For those with kids who are looking for a reason to take Link down to the Rainier Valley, here’s a great (and cheap!) Wednesday night out with the family.
Start off with a Link ride down to Columbia City Station, then make the short walk to Rainier Ave and the historic heart of Columbia City.
There between Edmunds and Angeline you’ll find the recently opened Ark Lodge Cinemas in the old Columbia City Cinema space. Every Wednesday the first showing of the evening is a ‘Stroller Park Wednesday’ show:
We dim the lights half way so it’s not pitch black and we turn the sound down. Children 3 and under are free.
Keep your tickets because it is good for half off an appetizer at Rookies just a little south on Ferdinand. It’s very family friendly, and combined with Wednesdays all-day happy hour its a very reasonably priced dinner out.
Finish up with some classic arcade games and ice-cream at Full Tilt and you’ve got quite the evening out with the family!
Family or no, Columbia City is getting to be an exciting place. It will only get better when that hideous Columbia Plaza is razed and a new residential and commercial project replaces it. It has everything in place to be a successful example of resurgence in the central city.
Even better, the commercial project is PCC, so the valley will finally have a natural food store without having to go to Seward Park or Madison.
Illustrating one of the best advantages of light rail: (almost) everybody likes the train!
Yeah, tell me again, how many blocks is it from the cinema where the train dumps you in no man’s land. The article mentions a short walk….mmmm
…a short walk for those who don’t get winded after a block, so yeah it’s a short walk. You should try walking sometime, it’s good for you.
0.4 miles / 7 minutes according to Google Maps. I live right there and can vouch for it.
https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Columbia+City+Station,+Martin+Luther+King+Junior+Way+South,+Seattle,+WA&daddr=47.5587835,-122.2855146+to:Ark+Lodge+Cinemas,+Rainier+Avenue+South,+Seattle,+WA&hl=en&sll=47.558892,-122.289044&sspn=0.004192,0.009645&geocode=Feqx1QIdOve1-CGvs_Av6rpdtikL4pVtC2qQVDGvs_Av6rpdtg%3BFX-w1QIdNhK2-CnD72NKDGqQVDEJdLZ0JH8QQg%3BFUix1QIdSBK2-CHQ1kGlcxB9-CmjmgJLDGqQVDHQ1kGlcxB9-A&oq=ark+l&t=h&dirflg=w&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=17&via=1&z=17
You can’t walk three blocks!? Man, you need to get out more.
Columbia City is as close as it gets to a hub of NYC as it gets out here. For those who aren’t lazy whiners, take the rail! short walk to the cinema and 3 of the top restaurants in Seattle (La Medusa, Spice room & Waba Sabi.)
Just went for the first time to Ark Lodge Cinema. It was such a wonderful local theater. Plus the short 3-4 block walk from my front door was an amazing plus, well that walk is crazy long to some.
I don’t mind the walk from the Station to Columbia City, but it sure would be nice if it were…nicer. Wider sidewalks, trimmed bushes/trees/hedges, and better lighting at night. A good touch would even be a hint of whimsy, such as the sidewalks on Broadway.