By Dave Ross

That’s Life

The year is 2025. Out the window, I see neighbors taking their children to school as I ride the monorail north along East Mercer Way. Every morning, I join other Island residents as we commute from our homes to our cars, which are parked in the 14-story garage built on the site of the old Luther Burbank Park.

The air smells fresh; auto pollution is down. I watch friends stop and talk as they pass on the street. These are the same people that just a few years ago were ready to tear our community in two because of cultural and lifestyle differences that divided our Island. Those citizens threatened to split the Island into two municipalities again as was done in the 1950s and 1960s.

Even though they didn’t split the Island a second time, there still remained fundamental differences between the values of folks who owned homes with yards and high-risers whose inner-city lifestyle dominated the downtown scene. These two cultures clashed each time longtime residents felt real estate tax revenue from their well-established establishments subsidized services enjoyed by first generation gentry.

We have had 20 years of continuous expansion. In the last 10 years alone, the Island’s population has increased by 40 percent. As our community develops, our differences become more apparent. Along East Mercer Way, ivy grows on trees. Downtown, ivy hangs around the video store until it closes at midnight. Along waterfront property, friends appreciate a serene sunset. In the Town Center, they drink tequila sunrises while discussing the appreciation of the values of their condos.

On a positive note, property values are finally living up to their tax revenue potential, financing development projects that benefit all Islanders. No square inch of space has been left behind. We built a casino, indoor dog park and Mer Square Shopping Center, all within walking distance of each other.

Since 2005, the number of dry cleaners has increased to 42. Starbucks No.18 opened in the rear of the Roanoke Museum of Jimi Hendrix Memorabilia. The city has added more police, the school district added a second high school, and the recycling center in Mercerdale Park was tripled in size.

When the Beach Club, Shore Club and Country Club went bankrupt they couldn’t afford their property taxes. The Mary Wayte Aquatic Center was refurbished and now is the training home for the Island’s three swim teams.

All this construction caused traffic to worsen and tempers to shorten. The City installed metered stoplights along Island Crest Way to regulate the flow of cars entering the central business district. If you lived south of S.E. 40th Street, it took most of your day to drive to the pharmacy or get a haircut. Old-timers saw red every time they witnessed a greenbelt become a grocery store or a library annex.

Something had to be done to resolve the growing tension between residents. Citizen groups organized. Once again, it was proposed we divide the Island into two municipalities, giving the urban core its own government separate from the native Island dwellers. However, the thought of creating two city halls, with two elections, too many candidates and twice the campaign signage was more than anyone wanted to face.

We began searching for a sound solution to bridge the differences that separated our worlds. In the ’70s and ’80s, when the interstate took a big bite out of Mercer Island, we fought to preserve the character of our community. Finally an agreement was reached, promises made. They paved our paradise and we put up a park-and-ride.

Then in 2010, we lost the final court battle to save our SOV rights to the Seattle HOV lanes. Once again, we rallied and were granted special access on a new floating bridge scheduled to open in 2020. In retrospect, it turned out to be a shaky victory. We discovered the bridge was built out of used Alaskan Way Viaduct parts.

It was still a moral victory and we realized that, in the past, it has been transportation projects that have united our community. That was when someone noticed King County was selling its monorail on eBay. We were the high bidder, though the cost to ship it was more than the price we paid for the transit system. A group from the Town Center Rotary volunteered to assemble it. In about three months, they had it crisscrossing the Island with terminals on almost every other street corner.

Once the monorail was operational, we closed the roads to vehicle traffic. Streets were converted to bike lanes and trails. Today people walk or peddle everywhere and are using public transportation to get downtown. I have moved our cars to the Luther Burbank parking lot and plan to drive only when I need to leave the Island. We are remodeling the house and turning the garage into a home theater.

From my monorail window, the community seems quiet, almost tranquil. Throughout the city, we no longer need speed limits, traffic lights or stop signs. Who would have imagined our community would have turned out this way?

David Ross is a Mercer Island resident not to be confused with Dave Ross.