Dissolving Character

Today I walked from my house, where no less than 18 new townhouses are in various stages of development within 3 lots of us in all directions, a few blocks to 52nd street, near 15th Ave N.W. across from the old Bardahl plant, with its great, '50's-era, art deco neon sign.

There was a little storefront there, probably no more than 1200 sq. ft. which sold used tools and machinery. You could buy all sorts of stuff there including antique wooden planes , old drill presses, hand augers with the big 1 - 1/2" bits, electric motors, and all sorts of stuff in between you wouldn't think you could find anymore. It was the sort of place which separated Ballard from other neighborhoods and made Ballard much more interesting than, say, boutique-studded Wallingford, let alone the suburbs, which are nothing more than chain-store fiefdoms.

We still have Ness Crane, with it's huge vehicles breaking up the streets and the venerable Bardahl plant. The little neon sign place down 9th is still there near the welding supply place , and Tacoma Screw down Leary.

But the town houses are rising up like fir trees growing past the alder saplings to block out their sun and destroy them. As they say on Nightline; ". . .sign of the times."