many days of noise in a row."
Founded in the late 1990s, the Block Party has seen the Pike/Pine Corridor evolve around it—from semi-industrial warehouses and bars to a dense residential and retail thoroughfare. "There were no condos in that block when the Block Party started," says event producer Dave Meinert. The city declined to name the property owners who complained or whether their buildings were constructed after the Block Party took root.
"I don't think the two property owners represent anyone but themselves," Meinert continues. "I own a business in the neighborhood, and we love the block party, so does Cafe Vita, the Comet, and Neumos." Meinert says the city and neighbors have plenty to gain from allowing the party to continue at full steam. The city collects taxes on tickets, retail sales, beer garden sales. "It makes a bunch of money for the business around there."
The Special Events Committee will hear from the complainants at a meeting tomorrow on the third floor of the Center House at Seattle Center at 11:00 a.m.
2
Stuff changes.
Especially in a growing city neighborhood that provides all Statewide offices the margin of victory.
Course, the same could be said for Fremont, but we like Oktoberfest.
Especially in a growing city neighborhood that provides all Statewide offices the margin of victory.
Course, the same could be said for Fremont, but we like Oktoberfest.
3
what the fuck!?!? I was looking at a couple of condos near there (to buy) and if it was one of them bitching about it then a realtor just lost a sell!!
4
To clear a few things up - we added Sunday this year, not Friday.
And some of the retail businesses are impacted by the event, and it is a real concern of mine. We're trying to find ways to fix that.
Every year there are improvements and adjustments we make from the feedback we get from the neighborhood. We did a big survey this year of all the businesses and got plenty of great feedback that will help us make the event better for everyone.
We'll also cut down on the number of tickets we sell, fix the will call situation so there won't be large lines on Friday like this year, add more security, and do more garbage pick up during the festival.
We made several improvements last year, and there will be more to come this year. And we do welcome your input.
And some of the retail businesses are impacted by the event, and it is a real concern of mine. We're trying to find ways to fix that.
Every year there are improvements and adjustments we make from the feedback we get from the neighborhood. We did a big survey this year of all the businesses and got plenty of great feedback that will help us make the event better for everyone.
We'll also cut down on the number of tickets we sell, fix the will call situation so there won't be large lines on Friday like this year, add more security, and do more garbage pick up during the festival.
We made several improvements last year, and there will be more to come this year. And we do welcome your input.
7
Without endorsing the neighbors' concerns, I'll say that I'm not sure that the third day was entirely necessary. It was nice that just about every local band in town got a slot, but two full well-curated festival days would be just fine, perhaps with an opening night limited to neighborhood venues.
8
That's what you get when you choose to move into "the center of Seattle's hippest, most vibrant neighborhood" - that what practically all the ads for them go on about. You want peace and quiet? Go 3-5 blocks to the south.
9
This could be reversed if business owners and residents make more noise. The block party can only be good for business and taxes.
10
I'll keep an open mind to the complaining businesses' concerns. But I want to know who they are and what their issues are. Sure I was feeling a little rock fatigue by Sunday (mostly due to the craptastic mainstage lineup all weekend long), as did the neighborhood it seemed, but this is part of my neighborhood and it's just one weekend a year.
11
@2: Why? The Fremont Oktoberfest is terrible. Oktoberfest should have boisterous music and beer in big fucking steins, not emo "rock" and beer in plastic shot glasses.
12
The San Diego happenin' hood of Pacific Beach held an annual block party for 30 years. It occupied probably a half-mile of the commercial boulevard and was attended by over 100,000 people in its latter years, with ~40 band, a half-dozen stages, and ~200 local vendors and restaurants setting up booths.
After the 2005 event, merchants and residents in the area killed it dead. An attempt to revive it in much smaller form for 2006 fell flat on its face.
http://www.savepb.org/pbblockparty.asp
Yes, some people did stupid shit while drunk every year. Yes, some boulevard businesses that weren't bars, restaurants, coffeehouses, or skate shops suffered. IT WAS ONE DAY.
