The opportunity to grow up in Kirkland has been quite a privilege. Between my adolescence on South Rose Hill, my current residence in the Highlands neighborhood and having the opportunity to meet thousands of citizens every week as a grocery clerk in the Houghton neighborhood for the previous decade.

A brewery may be a beautiful next step in the development of what within my lifetime may grow to a large city.

Occupied retail, commercial and industrial space has declined quite a bit nationally. Without a viable pool of tenants within the Houghton/Everest area that it may be doomed to suburban anonymity. The Houghton Neighborhood has needed something other than the suburban normal for many years.

Although there is a vocal group of residents opposing the new brewery – please remember the occupancy rates of the buildings within that complex in the last many years – including the many businesses that have moved or proven unsuitable for the 6th Street corridor. Urban decay increases with unoccupied commercial space. Enough businesses have closed or moved on within my relatively short time in the neighborhood to realize putting a stop to a business model that exists in excess of 270 locations across the state of Washington may be folly.

The establishment of the Cross Kirkland Corridor is an astounding advance for the city of Kirkland. Proper development of this newly found corridor into something more eventful than simply a gravel road across Kirkland is the entire function of the corridor. If we allow new and cutting edge local businesses to flourish along the corridor; the new pedestrian and bicycle pathway evolves to something greater, a pathway for a more sustainable Kirkland.

Ian Parsons, Kirkland