Rain. Alex Pederson Town Hall. Disability

RantWoman is exactly the sort of transportation nerd who will get on a bus on a dark and stormy night, journey through Amazonia at rush hour, and sit for two hours at a public hearing about transit and parking and  community.

Thanks partly to Nephew's great experience at TOPS, and to other travel patterns, RantWoman has very positive views about the Eastlake neighborhood. RantWoman does not in the least regret spending a recent evening at TOPS School listening to newly elected Seattle City Council member Alex Pederson dodge and deflect and even sometimes provide answers to attendees' questions about Eastlake and the RapidRide J line. Also on the agenda: parking and bike lanes.

Full disclosure going in:

RantWoman, a transit-dependent non-driver is basically anti-parking--UNTIL someone reminds her increased stop spacing on the Rapid Ride lines does make it harder for people with mobility limitations to use those buses. RantWoman thinks adding some kind of neighborhood circulator to the conversation would be a great start.

RantWoman does not presume to know as much about where protected bike lanes should be as the bicycle advocates. However as a bus passenger with limited vision RantWoman sometimes finds it scary to be on a bus with a bicyclist in front of the bus.

Here we get to the evening of the event.
RantWoman did not formulate any questions. That turned out not to be a calamity because the situation once again required RantWoman to be a bit of a bitch about sound and audio: if one sits off to the side and yells "Please use the mic" every time someone in the audience cannot be heard or everytime someone at the front of the room forgets to use the mic or forgets to repeat an audience member's question, that behavior probably gets in the way of having space for one's other legit questions anyway.

RantWoman here collects some links about the event.

Cyclists Pack Eastlake Town Hall The C is for Crank

RantWoman notes many tweets from The Urbanist but a fast check did not yield any whole articles at TheUrbanist.org

RantWoman found CM Pederson's presentation confusing in one respect: he spoke of the Move Seattle Levy and Transportation Benefit District. Both relate to funding but RantWoman found it hard to relate the different modes of travel under discussion to one or the other or both of these funding streams. The event's intro mentioned CM Pederson's previous experience with fiscal accountability so RantWoman hopes that future meetings will be a little clearer about why the funding streams are in the conversation, what projects are connected with each one.

RantWoman promised the Twitterverse some comments about disability and accessibility. RantWoman promises to be an equal opportunity ranter.

1. RantWoman does not track names very well but noticed in tweets ahead of the event a moment of what RantWoman would call "disability policing" in reference to a member of the Eastlake Community Council who appears to be able-bodied. A tweet says he does not have a disabled parking placard even though he talks a lot about parking as benefit for people with disabilities. Hello. Hidden disabilities are a thing. Maybe he has a family member with a mobility impairment. Maybe he is aging and cannot walk very far and wants places to park instead of , say, stops on a neighborhood circulator bus. In any case, please spare RantWoman the disability policing from others.

2. Reading urls and emails ath the beginning or at the end of an event or both are a HUGE #Accessibility measure. The Google exists of course, but some people cannot spell or can write something down more easily than type it in.

3. Movable mic systems cost less than $1000 and might be a good investment.

4. RantWoman suggests that CM Pederson and others who want to attend his events check with lawyers about first amendment issues in connection with the content of people's signs. RantWoman also thinks bolder print on signs would be awesome.

5. Note to self: check out what defines whether a meeting such as the Eastlake community council is a public meeting.

Checklist to prepare for President Xi's visit

RantWoman checklist in preparation for this week's visit by Chinese President Xi Jimping:

1. Follow the advice of Mayor Murray, the Seattle Department of Transportation, and half the transportation threads in RantWoman's tweet stream and Prepare for massive traffic disruptions at unpredictable times throughout President Xi's visit.

2. Warn everyone else in RantWoman's orbit and then remind them that the schedule of disruptions will not be publicized and no, RantWOman does not really have any advice. Metro will know where to go.

3. Read up on non-profits and the third sector in China so that next time rantWoman is tempted to open her mouth about the topic there will be increased odds that RantWoman will sound halfway intelligent. RantWoman may wind up stopping with Blindness. Oh Well.


iChinaForum interview with Mark Sidel: 3rd sector at 40,000 feet

Old item from Braille Without Borders about the documentary Blindsight

Braille Without Borders Current Newsletter and Annual Report page

CNN story

WHO article about Blindness in China

Transition Planning for youth with disabilities in Asia

4. Abandon quest for more detail; hope if any people with disabilities actually get to meet President Xi, someone thinks to ask him about independent organizations that serve people with disabilities.

