From Capitol Hill to Wedgwood to Pinehurst?

Shortly after I moved to Pinehurst (otherwise known as halfway between Northgate Mall and Seattle's city limit at 145th), I looked around the Web to see who else might be saying something about this area. One blogger had said a few things during 2005, but stopped well before I ended up here.

From the viewpoint of a decidedly un-hip but with-it 40 year-old, Pinehurst is pretty lame. Still, during the last year I've discovered a surprising number of interesting gems that allow this area and farther north to be survived, and to share them I've created this blog.

So, what's the focus here? Well, it's a lot like trying to find something like the somewhat cleverly-impoverished lifestyle I lived on Capitol Hill for 7 years, and in Wedgwood for 2 years, in this part of Seattle. FWIW, Seattle seems to forget that anything north of Northgate Mall exists, and when they remember it has to do with making sure all the upwardly mobile condo buyers can get to and from the freeway a little faster in their shiny, fossil-fuel burning conveyance of choice...

But, I digress. The focus here: eating, drinking coffee, getting the necessities of life cheaply and preferably second-hand. Parks and greenbelt-ish areas to stroll. Excellent ways to use mass transit and bicycles without a. taking an hour to go a couple of miles, and b. not becoming someone's hood ornament.

I generally leave Northgate Mall out of these equations for a couple of reasons. First, it's the assumed consumer destination for the north end. Second, everything there is expensive. Third, it's a massive, soul-sucking expanse of asphalt and concrete in which one cannot escape car exhaust or LCD screens spewing all variety of ill messages. However, in a pinch, I'll note a couple of things worth the sacrifice.