After the 2005 event, merchants and residents in the area killed it dead. An attempt to revive it in much smaller form for 2006 fell flat on its face.
http://www.savepb.org/pbblockparty.asp
Yes, some people did stupid shit while drunk every year. Yes, some boulevard businesses that weren't bars, restaurants, coffeehouses, or skate shops suffered. IT WAS ONE DAY.
13
There are around 100 residents of apartment buildings that have been in that area since before block party days. (Isn't a block party supposed to be hosted by residents, for residents?)
14
of the 40 or so businesses around the area that find themselves concerned (positively or negatively), there's about 20 which are voicing negative and legit complaints about loss of business during the block party (This is not a complete list): Square Room, Frame Central, Retail Therapy, Retrofit Home, Post Options, Izilla Toys, Pacific Supply, Ferrari, Pettirosso....
They have to clean up your puke instead of selling tens thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.
They have to clean up your puke instead of selling tens thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.
16
Isn't Anne Michaelson, longtime Capitol Hill advocate and co-producer of the first Cap Hill Block Party, one of the people who is asking for the festival to go back to 2 days? she's hardly some newfangled NIMBY who moved into the neighborhood not realizing there was a nightlife.
Seriously people, it doesn't sound like anyone's trying to shut the festival down, it's just a matter of bringing it back to scale. it's not the community event it was in the beginning, and there is no denying that it impacts some of the businesses negatively. In this economy, one weekend of no business can have serious repercussions.
I've lived in Capitol Hill since 1991, I'm now 3 blocks from where the Block Party happens. I don't actually have a problem with the Block Party as is - but I don't think legitimate concerns should be swept under the rug.
Seriously people, it doesn't sound like anyone's trying to shut the festival down, it's just a matter of bringing it back to scale. it's not the community event it was in the beginning, and there is no denying that it impacts some of the businesses negatively. In this economy, one weekend of no business can have serious repercussions.
I've lived in Capitol Hill since 1991, I'm now 3 blocks from where the Block Party happens. I don't actually have a problem with the Block Party as is - but I don't think legitimate concerns should be swept under the rug.
17
Do businesses really do that much business on Sunday? Hell, how many of the businesses are even open on Sunday?
If CHBP cuts back to 2 days, I'd prefer it to be Saturday and Sunday so I can attend both. Missing the first half of Friday was sucktastic.
If CHBP cuts back to 2 days, I'd prefer it to be Saturday and Sunday so I can attend both. Missing the first half of Friday was sucktastic.
18
As a Cap Hill resident I went to the first few block parties. Then they got bigger and started charging money, and then started putting fences up so it was harder to get around, so now during the event, if I have to go to any businesses in that immediate area, I take care of it before the party starts and avoid the area completely over the weekend.
20
the block party tickets are pretty cheap for the quality of bands they get to play. These things cost money. Regarding the three days. I personally like it better with just two days. The festival isn't big enough to support 3 days. I'd rather have two days packed with music then 3 with a bunch of dead time. That being said, they should be able to have the third day if needed. And the neighbors need to suck it up. All those people are good for business. And if you live in one of the apartments in the area you should be used to all the noise. Realize that you chose to live in the loudest/ most fucked up part of the city.
22
The problem has an easy solution: Make the Block Party free. No gates, no barriers to businesses, little inconvenience to residents.
Or, on the other hand, you can hurt local businesses and local residents so that Meinert can make a buck.
Or, on the other hand, you can hurt local businesses and local residents so that Meinert can make a buck.
23
@22, re 12: the Pacific Beach Block Party in San Diego had no fence, no admission. That part of San Diego, like most of the city, is low-rise (1 and 2 stories), low-density. There was little residential in the block or two flanking the boulevard on which the party was centered, which was at right angles to the beach (Garnet Avenue, if anybody wants to know). Mostly parking lots and additional commercial on the flanking streets. Yes, the obvious main routes in from the rest of the city were clogged during the event, but there were multiple fast back roads in and out for residents in the know. Surface parking was saturated for maybe five blocks in any direction, but the mostly single-family homes and small apartment houses still had their regular off-street parking. The event was 9-6 only on a Saturday, so no late-night, multiple-day hassles.
