Comments on: They call it a city for a reason…

by: JenMoon

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:23:23 +0000

My comments: “oh, please, yes” and “tell me who my neighbors are opposing this so I can start canvassing”. The only reason I don’t visit the Bottleneck more often is it’s too far a walk in the dark tipsy. I live 2 blocks from 25th and Union as do about 10 of my friends. This would be such a great thing for us and the right vibe as well especially if they serve a little food.

The more the merrier on Union. More establishments will upgrade the neighborhood and get more eyes, not fewer.

by: mistamatic

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:03:12 +0000

I took a chance and emailed the LCB regarding the Tryst lounge getting a license at 24th & Union and it seems to have worked fine…got a response and everything:

MVG@LIQ.WA.GOV

The guy handling the comments is actually named Merwil V. Guzman, so people may want to change whose attn: the mail goes to.

by: johna

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:02:21 +0000

And like NBeacon John I’m not implying that Tryst would be anything other than a positive force in the neighborhood. My point was that encouraging neighborhood congregation is not in and of itself a good thing - there are complicating factors involved. I’ve lived in neighborhoods that have been slowly taken over by drugs and crime, and had the experience of dreading yet another place opening that caters to that element. There was actually a bar in Brooklyn near my friend’s house called “Cokie’s” - not the kind of place you’d want to spend any time at all.

The environment has to be one where all neighbors feel welcome. And I totally know that Tryst will be one of those places, and I’m confident that once the objecting neighbors find out what sort of establishment the owners intend on, er, establishing, they will be both relieved and excited. They just need to know. Unless this is simply mindless NIMBYism, in which case they should just be ignored.

by: NBeacon Jon

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:41:22 +0000

…and I don’t mean to infer the place will not be run well/look nice/be a positive addition to the community. I just pointed out what may be causing your neighbors concern. Heck, I’ll stop by on my way home probably when you open.
…but I won’t have too many else the Bianchi might get impounded.

by: Phuong

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:40:56 +0000

I live on 21st and Union and have noticed the big influx of “unsavory” activities since the clean up on Madison. The area in front of my house is a open air drug market. The idea of a bar like Tryst is welcomed in my eyes. The CD is need of an injection of spaces where the neighborhood can come together. People on the streets be it bangers or neighbors is a good thing. Most of those bangers and their family have been in this neighborhood way longer then any of us and they gotta eat too. I have no problems with the dealers…they’ve been doing it forever and I don’t expect that to change. This NIMBY thing is just gotta push it to another area anyways. Why not deal with it for what it is. As long as we get out on the streets like trekking down to our neighborhood watering hole, then we are creating a more vibrant neighborhood. We are the ones that can make it safe by engaging our neighbors and neighborhood bangers. Erin and Rebecca, I’ll be writing into the liquor board supporting you guys. Let’s keep that space on the up and up when you get it up.

by: Dave

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:55:18 +0000

Re: Bobby at (3)
I’ll point you to the relevent RCW http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.61.790

According to the law, riding on a bike while intoxicated is not strictly illegal. If an officer pulls over a cyclist who they suspect of being intoxicate they officer may offer to transport the rider home. If the rider declines, the officer may choose to impound the riders bicycle “if the officer determines that impoundment is necessary to reduce a threat to public safety.”

Re: johna at (6)

I’m not against our neighbors having input into the type of establishments opened in our neighborhood. My annoyance is with the NIMBYs who object to any option that doesn’t fit their narrow single family view of the world. Bars can be very positive additions to neighborhoods, especially bars such as the bottleneck that have a really nice chilled, laid back vibe. We’re not talking about opening another Deano’s here.

by: johna

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:56:48 +0000

I think your points are generally true, but simplistic. As NBeacon Jon (#4) points out, this is a more complicated situation than it seems. I think some people around here know, as certainly everyone around 23rd and Union does, that that area has declined precipitously over the last couple of years. Primarily because, as people worked to clean up the Madison Ave corridor (which, ironically, is what made places like the Bottleneck and Crush possibly profitable), 23rd and Union has had the misfortune of soaking up most of the badness from the corner formerly know as Deano’s.

In this context, it’s easy to see the neighbor’s opposition - who wants another Deano’s, especialy on their block? I think if you filter most of their statements through the idea of a Deano’s type of experience, their anti-local neighborhood points all of a sudden become very real and valid.

Now, anyone who knows Erin and Rebecca at all knows that they would never open anything remotely Deano’s like; I mean just look at the name - “Tryst”. But still, this requires getting to know them, so unless they’re willing to do the outreach to the community, I think this kind of opposition is natural and justified, albeit in this case unfortunate and misguided.

by: Sabina Pade

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:55:26 +0000

On the contrary, NBJon, bars are precisely the sort of public places policemen, uniformed and non-uniformed alike, can frequent with an eye to the goings-on in a neighbourhood.

by: NBeacon Jon

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:28:29 +0000

Well, maybe, just maybe now, they are considering the neighborhood as a whole? Have you actually been to 25th and Union? I ride by there every day. Putting a bar there probably won’t help a struggling neighborhood that is already weary of crime.

by: Bobby

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:21:43 +0000

“People take cabs, ride bike and walk”

So when is bike riding under the influence legal ?