Back to Normal

The desolate block between 5th & 6th and Battery & Bell has seen its share of action over the last few months. It was used as a storage space for a Toyota dealership in the spring, back when people weren't buying cars, then when they were, it hosted dozens of clunkers that were destined for the compactor. In between that time, it also served as the base of operations for Gary Merlino Construction while they were waging war on Belltown's streets. They were there for months, but they have now withdrawn most of their troops and equipment, maintaining a small peacekeeping force. And so with this return of calm, the old ways have come to the fore: it is once again a storage lot for Toyota overstock. Observe:

It's not as many cars as they've had there in the past, but if people continue to not buy, it'll be full in no time. Whatever happens, the magnificent Darth Vader Building doesn't care about what goes on here; its main concern, as you can tell from the picture, is looking modern and jagged.

Clunker City

How popular was the so-called Cash for Clunkers program? Well, I was walking to Denny Park when my eye caught this sight at 6th & Battery:

I started walking along 6th and spotted more and more clunkers. How did I know they were clunkers? It was right there written on them! Observe:






Indeed, it was an entire parking lot filled with clunkers:


Folks, this lot (which is part of the Insignia Dead Project) used to be crammed full of new Toyotas. They just sat there for months and months. These days, it's packed to capacity with cars destined for the compactor. Although this is kind of sad, it's done exactly what the program was supposed to accomplish: replace older cars with newer cars. Each one of these represents a new car. So how effective was the program? In a word, I'd say very.

Street Prophecy!

You know, a few days ago I called 6th Avenue "Belltown's parking lot," but look what's happened:


These shots were taken from the corner of 6th & Battery, and all those cars are overstock for Toyota of Seattle in the non-Belltown location of 7th & Blanchard. So yes, 6th is being transformed bit by bit into the parkingest place in Belltown. I predicted it.

Here's a Theory

Consider this: Nobody lives on


Ah, 6th! Belltown's parking lot. Nothing much happens on you.

You don't have much traffic, graffiti or crazy people. In fact, nobody lives on you in Belltown. Not a single person. That's probably because there's nowhere to live. There are a couple of office buildings along the way. This is the Blanchard Plaza at 6th & Blachard:

I find it kind of interesting. Directly across the street stands another office building whose entire exterior is apparently composed on small bathroom tiles. It's kind of boring to look at, so I didn't take any pictures of it.

"But wait," you say, "What about the Archstone at 6th & Wall? That's on 6th! People live there!"

Right, but The Archstone (formerly the Grosvenor) is on Wall. That's its official address. Lots of people live on 6th downtown, but nobody - absolutely no one - lives on the Belltown portion of it. Incidentally, as the Grosvenor this building was noted for its overwhelmingly elderly population. With the change in name and a rather hopeful poster campaign, it seems that they're looking for more youthful tenants. I say good luck. Making the Grosvenor/Archstone young 'n' hip is about as much of a challenge as making 3rd Avenue non-ghetto.

As long as we're talking about population density by street, I'd have to say that it's a toss-up between Western and 2nd for most densely populated, followed by 1st and 4th, then 5th, lowly 3rd and lastly, by 6th.

So if somebody tries to sell you a condo on 6th in Belltown, you're probably getting ripped off.