And Sunset,
originally uploaded by glueslabs.
When the history of Seattle in the early days of the 21st Century is written and the trials and tribulations of the city are documented in full, there will be one lingering question. How did Capitol Hill become so hated? What did it do to deserve its outcast status? Here are the charges:
- Theft of Elliott Bay Book Co. from Pioneer Square
If luring the legendary bookseller out of the city’s historic core wasn’t enough, the Hill also had the audacity to claim its strengths as a literary center and in automobile parking were the main drivers bringing EBBC to Pike/Pine. The rest of the city was not amused and Capitol Hill has never been forgiven. - Muscling of the mayor’s office
The fix was in on the 2009 Seattle mayor’s race. The Hill’s blind loyalty under commandment from the propagandists at the Stranger and lesser media outlets smothered the vote totals of the other neighborhoods and lugged Mike McGinn up the steps of City Hall. His years of favoritism and Hill-friendly projects — how many parks does one neighborhood need? — added insult to injury. - Transformation of First Hill streetcar into the Capitol Hill streetcar
Somewhere along the way, things got off track. A public transportation project originally designed to compensate for cutting a light rail station from the plans for First Hill, the streetcar was apparently ripe for the taking. By the time the tracks were laid, Capitol Hill had a new streetcar and a new light rail station. First Hill had Metro buses. And a long walk. - CapitolHillSeattle.com
Smug, patronizing and an example of homerism at its worst, the Web site enjoyed 23 months of popularity before city activists successfully lobbied to have its Capitol Hill propaganda spewing servers powered down.
“homerism” – really interesting word.
Reading Homer? Too much Iliad?
You all have blown your April Fools wad early.
I think to joke about the EBBC’s move is in extremely poor taste. The move is a death blow to one of the most fragile and interesting neighborhoods in the city. We’re happy to see Capitol Hill’s prosperity but there will be many long term merchants down here that will go out of business as a result of this transition. It’s a really painful experience for us down here. A little tact would go a long way. Thanks. PS I do think it’s worth noting that parking really isn’t the issue. I noticed that you have mentioned that in recent reports as a way to advocate for parking on the hill. If you ask other merchants here about parking, it’s close to last on the list of problems. The real issue is that the Square’s high concentration of social services, combined with zero policing, combined with a downtrodden and dispirited retail and residential population who have given up calling 911 (myself included), have made a place where it’s impossible to walk the streets, unless you want to dodge OPEN UNCHECKED drug dealing, step over people passed out/vomit/feces, and be harassed or threatened by mentally ill people every block. During the day, it’s manageable but after dark, the streets are completely taken over by criminals and the people they victimize. As a community, we care about the vulnerable people who come here for help but the lack of self policing by some agencies, combined with our community’s apathy and discouragement, combined with disregard from both the city and the West Precinct, result in a lawless atmosphere where drug dealers and small grocery stores feed openly upon the addictions and fragility of our homeless population.
I am a resident and business owner in Pioneer Square and one of the few families living here (three small children). Sorry to vent. It’s just so painful for our neighborhood.
Capitol Hill did not lure the bookstore away. Pioneer Square pushed it away.
I disagree with this being in poor taste as well.
Have you seen The Wire Season 3? I recommend Hamsterdam.
I very much disagree that joking about it is in poor taste, as well as your assessment of the parking situation. If Pioneer Square wanted to keep them, they should have made more accommodations. You can’t push a company to leave the neighborhood and then be upset when it does.
I say this as someone who works in Pioneer Square. The neighborhood is in terrible shape, I’ll agree with you on that. But no one is doing anything to fix it right now, and that’s not Capitol Hill’s fault.
“Death blow?” If you really want to see what a death blow looks like, come experience the large holes that Capitol Hill has acquired over the past year and a half.
If EBBC moved out of Pioneer Square, maybe you can blame it on the parking. Or you can blame it on “the high concentration of social services, combined with zero policing, combined with a downtrodden and dispirited retail and residential population who have given up calling 911 [yourself included], [making it] a place where it’s impossible to walk the streets, unless you want to dodge OPEN UNCHECKED drug dealing, step over people passed out/vomit/feces, and be harassed or threatened by mentally ill people every block.”
Although all these things sound unpleasant, it appears that the loss of a bookstore is really the least of your neighborhood’s problems.
If Capitol Hill is hated because we’ve become attractive to some businesses, passionate about politics, influential in our voices and in need of better transportation, then so be it.
By the way, Justin, can you clarify what you meant in your last point? After “23 months” “CapitolHillSeattle.com,” “servers powered down?”
I’ve been in Seattle for 3 years now, so far from somebody who has spent there entire life here, but I have lived in a few different neighborhoods, spending my first year in Queen Anne and the last two in South Lake Union. I’ve also spent a lot of time on the Hill and in Belltown and I can say unequivocally that CH is the most “community-like” of any of the places I’ve spent a great amount of time.
As soon as my current lease ends I will be moving up on the hill as I just thoroughly enjoy being up there. It’s by far the most COMPLETE of all the neighborhoods in that it offers a little bit of everything. Fast food to fine dining, arts and entertainment, parks, sports, amongst many other things. It’s just very well rounded and there’s always a lot of activities going on.
If CH is the most hated neighborhood in Seattle, it’s only because people wish they lived there. I know I do (thankfully my gf does!)
come on now! how is capitol hill stealing the first hill streetcar? IT RUNS THROUGH FIRST HILL to the CAP HILL link station. all people have been doing is asking questions about HOW it will run though first hill. the loop concept includes broadway, which is in first hill!!!
Broadway = First Hill ??
Oh, really.
Yes, I suppose it is true, sout leg of Bwy. is 1st Hill, but, not in the practical real life world. (hint: the big Hill)
Many of the Aves go far south, but, sure ain’t downtown.
