Inspired by our sister site, Phinneywood, I’ve put together a list of the most-read and most-commented stories of 2009. As we welcome in 2010, which stories would you pick for the top story of 2009?

We’re just hours away from 2010, and if you still don’t have plans for ushering in the New Year, here are a few ideas for celebrating the teens on the hill.

The Space Needle fireworks show is always a hit, and if you’re willing to drop some cash to welcome in the next decade, you can be front and center at midnight. For $250 guests can enjoy a six-course meal at SkyCity, followed by dancing to Seattle party band Grüvbox on the Observation Deck. For $125 you can skip dinner and go straight to the countdown party. Details here.

The Spectator Sports Bar in Uptown is having their 2nd Annual 80′s New Year’s party, equipped with a DJ and prizes for the best 80′s mustache and wig! The festivities start at 7 p.m. (They’ll also be playing New Year’s day games on Friday, and will have a hearty New Year’s breakfast from 9 a.m. to noon).

For those of us you who’d rather celebrate the New Year on a shoestring budget, Farmers Life Insurance New Year’s at the Needle fireworks show can be seen from Kerry Park on W Highland Dr. The viewpoint is the perfect place to watch the fireworks, but get there early to get a good spot because the park isn’t big enough for thousands of New Year’s onlookers. If you’d rather get a close to the action as possible, you can join the 20,000 others expected to gather at the base of the Needle for the eight-minute display.

Still need a babysitter for tonight? Send your kids to the New Year’s Eve Slumber Party at the Pacific Science Center for a night of fun, scientific exploration and a great view of the fireworks.

I won’t be on the hill for New Year’s this year, so if any of you happen to snap some great pictures of the fireworks show and would like to share, email them to tips@queenanneview.com. Happy New Year!

(Photo courtesy of Crashworks via Flickr).

It may be New Year’s Eve, but if you’re still not ready to conclude the holiday season, you can relive some of the seasonal magic on Queen Anne hill right here. The annual Holiday Magic festival lit up the classic holiday tunes on video!

If you missed the band at Holiday Magic, here they are playing Jingle Bells. You can catch their other tunes – Deck the Halls, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Joy to the World, and Up on the Housetop – on El Diablo’s YouTube channel. Next year I’ll have to request they play a Chanukah song!

The director of the Department of Planning and Development has recommended the city hold a public hearing on a proposed mixed use apartment and retail building in Uptown that would require the rezoning of three pieces or property at 100 Republican St. between 1st Ave N and Warren Ave N. The  six-story building would have 17,725 sq. ft. of ground-level retail space facing 1st Ave N and Republican, 265-275 apartments above and at ground level on Warren Ave, and 291-vehicle parking.

Currently this area is zoned NC3-40 (Neighborhood Commercial 3 with a 40-foot base height limit) and NC3P-40 (Pedestrian designated zone), but the building would require rezoning and raising the height limitations to to NC3-65 (Neighborhood Commercial 3 with a 65-foot base height limit) and NC3P-65. The proposal also includes plans to vacate approximately 3,840 sq. ft. of the platted alley, amounting to about half of the alley length, and rededicate 2,880 sq. ft. in another location.

Back in March ten members of the public attended the Early Design Guidance meeting, and had many concerns including noise, access to commercial parking around Seattle Center and Uptown’s business district, safety of the remaining alleyway, as well as congestion and maneuverability of large trucks and fire engines in the alleyway. In a Design Review Recommendation meeting held in July, concerns of the shadowing effect on buildings to the north was brought up. A full project analysis and recommendation by the Director of the Department of Planning and Development was put together. You can download and review that here.

A hearing to take public comment from the community on the Director’s recommendation will be held on Tuesday, January 12 at 1:30 p.m. at the Office of the Hearing Examiner, located at 700 5th Avenue, Suite 4000. Written comments will also be accepted until the close of the hearing. Information on how to make a written comment here.

