The Ave

This article is about University Way NE, in Seattle, WA, USA. For other uses, see AVE (disambiguation).
University Way NE
"The Ave"

University Way southbound from its intersection with NE 45th Street
Former name(s) Columbus Avenue, 14th Avenue NE (1891–1919)
Maintained by Seattle Department of Transportation
Length 1.2 mi[1] (1.9 km)
Location Seattle, Washington
Coordinates 47°39′40″N 122°18′47″W / 47.661°N 122.313°W / 47.661; -122.313Coordinates: 47°39′40″N 122°18′47″W / 47.661°N 122.313°W / 47.661; -122.313
South end NE Pacific Street
North end NE Ravenna Boulevard
Erroneous signage for "University Avenue NE" at the intersection with NE 41st Street

University Way NE, colloquially The Ave (no period;[2] pronounced /æv/), is a major street and commercial district in the University District of Seattle, Washington, located near the University of Washington (UW) campus. Once "a department store eight blocks long," The Ave has gradually turned into what now resembles an eight-block-long global food court.[3] The story of The Ave reflects the dynamics of many urban neighborhoods and the social and economic problems of countless American cities, though it is also a crossroads of diverse subcultures. It is patronized by many of the nearly 96,900 students, faculty, and staff of the UW;[4] by the largely white and middle class residents of the U. District; and by a population of homeless or transient individuals, most of whom are youth.

University Way NE is a collector (tertiary) arterial,[5] running 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from just below NE Pacific Street in the south to NE Ravenna Boulevard and Cowen Park in the north, where it turns into Cowen Place NE.[1] Originally platted as Columbus Avenue, the street was renamed 14th Avenue after the neighborhood was annexed by the city in 1891. Locals came to feel that a numbered street name was inappropriate because of the thoroughfare's importance, so in 1919 the University Commercial Club held a contest that decided the new name of the street: "University Way." The street had been known as "The Ave" for a time before this, however, and while it was no longer officially an avenue, the nickname stuck.

Vitality

On the Ave during U. District Street Fair (2007)
This building in the 4200 block was built in 1924 as a mortuary. It now contains restaurants and offices.
Shiga's Import Shop, one of the Ave's longest-lived retail stores. Andy Shiga was, for decades, a leader of the neighborhood's retail community.

Late in the 20th century the Ave declined significantly, due in significant part to the more competitive planning, capital investment, and popularity of University Village and Northgate Mall. From 2002 to 2004, the city and the neighborhood made some steps countering this trend by repaving the Ave and adding benches, bus bulbs, and period lighting.[6] The Ave remains at the heart of campus life for university students, and is filled with busy restaurants (mostly inexpensive), new and used book and record stores, clothing stores, and movie theatres, most densely between NE 41st and NE 50th Streets. Among these are the Varsity Theatre (1940)[7] and the University Book Store (1924).[8]

The Ave is so full of salon-style establishments that it has become its own sort of macro Third Place. This is exemplified by the coffeehouse culture of the middle and lower Ave - with at least six cafes on the Ave or its alleys - by the remaining used bookstores with late hours, and by the annual Street Fair and weekly Saturday Farmers Market. The Ave is also home to one of Seattle's Neighborhood Service Centers,[9] outposts of the city government originally known as "little city halls."[10] Still, The Ave is also plagued with the problems of urban neighborhoods, the social and economic problems of disparities and of American cities; in particular, it is home to the "Ave Rats," the young alcohol and drug users that have been attracted to the street.

The Ave is glorified by the Seattle hip hop group Blue Scholars in their song "The Ave" on their self-titled album. "Fuck class, get your education on the Ave" is a repeated lyric, as they portray the Ave as the last true cultural melting pot of Seattle. The business communities "improvements" of 2002 are lamented ("whatever happened to the avenue before the summer of 2002"), as they feel the unique street society of students/poets/druggies was thrown away for a conformist corporate business facade. Blue Scholars also reference several businesses on The Ave, including the University Bookstore and the (now closed) used record store 'Second Time Around'.

