This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from SeattleIAM where you will find the best blogs from Seattle, Washington as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Newspapers Have it All Wrong on Mariner’s Ticket Increase

In a recent post on U.S.S. Mariners, blogger dave writes that the newspapers have it all wrong in regard to the “variable priced ticketing system” the Mariners will be adopting. In this system, “seats at certain games cost more than others and people get a discount for purchasing early.” Dave says that misleading articles will “make useless connections between the players salaries and the price of admission to one of their games.”

He points out in his post that the Mariners “are in the business of maximizing revenue” just like Microsoft, Boeing, and Starbucks. “Pricing based on supply and demand is… a basic tenet that every one of these companies use” and the M’s are simply putting capitalism to work. “This isn’t the Mariners raising ticket prices because they’re raising payroll,” he argues, “this is the Mariners charging more money for tickets because people are more than willing to pay the price to attend games.” He maintains that there is “no link between the team’s payroll and ticket prices.”

$400 Million Everett Construction Project Loses Funding

According to The Tim over at Seattle Bubble, a local real estate blog, it’s not just the individual’s ability to buy homes that’s being affected by the “still-tightening market for financing real estate” it’s also affecting “the ability of large new construction projects to get financing to even begin building.” In particular the 65 acre Gardner Wharf waterfront condo complex in Evetett is having trouble getting off the ground. According to Mike Benbow at the Everett Herald, construction has been delayed six to nine months after Merrill Lynch dropped out due to our country’s “mortgage mess.” Lynch had agreed to be the main lender for the $98 million project, the first phase of the $400 million redevelopment.

Developer Maritime Trust’s Bert Mears says no one wants to make a move until the nation’s mortgage problems get off the “front page,” but that he’s not worried about financial backing because the local economy is strong due to “the incredible amount of jobs at places like Boeing and Microsoft.” Blogger Tim responds to this statement by pointing out in his post that Boeing “added less than 200 jobs in Everett (half of which pay $10-$13 an hour) for the fancy new 787 Dreamliner” and that Microsoft has “one small office in Everett.” This doesn’t exactly instill a lot of confidence in spending “400 million dollars building hundreds of waterfront condos.”

No Need to Shed Tears for Crocodile

Blogging over at The Seattlest, Tom tells Seattle “not to despair” about the Crocodile shutting its doors, and that club turnaround keeps the scene vibrant. News of the popular music venue has prompted lively discussion around the local blog-o-shere. Tom reasons that “clubs aren't taverns; they don't grow finer with age. It's better to have a steady, sustainable turnaround of clubs and venues [to] keep the music scene itself from stagnating.”

In his post, Tom writes that “there's nothing more depressing than a club reaching mythic ‘legendary’ status with 45-year-old, original patrons - trying to relive old memories - throwing lecherous glances at the 16-year-old noobs.” It is best that a club close its doors before it “gets tired” and let it live in the “slightly hazy, alcoholic fog of memories.” Our blogger is certain that sooner or later, “a new deathtrap of a club will take its place.”

Local Power Surge Caused by Underground Explosion in Queen Anne
Samantha Mastridge reports in Metroblogging Seattle that “the lights flickered and the power surged” in her South Lake Union apartment this afternoon (Tuesday) around lunchtime. All this activity was due to “an explosion and fire in an underground electrical vault” in Queen Anne.
There’s not much news yet to post, but “the explosion happened at Broad and Harrison by the EMP and caused a bit of a power outage in the neighborhood” according to KIRO. Traffic will be diverted from the intersection “until everyone is sure that the structural integrity of the road is intact.”
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