Seattle Sketcher

An illustrated journal of life in the Puget Sound region by Times artist Gabriel Campanario.

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April 28, 2009 12:01 AM

Taking a gander at Aurora Avenue

Sketched April 21, 11:16 a.m. [View larger]

When I prepared to move to Seattle three years ago and read "Aurora Avenue" on the map, I thought that must be a nice street. Aurora, which means dawn in Spanish, is a beautiful name. I was wrong. People actually advised against moving near it. So when I recently read Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman's statement that Seattle should get rid of all Aurora's "visual garbage," I smiled. He was right. And the ugliness extends all the way to Snohomish County. I've found only one nicely-landscaped portion in Shoreline. The rest looks more like this "average" ugly intersection at 86th Street. Are there any other spots in Seattle that hurt your eyes? They may deserve a sketch before they get a makeover.

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Comments (18)

I am not one to belittle an artist's work because I believe that the world would be a sad place if they were not around, and everyone has... Posted on May 1, 2009 at 4:01 PM by AbeYo. Jump to comment

Though the sketch is well done, I was put off by the "ugly" comment too. I happen to live 1 block away from the location you sketched.... Posted on April 29, 2009 at 12:25 PM by blondie1. Jump to comment

Sketcher, thanks for the good work and insights. Regarding "1. Interbay’s Western avenue north through 15th into Ballard up to Freemont... Posted on May 5, 2009 at 11:06 AM by MagBill. Jump to comment

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