Problems

The Ave is also the major hangout for homeless and transient teens and young adults in Seattle. The local seasonal and year-round homeless population, referred to as "Ave Rats",[11] is notorious for being a particularly countercultural crowd. Their numbers have dwindled somewhat in recent years due to increased police patrols, tougher enforcement of loitering laws,[12] and designation of an Alcohol Impact Area (along with Broadway on Capitol Hill and parts of downtown neighborhoods).[13]

Another factor contributing to the homeless youth's decline was the extension of organized, gang-related criminal activity on the Ave in recent years. Several groups, whose signature graffiti "tags" can be seen throughout the U. District, contributed to the transition in drug sales from marijuana (formerly sold by homeless youth and transients) to include the organized sale of methamphetamine and cocaine. This transition has resulted in multiple incidents of gun-related violence, as well as obvious deals occurring in broad daylight.[14] Regular visitors to the Ave could often recognize the same individuals standing at or "patrolling" the same areas, day after day.

The U. District has seen these problems recur. As reported in the University District Herald in 1921, librarian "Miss Mary Baker ask[ed] for police protection from gangs of boys" who were causing what is today described as vandalism and harassment. Librarian Clara Van Sant wrote: "Men hang outside the door to smoke, gossip, and pass comments to ladies coming into the library," behavior that apparently continued through the early 1920s.[15] Recent declines have been offset by gradually increasing social and economic problems.[3] "We're not an organized shopping district. We're very much like Main Street America," said an independent retail business owner on the Ave in 2001.[16] "It's not a mall."[17]

Architecture

Ye College Inn

Ye College Inn, a Tudor Revival building at the northeast corner of NE 40th Street near the "lower" (south) end of The Ave, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was built in 1909 and added to the National Register in 1982.[18]

The University Heights School building on the upper Ave opened in 1902. Originally there were several other buildings on the block (the west side of The Ave between NE 50th and NE 52nd Streets), but with successive expansions, the school became the only building on its block. It was briefly known as the Morse School in 1903; from 1974, Alternative Elementary School #2 used two-thirds of the building. Its exterior was declared a city landmark in 1977. It was closed as a school building in 1989, with the alternative school moving to the Decatur School. Since 1990 it has housed the University Heights Center.[19]

The Department of Neighborhoods' inventory of historically important sites, which is not exhaustive (for example, it omits the University Heights School) lists 37 properties on University Way. Most of these are either apartment buildings or retail establishments, but the list also includes current and former theaters and the University District post office.[20]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Google (June 10, 2015). "University Way NE" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ Deutsch; Kelton; the local North Seattle Herald-Outlook uses the same convention.
  3. 1 2 Lehrke
  4. ↑ 3,600 instructional faculty, 27,600 faculty and staff, 39,251 student enrollment on Seattle campus (Autumn 2005), 26,444 extension enrollment (non-graded programs), according to "Quick Facts". UW Home > UWIN > About the UW > UW Profile. University of Washington. 2005-04-18. Retrieved 2006-04-21.
  5. ↑ "Street Classification Maps". Seattle Department of Transportation. 2005. Retrieved 2006-04-21.
    High-Resolution Version, PDF format, 16.1 MB
    Medium-Resolution Version, PDF format, 1.45 MB 12 January 2004.
    Low-Resolution Version, PDF format, 825 KB 12 January 2004.
    "Planned Arterials Map Legend Definitions", PDF format. 12 January 2004.
    The high resolution version is good for printing, 11 x 17. The low and medium resolution versions are good for quicker online viewing. [Source: "Street Classification Maps, Note on Accessing These PDF Files"]
  6. ↑ Marmor, Kim
  7. ↑ "VarsityTheatre". Landmark Theatres. n.d. Retrieved 2006-04-21.
  8. ↑ The book store was moved to The Ave following a campus building fire and the closing of a pool hall on University Way, which freed up the space it currently occupies. "Store History" (PDF). History & Highlights. Bookstore of the University of Washington. 2005-01-31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2006-04-21.
  9. ↑ University Neighborhood Service Center home page. Accessed online 18 April 2004.
  10. ↑ Walt Crowley (2001-05-07). "Seattle's Little City Halls – A Snapshot History". HistoryLink. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  11. ↑ Goedde, Brian (2001-09-25). "Visions of the Ave". Real Change News. Archived from the original on 2006-09-29. Retrieved 2006-09-04.
  12. ↑ Lehrke; Binion; Borders (Borders is print published, documented opinion).
  13. ↑ Alcohol Impact Areas are not the same as neighborhood boundaries. See Castro (13 December 2005)
  14. ↑ Castro (13 February 2006); Castro (14 February 2006); further may be in archives of The Daily of the U of W at Archives (by year back to 1995, off-line back to c. 1891), the North Seattle Herald-Outlook, Real Change, or the alumni magazine Columns; Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Seattle Times (archives access with free registration) are at nwsource.com.
  15. ↑ Burrows
  16. ↑ Kim; Goedde
  17. ↑ Lehrke; Goedde; Binion; Castro (14 February 2006)
  18. ↑ Ye College Inn, Archiplanet. Accessed online 16 April 2008.
  19. ↑ University Heights in Thompson, Nile; Marr, Carolyn (2002). "Building for learning - Seattle Public Schools Histories, 1862-2000". Seattle: Seattle Public Schools. Retrieved 2007-12-09.. Apparently no ISBN. Available online as a series of PDFs.
  20. ↑ Historical sites: Search results for University Way, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Accessed 18 April 2008

