I went on a bike tour of the nearly-completed NW 58th Street neighborhood greenway in Ballard Sunday with Cathy Tuttle and Andres Salomon of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways.

After climbing up the hill from the Burke-Gilman Trail at the west end of the route, we discovered Helen, a young entrepreneur who explained how the neighborhood greenway has dramatically improved her lemonade business:

For the record, we were just making small talk, sipping our 50¢ lemonades and had not even mentioned neighborhood greenways or who we were when she started talking about how great it is to live on a greenway and how her business has boomed.

In chatting with her father, he said everyone he talks to likes the greenway, and he feels lucky that his street happened to be selected for the route. In fact, the biggest complaint he hears is from people who think the speed humps could be bigger to slow cars even more.

Helen’s pitcher was empty before we finished our cups. I think the Ballard Chamber of Commerce has a thing or two to learn from Helen.