Seattle Met Magazine’s latest issue ranks Burien as #18 in their “The Best Places to Live Now: An insider’s guide to Seattle’s top neighborhoods—now and in the future” cover story.

Last year they ranked Normandy Park at #7 in a similar issue (read our sister site’s coverage of that here).

They also quote The MARK co-owner and Discover Burien Event Coordinator Debra George.

Aside from placing Beacon Hill at the top spot (huh?), and a slight misnomer of how B-Towners think of ourselves as “West Seattle’s southern neighbors” (what the double huh??), Writer Matthew Halverson says:

“Ten years ago, you couldn’t walk a block in Burien without hearing someone mutter, ‘We need more restaurants. I’m tired of driving to Seattle to eat.’ It’s not that West Seattle’s southern neighbors had an aversion to the big city; most would have told you that they loved how easy it was to hop on State Route 509 and scoot down to the Pike Place Market.”

Then quotes Debra at the end:

“B-Town’s residents are feeling downright bullish about their city’s future. ‘We’re four minutes from the airport, but we don’t hear the planes,’ George says. ‘We have great water views. We have private parks. It’s like this hidden little secret.’”

Read the entire story here, or just skip to our nice blurb here.

Hey, at least we’re ranked higher than Issaquah Highlands.

This week The Seattle Weekly is devoting an entire issue to West Seattle, with a small portion focusing on Burien, the history of which they mock, then call the “Ultimate Suburb.”

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Some might look at this and laugh that B-Town is being treated like some sort of ugly red-headed stepchild of West Seattle, but shhhhh...don't complain, don't raise a stink! Otherwise you'll ruin our little secret!]

Mentioned in the article (written by “a longtime freelance contributor” who uses the pseudonym “The Surly Gourmand” – hey, what are you Weekly staffers hiding from anyways?) are historical facts like our founding father’s funny name (Gottlieb Von Boorian, who perhaps should’ve used a pseudonym) and the possibly-mythological tale of the Toonerville Trolley’s derailing due to an overflow of caterpillar guts (hey Highline Historical Society – is this one true or false?).

Tribute is paid to local food outlets like Trader Joe’s, Tortas Locas, Taqueria La Estacion, Hey Paison, Paul’s Da Burger Joint, B-Town Burgers, Australian Pie Company, Yo’s Bistro and Smokey’s Char-Broiled.

Also mentioned are drinking establishments like Elmer’s Pub, The Tin Room, Elliott Bay Brewery and Mick Kelly’s (what, no Hobnobber?!!) .

Some quotes worth noting include:

• “For such a small city, Burien’s variety of cuisine is amazing.”
• “The crown jewel in Burien’s empire, though, is its skate park.”
• “Burien is a great town. The core area along 152nd Street is as charming as a ladybug that knits sweaters, and it’s five minutes from the airport. Interesting restaurants are cheap, tasty, and abundant, and there’s a gigantic new downtown library.”

They’ve also done a pretty groovy graphic that depicts Burien (created by another anonymous staffer called “Stubborn Sideburn“), which we can see already as a t-shirt being sold at the Strawberry Festival next to the I <3 Burien ones:

Surprisingly, no mention (or easy mocking) is made of Burien’s troubled Town Square, which sits empty, lonely as a tumbleweed in the tundra, an easy target for cynical, comedic treatment which we’ll surely focus on during our next April Fool’s issue.

This same Writer also paid homage to Elmer’s Pub in an earlier issue here, worth a read if only to find new appreciation for this classic dive (which is seemingly always decorated for Halloween) and its clever, stiff drinks, most notably the “Irish Car Bomb” which we have yet to try.

Read the entire story here.

Seattle’s City Arts Magazine recently published a story praising Burien’s Interim Art Space, saying that it “proves any empty lot can become an artistic spectacle.”

The story, written by Virginia Wright, goes on to explain the roles that local residents Kathy Justin and Dane Johnson played, along with the unique partnership of Burien Town Square, Urban Partners LLC, 4Culture, the City of Burien, Ignition Northwest and GGLO — the architecture firm developing Town Square.

Here’s an excerpt:

Rising out of the rubble of Burien’s Town Square construction zone, the one-acre Burien Interim Art Space (B/ IAS) is an innovative concept. On a slab of land that would otherwise have remained fallow for a year, a crop of metal sculptures has sprouted. The pieces exhibit a range of styles and scale, from a conservative piece easily imagined in front of an office building to a delicate metal tree encircled by comfortable seating. The two-story-tall centerpiece of the site is The Passage, by Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito, which depicts a pair of figures constructed entirely of scrap and recycled metal. The larger figure passes liquid fire to the smaller one through enormous steel fingers…

Read the full story here.