Although the weather seems to have warmed up a bit these last few weeks, particularly cold mornings still mean patches of ice around the hill. A few weeks ago one of our readers, Jon Ribary, wrote,

7th and Bertona is always wet. I have lived here for 9 years and just assume it is someones water run off, but now that it is freezing it is a sheet of ice. I am curious why there is always water there. Do you know?

And after weeks of back and forth with street maintenance contacts at SDOT, they still can’t figure out where the water run-off is coming from. In the meantime, keep an eye out for slick ice at this intersection.

Jon sent this picture this afternoon. “There was actually running water coming out of the sidewalk,” he wrote. “There are several places like that around (on 11th between Rufner and Emerson too. It would be great to know why.”

For the last two months Queen Anne Ave’s TeaCup has been showcasing a number of lacquer paintings by Vietnamese twins Le Ngoc Thanh and Le Duc Hai through Art Xchange, a local non-profit that raises cultural awareness and promotes global understanding by bringing exhibits from artists around the world to local cafes and galleries.

The brothers have exhibited their work in museums and galleries around the world, including New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Bangkok, and Tokyo. They are renown among colleagues for their bold lacquers that use stark contrasts of color and “wild, naive outlines,” according to Art Xchange.

TeaCup shows mini-exhibits through Art Xchange on a rotating basis, and will be hosting Thanh and Hai’s works for another couple of weeks, when they paintings will be moved to the Art Xchange gallery in Pioneer Square and another installation will take over. If you’re hankering for a cup of tea and some beautiful art, it’s definitely worth the visit.

The Department of Planning and Development is asking the Queen Anne community to give public comment on a land use application that would demolish three commercial structures, totally 76,727 sq. ft., on 1207 Westlake Ave N, an area that is classified as “environmentally critical.” According to DPD, this may be the only opportunity community members have to weigh in on the environmental impacts of the proposal. To read up on the application or make a public comment, click here. Comments can be made online though Wednesday, January 6.

It still may not look like much from the outside, but some of the paper has come down at Wink, allowing passersby to catch a glimpse of Queen Anne Ave’s new cupcake parlor, set to open one week from today, on Tuesday, January 5.

I stopped by this afternoon and got a sneak peek at the sweet shop. While chatting about the opening with “Über Manager” Lisa Gagnon, several people stopped in to see when Wink would be opening up, clearly eager for some cupcakes.

“We’re excited to be in the Queen Anne community and be a place where people can congregate,” Lisa said about the three-year-old company’s first retail location. She also said that they’d be putting a sign that reads, “Please refrain from licking the glass,” in the window that opens into the baking area, where “People can watch their cupcakes in action,” according to Lisa.

In addition to serving many seasonal and year-round flavors (their menu is not totally set yet, but includes old standbys like red velvet with classic cream cheese frosting, as well as unique concoctions like champagne cake with lemon buttercream and Guinness with “frothy frosting”), they will also sell Whidbey Island Ice Cream and an organic direct trade coffee blend from Guatemala grown and roasted specifically for them.

The pink and polka dot clad shop is filled with cupcake paraphernalia – including T-shirts and even cupcake-shaped bath bombs – made by local artists and businesses.

“We’re a little blend of small and local,” Lisa said.

Wink will be open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. They’ll be closed on Mondays. (Note their hours have changed since our last report). Also, Wink will be continuing it’s delivery service, bringing cupcakes and coffee straight to your door Thursday through Saturday, or by appointment.

“We’re heavy on delivery,” Lisa said. “Instead of sending flowers, you can send cupcakes!”

Welcome Wink, we’re excited to have you on the hill!

“The Legislature convenes on January 11 and we’re again facing a massive deficit of nearly $3 billion,” Carlyle said in a press release today. “It’s critical that I hear from our community directly about your views, issues, concerns and thoughts on the budget, taxes, education and other important issues.  I’m asking people to reach out and share your views so I can better represent you in Olympia during these difficult times.”