5. Lecture privacy watchdog via Twitter:
a. Assume, based on actual RantWoman Life Experience, anyone who really wants to protest President Xi's visit has already taken into account the search and security regime.
b. Yeah, yeah, warrantless searches.... but live on the fly during the event, do you really expect to get anywhere?
c. There's warrantless searches and there is have you ever tried to search on anything in China? Not saying people in the US should automatically surrender freedom of movement, but maybe could we all please target our energy...?

6. Return to all the threads of life and diversity on steroids and gnarly personnel and privacy and telecommunications issues at the Friendly Neighborhood Center for Extreme Computing.


Welcome to Seattle President Xi!

#ChinesePresident

National Braille Press, China Braille press sponsor exhibit at WTBBL in conjunction with President Xi's visit.

The exhibit below is occurring in conjunction with the visit to Seattle of Chinese President Xi jimping. RantWoman used the search engine of her choice in an effort to check the spelling of President Xi's name and also came across the following item about traffic issues.

 

KING 5 story about traffic issues during President Xi's visit.

So definitely see the exhibit, but be careful about traffic tie-ups!

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Jiayi Fang

JFang@nbp.org

617-425-2436

National Braille Press will be a co-sponsor of the Chinese and American Braille Publications Exchange Exhibition in Seattle, Washington

(September 18, 2015) Boston, MA – National Braille Press announced today that the non-profit braille publisher will be a co-sponsor of the Chinese and American Braille Publications Exchange Exhibition in Seattle, Washington. The exhibition will take place at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, starting September 21, 2015. This exciting new exhibit will promote braille literacy among children and adults.

“We are pleased to work with our friends at China Braille Press to share ideas, cultural publications, and look into different technologies that support braille in the Digital World.” said Brian Mac Donald, President of National Braille Press. The exhibition will highlight the importance of braille literacy, showing the history of braille, its future with technology, and why it is important for education, employment and greater independence.

National Braille Press is dedicated to producing print braille and braille accessible technology. As technology advances, we understand the importance of developing new technology products for the blind and visually impaired. The b2g (braille to go) is a new, more affordable, braille accessible, technology computer that will be demonstrated during the exhibition. It is a 20 cell, portable, android braille computer that will be launching soon.

The exhibition is open from 8:30am - 5:00pm, Monday - Friday. The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library is located at 2021 9^th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121. Parking will be available in the garage. For more information, please visit www.nbp.org or www.wtbbl.org.

ABOUT NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS

A non-profit braille publisher, National Braille Press promotes literacy for blind children through outreach programs and provides access to information by producing information in braille for blind children and adults. www.nbp.org

###

Jiayi Fang

Marketing Communications Manager

National Braille Press

88 St. Stephen Street

Boston, MA 02115

617-425-2436 Direct

617-437-0456 Fax

Center for Braille Innovation

www.nbp.org

Connect with us!

Visit our new blog

Fourth of July, Fabulous, with Pho

Excursion time!

Cien puntos to RantMom!


Never mind. RantMom will take 10 points in English and let someone else go overboard in Spanish.RantMom gets all these props for:

--chatting with her neighbor early in the day on the Fourth

--picking up suggestions for a promised RantWomen, RantMom + RantWoman excursion for our Fourth of July activity

--finding a free on First Thursdays stop at MOHAI on Lake Union
(also expressing interest in more free museum activities so RantWoman has something concrete to cheerlead RantMom about as RantMom learns some increments of skill about how to do internet searching. But don't tell RantMom; RantWoman wants RantMom to stay motivated and MAYBE have fun. So Shhhhh!)
--plotting the route to the museum (Rt 7 plus SLUT) because she already knew the way from picking up Irrepressible Nephew from sailing at the Center for Wooden Boats.

And all of this without even once expecting RantWoman to look things up for her!

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Congratulations to RantMom for ALMOST going native.

Plus RantMom definitely enjoyed learning some WA / Seattle history she has not previously taken the opportunity to interact with.

RantWoman for her part was charmed by:

--signage with decent contrast and large enough font that RantWoman could read as much as she wanted (less than the total available, but still...)

--a dress worn by some kind of pioneer, someone who was tall.

--several exhibits with audio elements RantWoman could just listen to and not try to focus visually about.



