Monday, May 27, 2013

"The Hill's" Staple Spot, The Station

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At 9AM on Monday, the scene transpiring in Beacon Hill's most beloved coffee shop, The Station bewildered newcomers but didn't phase regulars. The owner of The Station, Jose Rodrigues' loud voice and rather uncensored demeanor makes up for his shop's small quarters. The Station being cramped within four confining walls hardly undermines it's popularity within the Beacon Hill community.  While breaking a block of Chocolate Mexicano with his own two hands, Rodrigues' booming voice resonates throughout the shop and can be heard from the street. He knows each person in the shop, but even if that weren't the case, Rodrigues would not cease to yell obscenities across the bar to his fellow employee Florence. 

"They joke with each other all the time" says John Ramos, a daily customer and employee at the community center El Centro De La Raza. "Sometimes we can hear them teasing each other  from the playground," as he raises his finger across the street towards the bright primary colors of the swings, slides, and teeter-totters at El Centro. Despite his intimidating character, Rodrigues devotes his days to crafting fine espresso, making his customers happy, and providing an ideal coffee experience. 
The Station is the mastery of great coffee/food combined with a welcoming staff and exceptional atmosphere. There's nothing worse than a coffee shop that lacks a comfortable space to sit and enjoy a drink, converse with a friend, or just read a book. Often, coffee shops are either too crowded to find a seat or don't have pleasant places for customers to sit. This popular spot in Beacon Hill's mission is to eliminate those problems. Many Beacon Hill residents say that The Station is an excellent addition to the community considering the neighborhood's notorious lack of coffee shops. Located in the hub of the neighborhood, The Station has become a hot spot for Beacon Hill, granting it a greater presence on Seattle's map.


The Station gets its name because of it's close proximity to the Beacon Hill Light Rail station. "If I were to throw a rock, it would most likely hit someone who's getting on the light rail,"says Rodriguez. When he started The Station, Rodriquez's biggest goal was to provide a central place for the community to gather. In order to ensure a great environment for his shop, Rodriguez makes a point to know each of his customers. The shop also provides free wifi, reasonable prices, local art, an eclectic mix of music and a happy hour from 3-7 PM with wine and beer on tap. The Station's most unique feature is the fact that it is dog friendly. Dogs all shapes and sizes are welcome in the cafe.





Not only does The Station have great coffee, but Rodriguez also provides a wide selection of Italian, Latin American, Mexican food, and pastries that his customers rave about. The shop is known for serving great bagel sandwiches, biscuits, and homemade tamales, but The Station is most famous for its authentic Mexican Mocha Latte. 
The cafe also embodies the reoccurring theme of Beacon Hill as a whole, its diversity. In The Stranger, journalist, Charles Mudude is impressed at the ambiance upon his first visit. "The man and woman sitting on the stools by the window spoke with the owner in Spanish. Two middle-aged white women to my left talked about their kids. A black man on my right drank a beer and surfed the web. An Asian man wearing a Peruvian hat walked in and ordered a bowl of porridge." The combination of The Station's openness to diversity with great service and food has earned it a spot on The Stranger's list of Seattle's best restaurants, an article that is conveniently framed upon the wall behind the cafe's bar.  






















The Station serves as a community center by taking the idea of involvement to the next level with it's local art. Each month, the shop features different local artist's pieces on the wall above it's central seating area along with the patio in the back. Rodrigues even hosted a contest where members of Beacon Hill submitted original designs to the owner where he picked which one will represent the official logo of The Station. The winner has not yet been revealed.  





Links:

The Station on Google Maps

Yelp

Facebook
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Beacon Hill's First Official Gathering Place

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       The parking area allotted to El Centro de la Raza, a hub for the Latino community in Beacon Hill is barren and underutilized. Located next to the light rail station, the progressive community center, the space is wallowing in its possibilities to bring positive growth to the neighborhood. The great minds at El Centro de la Raza have teamed up with The Beacon Hill Development Group to turn its parking lot into something that will embody the values of community in Beacon Hill. 


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       As discussed in my previous post, El Centro de la Raza is a community center aimed to empower those of the Latin American population, as well as other races, to participate in their community and practice social justice. El Centro de la Raza’s programs are constructed to prepare their members to be involved members of society through child and youth programs, human emergency services, education and skill building programs, and community building development. Their services range from programs like career building workshops to Cinco de Mayo Festivals that are open to the community. El Centro de la Raza embodies the widespread values of Beacon Hill: culture and community.

         
        The dynamic population of Beacon Hill has always been in need of a place where its residents can congregate and engross themselves in their community. With this in mind, the idea for Plaza Roberto Maestas was born. Their idea is to build a community-inspired center that honors the history of “El Centro de la Raza,” and also serves as a “town center” for Beacon Hill residents to enjoy. The center will have. The official design was released on the Beacon Hill Blog this Monday, May 13th. A team met over the series of ten meetings in 2012 to formulate the plans and designs for the “Latino” inspired community center. (Photos from the meeting)
         Aimed towards low in come to moderate-income individuals and families, the plan is to create a housing community with 40 one-bedroom apartments, 51 two-bedroom apartments, and 22 three-bedroom apartments. While the center seems to be adhered more to families, there will be a section with predominantly one-bedroom apartments. The ground level of each building will be commercial retail space, El Centro de la Raza’s Jose Marti Child Development Center, and a Multi‐Cultural Community Center.
            Possibly the Plaza Roberto Maesta’s most impressive feature is the fact that it is open to the public. 
          The Beacon Hill Blog says, “The Plaza is specifically designed this project around the concept of an open, public central plaza for the community to use and enjoy, as laid out in the neighborhood plan. The plaza is being designed to both honor El Centro’s history and to create open gathering space to celebrate the Beacon Hill neighborhood, specifically for events such as Beacon Rocks and a potential farmer’s market, should one ever be located on Beacon Hill. It is anticipated that the plaza will be closed at dusk, similar to Seattle Public Parks, in order to maintain safety and security on site for the residents and the neighborhood.” 
            El Centro de la Raza just announced a public-open meeting that will launch off the permitting process on June 25th at Wellspring Family Services on Rainer Avenue. 



Additional Information can be found here.http://www.elcentrodelaraza.org/documents/PRM.pdf



(Future Plans of the Plaza, images via Beacon Hill Blog)
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