Mike
Annie’s spot-on about the crime and lack of law enforcement prevention. I left Pioneer Square years ago.
On the edge of an industrial zone, near stadiums, near RR tracks, sans any serious large open/green space, poorly lit, & next to the port: the neighborhood begs for crime. It makes lousy zoning sense.
However, from a business angle, the death blow might have been the slow poison of Samis, Selig, and others turning all those artist lofts and funky tiny shops into a gentrified high-end condos. When you raise land value artificially only through renovations [and waiting out the market], it plants a hallow seed for the long term. That changeover, circa 1990-1997, had little in the way of new parks, culture and arts, nor industry/commerce (unless you count the stadiums! HAHAHhahaha heh heh *wipes tear*).
Schools? Playgrounds? Transit?? Parks? Smart zoning…? No, we got [horse]shit.
In fact, culture fled like virginity on prom night (remember the legendary run of Angry Housewives at the PSTheatre? The OK Hotel? Bud’s jazz records? The naked performance art at the Shoe Building? Not possible now). Tellingly, serious longterm-roots businesses like Banks moved away just after granting loans and mortgages blocks away.
I believe it isn’t always apathy undermining your ‘hood, annie. It’s fear. You can’t just blame the system, the gov, the agencies. Or EBBC. Neighborhood Inaction breeds these things, not the agencies (which are nearly always in the business of Mop-Up: not Prevention).
When I lived there, I walked the streets in teams with my neighbors. It meant being up late, it meant putting my ass on the line and getting dirty. We squeegeed vomit, we handled discarded needles & worse, we threatened to mace the frat boys who were out of control, we harrassed the ladies working the streets (read: alleys) till they moved on, and photographed/videotaped the dealers and buyers. It helped. A bit. Because we shamed the criminals. Then word got out we were doing the police’s job -and it shamed the SPD- and that helped a lot. But when we cohesive neighbors were broken up by rents going up, our art/music venues closing (i.e. job loss) and Samis ending lease agreements, the strength & spirit left. So we had our moment and were quickly silenced. (When I heard in this last election that Jessie had the police in her pocket, I can’t say I didn’t think “it all made sense”.)
If the Square can’t be bothered to organize once again, use your (assuming here, considering my rent had been 600 bucks) much more considerable wealth than we had- and hire some private security to be your muscle.
Annie’s also correct that the bookstore is a considerable draw. For some of the smaller outfits, EBBC was the “anchor store” down there.
I don’t think parking was too big a deal compared to the rent BS, but having the waterfront streetcar running might help the hood too. Perhaps a cap on the number of bars….?
/rant & history lesson
sorry MwC i should have been more specific. the alignment of the streetcar through first hill on Broadway is what i meant. obviously, Broadway north of Madison is pike pine and then cap hill. but south of Madison, where both the loop alignment would run and the broadway alone alignment would run, is in first hill. no one has argued that the streetcar should be removed from this stretch of first hill. there are certainly some people who have said that a streetcar alone on 12th south of madison (which is the central area not cap hill) would be great, but we have all articulated that this would likely violate the ST agreement, since 12th is not in first hill, which is why the Broadway/12th loop gained so much traction – the idea being, what if we could serve the intent of the streetcar on first hill (one leg on broadway) while meeting all of the community econ development needs of 12th south of madison?
self-deprecating and funny?
we sure are a serious bunch sometimes.
Agreed. I think jseattle was more giving examples of how much CH wins, but no one has actually said they hate the place…
Really, Kstine? “which is IN First hill?” Broadway is the easternmost border of 1st Hill, and I offer Proof:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cms/groups/pan/@pan/documents/web_informational/dpds_006836.pdf
And the lovely wonks like Adam at STB explain why 3-block-wide loops are bad ideas. http://seattletransitblog.com/2009/12/09/12th-ave-streetcar-
also of note is that the city and the fed both consider “B’way” to be the border defining the “12th Avenue” urban village. So to even say “Broadway = first hill” is exactly 50% false, 50% correct. Real estate marketing folks & CL ads might be dishonest about it, but all of us here are better informed and more forthright, right?
Worse would be to try and pass off B’way as “serving” First Hill. It *skirts* it at best, and misses the heart, and namely the density & regional draws (which a Boren and/or Seneca alignment would address better). Density wise, this might be good to review: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Research/gis/webplots/k40e.pdf
FH = 240′-300′ zoning. FH includes a 30 story condo building, for example. And Density = friend to transit ridership #s. (Whereas 12th Avenue neighborhood = includes single family homes & baseball fields. Uhm, yeah. Argument, over, please?)
I will grant you, development wise, the 12th Ave options are attractive, lucrative and creative. But those aren’t factors I want my regional transit authority putting top-most in region-affecting linking/route decisions.
Pages 12 & 13 of this doc (link below) show that TWICE as many commuters reside on First Hill, and that their current public transit options are running a slower 37 minutes – compared to 12th Avenue hood’s 33 minutes. i.e. 12th is doing better despite not having a dedicated N-S transit, AND with HALF the population.
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cms/groups/pan/@pan/documents/web_informational/dpds_007857.pdf
I will readily go on record for you: Pill Hill won’t be served by routing on Broadway* , say, between Boren and Madison (or Union). Boren, Terry, Minor, Seneca, Madison -THESE are routes IN First Hill.
*= my official qualifier: B’way, S of boren in the YT projects, the streetcar wouldn’t be a terrible idea at all.
CHS once featured an eloquent story (in april? though pitching 12th if I recall) that explains quite clearly how B’way is an awful alignment for any streetcar, and described B’way as unfriendly to peds and “First Hill’s backdoor”.