With a sense of pride, place, North Renton is building a community | Making a stand in North Renton

NORTH RENTON: A SPECIAL REPORT

The Renton Reporter is continuing its special report on efforts by the City of Renton and the residents themselves to improve the quality of life in this venerable neighborhood between downtown and Kennydale. Today, we profile the neighborhood and explore the aspirations that city officials and residents themselves have for North Renton.

To Jerry Lee, the North Renton neighborhood is the center of the universe.

It’s home to the world’s best-selling aircraft, early 1900s houses that families have modernized, shopping and entertainment at The Landing and recreation off the shores of Lake Washington at Gene Coulon Park.

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Lee has lived all over Washington state but says nothing compares to his community that he’s called home for seven years.

Now if he could only get Trader Joe’s, the popular grocery-store chain, to see the promise he sees in the community and move into the area, he would be content, Lee said.

Different people have their own ideas about how North Renton should be developed.

The neighborhood has been the backdrop to Boeing’s roll out of record-breaking numbers of 737s and to eating establishments’ run-ins with the police and the Washington state Liquor Control Board.

Like any community, North Renton has its pluses and minuses. To hear the people who live there tell it, the community is an up and coming area.

This, they say, despite the fact that there are some dilapidated homes, slumlords and mismanagement of some commercial properties.

Resident Cathy Matthew believes there is and can be greater community in the neighborhood.

She started a community-building project last fall with her husband Jim that has homeowners flying American Flags from their properties to evoke a sense of patriotism and unity in the neighborhood.

“This area particularly has had some issues with some rental houses, where people aren’t really responsible about who they rent to,” Matthew said.

The problem was so bad they actually considered moving at one point.

“But, I grew up in North Renton and I actually got kind of ownership mad,” she said, chuckling. “And (I) said, ‘No this is my home, this is my neighborhood and there are a lot of good people here’.”

It’s a priority for Mayor Denis Law to make the residents of North Renton feel safe and secure in their homes.

“You find a lot of real pride of ownership throughout North Renton,” said Law, who has met with residents to talk about what the city plans for their neighborhood. “They deserve to have peace and harmony.”

Crime can happen in any neighborhood, he said in an interview. But he said he “shifted into another gear” when he heard the story of a North Renton family who moved a child to another bedroom to avoid getting hit by stray bullets fired in an alley.

Police officers are walking the neighborhood, handing out business cards, and letting residents know that if they need anything to call the police, he said.

“We are making a huge presence in that neighborhood,” he said.

But, some residents feel a big police presence isn’t the answer to North Renton’s problems.

“I’m truly not a believer that more cops make it more safe,” said Lee. “I think that’s just a scare tactic.”

It’s more effective to get buy-in from the community on the importance of security and from that assist the police to do their job, he said.

The media and others promote the idea that having a lot of cops on every corner promotes security, Lee said, but he feels that’s not accurate.

“It’s just not possible,” he said. “I think that the community needs to support the police and police need to support the community.”

Toward that idea, the Renton City Council adopted a nuisance ordinance in October 2011.

This ordinance (No. 5629) seeks to hold “nuisance” property owners criminally and financially responsible for the financial burden they put on the City of Renton.

Spelled out, that burden means repeat calls for service, complaints, or requests for investigations and, or inspections of the nuisance properties that require the time and resources of city staff, the police department, the city attorney’s department and the court.

That is the official language of the ordinance.

Though it is a citywide ordinance, it “will help address the chronic concerns in North Renton if there are unlawful, unkept, unsafe and improperly maintained premises that impact properties and cause burden to residents and the city,” said Preeti Shridhar, Renton’s communications director in an email.

“However, the ordinance requires a certain amount of calls in a defined period of time in order to take effect. Currently, the city is still gathering that information.”

Alex Pietsch, the City of Renton’s community and economic development administrator, defines the neighborhood’s boundaries as north of the Cedar River, east of Logan Avenue, south of North Sixth Street and west of Interstate 405.

Renton’s City Center Plan, which will be implemented during the next 20 years, is concerned with preserving and strengthening established neighborhoods like North Renton, said Pietsch.

North Renton is diverse in age and race with slightly more females than males.

One of the many reasons Lee chose the area is because of the diversity. As an African American he said he even wished it was more diverse.

But, he enjoys the fact that it is centrally located and he can quickly get to the airport, downtown Seattle for events during the week, Bellevue and Southcenter.

Lee is an attorney, but works as the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer for the City of Tacoma and likes his reverse commute to work.

“Everything is centered here,” he said. “This is almost perfect for me, except I would prefer to be on the hill.”

Lee likes the view from the higher elevations in the city.

This is why he said he would speak out to protect the property across from him if Boeing ever vacated the two parking lots across from his home. Right now, Lee has easy access to the Cedar River and the Liberty Park trail that terminates at Lake Washington.

He doesn’t want to see a high-density senior living center go up in front of his house.

Lee isn’t the only resident who wonders about the future of the neighborhood and its makeup.

George and Sally Daniels also live in the neighborhood and enjoy walking to many of its amenities and the downtown Renton core.

George Daniels is the president of the neighborhood association and he and his wife Sally are self-employed.

“We’d like to see the whole Park Avenue area turned into nice little shops or fixed up houses or developed rather than things being left abandoned,” said Sally Daniels.

She thinks the new ordinance will help get after landlords with defunct properties.

The Daniels moved into their home in the area in 1989 when there were many single-family homes, but also mixed-use properties.

George Daniels believes the residential character of the neighborhood has been maintained the whole time they have lived in the community.

The core issue for the area is what’s next, he said.

“In other words, are we going to become downtown Bellevue or are we going to become a nice residential community,” George Daniels said.

Dean A. Radford, Renton Reporter editor, contributed to this story.

NORTH RENTON: A PROFILE

For the purposes of this story, the Renton Reporter is defining North Renton as north of the Cedar River, east of Logan Avenue, south of North Sixth Street and west of Interstate 405.

The following information was compiled by the City of Renton, based on the 2010 Census.

Total population: 1,763

White: 1,159

Asian: 215

Hispanic: 196

Black: 172

American Indian: 20

Pacific Islander: 5

Some other race: 88

Population by gender

Female: 904

Male: 859