# Condominiums as the Pillars of the Emerald City
Stewards ofOz
Jacqueline Cleveland
I was almost a product of the San Francisco Bay area. Now before you start slinging Niner jokes, let me tell you my mother was whisked north from what is now Raider Nation by a handsome Seattle man in an Air Force Uniform in 1968. They established their family in Seahawks Nation. Married for 45 years this December, they raised my sister and I in the Emerald City, in a little north end neighborhood called Ballard—the same zip code my father grew up in—in a house his uncle built, no less, in 1940s Seattle. I myself have not gone far, living blocks away from the house I grew up in. That little bungalow is now the home of another little family, and their little girl inherited the playhouse my father and grandfather built my sister and I when we were only knee high to the Lollipop Guild. My family back in the Bay are quick to remind me how lucky I am to live in Seattle— beautiful surroundings, supported growth of commerce and population by way of development—heck, they even begrudgingly admit the greatness of Russell “Dangeruss” Wilson. The PNW has always been the place to be, and is once again adapting to being the next big thing.
How my corner of the 206 has grown. Working in the condominium industry for the past decade would typically desensitize someone to the sight of cranes and concrete trucks lining the street in the early hours of the morning. My own view to the south to the Ballard core now boasts an enormous red crane splitting the east and west sides of 24th Avenue, with a new development quickly rising from the ground at miracle pace a full half-mile off the main drag of Market Street. Developments in many northwest neighborhoods are received by mixed praise—stunning urban growth and design do battle with fears of losing the identity of the distinct communities our grandparents built. Blue-collar industries now have to share their turf with professionals cultivating technology-driven commerce built on The Cloud. Never in a million years did I believe that what I would do as a career would have a direct impact on this sort of growth and change. The last ten years have brought me to the middle of it and I never had to leave home.
At quick glance of my favorite real estate site, 98107 (the downtown Ballard core zip code) had 44 listings active. Thirty-two of those listed were multifamily dwellings, with 72 percent of these listings within immediate walking distance of a hospital, local celebrity chef fare, the most highly subscribed public schools in the district, and multiple lines of public transportation to get you to the downtown
core and beyond in literally minutes. Parking is a premium, and the push for bicycle lanes, pedestrian access, and green spaces is the popular movement. Density, accessibility, culture, and family—the new breed of Ballardite wants it all and a hometown feel too.
Ballard is a prime study on urban growth, not only out of hometown bias (Go Ballard High School Beavers!) but it is a very palatable example of urban development in the Great Northwest. It is a snapshot of small-town feel being altered by big-time money—and there is an immense fear of losing that sense of identity. As I meet transplants from other neighborhoods as well as other parts of the world, Ballard remains a quaint diorama of the immense opportunity for my fair city. We are a world-class community learning how to accommodate world class talent, money and enterprise, and we have only so much area on which to situate such an epicenter.
While developers have been given an earful from many a Seattle native for being granted leeway by the city to “impose” their vision on us, we must see clearly that our industry is actually the first line in cultivating and maintaining this new vision. Our common-interest communities will be a direct partner with the city, neighboring corporations, local businesses, and the community at large to maintain infrastructure of public walkways, share utilities with the next hot-spot restaurant, easements for access to public art, and public transportation. For the associations we partner with directly, we will be at the center of maintaining their assets, promoting and preserving their images in their immediate communities, and helping them make decisions to maintain the value of their physical properties as home prices soar.
The writing is on the wall. Auntie Em wants off the farm in exchange for the next trendy farm-to-table restaurant reservation. Amazon and Microsoft are taking up residence in high-rise construction and in garden-style abodes. Community association managers and each of our vendor partners and professional partners are entering the realm of building, maintaining, and nurturing the heart of our profession: Communities. How exciting to be in this place, at this time, with the industry behind us to do what we do best—maintaining community—and having a real impact on an iconic skyline. The obvious cliché is unavoidable, and I am certain now more than ever, there is no place like home.
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