Okay, so RantMom brought along her wheeled backpack for RantWoman to keep trying not to trip over. And the holiday crowds included LOTS of children zigzagging around without even thinking about Ambassador Thwack. RantWoman found this tiring enough to think about something grilled and smoky from all the food vendors, but a place to sit, air conditioning, and getting home away from the madding crowds before the fireworks started all seemed like REALLY good ideas.

Back onto the SLUT and the #7. The first Pho place was closed so on to Columbia City and Rainier Pho, a place RantWoman ALWAYS esteems for cheerful cleanliness, easy fast service, and piping hot broth. Both the RantWoman seemed to be afflicted with some kind of hacking respiratory crud so the soup was partly just to steam out our breathing passages. Check, with RantWoman's nose for several hours of Pho spices and jalapeno slices!



Is there photographic evidence?

Umm, not so much. RantMom has a brand new Smartphone. RantWoman has a slightly less new underused but not entirely satisfactory tablet with TWO cameras for RantWoman still not to know how to use. For the RantWomen to be able to use either one of these, there would have had to be some Read the (__) Manual. It was a bright sunny day and the RantWomen had better things to do. oops, well.


Just so the world knows, RantWoman did engage in her minimum daily requirement of geekspeak as follows:

--RantWoman's friend GrandMa FF who came to visit in the morning got a new om-puter, a new Mac. GrandMa FF is flummoxed by new vocabulary: to GrandMa FF, a conversation is that live thing that happens between two people. Wrapping her mind aroung the idea of a conversation showing a whole email exchange together was definitely a daring venture into new territory.

--RantWoman was in orbit Wednesday night. Her spiffy new DSL / somewhat higher speed internet modem arrived Wednesday afternoon. RantWoman opened the box Wednesday night and decided further interaction needed some sleep and more daylight. RantWoman got back to modem installation when she got home after her day's adventure on the Fourth. Installation was mercifully uneventful, if you don't count that genre of fascinating reading called the End User License Agreement. RantWoman is such a nerd. She STRONGLY prefers to read every word of such things.

This time RantWoman was also sort of desultorily listening for the part where the NSA gets permission to data mine all the transaction metadata. RantWoman did not find this, but she did find several places references to call centers that might be outside the US where privacy regulations are different. Oh sure! Once it's outside the US, the NSA standards for monitoring are even freer.

O come on! RantWoman has been near some pretty terrible tech support calls; even RantWoman's flair for hyperbole at least would not call them terrorism. RantWoman hopes any NSA types who happen upon such streams either die of boredom or move on quickly!



Happy Fourth!

AFB Survey about Travel Website Accessibility

RantWoman is unclear from the text how long this sruvey is open. RantWoman has much to say but may not get around to it. RantOWman assumes other readers also have much to say.


Reminder--You're Invited!
Take AFB Survey on Accessibility of Travel-Related Websites

For further information, contact:

Mark Richert, Esq.
Director, Public Policy, AFB
(202) 469-6833
MRichert@afb.net

While you're recovering from New Year's celebrations and all the travel from this holiday season, consider taking a few moments to complete AFB's survey on the relative accessibility and usability of travel-related websites. Whether you are an occasional Internet user, a regular web surfer, are someone who's blind or visually impaired, or a family member, friend or colleague of someone who is, visit:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AFBTravelSurvey  

Tell us your story. What online travel services have you used? How accessible/usable have you found them to be? The sites we hope to hear about from you include everything from airline, bus, and hotel sites, to commuter rail, cruiseline, and so-called aggregator sites, websites that help users comparison shop among travel providers and book reservations and purchase tickets. Your participation, and that of your family, friends, colleagues, students and clients with whom we hope you'll share this invitation, will help AFB assess the areas of greatest need for improvements in the accessibility of these popular online offerings.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Potluck!

RantWoman wants to thank someone she does not know for sharing her Allentown condo's community space with a RantWoman potluck group. This gesture was Plan B in the face of monsoon season: we had planned to visit the P-patch a member of our group tends, but the weather was decidedly uncooperative and the diners decidedly more the polite indoor types than hardy plucky dine out in any weather anywhere nature freaks. A group courtesy resulted in someone not even getting invited to the party, an oversight we resolved at some point to correct.

RantWoman's readers may guess from the text below that RantWoman could be expected to go all Dial-a-Tirade about Allentown. RantWoman COULD do that, but she really is sincerely grateful for an opportunity to visit and not as displeased as she might have predicted about many features of the neighborhood.

