By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Zoo sounds add to area's playful air

There's no mistaking Phinney Ridge's playful quality. Where else in the city can you hear wolves howl at a full moon or listen to the territorial yelps and hoots of siamang apes?

The apes' throat sacs inflate as they make their daily calls. The cacophony from Woodland Park Zoo is so loud it has been heard as far away as Queen Anne Hill.

"You never know what sets them off. You know monkeys," says Jim Westling, a Phinney Ridge illustrator who says his kids love the zoo noise. "How many places can you live and hear monkeys other than Africa?"

Westling has added his own touch of whimsy to the neighborhood: He and his son built and installed a 14-foot-long replica of Seattle's skyline on the side of their home.

The skyline, which is lit with 1,000 colored Christmas tree lights, began as a Sunday afternoon father-son project but took four days to build.

It was such a hit, Westling's neighbors told him not to take it down, despite a drooping Space Needle and a moving ferry that periodically stops running -- a touch of realism.

Like many Phinney residents, Westling grew up in the neighborhood. He married another "local," Dorothy Rodolf, whose father, Robert Rodolf, is a longtime Phinney Ridge dentist. Dr. Rodolf is now treating his third generation of patients.

"A lot of friends of mine live here in the same neighborhood and never moved away, or moved away and came back. I bump into a lot of people, kids who I grew up with," says Westling. "It's kind of like living in a small town."

Westling says he "ventured" into Wallingford in his 20s, then tried Ballard before moving back home. "I just can't get myself off the ridge," says Westling. "I tried but I just keep coming back."

Continued:

• Neighborhood's sense of spirit helps make it a family favorite
• Ridge's topography gives it a unique setting
• Fostering community connections in time of change
• Phinney popular with residents and merchants