Madison Park Times Real Estate 10-01-21

October 2021

Madison Park Times

Serving East-Central Seattle since 1983

Real Estate

MADISON PARK - WASHINGTON PARK - MADISON VALLEY - DENNY-BLAINE - MADRONA - LESCHI www .M adison P ark T imes . com

What you need in this market is a strong negotiator

By Linda Chou and Summer Carlton Property Views

T

hings are cooling off, and we’re not talking about the weather. The real estate market has been moving nonstop for 18 months, and if you’ve been a buyer looking to purchase, or a seller hoping to capture the magic of this bustling market, you might feel ... exhausted.

That’s what the market is like right now. It’s still hot; it’s still a great time for sellers to jump in. But it’s also cooled down just enough that buyers who may have been sitting on the sidelines after getting buyer fatigue are ready to

try again.

Where do you find the advantage, if you’re a buyer or a seller?

For our clients, it’s about the offer and the negotiation. We keep it honest and tell it like it is.

Whether working with a seller reviewing offers and negotiating the best terms or a buyer winning the offer, having a real estate adviser in your corner who can assure that your needs are met when the market is moving this quickly is imperative.

The prices of homes in Seattle have been steadily increasing, and we’ve watched median home prices in Madison Park and across

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OCTOBER 2021

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Pacific Publishing Company – Queen Anne & Magnolia News • Madison Park Times • City Living Seattle

OCTOBER 2021

3

“Whether working with a seller reviewing offers and negotiating the best terms or a buyer winning the offer, having a real estate adviser in your corner who can assure that your needs are met when the market is moving this quickly is imperative.”

PROPERTY, FROM PAGE 1 central Seattle climb. We can also learn more from the number of days a home spends on the market and the available months of inventory.

Across Seattle, in the second quarter of the year, the Days on Market (DOM) were down from 19 to 14, year over year. If we’re looking at Madison Park and its fellow Central Seattle neighborhoods, we see a

similar decrease: In September the average home is on the market for 22 days, compared with this time last year at 27 days.

And how many homes are there for sale in Madison Park and Central Seattle?

Since January 2021, when there were 1.8 months of inventory available, the number of homes available keeps ticking down. In August there were .8 months of inventory available.

Fewer homes on the market for less

time. Now, add in buyer demand that has continued to surge with low interest rates and pent-up pandemic reaction, and the competition causes a need for a strong negotiator.

If you’re a seller, you need someone who is going to assure your needs are met.

Maybe the seller still needs to make an offer on their next home, or maybe there are important timelines they need the buyer to agree to — or perhaps they have a wholly

unique request.

When representing our sellers, we’re honest about how their demands may impact a price point but work with them to ensure each of their needs are ranked and met so that they’re prepared for the smoothest sale process possible.

Likewise, for buyers, a strong negotiation starts with a strong offer. We work with buyers to understand their price points and where they can be flexible so that we can create an offer that appeals to sellers.

And when we’re on either side of the negotiation, we make it our business to work with the other agent in order to meet our clients’ needs. Sometimes negotiations are fierce; sometimes they’re creative. Either way, through constant communication with our clients, we can move quickly in this already fast-paced market.

Whether you’re looking to sell your home when there is high demand, or if you’re looking to find your next and take advantage of historic mortgage rates, we’re happy to offer you our trust, honest candor and negotiation skills to help you achieve your real estate goals. ­ — Linda Chou and Summer Carlton, Chou Carlton Homes | Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty PROVEN RESULTS

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OCTOBER 2021

How to go wild without getting sued

H

ow wild is too seems like it was mainly an wild? issue of tidiness — the DepartDennis Moriment of Neighborhoods has arty, an 80-year-old veteran an unwritten policy of looking in Kansas City, was sick the other way on native plants of mowing his 60-degree if it doesn’t appear too oversloping front lawn. Tradigrown, the Kansas City Beacon tional lawns require massive reports, https://thebeacon. quantities of water, fertilizer, media/stories/2021/09/13/ weed killers, which poison wildflowers-or-weeds/. the groundwater, and gas Kansas City code excepted, for power mowers, which a weed is generally defined as Erica B. Grivas pollute the air. an unwanted plant — leaving Get Growing Moriarty came up with it largely a matter of perspeca solution that would be tive. For instance, the leaves easier on him and the of dandelions — the sworn environment while inviting and feeding a scourge of lawn growers — are nutritional chorus of birds, butterflies, bees and other powerhouses in a salad, and the flowers beneficial pollinators. brew a sweet wine.

