Two thoughts occurred to me as I got off the number 66 bus. As soon as the coach arrived at the end of its downtown-to-Northgate express run -- the Northgate Park & Ride lot, located behind the stack of big-box stores that faces the Northgate Mall [0] -- I thought, "Hey, this bus stops right behind the Target [0]. I'm gonna need to remember that the next time I need cat litter/socks/utilitarian objects designed by Michael Graves."
My second thought, which contradicted the first, was this: "Hey, except for the mall, there's really nothing to do around here."
Northgate is a neighborhood for drivers. It's possible to walk its charming, sidewalk-free residential streets, but I if I lived in Northgate, I'd be hard-pressed not to buy a new car and drive every damn place. There's no human scale to Northgate's commercial district -- no quaint cafés presenting a face to the street, no enticing groupings of shops except those in the imposing mall. Display & Costume [0], Family Donut [0] and Silver Platters [0] are all worthy destinations, but they're very separate destinations ... and you have to cross some very wide, very congested streets and parking lots to get to them. As evidenced by the Park & Ride lot, you even need to drive to catch the bus.
However, where I see sprawl, Northgate sees opportunity. A tight cluster of pedestrian-friendly apartments, condominiums, cinemas and shops is currently being built just south of the mall. A newish library and community center [0] borders the mall property, and there are plans to restore the portion of Thornton Creek [1] that runs under the mall's south parking lot. Looking ahead, I can easily imagine a Northgate where cars sit in their driveways on weekends while their drivers meander happily from café to market, Target bags clutched in their hands.
That's not to say there's nothing in Northgate for pedestrians right now, especially if you trek south to the heart of Maple Leaf and its (street-front! ground-level!) charms and distractions. I've had some great times at Kona Kitchen [1], croaking my way through Queen tracks at one of the city's liveliest karaoke nights. The wine tastings at Maple Leaf Wine Cellar [1] are equally fun for both hard-core wine lovers and budding winos like myself. And Café Javasti [1]'s menu of sweet and savory crepes is worth a trip to the North End all by its lonesome.
Maple Leaf has a humbleness of character that many Seattle neighborhoods are in danger of losing, either through gentrification or carelessness. The Northgate Mall and its surroundings feel miles apart from it. How could the mile or so between Café Javasti and the Northgate Park & Ride make such a difference?
That's a question for another column, and another bus trip. After my spinach-and-goat-cheese crepe and latte (both exceptional, by the way), I walked the mile or so back to the Northgate Park & Ride for the return trip downtown. Just as I stepped onto the 66, though, I remembered something -- and I turned around, got off the bus and walked over to Target to buy some cat litter.
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