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A YouTube Video of the Meeting! |
Apr 13, 2024, 10:30 AM
Old Redmond Schoolhouse, 16600 NE 80th St, Redmond
Redmond is home to the headquarters of several major bike manufacturers. However, there’s not one thing that makes Redmond a great place for cycling, but many things put together that has earned Redmond the designation of "Bicycle Capital of the Northwest"―from Derby Days races to “Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day” (RAMROD) to the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome at Marymoor Park. Joe Matthews, President of the Redmond Cycling Club, will give a short history of that organization.
Speaker bio:
Joe Matthews only got into long-distance cycling after his brother challenged him to complete the Seattle to Portland (STP) bike ride in the 1990s. Matthews couldn’t back down, of course. After STP, the Redmond resident wanted more, so he embarked on the Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day (RAMROD―a single-day event that celebrates the beauty of Mount Rainier National Park and features a challenging course of 150 miles and 10,000 feet of climb. He was hooked. Since then, Matthews has cycled in myriad races and challenges and now serves as president of the Redmond Cycling Club (RCC). RCC was founded in 1978 amid increasing popularity of cycling in the U.S. The club began from a core group of friends who were riding regularly. Within a few years, RAMROD founder John Dixon brought the RAMROD cycling event to RCC, which it now stewards.
Post and photo by Bob Yoder, 10/22/2023
"As Redmond has grown to 76,000 residents, a proper downtown has sprouted up around the city center’s handful of pre-World War II buildings. This kind of reinvention is happening around Puget Sound and across the country, a phenomenon called “retrofitting suburbia” in a 2008 book of the same name. Some argue multimodal Redmond is a national model for the trend.
Planners like the city of Redmond’s Jeff Churchill are tasked with a tricky job: figuring out how to revamp an outdated, car-dependent suburban template into a place that’s easier to get around on foot, bike or transit.
“The vision for this area becoming what it’s becoming has transcended multiple mayors and city council members,” Churchill said. “It’s been a very durable vision with a fair amount of buy-in.”
** “We’re going to put all our growth into downtown,” Churchill said. “That’s been the plan since the 1990s.”
Civic interest in Redmond’s future remains high. On a September weeknight, several dozen people — local residents, civil servants and elected officials — joined advocacy group Move Redmond to see highlights and lowlights of navigating downtown Redmond on foot.
The existing transit center, where express buses whisk residents to Microsoft’s Overlake campus or further along Highway 520 to Bellevue or Seattle, generally won praise. A curbless shared street between two apartment buildings, also known as a woonerf, elicited interest. A block lacking sidewalks near the new light-rail earned a “thumbs down.”
“Redmond is a suburb but downtown is trying to be a city,” Stevens said. “But it could be so much more.”
For example, Redmond touts itself as the bicycle capital of the Northwest, with its annual Derby Days races and its cycling velodrome at Marymoor Park, but on-street bike infrastructure is lacking.
“I’m comfortable riding in the street, but I want the kids I see riding on the sidewalk to feel comfortable being out on the street, especially because that’s something cool about Redmond: families are living downtown,” Stevens said.
These were the kinds of insights that Move Redmond Executive Director Kelli Refer hoped to hear. Folks are eager to see what’s next, provided downtown Redmond keeps sticking with the plan.
That kind of steady hand offers lessons for retrofitting suburbs everywhere.
“Redmond is setting itself up to be a national model,” Refer said."
Gregory Scruggs: gscruggs@seattletimes.com; Gregory Scruggs is the outdoors reporter at The Seattle Times.
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** What's coming next... (City of Redmond)
** Redmond 2050 is evaluating higher densities by allowing taller buildings (generally between 10 and 19 stories depending on the Overlake station area). This would accommodate 19,000 to 23,000 new housing based on the development alternative options selected. (Draft: Future Vision for Redmond: Urban Centers.)
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| Redmond 2100 ?? |
Tell the city what you like and don’t like in architectural and building designs. 23 building designs are displayed for your opinion and comment. Add your own ideas for Downtown buildings and comment on the designs.
The city will use your feedback to develop Downtown’s design standards for new development. Give your feedback here.
Questions? Principal Planner, Kimberly Dietz, kdietz@redmond.gov, 425-556-2415
Posted by Yoder
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| A rendering of the new Redmond Town Center |
2. Benefit: Covered outdoor entertainment space and children's play area
3. Benefit: Covered retail is already in place.
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| Years ago the City approved LIME BIKES. Not now. This one is on Education Hill / credit Yoder |
My wife was walking our puppy near Hartman Park and saw a LIME e-Bike on the park grass. A City worker told her he hated them because they get in the way of his mower and they look bad. He complained when he reports them it takes 2-3 weeks before they're removed.
Mayor Birney mentioned about a month ago the City didn't have a contract with LIME for their bikes. New news. When the City had a contract the bikes looked like the one above, with a wire basket. The new ones have a lime-colored plastic basket usually with graffiti on the stem.
Council Member David Carson dislikes them and especially can't stand abandoned shopping carts. He promotes a City Facebook App for reporting pot holes, etc. to customer service. I'll try to find it for you. In the meantime email Info@redmond.gov for customer service.
-- Bob Yoder, 10/21/2022
It seems like only yesterday this earthquake shook the homes and schools on Education Hill. My wife, Pam was in the clothes closet when it happened. I was out of town on business. Pam was on the "Earthquake Emergency Committee" at Horace Mann where my daughter attended. By the time she got to Mann the Principal had already moved the children out of the building; the Principal panicked so the gym teacher took over. The school's "emergency metal container" was opened but unused. Tents, triage materials, food etc. Pam and two other mom's phoned as many parents as they could. Pam guesses "the ground shook maybe 30 seconds." She said only a couple of students were panicky.
Our tri-level is next to the Bike Park. Apparently, the chandelier swung mildly. A weight-bearing beam in our 2-story rental on Ed. Hill cracked, shifted and had to be replaced.
Stephan A. Siebert, P.E. with Associated Earth Sciences, Inc. in Kirkland is an Associate Geotechnical Engineer. Mr. Siebert wrote in "Rosehill Cottages" Redmond project report:
Earthquakes occur in Puget Lowland with great regularity. Large, deep earthquakes occur as evidenced by the 1949, 7.2-magnitude event; the 1966, 6.5-magnitude event; and the 2001, *6.8-magnitude event. The deep 1949 earthquake appears to have been the largest in this area (Redmond) during recorded history. Evaluation of return rates indicates that an earthquake of a magnitude between 6.0 and 7.0 is likely every 25 to 40 years in the Puget Sound area.
Is it time the school district updates their earthquake preparedness safety manual?
Is it time the City of Redmond updates their earthquake preparedness safety manual?
-- Bob Yoder, 9/9/2022, opinion
Downtown Redmond sits on a three-six foot deep aquifer in places! video
San Francisco earthquake liquefication event video. Redmond's downtown aquifer has similar characteristics.
Seattle fault zone / 3 earthquake types in the Pacific Northwest. video
File: LWSD, COR
FINAL REPORT: COMPLETE DISCLOSURE, 9/12/2022
ORIGIONAL SOURCE: CITY PROJECTS, July, 2022
180th Ct NE and NE 105th Way. Education Hill Call 425-556-2776 to confirm
Beginning August 19, 2022, a City of Redmond contractor will place a slurry seal on 180th Ct NE and NE 105th Way. This is a pilot project to test the effectiveness of slurry seals as a pavement maintenance technique.
REDMOND, WA – Redmond’s signature summer festival, Derby Days, returns on July 8 and 9, 2022 at Redmond’s City Hall campus. This year’s event features live music, parades, carnival rides, local food, a beer and wine garden, and more. New this year will be a dedicated craft market with Urban Craft Uprising, elite bike races and kiddie kilo at the Jerry Baker Velodrome at Marymoor Park, and a virtual community bike race for all.
“I am excited for the return of Derby Days, our family-friendly festival that kicks off the summer,” said Mayor Angela Birney. “This event celebrates our community coming together again, in the spirit of friendly competition with the longest-running community bicycle race in the United States. We are proud to continue this legacy in 2022.”
Derby Days begins on Friday evening, July 8, with a lineup of live, local music, and a family-friendly 5K walk/run. Event attendees are invited to watch one of the races at Marymoor Park, then take a shuttle to City Hall to have dinner from the food trucks and booths, shop the craft market, and enjoy the Derby Days Beer and Wine Garden on opening night.
Saturday kicks off with the Kids’ Bike Parade - a tradition dating back to the first Derby Days in 1940 that ushers the way for the Derby Days Grand Parade directly after. Derby Days continues throughout the afternoon with live music, kids’ performances and activities, and carnival rides. Attendees can sign up for the Derby Days Cornhole Tournament in the Beer and Wine Garden, walk through the new craft market, and relax with the music from the main stage.