According to NPR station KCUR, at Home gardeners like Moriarty have the the start of the pandemic in April 2020, right idea of supporting pollinators and Moriarty covered his 1,500-square-foot the environment through more sustainable terraced lawn with plastic to solarize and planting, but the practice has yet to be fully kill the grass — and planted wildflower mainstreamed, causing the occasional Mrs. seeds, including 10 species of native plants, Kravitz — remember “Bewitched?” — to https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-09-11/ drop a dime on their neighbor for a “weedy kansas-city-mans-plea-for-native-floweryard.” justice-unites-gardeners-around-the-world.

In contrast to Kansas, the Iowa State Moriarty received a warning that he was Extension is promoting converting lands violating a city code banning the overto restore some of the 30 million acres that growth of “rank weeds and noxious plants.” were once prairie. It is encouraging farmers Moriarty was told, if he didn’t cut them to include prairie strips and homeowners to down, he could face a court date or up to a plant their own prairies, https://naturalre$500 fine. The code, written in a way that sources.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/ really makes no sense to anyone who has prairie-restoration-habitat-headquarters. grown plants, cites that no “unattended” According to the University of New vegetation may grow higher than 10 inches. Hampshire’s extension office, https://extenTrees seem to be exempt from “weed” stasion.unh.edu/resource/wildflower-meadtus, which will shock anyone who’s met an ows-plant-selection-and-establishment, Ailanthus growing through their concrete. “adding even a small area of native wildBasically anything “attended” is all right, flowers and meadow grasses to your propbut whose definition of tending are we userty provides habitat for pollinators, birds ing — Marie Antoinette’s, Mother Nature’s and other wildlife, serves as an infiltration or somewhere in between? area for storm water, and prevents soil ero“If everyone did this, you know how sion, making them valuable components many bees, butterflies and hummingbirds of sustainable landscapes. Once properly are attracted to this?” Moriarty stated. planted and maintained over a season or “Their (city) code isn’t realistic in the first two, they require almost no inputs of water, place.” fertilizer or energy.”

Thousands retweeted Moriarty’s Twitter At home, I’ve kept meaning to make post, spurring a supportive editorial in the nice edges for my parking strip — and a Kansas City Star and a phone call from the few other beds, for that matter. For better mayor.

While the issue was not yet resolved, it SEE POLLINATORS, PAGE 7

Photo by Erica Browne Grivas Cultivars of American natives Baptisia and Amsonia mix with drought-tolerant imports. Letting plants grow a little wild in their parking strip or potager can attract pollinators.

UW professor warns against the dangers of disinformation

By Jessica Keller

QA&Mag News editor In the aftermath of this year’s Hurricane Henri, a tweet Aug. 22 featuring a picture of a shark swimming in flood waters made its round on Twitter.

That shark certainly gets around, as the same picture was shared following numerous hurricanes, all the way back to Hurricane Irene in 2011, according to UW professor Kate Starbird who gave a presentation on how easily misinformation and disinformation spreads through social media during the September Initiative on Community Engagement presentation, hosted by Queen Anne Community Council.

Starbird, an associate professor in the Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering, specializes in how social media and communication

the fake photo. technologies are Misinformation used in crisis events. and disinformaHer most recent work focuses on tion, are pervasive in online spaces, the direction and Starbird said. spread of online Starbird said rumors through when she started misinformation and disinformation in her work in 2008 or 2009, misinforthe context of crisis events. mation was a small Why do people part of what she and her team saw share information that is false, such as during crisis events.

Now, misinformathe tweet with the Kate Starbird tion has become a hardest-working larger piece of crisis shark in the ocean? events and the dis“Well, often course surrounding those events. it’s to get engagements, to get It has especially gotten bad the retweets, to get likes, to get atpast 18 months with the country tention, to grow their audiences,” experiencing the long-term crisis Starbird said. event of the pandemic.

