Urban Growth and More Traffic

We're back in Issaquah.  The main topic of discussion here is THE TRAFFIC.  Apparently in the last year it has increased exponentially.  We see it, since we're gone and then we're back.  Below I have excerpted some of the main points of this article on the Seattle PI.

The Downtown Seattle Association's Mid-Year Development Guide found that -- on average -- one construction project has broken ground every week since the beginning of the year.

Sixty-five buildings are under construction right now, according to the report. That's the most buildings at one time since the DSA began tracking it in 2005.

Many have called the rise in housing costs in Seattle a crisis, with average rents pushing beyond $1,700 for one-bedroom units, and the median home price soaring above $589,000, according to Redfin figures.

Downtown has seen a boom in residents, with 30 percent more people living downtown than in 2000, according to the DSA's report. The 3,600 residential units completed last year was record-setting, but may be easily dwarfed if current projects stay on track, the report read.

But the report also found that 14 million square feet of office space is in the pipeline.

As I always point out, none of this development has been matched by an increase in the number of roads for these people to drive on.  As Bertha the boring machine marches on (successfully this time) eventually highway 99 will lose 30 percent of its carrying capacity when converted to a tunnel.   Those displaced drivers will divert to the already grid locked I5.
Jim's son and family are departing the area.  Traffic and housing prices have just gotten to be too much.  We come here to see them, and our fleet of dentists and doctors.  I may work harder to get all of our medical tourism done in one month and then go elsewhere.
Elsewhere..... that is the question.  Traveling in the summer is such a pain in the patooty. An ideal solution would be three stays of one month each, each within a day's drive.  Guess it's time to haul out the atlas.

There has been fun.  The COs had us over for dinner on Friday. It was, without a doubt, the best pork roast ever.  They are also baking their own bread, and they're doing an excellent job with it.  Isn't that a lovely setting?

Sunday we did our 5k walk.  I think 5k sounds better than 3 miles.  As we turned on to the main street in Issaquah we discovered a large car show.  I'll show you two of the many cars.
This is a 1939 Ford.  It's really pretty.  Note the suicide doors.

A Chrysler Imperial, from 1960.  It's a big boat of a vehicle.  One could take up residence in the trunk.

This is the cool thing, the seats swivel.  Look at how nice the interior is.  The work done on this and other cars was just beautiful.

Sunday we had dinner with Jim's son and family.  It's utterly amazing how much children change in a year. Taller, stronger, more verbal. 
Yesterday we went to Bellevue Square, our local upscale shopping venue, looking for a kiosk to buy a case for my phone.  Apparently kiosks are too down market for the mall.  Guess we'll have to try South Center.  My new HTC One is slippery and I am very concerned about dropping it.  Anyway, this is Chick Fil A and it continues to be a traffic hazard.  When we left, cars were sitting out in the street, with people waiting to get in there to eat terrible food.  It must have improved some, because the police are no longer there directing traffic.

Our other big news is that Jim has received his first Social Security check.  He'll be 70 next month.  I'm not sure where all of the time went.  We still have to print out the IRS rules on Required Minimum Distributions from the 401(k).  We'll be reading those out loud to each other, to increase comprehension.  The consequences for not doing that correctly are dire.
Posting may be light while we're here.  We've seen it, walked it, ridden it and blogged it all.