For additional details and information on how to participate, visit redmond.gov/DerbyDays or contact events@redmond.gov.
-- City press release
Derby Days was COVID cancelled in 2020 & 2021
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| Overlake's Verde Esterra Park to open January, 2022 / Yoder, 12/17/2021 |
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| The vision Capstone designed the park and ran it past Council and Parks & Trails Commission. The City won't maintain it. |
Verde at Esterra Park is a 634-unit residential development located in the Overlake community of Redmond, WA. The property abuts a 2.6-acre park and offers easy access to the region’s largest employer and to public transit. Verde at Esterra Park features 34,000 SF of outdoor amenity space, including two courtyards, two rooftop decks, and a central mews. Interior amenities include a collaborative working space and an on-premise bike shop. Bike-friendly facilities and easy access to public transit help reduce residents’ dependence on vehicles.
Verde at Esterra Park takes the site’s challenging grade and transforms it into a celebrated feature, with unique stepping of the building masses mimicking the natural landforms and patterns of the Sammamish Valley. The development’s folded planes maximize solar exposure for units and frame memorable vignettes of the park and surrounding context. Amenity spaces and exterior courtyards are located adjacent to the park to enable interaction with nature.
Website information: "If you could design your own park, (Esterra Park) what would you include? Exercise, music, food trucks, restaurant pop-ups, gathering spots, a comfortable work area, green space? We agree with you. When completed in 2022, The Park will have all that and more."
Yoder, 12/17/2021
Guy emphasized the importance of "promenades" for connecting a hierarchy of streets. Promenades are not boulevards but important avenues with canopy and wider (20')sidewalks. The Parks Director and Mayor Ives talked with excitement about street-side cafes, book stores, spilling over onto wider sidewalk promenades. (Thank you COVID for the later.)
Guy suggested improving the "green ring" along the Sammamish River by softening the eastern slope of the river with a more gradual grade to "get out of the ditch". He suggested building a bike/running trail on the west side to allow for more passive activities on the eastern slope. He thought Luke McRedmond Park had great potential. [He failed to point out King County has jurisdiction over the river corridor.]
Mayor Birney and Council, please zone for greater use of promenades, wider sidewalks and bike lanes, specifically in the Nelson Master Plan and SE Redmond Neighborhood (where new schools are planned.) Thank you. B. Yoder
READ MORE for the abridged Berger report and my opinion:
Heron Rookery adjacent Leary Way
I was one of the few public attending the "Downtown Parks Open House" meeting on April 24 at the Old Redmond School House. (It was posted on the city website).
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| Ashford Trail evergreen saplings |
Last week, I was surprised and happy to see a planting of ~60 evergreen sapling trees on the south side of the trail. Most of them were hard to spot but the orange tape helped. Can you see the three trees in this picture? After much back-and-forth Customer Service confirmed they were planted by the Green Redmond Partnership three years ago.
Two City of Redmond water barrels were visible in the woods. City staff probably tied on the orange tape to mark for watering. Despite severe heat this summer the trees looked healthy. It's nice to know the City and Green Redmond forest steward (?) are looking after the saplings.
Additional Green Redmond Community tree planting programs are planned for the Fall of this year:
9/25, Smith Woods / 10/30, Smith Woods / 10/30, Ferrel-McWhirter
-- Bob Yoder, 9/5/2021
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| A typical downtown Spokane sidewalk. We saw one dude riding two scooters, one on each foot. |
Now, Redmond is another story. Land close to light rail is expensive and finite. Thus, 6-8 story buildings are crammed into our downtown, with razor thin set-backs, and narrow sidewalks. Even bike lanes are scant. Scooting is sketchy unless you move very slowly or take to the streets. Owing to their versatility and our needs, scooters could one day swarm our downtown streets and roads.
-- Bob Yoder, Photo, 8/25/2021
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A good leader is trusted and respected by his employees. I've known Steve for years and watch city council meetings religiously. Steve is a good listener and as Chief of Staff will guide well. He will hire the right people. Steve gives encouragement and the tools staff needs to grow in their careers and to give tax-payers their best. | Derby Days/ Credit C.O.R. |
| Rockn' On The River/ Credit C.O.R. |
| So Bazaar, Credit/ C.O.R. |