First, RantWoman is exceedingly fond of the number 8 bus route, both in terms of companion mix and travel route. RantWoman hopped the northbound 8 and settled in for a great chat with someone she knows and then settled in again when someone got off. RantWoman does not understand why anyone would drive along Denny Way and is continually baffled by the vast hordes who do when they could bound aboard the bus instead.

RantWoman was gratefully delivered to the stop closest to REI in time to go wander around the REI waterfall noises for a good bit. RantWoman appreciates options for instance either to further do the kayak and life preserver thing or, if one is a city kid like RantWoman, not. Even RantWoman though gets to seize some soothed nerves and the whispers of mountaineering fantasy embodied in pickax doorhandles and other touches for the urbanite proto-outdoorsperson.

Speaking of urbanite proto-outdoorsperson, RantWoman was too lazy to go look at footwear. However, one of RantWoman's more rainworthy bags, the one that most closely approximates a purse, is undergoing peculiarly entertaining decay at all seams and load-bearing points. RantWoman does not want to tell RantMom whose gift the decaying bag was, that RantWoman might have predicted this sort of accelerated decay at the outset. RantWoman is meditating about either herself or RantMom taking up needle and thread to halt and revers the decay. RantWoman, though may sease the meditating and just start scoping out preferred merchandise and dropping rather directive hints as holiday gift-giving season rolls around.

RantWoman was delighted to see several bags she can imagine fitting the bill--except for ONE issue: RantWoman demands enhanced reflectivity and would be thrilled, thrilled to find such built into the design of bags, all bags, including purselike bags, not limited to blaring bicycle messenger bags andurbane backpacks. RantWoman realizes in retrospect she may have been looking in the wrong section or she may just have to keep adding her own reflectivity measures, but a girl likes to dream.

A girl likes to dream, but if REI is supposed to summon hints of wilderness into the urban wildlands, it was time for RantWoman to return to such outdoors as was available in Allentown. In RantWoman's travels among Seattle's various emerging "urban villages," RantWoman has noticed an awful lot of big ugly box buildings with no balconies, no window boxes, NOTHING either to break up massive facades or to hold plant life closer to individual units, the way RantWoman remebers seeing in a few close old cities in Europe.

One of the things RantWoman has liked about observing the erection of big towers in Allentown is that a pretty substantial percentage of the new buildings seem to include lots of balconies and other forms of construction interest, as well as a decent start on nice greenery at ground level. RantWoman also liked the second floor balcony she visited lined with delightful potted plants.

RantWoman appreciated the enthusiasm of the friendly couple who, when RantWoman and Thwack needed to check our orientation, bubbled about just turning left at the end of an alley to get to the P-patch. RantWoman was unsure which form of "across from the P-patch: would apply and had incorrectly recorded a key phone number. RantWoman's approach in such situations is generall to go somewhere more or less in the vicinity of her destination and just act tall and see whether the people she intends to meet will find her. This worked fine in this case, though those who found RantWoman were less interested in strolling in the P-patch than in removing themselves from spitting rain. Sigh.

More of our group emerged from cars and recounted our travel adventures. RantWoman spoke of the #8 bus instead of the Light Rail and the SLUT. South Lake Union brand identity types: RantWoman has a suggestion for what to call the streetcar. It's a suggestion that even makes a nice acronym. RantWoman wants there to be a contest or some kind of way to benefit from this intellectual property. Unfortunately RantWoman is not a terribly competent capitalist and possibly could be bribed with a latte or something of that ilk. Perhaps it is enough that those assembled had already had enough of a conversation about the SLUT before the couple newest to town arrived so the new couple will have to wait to hear the story. Maybe the right person will buy RantWoman a latte and the new couple can get about noting loftier elements of Seattle culture.

There followed a lovely filling multi-ethnic meal with tasty and absolutely nutritious items from all major food groups and even moderately in conformance with that new-fangled food pyramid thingie. RantWoman was so well-fed and so well nourished conversationally that she is simply going to leave her readers imaginations to handle the rest of the evening. Hah. RantWoman has one more digression!


In keeping with the general meme of software gazillionaires, RantWoman is collecting performance info about various combinations of accessibility software and operating system version in public sites.... RantWoman finds it peculiarly helpful to know that "everyone" in town, defined for this conversation as more than one location, is having trouble with the latest upgrades and shotgun marriages of different products the naive and optimistic user MIGHT think ought to work as desired out of the box. But perhaps this is enough grousing about software matters and RantWoman should just shut up for the weekend and enjoy the view at her potluck.