When the same tweet was “We’ve seen it continue to escashared in 2017 following Hurlate just in terms of the amount of ricane Harvey, the tweet got content that’s out there that’s false 150,000 engagements by sharing

“And so, a lot of us are addicted to these platforms, and it’s hard to get off of them, and when we do go to them, we’re more likely to engage with, spend more time with and pass along things that aren’t true than things that are true, and that is part of why there’s toxicities there.”

— Kate Starbird, University of Washington or misleading, and even in some cases intentionally misleading, including content with the potential to do much more harm than a fake shark in the flood waters,” Starbird said, referencing false claims about COVID treatments and conspiracy theories about the pandemic and the disease’s origins.

She said one of the interesting things in online spaces about COVID-19 is that “misinformation gets more engagement than

factual information.” Starbird said, according to a research study this month, misinformation about COVID gets six times more engagement, which includes liking or commenting or sharing a post.

“That’s the stuff that kind of makes the whole thing churn,” she said. “And so, a lot of us are addicted to these platforms, and it’s hard to get off of them, and when we do go to them, we’re more

SEE STARBIRD, PAGE 7

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OCTOBER 2021

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City Council to host public hearings on proposed budget Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan released her final proposed budget for the 2022 fiscal year Monday. The City Council will spend the next several weeks making changes to the base document and craft what will ultimately be the city budget for the next year.

During this time, the council will hold public hearings at: • 5:30 p.m. Oct. 12

• 5:30 p.m. Nov. 10 • 9:30 a.m. Nov. 18 Meeting participation is limited to access by telephone conference line and online by the Seattle Channel.

Go to https://www.seattle. gov/council/committees/selectbudget-committee for more information on how to comment for the public hearing.

Toll rates increased for SR 99 tunnel, Tacoma Narrows Bridge Toll rates for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the state Route 99 tunnel increased beginning Oct. 1. Drivers with Good To Go! passes will continue to pay the lowest toll rate on all roads.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge All tolls will increase by 25-cents. That means trips with a Good To Go! pass will increase to $5.25. At the toll booth, drivers will pay $6.25, and Pay By Mail customers will be charged $7.25 for each trip.

This rate increase is part of a plan approved in 2018 by the state Legislature, to bring stability to toll rates on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and help repay construction debt.

S Route 99 tunnel Tolls will increase by 15 per-

cent for all hours of the day. The current weekday peak Good To Go! rate of $2.25 will increase to $2.60, and the weekday Pay

By Mail rate of $4.25 will rise to $4.60.

On SR 99, toll rate increases are needed due to revenue impacts related to the pandemic.

The increases were approved Aug. 24 by the Washington State Transportation Commission, which is required by law to set toll rates to ensure enough revenue is generated to cover debt payments, operations and maintenance.

During the Aug. 24 meeting, the WSTC also approved a 15 percent rate increase for the state Route 520 bridge, which goes into effect July 1, 2023.

Durkan announces investments in housing, homelessness and public safety as part of final budget Mayor Jenny A. Durkan gave her final budget address Sept.

27, announcing approximately $200 million in investments in affordable housing, increasing investments in public safety and alternatives, and funding dedicated to building a more equitable Seattle.

The total 2022 budget totals over $7.1 billion with $1.6 billion for the general fund that includes additional federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to invest in urgent local priorities.

The 2022 Proposed budget includes the third Seattle Rescue Plan, which allocates and authorizes spending of the final, $116 million installment of federal Coronavirus Local Fiscal recovery Funds funds. Durkan also adds $25 million to fiscal reserves to begin restoring the emergency fund and revenue stabilization fund.

Housing investments: Durkan’s proposed budget allocates $200 million to support affordable housing investments, including record resources towards permanently affordable homeownership opportunities and strategic acquisitions to address displace-

ment and homelessness. In addition, there is $19.7 million for the Equitable Development Initiative.

Addressing homelessness: In 2021 and 2022, citywide homelessness investments total a record $330 million. To ensure the successful ramp-up of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, in 2022 Seattle will transfer $104 million to support programs contracted initially with the city. As proposed, the budget will support approximately 3,000 shelter spaces, including three new alternative shelters in non-congregate settings, such as tiny house villages, a 2.4 percent increase for providers, and funding to address provider organizational and workforce capacity. Durkan is also proposing a new program that will provide $6 million in federal rent assistance to pair emergency housing vouchers with supportive services.

Public safety and investments in alternatives to policing: Durkan’s budget continues three HealthOne units and invests approximately $2 million for the new Triage One specialized triage response unit announced earlier this year. Tri-

age One will be housed within the Seattle Fire Department and respond directly to wellness check calls identified by 9-1-1 at the Community Safety and Communications Center as an alternative to sworn police response. The budget also funds 125 new officers for the Seattle Police Department, adds $1 million of hiring incentives to recruit new officers, and builds on the Community Service Officer program to create a total of 24 CSOs. It also continues investments in the King County Regional Peacekeepers Collective, and includes $10 million for community safety programs.

Investing in small businesses, workforce development and education equity. As Seattle recovers from the economic impacts of COVID-19, Seattle will invest $24.1 million in new workforce development initiatives, stabilization grants for childcare providers to ensure parents have childcare options, and funding for small business owners of underinvested communities. The budget also includes more than $6 million to expand the Seattle Promise program, the City’s commitment to two years free college for Seattle Public School students.

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OCTOBER 2021

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OCTOBER 2021

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County districting committee seek public input at four town hall meetings The King County Districting Committee announced four town hall meeting dates to gather public input on draft maps for redrawing King County Council districts.

The committee is working on finalizing draft maps that will be posted on its website, www.kingcounty.gov/districting, in early October.

Before beginning work on the draft maps, the committee held more than 20 community listening sessions to gather community input and learn about communities of interest.

STARBIRD, FROM PAGE 4 likely to engage with, spend more time with and pass along things that aren’t true than things that are true, and that is part of why there’s toxicities there.”

Starbird clarified that misinformation is information that is false, but not necessarily intentionally false, whereas disinformation

The committee next will host four town hall meetings to discuss the plans and gather input at: • 2 p.m. Oct. 17 via Zoom • 2 p.m. Oct. 19 via Zoom • 2 p.m. Oct. 20 via Zoom • 7 p.m. Oct. 21 via Zoom To find out how to participate, visit www. kingcounty.gov/districting. Community members can also provide written testimony by emailing districting@kingcounty.gov.

Interpretation will be available in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and

is false or misleading information “purposefully seeded and/ or spread for a specific objective.” One of the problems in identifying disinformation is that it’s often built around a “true or plausible core and then layered with distortions and exaggerations intending to shape how others perceive reality,” Starbird said.

Fact checking isn’t even always a solution because, Starbird said,

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in many cases, disinformation is resistant to fact checking because the false claims are sent out as part of a campaign using multiple pieces of content.

Another problem with disinformation campaigns is that while they intentionally mislead, many participants are “unwitting agents.”

“They’re unaware that the information they’re spreading is false or of their role in the larger campaign,” Starbird said.

While disinformation is difficult to pinpoint, and many people may accidentally contribute to its spread by engaging or sharing social media posts, Starbird said disinformation campaigns are dangerous because they are often designed to confuse people, rather than convince them. Disinformation also erodes trust in information, in institutions — such as

or worse, however, putting in cool new plants has always taken priority over neatness. Most of my plants are over 10 inches high, and how much I “tend” them is up for debate. My goal is the less tending the better.

In case you’re wondering, the Seattle code is mainly concerned with keeping the sidewalks, streets and driving views clear. Nuisances consist of either fire, health or safety hazards, https://library.municode.com/wa/seattle/ codes/municipal_code?nodeId=TIT10HESA_ CH10.52WEVE_10.52.020NUDE. You’re required to maintain 8 feet clearance over the sidewalks and 14 feet over streets, but there is no language about tending.

Seattle is pretty pollinator-positive. It was at the forefront of “pollinator pathways” in 2008, when an artist created a now mile-long stretch of parking strips planted with natives in the Central District.

Since then, the city created the “Green Line” along 14 miles of lighting corridor in Upper Rainier Beach and “Flight Path” programs promoting wild bees at Sea-Tac Airport and Boeing Field.

In 2015, Seattle became a “Bee City” with the Xerces Society and others, promising to create or enhance pollinator habitat each year and incorporate pollinator-conscious policy.

