Eastside light rail expands this Saturday. Business owners are preparing

A new light rail station opens up in Downtown Redmond this Saturday.

This station, along with another at Marymoor Park, brings the number of Eastside stations to 10.

Y

oon Song works at K-Street Barbecue just a few steps from the Downtown Redmond station. She also lives nearby. Almost all the things she needs are within walking distance. There’s even an H-Mart. She hardly ever needs a car.

Lots of people lives this way when she was growing up in Korea, she said. And they explored different neighborhoods by subway. With the new stop, she said she hopes people will explore Downtown Redmond, too, because it will be easier.

Plus, as Korean food, K-pop, and K-dramas have become more popular, she expects light rail will bring in a lot more K-curious customers.

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Dan Ullom owns Brick and Mortar Books in Redmond Town Center, which is just a block from the new Downtown Redmond light rail station.

He said he doesn't have a car, and he's excited to take light rail to his climbing gym.

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But what he's really looking forward to is the eventual expansion connecting with Seattle's 1 Line and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

"When I don't have to beg somebody for a ride at the airport," he explains. "That is the most uncomfortable thing I've ever done in my life. To ask somebody the favor of a ride to the airport is the worst!"

Officials say the 2 Line will connect to Seattle and the airport later this year.

W

ith light rail comes change. A lot more people will be walking around, and lots of new apartment buildings will be built, so people can live near stations.

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Change may also mean older businesses get pushed out, like the little costume shop called A Masquerade Costume.

It has unique stuff, like a leather praying mantis head, battle armor for fighting mages, and gnarly looking shawls for Vikings.

"This is Icelandic sheep fleece," said Kyra Stewart, A Masquerade's owner. " If you're going to be a Scandinavian warrior, aka Viking, you should have an Icelandic sheep fleece. This is a real thing, right?"

Stewart said her biggest customer base is people going to Renaissance fairs.

But the old two-story building where she rents space will be torn down soon to make room for more apartment buildings. Now, she has to figure out what that means for her and her future in Redmond.

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"I'm trying to just see how I fit, because I'm excited about where Redmond's going and I want to stay," she said. "I'm figuring out how do I do that. And I think there's enough people that have kind of tucked me under their wing. I'm feeling really protected and really, like, I think it's going be OK."

Stewart said she's eyeing spaces on the ground floor of a Plymouth Housing building near the Downtown Redmond light rail station and in a planned performing arts space near Marymoor Park. She might even end up with two spaces, one at each of the two new light rail stations.

The new light rail station connects Downtown Redmond to Microsoft, where a lot of Ren fair fans work.

Ryan Anderson manages the Flatstick Pub, right across the street from the Downtown Redmond light rail station. His pub has mini-golf games mixed among the tables.

Flatstick invented a new game, too, called Duffleboard. It's played on a table, and it's a cross between mini-golf and shuffleboard.

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"It's a pretty quick game, a lot of fun with big groups," he said, as he demonstrated how to play the game.

Anderson said his restaurant hosts lots of team-building parties from Microsoft and Google. After the downtown Redmond station opens, people from Microsoft's headquarters won't need a car to reach restaurants like his. They'll be able take the train instead.