"Disappointing"

RantMom rode the SLUT! She took Irrepressible Grandson with her on a SLUT excursion. RantMom of course referred to it as The Streetcar.


RantMom has not really lived in Seattle long enough to remember that other Streetcar, the Waterfront Streetcar lately displaced by the Sculpture Park and transmogrified into those green buses that run along the downtown waterfront. RantMom is also probably too polite to call anything "the SLUT," not even if she listens to enough RantWoman tirades.


Why does RantMom pronounce the SLUT "disappointing?" The odds of waterfront contact look promising as the SLUT heads down Westlake but then it just veers into the rest of the Mercer Mess. The SLUT goes halfway to anything interesting and then just stops and turns around. The SLUT goes nowhere near any actual waterfront. All of its stops are out in the middle of concrete, separated from actual waterfront by acres of parking lot.


RantMom noted one destination she might be interested in, the Center for Wooden Boats. Alas, although the voice calling the stops is clear and crisply articulated, it omits the kind of tourist orientation and mention of interesting destinations that many bus drivers provide. RantMom had no idea where to get off for the Center for Wooden Boats so she and The Boy just rode to the end and turned around.

Talk about disappointing. South Lake Union includes several dining establishments. Well, RantWoman just does not picture RantMom introducing the grandson to Hooters. There is a yacht brokerage which RantWoman cannot imagine needing. There is a nice path along the lake and a tiny patch of something that could charitably seem like a park.

RantWoman long ago used to work out at a gym that no longer exists at the south end of Lake Union. RantWoman many times walked along the lake to her great delight. Well at times there have been those "protected (non)migratory waterfowl (geese) about in great number and bestowing their droppings all over the path. This was some time ago though and RantWoman wonders whether the forces of progress have had any impact on the geese. RantWoman supposes she could ask Irrepressible Nephew... Maybe she will just help RantMom choose other cheap destinations.

Riding the Purple SLUT

RantWoman did it. She rode the SLUT. er the South Lake Union Streetcar both to and from her afternoon in Allentown.

RantWoman repeats her advice re terminology: if people call it the SLUT, just go with it and see where that takes you. Unfortunate acronyms notwithstanding, RantWoman could in fact like the trolley thought quite a bit and not only on phonetic grounds. True, around Seattle "trolley" mostly means workhorse electric-powered, or sometimes underpowered bus coaches on center city bus routes. The trolleys drop their wires, some of them bounce really well on bad pavement. They go out of service at the first hint of ice or snow.

In other words, "trolley" conjures associations that only a diehard transit nut would really feel warm and fuzzy about, and something pristine and modern could be a welcome conceptual upgrade.

RantWoman rode the orange train out and the purple train back. She can definitely attest that they are modern. RantWoman could not exactly figure out what was supposed to happen as far as paying her fare with her ORCA card, but who would quibble with a free ride?

RantWoman especially likes the full-throated pre-recorded electronic voice calling the stops in clear well-articulated English. If pre-recorded stops became the norm, RantWoman would miss some drivers' editorializing as they call the stops and some preacherly delivery and other entertaining variations. On the other hand, RantWoman is all for integrating newcomers well into the fabric of our society, including hiring anyone who can handle the transit driving realities. Alas, some drivers have accents that strain even RantWoman's deep familiarity with her mother tongue spoken as a second language. RantWoman would not mind in the least relieving these drivers of stop-calling duties.

Then we come to other dimensions of the phrase "riding the purple SLUT." All RantWoman can think of is a protest song she used to be around a lot about "We're shameless hussies and we don't give a damn. We're loud and we're raucous and...." RantWoman will spare the blog the rest of the song, although she does think there could be some party potential here: fill the purple SLUT with a lot of boisterous women singing the shameless hussies song at an 80's protest nostalgia party. Well, it could work...at least once.

Meanwhile, RantWoman notes the top of the hour news that NOW has elected Terry O'Neill its new president. RantWoman has no opinion one way or another about the two slates of candidates. RantWoman has historically liked that NOW is a strong active organization, but RantWoman has for a number of reasons, not just her buddies and the shameless hussies song, not really been at the center of NOW campaigns. But who knows...?

Taking the SLUT to WTBBL

RantWoman's father, time was, as a nonprofit media strategy sometimes used to say "I don't care what you say about me, just keep saying it." True enough, the non-profit was a symphony that otherwise steered clear of scandal and slander and more than average levels of innuendo. Still, RantWoman offers that thought to the perpetrators of the SLUT, the South Lake Union Streetcar or another much more felicitous acronym RantWoman is considering trying to get paid for.