King County has also penned a brochure about creating your own native plant pollinator paradise: https://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/water-andland/yard-and-garden/native-plant-guide-westernwashington.pdf.

Are you ready to go a little wild? Here are some suggestions that may help bring non-gardeners along with the idea:

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economic and geographic units. As much as possible, the districts must correspond with the boundaries of existing municipalities, election precincts, census tracts, recognized natural boundaries and preserve communities of related and mutual interest. Population data may not be used to favor any racial group or political party. The County Charter places responsibility for redistricting with the independent citizen districting committee. The adopted final district plan will establish the new King County Council district boundaries.

media, science, government, and in each other. It also destabilizes common ground that citizens in democratic countries need to stand upon to govern themselves, such as faith that election results are accurate.

Starbird stated that, while disinformation is a serious problem and difficult to eliminate altogether, people can take some steps to recognize and stop spreading it. People should first slow down when filtering through information and begin to think critically about the message and the source before automatically sharing.

Starbird also recommends people tune into their emotions before sharing information online.

“Misinformation manipulates us through our emotion,” Starbird said. ... “So just, when you really feel self righteous about something, that’s the best time to go

POLLINATORS, FROM PAGE 4

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American Sign Language. For additional requests, email districting@kingcounty.gov.

Following the town hall meetings and further study by the districting committee, a single final plan must be approved.

A public hearing on the final draft plan is slated for Nov. 30.

By law, council district boundaries must be redrawn after each U.S. Census to make each district as nearly equal in population as possible using the most recent Census data. The new district boundaries must be compact, contiguous and composed of

Contain the chaos Go ahead: Let your hyssop weave through your bee balm. Whether in a parking strip or a potager, people are more accepting of a little chaos within defined edges. The interior of your mini-meadow can be untamed and frizzy if you put an edge around it.

This can be man made, such as a border of stones, a

double check or even triple check and maybe even wait a couple hours for that to resolve before passing it along.”

Starbird said people should also take responsibility when spreading information, correct themselves when necessary and correct other people with empathy rather than animosity. She also said people should try to be patient with people who disagree with them.

“I’m not going to tell everybody that they have to keep the connections, but I do think if we want to move forward as a country, we have to somehow keep some of the connections to have something to build back on because we’re in a bad place with some of this,” Starbird said.

To listen to the whole presentation, including Starbird’s research on election disinformation, go to https://youtu.be/esalocr66he.

brick or concrete mowing strip (if you still have some lawn) or edging fence panels.

Your edge can, British garden-style, use an edge of neat, if non-native, shrubs like boxwood (Buxus) or sweetbox (Sarcococca) or evergreen perennials that rein in the wild. Lower-growing perennials include sea thrift (Armeria), carnations (Dianthus), heuchera, thyme or ajuga.

Mulch with natural bark chips, soil conditioner or compost, which gives a finished, “gardened” appearance while feeding the soil.

Keep in mind, the thicker you apply bark chips, the less likely seedlings — of either “weeds” or wildflowers — will multiply.

Announce your intentions Understanding can be the first step in forging happy community relations. Installing a sign announcing “Bee Garden” or “Pollinators Welcome Here” will let people see the method to your madness. You can also have your yard certified as a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation or $25, and they will send you a sign to mount.

Do some research Take care not to include invasive plants in your wildflower bed, for which neither your neighbors nor plants will thank you.

Check wildflower mix labels for full botanical names, looking ideally for plants native to the Pacific Northwest. Be aware that grass species can often overtake the flowers quickly. Also, investigate how much seed is in the mix versus fillers like vermiculite.

Cross-check names with the state’s noxious weed list, https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/identify-a-noxiousweed. Some native perennials the Xerces Society recommends for the Pacific Northwest include Manzanita (Arctostaphylos), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii — not vulgaris, which is a class C noxious weed), Clarkia, (strawberry) Fragaria, sneezeweed (Helenium), buckthorn (Rhamnus), and Checkerbloom (Sidalcea).

So, let’s keep those wildflowers and native plants under 8 feet tall and off the sidewalk, OK? I’m so glad to live in Seattle.

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OCTOBER 2021