By MATT PATNEAUDE

Seattle Mayor Paul Schell visited neighborhoods in the Lake City and Northgate areas on July 26.

The tour started at the Lake City Chamber of Commerce office, where Schell and about two dozen local business people and government officials enjoyed lunch. Lake City Chamber President Bill Swanberg presented the mayor with a bright red Pioneer Days T-Shirt so that he would "stand out." However, Schell failed to change out of his tie and jacket for the tour.

During lunch, Schell discussed an issue of particular concern for Lake City residents and businesses: the City's 50-year-old promise to construct sidewalks in the area. Schell said building traditional curbs, gutters and sidewalks where they are needed in the North Seattle area would cost billions of dollars.

Because a project of that magnitude in not financially feasible, according to Schell, he said he believes only neighborhood arterials and other high traffic areas such as school zones should receive the high-cost curb, gutter, and sidewalks. Other sidestreets could utilize porous paths that are cheaper to build and environmentally friendly. "The objective is to have a safe place to walk," he said.

After lunch, the mayor conducted a walking tour of the area which began with stops at several businesses along Lake City Way. At the corner of NE 125th and Lake City Way, Schell paused to look towards construction of The Rekhi, a six-story mixed-use building slated to open in April 2001. "It's coming out of the ground already," he said, noting that the building, located in the heart of Lake City's business district, will provide a terrific boost to the neighborhood.

Due to construction of The Rekhi, the sidewalk on the north side of NE 125th was closed, and the tour proceeded east on the south side of the street. However, the next stop was to the north and no crosswalk was in sight. That didn't bother the mayor, as he cut across the road and everyone else was forced to follow. Luckily, no police were in sight to hand out jaywalking tickets.

Schell was whisked into the North Seattle Family Center where some of the children were so excited to meet the mayor that they could hardly speak. "The most important time in a child's life is from 0-4," he said as he made his way through the facility.

The next stop was the Lake City Village, where Schell viewed the low-income housing apartments that have sat boarded up for four years following severe flooding. The Seattle Housing Authority has money to tear down the units, which have been the targets of vandalism, but currently doesn't have the funds to rebuild.

The mayor suggested a meeting between the Department of Design, Construction and Land Use and the Seattle Housing Authority to get the problem fixed. "Letting it sit empty and abandoned is not good. Wait and see what happens with this place now." he said.

At this point, the walking tour became a driving tour, stopping at several local parks before heading to Northgate and Pinehurst. Near the south parking lot of Northgate Mall, Schell was greeted with citizens eager to voice their concerns about the area.

Members of Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund, a citizens group seeking to have Thornton Creek daylighted as part of Northgate Mall's south parking lot redevelopment, together with nine children between the ages of 5 and 10 held signs saying "Daylight Thornton Creek" and "Save Thornton Creek."

Schell came over to meet the children and then talked with the adults. While some were there to talk about daylighting Thornton Creek, others, such as Haller Lake community activist Sue Geving, were there to discuss other topics. These included traffic issues and the siting of the proposed Northgate library/community center.

The mayor said that he loves doing the neighborhood tours because it gets him out of the office where he can meet people and see first hand what is going on in the city. "There's good energy in this area," he remarked.