New Seattle Waterfront Park

[EddMarkStarr]

The Seattle waterfront was dominated for years by a double-decker freeway that eliminated any chance of beautiful scenery or pleasant walking paths.

Now Seattle has a new Waterfront Park and Overlook Walk allowing residents and visitors views of the City by the Bay.

 

[Maklaar13]

It’s beautiful. I lived in Seattle for about 15 years and had some of the best times of my life there.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Since I moved to Seattle in 1980, I've told everyone I know that October always brings some of the best weather to Seattle.
2024 is no different - each October day looks spectacular!

 

[Thad1527]

I didn't have Seattle in my travel plans this year. I'm a major hockey fan and have seen home games in all current NHL cities but one, and Seattle got checked off that list in December 2022 when I saw the Kraken lose at home. Twice.
But I liked quirky Seattle. At first it seemed like an unfriendly place, but it opened to me and I changed my opinion.
And this park looks amazing!
Maybe I'll come for Mariners baseball next spring.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

The Seattle waterfront started as a working waterfront with shipping ports, factories and warehouses. Hard works with fair wages was there for young men with strong backs that were willing for tough employment. But after the 2001 earthquake, the entire waterfront infrastructure took a very hard hit and retrofitting and rebuilding was in order.

Voters passed initiatives for a total overhaul - transforming Seattle's waterfront into a major attraction.

 

[NotHardUp1]

The park is quite beautiful.

I'm happy to see citizens putting a premium on making the city more pleasant.

My most recent visit was marred by the prevalence of vagabonds and addicts and scammers working the Pike Place Market area for easy marks. The city ignores the scourge at its own peril, as it kills sales and family attendance. The Northwest is lovely, but when the appeal is negated by cultural blight, merchants and vendors will suffer and then leave.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Voters passed initiatives for a total overhaul - transforming Seattle's waterfront into a major attraction.

Have you shopped or dined there? How affordable are the prices for working class citizens? Is it all gentrification, or have the developers ensured retailers and purveyors of all strata are able to afford to be there?

BTW, I still smile when I remember our dinner and wine when I saw you last. It doesn't seem like a decade.

 

[piano1]

I live in Philadelphia and city hall still is clueless about our waterfront.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Have you shopped or dined there? How affordable are the prices for working class citizens? Is it all gentrification, or have the developers ensured retailers and purveyors of all strata are able to afford to be there?

BTW, I still smile when I remember our dinner and wine when I saw you last. It doesn't seem like a decade.

Your suspicions are right on the money!

While I enjoy the Pike Place Market, the only activity I can afford is to walk the new promenade. Everything else has exploded in price with apartment rents leading the way.
New rental construction is happening across the region - and still the rates increase.

The City of Seattle is asking everyone to let the dust settle on all the new construction, then they will propose mandates to developers on affordability.
(I may have to return to work sooner than planned)

 

[EddMarkStarr]

I live in Philadelphia and city hall still is clueless about our waterfront.

Waterfronts have traditionally been generators of commerce and employment especially for men who choose labor over college. When waterfronts are converted to theme parks for tourists you eliminate good paying jobs for the working class, but the "City Beautiful" movement is very strong in the Pacific Northwest so the fate of the working class is someone else's problem.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Your suspicions are right on the money!

While I enjoy the Pike Place Market, the only activity I can afford is to walk the new promenade. Everything else has exploded in price with apartment rents leading the way.
New rental construction is happening across the region - and still the rates increase.

The City of Seattle is asking everyone to let the dust settle on all the new construction, then they will propose mandates to developers on affordability.
(I may have to return to work sooner than planned)

I won't go so far as to second guess the development authority of Seattle, but the time to preseve affordability is in the planning phase. For now, it sounds like they are deflecting criticism of gentrification until the shine wears off and people give up. There will likely be a Wendy's and a CVS stuck in somewhere, but just as in San Francisco, many of the people who work there won't be able to afford to shop there, and certainly not live there.

That's why it's always hard to get excited about those shining cities on the hill, as most are for the rich, and let the poor neighborhoods be damned.

When I've enjoyed visiting cities, aside from monumentts, it has been because there are zones where true mixutre of classes exist in pockets of urban markets, eateries, and purveyors. Not so much when inhaling the wonderful smells of a bakery selling loaves of bread at $18.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

The Seattle City Council is worn-out over affordability fights and now developers can write their own ticket.
A working waterfront generates revenue and jobs - a theme park waterfront will be a drain on taxpayers.

Everything at the new waterfront is so beautiful now, but all I can do is walk the paths and take in the scenery.