Bibliography

  • Binion, Andrew (2002-06-06). "Crime, kids and customers". The Daily of the University of Washington. Retrieved 2006-07-14. 
  • Borders, Tim (2002-02-26). "Shady Business in the U-District". Right Turn (Associated Students of the University of Washington). Retrieved 2006-07-14. 
    Right Turn is "a student-run publication at the University of Washington that gives voice to conservative and libertarian views on campus." - "Right Turn". Retrieved 2006-11-26. 
  • Deutsch, Joan, Local News Editor. (206)464-2214. Quote from The Seattle Times Style Rules, in-house publication. The Seattle Times since 1896 [Masthead, editorial page]. May cf. Karen Cater, News Editor, same phone.
  • Dorpat, Paul (18 June 2001, updated May 2002). "Seattle Neighborhoods: University District -- Thumbnail History". HistoryLink.org Essay 3380. Retrieved 2006-04-21.  Check date values in: |date= (help)
    Dorpat referenced Seattle: Now and Then Vols. 1, 2, and 3. Seattle: Tartu Publications, 1984, 1988);
    Walt Crowley and Paul Dorpat, "The Ave: Streetcars to Street Fairs", typescript dated 1995 in possession of Walt Crowley and Paul Dorpat, Seattle, Washington;
    Walt Crowley, Rites of Passage. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995;
    Cal McCune, From Romance to Riot: A Seattle Memoir. Seattle: Cal McCune, 1996;
    Roy Nielsen, UniverCity: The City Within City: The Story of the University District Seattle: University Lions Foundation, ca. 1986;
    Clark Humphrey, Loser: the Real Seattle Music Story. Portland, OR: Feral House, 1995.
  • Kelton, Alana, News Editor. (206)448-8154. Quote from Seattle Post-Intelligencer In-House Style Guide intranet reference tool. Seattle P-I since 1863 [Masthead, editorial page].
  • Kim, Gina (2001-02-10). "Empty storefronts litter 'the Ave'". Business & Technology (The Daily of the University of Washington). Retrieved 2006-07-14. 
  • Lehrke, Dylan Lee. "The Ave at the Crossroads: The decline of the Ave". The Daily of the University of Washington. pp. 2001–04–18. Retrieved 2006-07-14. 
  • Marmor, Jon (December 1995). "Once Seattle's Second Main Street, the Ave. Has Fallen on Hard Times. Can the UW and Local Community Save What's Left?". "The Fall (and Rise?) of the 'Ave.'" (Columns). Retrieved 2006-04-21. 
    Alumni magazine.
  • Samson, Karl. "Big Time Brewery and Alehouse". Retrieved 15 November 2005, 21 April 2006. Links to "Seattle's Original Brewpub". Selection from Samson, Karl. Frommer's Seattle 2006 [Title incremented annually each January]. [City]: Wiley, 2006. ISBN 0-7645-9587-3
  • "Street Classification Maps". Seattle Department of Transportation. 2005. Retrieved 2006-04-21. 
    High-Resolution Version, PDF format, 16.1 MB
    Medium-Resolution Version, PDF format, 1.45 MB 12 January 2004.
    Low-Resolution Version, PDF format, 825 KB 12 January 2004.
    "Planned Arterials Map Legend Definitions", PDF format. 12 January 2004.
    The high resolution version is good for printing, 11 x 17. The low and medium resolution versions are good for quicker online viewing. [Source: "Street Classification Maps, Note on Accessing These PDF Files"]
  • "Store History" (PDF). History & Highlights. Bookstore of the University of Washington. 2005-01-31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2006-04-21. 
  • "VarsityTheatre". Landmark Theatres. n.d. Retrieved 2006-04-21. 

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