And this Friday (Feb. 6th), Eddie and his band will be playing it at a tribute to Diamond in LA. Other bands on the bill include Coldplay, Foo Fighters, and Tim McGraw, among others

Read the full story here.

Here’s a video we found of Los Volcanes on MySpace:

Click here to view the embedded video.

One interesting element of said article is this purple “Insider Tip” box on the second page (p. 48):

Memo to the Reporter and Editors of Seattle Magazine:

While I did spend three seasons as Senior Writer on “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and won three Emmy Awards…

I AM NOT BILL NYE’S BROTHER!

The fact of the matter is: I AM HIS SISTER.

But seriously…as flattering as it is to be included in The Science Guy’sâ„¢ gene pool, here are some simple tips on how to differentiate between us:

1. The last names “Nye” and “Schaefer” are vastly different in spelling, letter and syllabic count.
2. We have different Mothers.
3. We have different Fathers.
4. I have three sisters, Mr. Nye does not.
5. I don’t wear bow ties, lab coats or safety goggles.

So, to everyone who read this story and believes everything they read, so sorry to disappoint y’all.

To Mr. Nye…can you spare $10,000 for your little sis? I still need to have some more “work” done in Denmark…

And to everyone else who finds this mistaken sibling blurb humorous and wants to share their thoughts, you can write a Letter to the Editor of Seattle Magazine here.

Here’s an excerpt:

Forget the South King County Jokes; Why You Should Head to Burien

Just south of Seattle, nestled between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Puget Sound, is Burien, one of the area’s oldest, longest-established communities. Any town with a 100-plus-year history is apt to have tales to tell, and Burien does: It languished for decades after Southcenter Mall, built in nearby Tukwila in the late ’60s, lured shoppers away and forced local business owners to close their doors. Several years ago, though, a trickle of new establishments set up shop in the historic shopping district of Burien along SW 152nd Street and ushered in a fresh generation of merchants and restaurateurs. Now, this friendly destination burg brims with charming boutiques and eateries, with more to come: a $200 million town square, which, when completed in 2010, will offer more stores and restaurants as well as a grassy, 1-acre park, library and city hall. 

Full story here.

Matt Hale has been starting early and thinking big since his early days here in Burien, and he’s still tackling early and big things today.

The 1998 graduate of Highline High School, who was already taking college courses at age 17, is running for a seat on the King County Superior Court.

He’s wasting little time pursing his longtime dream.

“I’ve always wanted to serve on the bench. I was talking with a friend about my goals and he said ‘Well, why don’t you run now?’ And I decided ‘I’ll do it.’”

You may have seen his orange and blue yard signs around town recently.

He’s taking on two-term incumbent Laura Gene Middaugh, wife of State Senator Adam Kline.

Matt is currently an attorney at Wiener, Lambka & Deutscher, a Seattle-based personal injury firm.

He earned an academic scholarship that helped pay his tuition at Gonzaga University Law School. He earned his BA in Political Science at Gonzaga. Before that, he pursued writing and public speaking while earning his AA at Highline Community College.

His work experience has included employment at local hardware stores. In Spokane, Matt helped counsel people in crisis, answering an emergency telephone hotline.

He feels one change the court might look at is the role played by the citizen juror.

“A friend of mine was called and he told the judge that to serve might literally cost him his house. He was living from check to check,” Matt says.

“Perhaps there might be a way in the future for the court system to ease the burden of jury duty.”

The mere process of running for office has been a learning experience.

“Campaigning has helped me more fully realize how wonderful not only Burien is, but what great people the residents of King County really are.”

“I am moved by the importance of the service to the community that judges provide from the bench. That knowledge and awareness, in itself, is humbling,” he said.

You can meet Matt, his wife Nicole, and his team at a campaign fundraiser this Sunday afternoon, July 20, at HiLine Lanes, 15733 Ambaum Blvd SW, in Burien. It runs from 1 to 4pm.

Find more info go to: www.peopleformatthewrhale.com

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Peggy Sturdivant’s article on said gather is up for your reading pleasure today on Crosscut.com, and she mentions this very blog.

Some self-obsessive excerpts:

From outside of Seattle, Scott Schaefer is publisher and editor for B-Town Blog (Burien/White Center); childhood friend Mark Newman is in charge of advertising. Except for me and a woman who writes as Seadevi at Capitol Hill Triangle, all the attendees were men.

For the self-employed journalists providing real-time news, the deadline is constant. “It’s not a matter of how many times you post per week,” Scott Schaefer of B-Town Blog said, looking straight across the table at me. “It’s a matter of how many hours per day you don’t.”

Read the entire story here.