Kirkland Highlands Real Estate Buzz

A world class marathon, The Seafair Marathon, took place this past Sunday on Seattle’s Eastside. For the first time ever, the route ran through the Kirkland Highlands and down through Bellevue to the finish line at the Bellevue Downtown Park.  In a previous post, I mentioned I was volunteering, as part of The Kirkland Senior Councilto help monitor driveways that crossed the race course.  I wan’t able to watch the race from The Highlands for that reason, but got to see the accoutrements of a marathon in place in The Highlands before I had to show up at my volunteer post along Lake Washington Boulevard. When I pulled out of my street onto 112th, orange cones lined the way.  A port-o-potty was there along with tables for a water station.  (By the way, I posted a post about the marathon last week and referenced a map which labeled the route through the Highlands as going along 116th when, in fact, it was along 112th.  Sorry for the error, but I was quoting from the information on the map.)

I posted an article on my eastside blog about the marathon. I have photos of the winners as they came by mile 22.  It was exciting to see some strength, stamina, humor, and good will among all who participated.  I’m glad I had the opportunity to volunteer and cheer the runners on to the finish line.

Congratulations to all who participated as a runner, volunteer or paid staffer. 

The Seafair Marathon is coming to The KIrkland Highlands this Sunday, June 29th.  The Seafair marathon is coming to the Eastside with 9 miles of the run along the lake.  The race starts at Husky Stadium and will run into Bellevue as far south as Enatai  up through Bridle Trails and Rose Hill, crossing into the Highlands at the overpass at NE 100th ST, down 116th in The Kirkland Highlands and ending  in downtown Bellevue at the Bellevue downtown park.  When the runners come into Kirkland’s Highlands, they will be at mile 18-19. If you look at the link for the official site above, you can check out the route on the map provided.  The race starts at 7 AM on Sunday morning and we should expect to see runners in Kirkland before 9 AM. 

World class runners will be present and it should be pretty exciting to have an important world class marathon running through the neighborhood.  Give a special cheer to the Team in Training members, those runners in purple T-shirts,who are running to raise money for blood borne cancers and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I participated in a 1/2 marathon for Team in Training in Alaska a few years back and it was a wonderful experience. 

I’m volunteering along Lake Washington Boulevard with other members of the Kirkland Senior Council to be a course marshal, making sure  any issues affecting the runners are attended to.  I’ll be between mile 22 and mile 23, so it ought to be pretty exciting to see some of the top runners coming on by.  I’ll take some photos and post them on this blog. 

Not only is it sunny in Seattle, but now it’s photography season for me.  I’ve started doing my “summer outdoor” run all over the area.  It’s great to be outside and Seattle and Seattle’s Eastside cities are the perfect summer places.  

 On Father’s Day, I  jumped back on the MV Kirkland with my husband and Dad and took the afternoon Lake Washington cruise from the Kirkland docks.  You get great views of the Bellevue, Kirkland, Mercer Island, and Seattle lakefront. The tour is usually narrated by one of the Argosy Cruise staff. This week’s trip incorporated a bit more of the history of Kirkland.  There are always some little known facts revealed that make this an interesting tour.  If you buy a captains’ pass from Argosy Cruises, it allows you to take as many trips as you want for a year.  It ends up being an inexpensive way to get on the water, relax and enjoy the sun.  A great to have some fun on the water without having to own the boat!

  The Montlake Cut was hopping with boats coming in and out of Lake Washington.

Picture a commuter train whizzing by in Kirkland during the morning commute on its way to Bellevue.  The tracks completely separate the Kirkland Highlands neighborhood from Peter Kirk Elementary School and Kirkland Junior High.  There’s no other way to walk to school and Peter Kirk is a “walking” school.   Picture kids crossing the tracks to visit friends after school hours when there’s no supervision at the crossing.

The following videos show school children crossing the railroad tracks on the way to school from the Kirkland Highlands neighborhood.  The entire neighborhood of over 600 homes is separated by the railroad tracks from the school.  The kids cross over 110^th Ave NE and the railroad tracks behind Peter Kirk Elementary to get to school.  As you can see, the kids are walking and running to school.

 The crossing guard raised her concern about kids walking down the tracks to get to school in the morning.  Someone can come to educate the kids about railroad safety, but having worked with middle school kids for 13 years in the past, I’m familiar with typical teen and “kid” behavior.  Kids won’t remember what someone told them three months ago about not walking on the railroad tracks. Walking on the tracks is more of a problem when kids go from neighborhood to neighborhood to see their friends or  walk to downtown Kirkland, not just to school.  There are no crossing guards watching over them at those times.

From the Highlands neighborhood, kids also cross over the railroad tracks in Cotton Hill Park, a few blocks north, to get to Kirkland Junior High.  That crossing is far more concerning because young teens tend to be busy multi-tasking as they walk to school.  Picture typical teen behavior and you see teens talking to friends, talking on cell phones, running, and listening to IPods.  You do not picture kids paying attention as well as they should to their surroundings.  How many teens do you know who think they are invincible and will try to tempt fate by running in front of a train as they are rushing late to school?

If a fence is erected to stop people from walking down the tracks, kids will be cut off from their friends.  Walking paths will be cut off to schools. Neighborhoods will be cut off from each other.  Not only is the rail line as a commuter line a safety hazard, it will hurt the fabric of the community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNNotGSiTqA