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Rain, rain, (Don’t) Go Away
April 28, 2017 /I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Seattle’s had quite a lot of rain recently. For the second year in a row, Seattle has broken a century-plus record for rainfall, enduring almost 50 inches of rain since the beginning of October. Usually, the city gets just over 30 inches by this time, so it would be an understatement to suggest that it’s been moist lately. In fact, the whole of Western Washington seems to have been caught in the deluge. Quillayute in Clallam County, for instance, has received more than 100 inches of rain since the beginning of October, or more than 10 feet. To put that number in perspective, if you were to clone me (because why not?) and perch my double on top of my shoulders, our combined height would be only slightly taller than the amount of rain that’s fallen in Quillayute. Some of you (all the transplants from California, I expect) might balk at this veritable monsoon. However, I’ll take the opportunity to be bold and suggest that life in Seattle is at its finest when experienced under a constant curtain of drizzle. I’ve already written about how much I love rain in Seattle, so I…Read more
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Pike Place Market
April 21, 2017 /For a long time, I only went to Pike Place Market when my extended family from the East Coast visited Seattle, which might be the reason I’ve since avoided it for much of my adult life. Don’t get me wrong: I love my family, and I never felt any ill-will toward the Market. If anything, I essentially forgot about Pike Place’s existence, writing it off as a tourist novelty that didn’t warrant attention from a Puget Sound native. Never mind that I was actually from New Jersey, and probably would have spent my life there if my parents hadn’t decided to relocate to the Emerald City (I imagine one of them randomly looking up from the newspaper and saying something like, “Hey, wouldn’t it be swell if we moved to the rainiest corner of the country?”); no, in my mind I was already a true Seattleite, and I couldn’t be bothered by tourist attractions. Of course, whenever my uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins gathered in the Northwest for reunions, Pike Place was always their destination of choice. On one memorable family outing, everyone insisted on visiting Pike Place’s Starbucks, famous for being the business’ original location. It’s also…Read more
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Spring Has Sprung!
April 14, 2017 /Why Spring is the Best Time to Sell your Home Spring has sprung, and Americans around the country are emerging from winter sluggishness and preparing for a season of renewed vigor and activity. While this idealistic portrait might not totally fit reality (if you’re like me, it takes a few months and several strong cups of coffee to fully shake off winter hibernation), spring is still the perfect time to resume productivity after a long break. Unsurprisingly, spring is also one of the best times to sell your home. If you’re trying to sell your home this spring, Pickett Street’s talented team can help. However, before you go on the market, it helps to know exactly why selling your home while the garden blossoms is a winning move. Capital Curb Appeal Winter’s dreary procession of cold weather rarely improves a home’s curb appeal. Mounds of snow kill grass, torrents of rain flood the yard, and that chronic lack of sun isn’t doing your flowers any favors. As such, a house just doesn’t look as appealing from the outside, and so buyers are going to be much less motivated to explore it. That’s bad news for an owner trying to sell…Read more
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Neighborhood Profile: Mercer Island
April 7, 2017 /In the not so distant past, Native American traditions held that Mercer Island was not only a refuge of ghosts, but also prone to sinking into the waters of Lake Washington overnight, only to emerge in the morning. Since enduring a nightly dunk in the briny would be something of an annoyance, it’s hardly surprising that settlement of Mercer Island occurred relatively late compared to the rest of the Puget Sound region. Now, the island is one of the most popular parts of the Seattle area, a reputation that has no doubt been buoyed by the island’s apparent reluctance to sink beneath the waves. Drifting in the middle of Lake Washington has allowed Mercer Island to escape suburban sprawl and maintain a small-town feel in the midst of an urban metropolis. The island’s population hovers just above 24,000 residents, and the community enjoys a calm, peaceful atmosphere. Despite its slower pace of life, Mercer Island’s close proximity to Seattle’s downtown makes it easy to commute to the city for work or recreation. However, Mercer Island has plenty of its own attractions, making it easy to stick around and bypass the city altogether. Just because it’s tucked away from downtown Seattle…Read more