Coffee hour times and locations:

A recent FBI report released the national and local crime statistics for first half of 2009, January to June, and compared to the 2008 numbers it looks like violent crime is down 4.4 percent nationwide and property crime is down 6.1 percent. However, in Seattle both violent and property crimes have gone up compared to last year. The Seattle Times wrote,

Data released Monday by the FBI showed incidents of violent crime (murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery) in Seattle increased from 1,582 during the first six months of 2008 to 1,927 during the same period this year — a rise of nearly 22 percent, the FBI reported.

Property crimes (burglary, larceny, theft and car theft) in Seattle also rose approximately 4.5 percent during the first half of the year with 16,325 incidents, compared to 15,629 incidents during the first half of 2008.

I personally was never sure if there was actually more crime, of if I was just more aware of it, until I saw these numbers. And there’s no denying the reports of burglaries and break-ins keep coming. Just this morning the Ballard Walgreens was robbed at gunpoint. Jonah Spangenthal-Lee at SeattleCrime.com has a theory behind Seattle’s recent rise in crime. He breaks it down to three main causes. One: The economy. Two: A shortage of police officers. And lastly, an unfinished Neighborhood Policing Plan that falls short of helping cops better integrate with and serve their neighborhoods. Read Jonah’s full post here, and tell us, what do you think? 

One of our readers, Joel, wrote this in our forum last night,

Did anyone see a really low flying jet go over Queen Anne/North Seattle today? Were we the only ones that saw this? I can’t find anything on the news.

Given the controversy Queen Anne, Magnolia and Ballard have had surrounding low-flying planes and the noise they cause in the past, I wonder if anyone else witnessed a loud or low jet yesterday, Monday, December 28, as well? Please comment below.

If you live on the south side of Queen Anne hill or in Uptown, you may have noticed some major construction going on at 300 Roy St., the soon-to-be site of The Maxwell Hotel, slated to open in March.

Owned by Columbia West Properties, the company behind the University Inn and a number of other properties around town, the new hotel will have 140 rooms above four ground-level retail spaces. And according to hospitalitydesign.com, it will house an indoor pool, exercise facility, meeting spaces and espresso bar. They also wrote that the hotel will have swimming pool tiles painted by local children, though Columbia West has not yet verified this.

You may have noticed several gardening tools, rakes and watering cans included, popping up around the neighborhood over the last few months. They are the work of Picture Perfect Queen Anne, a volunteer-based organization dedicated to revitalizing the neighborhood’s business district streetscape–Queen Anne Avenue from Galer to McGraw St.

PPQA has, with support from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and the Office of Economic Development, built benches, consolidated newspaper boxes, and greened curbside bulb beds along Upper Queen Anne. And now they’re asking for community support to continue the work they’ve done.

As part of their Green Gateways campaign, PPQA hopes to raise $16,000 to continue the greening of Queen Anne’s main business district intersections, Galer and McGraw, by buying drought-tolerant plants and two years of maintenance and watering. As of November 16, they are $5,764 closer to their goal. For more information, or to make a donation, click here.

If you look forward to Halloween all year round and are having a hard time coping with the fact that the next costume and candy-clad holiday is ten months away, I have very exciting news for you: There is still one place on the hill you can go to feel the ghostly pang of eerie, spooky goodness–the women’s bathroom at 5 Spot.

I was surprised to find the restroom full of cow webs, ghosts, skeletons, plastic spiders and a jar of eyeballs when I stopped by earlier this afternoon. I tried to find an employee who could tell me why the ladies room was rocking the Halloween cheer, but as usual, they were quite busy and I never did get an answer. Had they decided to skip over Thanksgiving and Christmas and get a head start on decorations for Halloween 2010? Does this mean Santa will still be hanging out on the roof in June? Is the men’s bathroom also haunted? Is this where the ghosts of St. Louis like to lurk? Whatever the reason, the ladies bathroom at 5 Spot is, for now, a little Halloween oasis ready to lead us into 2010.

Update: Thanks to a reader who commented on this story, we now know why the ladies (and men’s) bathrooms are decorated to spook. Apparently they are designed to resemble the Lemp Mansion in St. Louis, the home of the Lemp family, owners of a big brewing company in the first half of the 20th century who were almost all met with tragic ends. The mansion is supposedly one of the most haunted places in the country. I’d never heard of it before, and neither had the reader who noticed a plaque in the men’s room explaining the choice in decor, but it sure does make for an fun trip to the bathroom! You can read more about the Lemp Mansion here.