RantWoman still thinks the SLUT is silly and duplicates bus lines all over the place. RantWoman still thinks it's a goshdang civic decoration when some other areas of town with already proven ridership still need more bus hours. RantWoman thinks the SLUT is a lame approach to all the economic and policy imperatives colliding in the Mercer Mess. RantWoman voted at least TWICE against panhandling by billionaires and could certainly drum up further tirades in that vein.

RantWoman is even peeved that the SLUT connects directly with exactly 0 of the buses she rides regularly. RantWoman could certainly add a transfer to something in the tunnel and connect with the SLUT at Westlake. However, unless RantWoman is seized with an irresistible imperative that she categorically MUST ride the SLUT, like as not when RantWoman gets on the road she is going to take potluck and just walk from a bus stop.

However, in the interest of giving the SLUT a fair shake, RantWoman is, when the occasion coincides, willing to try it. Today MAY be such an occasion. Today from 12-2 at the Washington Talking Book and Braille library WTBBL is Friend Day at the local chapter of the American Council of the Blind. (RantWoman actually cannot keep chapters straight and is not necessarily in the market for more meetings to go to, so she apologizes for lack of precision on this point.)

This morning's web-based reconnoitering yielded several cool things. First over the last several years, WTBBL has undergone some organizational shifts. In the picture was, charitably, a real estate land grab and a misguided effort to move the physical location to Olympia completely inaccessible to the 400-some volunteers who contribute thousands of hours of dedicated volunteer service annually to keep the place open. Now WTBBL is administered by the WA Secretary of State. RantWoman notes this because enhanced web presence appears to be a huge benefit of this change. Several different topical links show up directly in a Google search. The Homepage looks like it is designed for services in the 21st century. Directions include excellent descriptions of how to get to the place via several bus routes and even the SLUT. What is not to like!

Streets for People

RantWoman is having one of her RantWoman moments having to whine and grumble, complain, moan and generally rain on the parade of something she would really like to support .

RantWoman was thinking of going to something called the Streets for People Kickoff Forum tonight. Well RantWoman was thinking about it until she was overcome by inertia, possibly irrational skepticism of things she cannot find info about anywhere but Facebook and healthy desire for pedestrian self-preservation.

This event hosted by The Seattle Great City Initiative and sponsored by The Cascade Bicycle Club Feetfirst , and the Sierra Club is just oozing with worthwhileness. It is all about cheerleading for campaigns to make cities more friendly for pedestrians and bicyclists. See Streets for People
Oops. Finally. RantWoman finally interacted with enough of the Facebook entry to find the link Streets for People Kickoff Party link.

The inertia needs no excuse. It's just inertia. RantWoman is not crazy about it, but it happens.

The problem finding the link is illustrative of RantWoman's general problem about relying on her eyeballs which she already has ample reason to realize are highly unreliable and her general hurry and impatience with reading whole webpages with her screenreader. Whine.

But the real problem as far as RantWoman is concerned is that an event all about pedestrian and bicycle friendliness was held at the The Armory on Lake Union which is a strong contender for most pedestrian-unfriendly venue in Seattle. There is a bike trail there. RantWoman thinks, from having encountered railroad tracks there once previously in the summer time when evenings are long that The South Lake Union Streetcar may go nearby in at least one direction. Once one gets TO the building across a giant parking lot and other impedimentia, there is a lovely gentl park with some frontage on the lake. The building itself is a tolerably pleasant venue with nice wood floors and a nice feel.

Unfortunately, The Armory on Lake Union isllocated right in the middle of the Mercer Mess, a vast exercise in getting cars on and off various freeways, state highways, city streets. This area is long on cars doing God knows what in all directions and short on sidewalks, marked crosswalks and pedestrian-friendly traffic signals. Except for the The South Lake Union ...(never mind) all of the bus routes that stop nearby involve at least one alarming street crossing either going or coming from the venue. In other words, despite the obvious defacto exhortation to work harder for one's cause, careless pedestrians face severe risk of... while on their way to cheerlead for pedestrian-friendliness.

Or they stay home and whine in their blogs.

Upon sober and better-rested reflection, RantWoman admits that imagining anything about pedestrian friendliness in the same sentence with the Mercer Mess may define quixotic. That is what imagination is for!