Seattle was called The Jet City, and we had the Seattle Super Sonics basketball team. The city rallied around Boeing, and supported their continued growth.

Jet City Real Estate was a small Brokerage that was abandoned. In 1986 I wanted to open a Brokerage on Phinney Ridge with that same name. In 2003 the domain name was still available so I bought it, and built a web site around the name. It included links to history about Seattle, and the Boeing company. The internet was changing rapidly, and I was losing links faster than I could add them. Images were also bought by Getty, of Boeing planes, and cityscapes of Seattle so they were no longer available for free.

I’ve included some of those links here, and a page about the Jet City. The Jet City name ties in to some of my more recent articles about Internet Brokerages. I would like to promote an old school approach to Real Estate. Back in the day when you hired an agent you could trust to show you properties of high quality that had value.  

The focus of this site is to bring back some credibility to the Real Estate profession by promoting those agents, and Brokerages you can trust.

There was a distributor here in Seattle of the la Mazocco machines who were happy to sell the first few hundred machines to Starbucks. As Starbucks expanded so did the distributorship. When Starbucks went International the Seattle distributors bought the Florence factory, and added a plant here in Seattle, in Ballard exclusively for Starbucks.

As the Starbucks expansion continued the two factories couldn’t keep up with the demand. Another division was formed to make automatic espresso machines. They combined three other machine manufacturers to make faster espresso machines. Then there was McDonald’s who wanted to sell espresso drinks.

Once McDonald’s entered the espresso business all artistry went out the window. La marzocco severed ties with Starbucks, and went back to making the world’s contender for best espresso machine. The factory in Ballard closed, leaving a new parts distribution center in the older part of Ballard.

Future articles will talk about the art of coffee, and I started a www.rumblefishespresso.com blog.

OK, that was my reasoning, but I always forget about Loyal Heights, and the neighborhoods North of 65th. 59th is actually a demarcation point, but above 65th things change. I’ll spare you the twenty years of zoning wars between the meat head builders of rental units, and neighborhood houses. Above 65th was where the family home was preserved.

Above 65th all the way to 145th you will find well built solid timber homes. We were in a house this week where you could tell the builder built it for himself. It had all the usual stuff, of the Duffy tile work, mahogany trim, and doors, hard wood floors, and a sandstone fireplace. Everything was perfectly level, and you felt how solid the house was.

The other thing about all of Ballard is the South West Exposure. On Loyal Heights it’s a big expanse of flat so you feel the sun light all day, every day, even in the rainy season. There’s a whole gambit of housing styles with a penchant for those war era working homes. There’s no doubt though that the builder had money, the labor was skilled, and the materials the best.

I forget about Loyal Heights. It’s just a great family neighborhood that is a buffer between working class, upper class, and wealth.

I’d like to know the story of the place because the tienda we usually go to is up Aurora closer to 175th. That store is set up differently, much more like a store that caters to every one. Lupe’s is a celebration of the community. We were attending a quinceanera in the complex where the tienda is. Maybe that was a sign because it certainly set a tone. How many quinceanera’s do you attend in the United States?

That is what Lupe’s Tienda is. It’s a place to prepare for your birthday, First Holy Communion, Baptism, El Milagro, or quinceanera. It has the 20 kinds of hot sauce, or every kind of pop, or the big pastries, but it looked to me more like a community store. It is the place that used to be on the corner, in your neighborhood.

Lupe’s Tienda  (206) 365-2081

15009 Aurora Ave N, Shoreline, WA 98133

Synesso is a local Seattle company that start building espresso machines when Starbucks switched to automatic machines a few year ago. So far, to date Synesso has made 900 machines, like I said they are small. A three head machine sells for about $12K, so it’s for serious coffee shops. Already they have set up to export the machines which is the smartest thing to do. The rest of the world takes coffee much more seriously than we do, if you can imagine.

I’m going to go down to tour the plant some afternoon, and will write about that when I do. In the mean time the Metropolitan Market, another local company, is where I know you can get a great cup of coffee.

Like to the web site is: http://www.synesso.com/

It’s kind of odd for a launch of a product to have the pastries poorly displayed with very little, or no signage, but the pastries are good.

The coffee, the double shot of espresso, was like I remembered, rich, creamy, full bodied.

I’m sure the decor is an attraction with it’s vintage gas station motif, but it’s the texture, and consistency of the pastry that makes me want to go back tomorrow.

At Fuel the double espresso shots that I get are always perfect. The color, creaminess, the full bodied flavor, that is never bitter, all add up to a well run operation.

All of that is a lead in to what I discovered yesterday at the café. Coffee will only get you so far, pastry is what gets you seated. For the past month that I have been going to Fuel the pastry case has been dismal. I stop at the QFC on my way to get an apple fritter. Yesterday there was what looked like calzones. I asked, and was told that no, those were not cheesy calzones, but a savory pastry.

It is a pie crust type of pastry with a vegetable filling. It was delicious. It is fresh, with distinctive flavor. The consistency firm, and chewy. Absolutely like nothing else that I’ve tried.

The same owner that has the fore thought to make a perfect espresso in Seattle has opened the High Five Pie http://www.high5pie.com/ I’ve seen the pie slices, lonely, there in the case, but now can’t wait to try one. It’s kind of exciting to find a brand new, unique, pastry experience. Maybe this week end I’ll make a special trip back, or come to think of it, we are working on Capitol Hill tomorrow, so maybe I’ll try to find their second location, that I think is on 19th, and about Republican.

What surprised me this week, in a walking tour of businesses, was a distinct mention of a lack of business. When I went back in the evening, on this summer day, there was a lot of foot traffic.

There is a new map of Wallingford that you can get at the shop Not a Number at 1905 North 45th, it’s quirky, more political, a little more grown up than Archy McPhees. Come to think of it Archy McPhees would be a great topic for another time.

One of the purposes of this blog is to point out places of interest, and Wallingford is one of those places where you can spend the day, an evening out, or use as a mall alternative. There are thirty places of business within a three block strip. I’m just going to mention one bar that is a place you have seen a million times, and probably never been in, which is Babalu’s. Wednesday is Salsa night, and if you want the experience of true Miami, this is the place. They have live music on the week ends, and it’s a bar’s bar. It’s right across the street from the newly remodeled QFC.

There is every kind of food, the movie theater, taverns, tea shops, coffee, and that travel book. It’s worth the trip, because it’s so central.

There are a couple of things about it that make it interesting to explore, and spend time with. First is some of the poster art work. Seattle is big on poster art for advertising an event. We are the coffee shop capital of the world, and when you walk into one you are blasted with poster art, each wants your attention.  The second thing is the diversity of events Seattle has to offer.

There are a wide variety of event calenders, but you can only go to so many. The Seattle Twist site is a chronicle of a hip, happening couple, and their quest to make the Elvis Mobile a house of worship. By following the events of the site you will have a chance of encountering an experience that adds to the landscape of Seattle. It’s an uplifting site worth it’s own link on the side panel.

Jet City Real Estate was to be a one stop shopping experience for those people who owned property, and needed help. Buying, and Selling are just a couple of things in a process of home ownership. Maintaining the property is also a challenge. Our web site at www.FixerFixer.com is a resource,of sorts, in how to buy, and improve, your property.

Jet City Home Improvement is one of a set of sub domains that relate to home ownership. We offer painting, landscaping, rockeries, decks, custom cabinets, rot work, and home repair. Every part of the business is controlled by our network of contractors. My part is done with people who have asked for my help to start businesses, and to do marketing for them.

These web sites are a part of the marketing. We give you options. You can always contact me for advice which is free. Our hope is that you will find a value in our services, and contract with us for the best results.