Diva Hood: Pioneer Square

SeattleSwitch_Email — Diva's Switch/Seattle Event in Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square is hands down one of my favorite neighborhoods in Seattle. Downtown Seattle’s skyscrapers are a back drop to this brick vintage slightly seedy hood that is bursting with creativity. Many start-ups and non-profits have their offices in Pioneer Square. And more importantly to us Divas it is the home of rock solid artist studios and galleries.

Several years ago we hosted Switch/Seattle in Pioneer Square’s Artemide’s retail space. The event was geared to bringing together architects, urban planners, business owners and neighborhood residents together for a conversation about the future of Pioneer Square. At the time Team Diva felt strongly that you cannot have a prosperous city while you allow your oldest neighborhood to be swallowed up by the recession. Last week I stopped by Lighting Universe in Pioneer Square for a new dinning room light fixture at Chez Diva. It was nice to see the neighborhood thriving despite people’s expectations. More specifically it is always nice to see an area swarming with well established art galleries and our pals The New P2 doing their thing to keep folks engaged in this neighborhood. As an ode to this neighborhood here are the top ten spots we like to go to while spending time in Pioneer Square

First Thursday Art Walk: Hands down one of the best ways to spend a day in Seattle. The Art Walk is one of our favorite ways to see established artists and up and coming creators in one of the more established art communities in the northwest.
Delicatus: Perhaps it is the large pictures of vintage butcher diagrams of the various farm animals on the walls that makes me love this place. Or perhaps its the exceptional service one receives. Or more importantly, it is the food. Frankly, Delicatus is the best place in this freakin’ city to get hand cured cuts of meat in a sandwich.
Salumi: Let’s be honest. Seattle’s love affair with cured meats came about after Salumi opened in a store front of my old building on Second avenue.
Caffe Umbria: The Caffe sits perfectly on Occidental Square with year round outdoor tables. The espresso is perfect and geared towards the over caffeinated diva.
Original Artist Loft Condo Living: In the mid-1990 we had several artist friends who were relocated out of their buildings as developers started this new thing called a “condo” conversion. Now we covet the rare unit that comes on the market with its exposed brick and urban goodness.
Lawrimore Project: A fine place for contemporary art in Seattle.
619 Western: It is a little sad and totally f-ed up how the city handled the relocation of working artists in the 619 Western building last summer. The building had been on the list of building greatly needing rehabbing and earthquake retrofitting. Originally they were given six months to vacate the building but out of the blue they were given only two months. That is no time for barely making it artists to suddenly relocate their businesses. Regardless the building is still one of our favorite spots due to the many memories we have of touring great art with our friends.
James Harris Gallery: Diva Pal and Local 1520 artist Roy Powell says that the James Harris gallery has some of the best work in the city.
Boozing it Up at the Elysian Before a Sounders Game: Many of you know that Diva Kaz is a HUGE fan of the Sounders FC team. Before she heads out to a game she likes to hit up the Elysian with friends to get pre-game brew.
Spooked in Seattle’s Ghost Walk: Nothing gets you going like being spooked by the old buildings around Pioneer Square. Take your out of town guests to this fun and totally out of the ordinary tour. You will not be disappointed!