Earlier this year FOLKpark (Friends of Lower Kinnear Park) won a $15,000 grant from the city’s Department of Neighborhoods for the revitalization of the five acres of urban forest located in Lower Queen Anne, and now the volunteer-based group is asking the community for input and ideas. Last month the group hired on HBB Landscape Architecture, a firm with strong experience in sustainable, green design and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), to work with the neighborhood to develop a conceptual plan for the enhancement of the park.

“HBB quickly emerged as the top candidate among a field of highly qualified firms,” FOLKpark chair Debi Frausto said in a press release (.pdf) last week. “They have an impressive track record of relevant projects and are committed to working with the community. Now it’s up to us to tell them how we want to use our park.”

FOLKpark has invited Queen Anne residents to meet the landscape architects and discuss both opportunities and challenges for Lower Kinnear Park at a “walk and talk” on Saturday, January 9. The group will be meeting at the park entrance at the west end of W. Roy St. at 10 a.m. rain or shine to take a stroll through the grounds.

The group has also set up three public meetings to receive community feedback and follow the draft plan process. The first meeting will be held on Thursday, January 14 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Bayview Retirement Community, located at 11 W. Aloha St, and will seek community input on the plan. The second meeting, held on Thursday, February 25 from 6:30 to 9 p.m., will present a draft plan for the park, and the third meeting will be held on Thursday, April 8 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. to go over the final draft plan and next steps for the project. For more information visit FOLKpark.org.

There will be a meeting at the Queen Anne Community Center at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 20 to present design information for a proposed seven-story apartment building at 717 Dexter Ave N and hear public comment. The 99-unit structure will have 1,325 sq. ft. of retail space and two live/work units at ground level that will be 1,367 sq. ft. each. The project also includes 18,000 cu. yards of sloped grading. The existing structure will be demolished. At the Design Review Board meeting the public may offer comments regarding the proposed design and the Design Review Board members will, in turn, offer to the Director of the Department of Planning and Development their recommendations.

You might not be ready to part with your Christmas tree yet, but whenever you plan to bring the holidays to a close, remember you may be able to recycle your tree rather than toss it (and help Queen Anne win $50,000 for reducing our waste). If you subscribe to curbside food and yard waste collection, you can put your tree out on the regular collection day at no extra charge until Sunday, January 10. Trees left out for collection should be cut into sections of up to six feet, with branches trimmed to four feet or less and bundled with string or twine so that they fit into the trucks.

One of our readers, Sarah Van Gieson, had her black Acura Legend stolen from outside her home on 3rd and Aloha at around 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, December 23. Sarah’s neighbor caught a glimpse of the suspect and described him as a Caucasian male in his late 20′s to early 30′s with a David Cassidy haircut.

According to Sarah, whoever stole her car left another in its place – a 91 Acura Legend 4-door sedan. She said the traded car was left unlocked and abandoned. There was no paperwork. She wrote,

Seems they have a master key b/c my alarm didn’t go off and didn’t smash window to get in it, doors were locked. Caution people with 90′s ledgends to club their steering wheels.

Yesterday, Saturday, December 26 the owner of the stolen car that was left in the place of Sarah’s car picked it up. Sarah wrote,

Happy they got their car back, now hope I get mine back!

Sarah’s Acura Legend has black tinted windows. If anyone has any information, please contact her at svangieson@yahoo.com.

A new lounge on the border between Lower Queen Anne and Belltown is opening up just in time for the New Year. Blush Lounge, located at 101 Denny Way – the long-time location of Minnie’s Caffe, and most recently the Whym Diner – is having its grand opening at 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 31.

The 21 and up spot will have a dance floor, two bars and a VIP lounge. And in celebration of the New Year and their grand opening, they’ll be serving free champagne and appetizers at midnight.