My point, which I didn't really make above, is this: a thirty-year event was shot through the heart by, I think, fifty-four complaints filed by residents and businesses. It was more the PERCEPTION of congestion and inconvenience; total squeaky-wheel situation. Seattle people who care about the CHBP need to take complaints seriously and buy off/suck off the complainers, or you may well lose your event.
/end Stranger-style executive-summary caps
My point, which I didn't really make above, is this: a thirty-year event was shot through the heart by, I think, fifty-four complaints filed by residents and businesses. It was more the PERCEPTION of congestion and inconvenience; total squeaky-wheel situation. Seattle people who care about the CHBP need to take complaints seriously and buy off/suck off the complainers, or you may well lose your event.
/end Stranger-style executive-summary caps
24
Please for the love of god sell less tickets! I went two years ago and it was a fucking mad house- if there was less of a jammed-in-sardine vibe, I'd be more apt to go again. As it was, trying to actually watch Gossip was next to impossible since the crowd was packed in all the way from the stage back to Nuemos. Good luck if you wanted to take a piss or grab a beer!
25
Last year was a mess for all of Capitol Hill. Surely you all are remembering the event with rose colored glasses? Yes, there was greta music. But then there were WEEKS of filth and garbage strewn across the Hill. Cal Anderson park had pizza boxes all over the astroturf well after the event. I don't care about the noise at all, I enjoy it. But if you are going to throw a community event, for private profit I should add, please make sure you leave the community better off than you found it. Last year's garbage service and clean up were pathetic.
26
I work in a business that is fenced in during this 2-3 day period, it is extremely distruptive to our business. We are not a bar or restaurant and it is a big inconvenience to our customers.
Also this is no longer a "block party" this a money making endeavor for Meinert, which is ok but it's not a community event.
Also this is no longer a "block party" this a money making endeavor for Meinert, which is ok but it's not a community event.
27
@24 No joke. I think the last time I went was 2 or 3 years ago, and trying to watch the mainstage was totally impossible. Getting around was no picnic either.
28
@8: Really? There could be no legitimate concerns about the affect on local businesses, and anyone who dares to raise concerns should just move out?
Way to be part of the community.
Way to be part of the community.
29
As someone who lived on the hill in the 90's and half of the 00's, I can sympathize with some of the complaints. I almost always liked the lineup and all, but I would be annoyed if I owned a business that was fenced in that wasn't a bar, or lived in the fenced in area and had deal with meathead security dudes just to get back to my apt. on my day off. I used to go the block party during the free, non-fenced in days, and it seemed fun, and more for the actual neighborhood. Nowadays it seems like it's trying to be bumbershoot lite, and it's motives seem more for profit for Meinert and company.
31
The fact is an overwhelming majority of the businesses make great money that weekend,record sales in fact. I think there are ways for block party to work with the retail shops that are having a hard time making it profitable, to fix this problem. We will be making greater efforts to work with the businesses more directly this year, and for future years to come. A good number of the concerned businesses were not here before the block party, and many experienced the block party for the first time last year. This is part of the learning curve of working in a new neighborhood, frankly. I can tell you the businesses like Retrofit Home and Elliot Bay Books have seen an amazing increase in sales over all, by moving into the foot print of what has hosted the block party for several years. You could take the month of July sales for either of those locations (including block party weekend) and compare them to previous july's in their old locations, and they are likely still coming out way ahead.
As an example, these businesses were VERY aware of block party when they also moved to these locations. They still moved in. That being said, it doesn't mean the concerns do not have merit. When working on solutions all parties involved will have to realize that there will be some compromise to find a good solution.
The goal is to make it a win win for everyone.
As an example, these businesses were VERY aware of block party when they also moved to these locations. They still moved in. That being said, it doesn't mean the concerns do not have merit. When working on solutions all parties involved will have to realize that there will be some compromise to find a good solution.
