Either Lake City has been changing for the better or it looks better on foot than out a car window. That was my reaction today as my husband and I walked in the Cedar Park section of Lake City between 125th and 137th from 35th to Lake City Way. We were at the Fred Meyer store so decided to walk the nearby streets which have recently seen a lot of development. Maybe it was the removal of fences and equipment due to the completion of some of the projects but we now have a feel for what this busy area will look like when the rest of the projects are completed.


Even Erickson Place was neat looking today; the camper vans that had been parked there on and off for the past year were nowhere in sight.

Lake City Way still has a collection of auto-related businesses and a school bus parking lot. Some tidy tudor-esque buildings looked out of place and housed a driving school, a learning center and insurance and real estate companies. There were a few vacant properties and one with this new Henry mural. (I could not determine what type of business was within.) We passed a paint store, a Mexican restaurant, a dog daycare, a brew pub and a business that provides creative ways to reduce stress (i.e. by breaking things).

South of Fred Meyer, we admired a mural painted on Beer Authority fence and ...

... the garden entry to the apartments located behind the that business.

We marveled at the size of the development going up where Value Village once stood.
Before reaching 125th, we passed this colorful mural (it was early and the market wasn't open yet so we didn't go in but will check it out soon) and Indian, Argentinian, Japanese and Mexican restaurants. We noted some buildings had recently been demolished and that Papa John's is opening a pizza parlor in the old Subway location.

Walking north on 33rd, we were surprised that the new park packed as much as it did in a small space.  Besides this striking sculpture, it had a basketball hoop, picnic tables, a ropes climbing structure and a community garden. It feels larger than it is because another playground abuts it. That one is associated with a large but tidy Seattle Housing Authority complex. These blocks south of Fred Meyer are now densely populated and there are still a few empty lots including the property that once housed Aqua Dive.

We spotted Laurel Academy across 35th from all this development.

Our walk of under two miles wasn't long but even in the last few months quite a bit has changed in this area.


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