The goal is to make it a win win for everyone.
32
Some retail in the area might take a hit that weekend, but dozens of OTHER businesses make bank that weekend as well, primarily food/drink places near the event. Yeah, I think the Block Party needs to be better organized: better layout, more staff, dedicated post event clean up crew; but, it's ONE bloody weekend a year. And, Anne Michelson is bitching, because she hates noise; she wants the event moved over ONE block to Pine. Not sure how that improves anything except moving the noise one block away from HER.
33
It would be interesting to actually TALK to some local businesses to find out what they have to say about the matter. Only ONE business that I know of has complained, (Anne Michelson) and her business isn't even retail, but manufacturing.
Seems like this is just a case of NIMBY-ism run amuck.
Seems like this is just a case of NIMBY-ism run amuck.
34
I agree that it tends to be oversold (sometimes so much that it really seems un-safe). I have a separate request though- as it is the CAPITOL HILL Block Party, it would be great if Capitol Hill residents could get some sort of break or discount - it's our hill, and our party - so throw us a bone!
35
@22 That's only an easy solution if...I don't know, maybe you want every beer to cost 15 dollars and have nothing but huge corporate sponsors taking up the entirety of the block party space in order to fund the event. Maybe you just prefer to only have shitty bands.
Bands cost money. Security costs money. Equipment costs money.
The block party is already very cheap considering the general quality of the lineup from year to year. It's one weekend, all of these businesses need to calllmmmm down.
Bands cost money. Security costs money. Equipment costs money.
The block party is already very cheap considering the general quality of the lineup from year to year. It's one weekend, all of these businesses need to calllmmmm down.
36
@32, 33...
1. "...Because she hates noise; she wants the event moved over ONE block to Pine. Not sure how that improves anything except moving the noise one block away from HER."
*There aren't any apartments on pine. It'd work OK there.*
*Anne doesn't personally suffer from the noise (she's gone that weekend), she's looking out for everyone else when it comes to noise. She does however have to deal with the other complications that come along with the block party*
2. (@33) Yeah, it would be interesting to hear what they say, wouldn't it... That's what this whole deal is about, numbskull. Add to my list @14 : Lobby Bar and Elliott Bay Books. The "two land owners" fingered in this post is a deliberate understatement. At today's meeting there were no fewer than 12.
As most Sloggers are catching on to, these are real concerns. They can see through your ignorance and through Meinert and The Stranger's bullshit.
1. "...Because she hates noise; she wants the event moved over ONE block to Pine. Not sure how that improves anything except moving the noise one block away from HER."
*There aren't any apartments on pine. It'd work OK there.*
*Anne doesn't personally suffer from the noise (she's gone that weekend), she's looking out for everyone else when it comes to noise. She does however have to deal with the other complications that come along with the block party*
2. (@33) Yeah, it would be interesting to hear what they say, wouldn't it... That's what this whole deal is about, numbskull. Add to my list @14 : Lobby Bar and Elliott Bay Books. The "two land owners" fingered in this post is a deliberate understatement. At today's meeting there were no fewer than 12.
As most Sloggers are catching on to, these are real concerns. They can see through your ignorance and through Meinert and The Stranger's bullshit.
37
And @32 (Dozens of OTHER businesses make bank).
I challenge you to name 2 dozen businesses inside the gates that make more than usual that weekend. It's more like 9 or 10, if even that. The assumption that this is so good for business is plainly false; it's annoying that you'd throw around "dozens" without knowing any facts.
I challenge you to name 2 dozen businesses inside the gates that make more than usual that weekend. It's more like 9 or 10, if even that. The assumption that this is so good for business is plainly false; it's annoying that you'd throw around "dozens" without knowing any facts.
38
I think it would be good journalism to mention that the Stranger is the exclusive ticket merchant for the 2011 event, and stand to make more profit if there is a third day. This article seems slanted towards that outcome.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
-
The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
-
NYC Man Ticketed for Not Riding in the Bike Lane by Jonathan Golob
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (38) RSS