(Image: IKE/DSA)
Planners behind a proposal to add digital wayfinding kiosks with news and information, wi-fi access, directions, and advertisements, to the streets of Seattle’s core aren’t just looking at downtown — they’re also planning for the installations in the midst of Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine nightlife district.
Planners from IKE Smart City and the Downtown Seattle Association recently presented an update on the program to the Pike/Pine Urban Neighborhood Council. In the session, the group was presented with images showing what kiosks would like along the sidewalks near 10th and Pike and in front of the Neumos music club.
“Kiosk initiative is a strategy within the Mayor’s Downtown Activation Plan to increase promotion of local businesses, events and attractions, and enhance the pedestrian experience,” one slide reads.
(Image: IKE/DSA)
“Kiosks will be installed in commercial areas within the city, with input on locations from the BIAs, community stakeholders, and community groups,” the presentation materials say.
The presentation came after a summer of pushback on the proposal backed by Mayor Bruce Harrell over clutter and turning over the city’s right of way to the advertising platform behind the technology. There would be no cost to the city for the installation and maintenance of the kiosks which backers say would generate around $1 million a year in advertising for the DSA, the city, and possibly neighborhood Business Improvement Areas.
In its presentation, the DSA touts “public safety, interactive wayfinding, public art, free wi-fi, economic development through promotion of local businesses, communication of key city messaging and emergency notifications, promotion of local arts, culture, and community events, community messaging” as benefits of the system.
For now, the proposal is being floated with community groups like PPUNC and there is no schedule for legislation on the program from the Seattle City Council. Proponents would like the system in place in time for Seattle’s part in hosting the 2026 World Cup.
The DSA has long promoted the platform having first put forward the plan in 2019.
Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine core has increasingly been included in programs and initiatives focused on Seattle’s downtown including the work to change the lower segments of the streets to one-way routes as part of the city’s waterfront improvements last year. Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess said late last year the mayor’s office is also considering expanding Seattle Police Department surveillance program pilot that combines Closed-Circuit Television Camera systems above the city’s streets with “real-time crime center” software to Pike/Pine.
There are also smaller efforts. Burgess also said Harrell’s office was “in talks” with neighborhood businesses about stringing simple catenary lights from a program the city started in downtown in an attempt to brighten darker areas around the Pike/Pine core.
Learn more about the proposed kiosk program at seattlekioskoutreach.com.
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They’ll be covered in 3 layers of stickers & flyers within a month.(Unless the city decides to crack down on the stickers & flyers on the hill, I guess–if they do, I’ll be moving away as soon as possible because enough cool and interesting things from this neighborhood have been stripped away in favor of shiny expensive tech bro stuff as-is!)
They can’t just hijack our right of way.
I dunno, Capitol Hill seems much grimier and less shiny than 15 years ago to me. Way more graffiti and lack of shininess.
Three layers? How about 20 layers? Most of the poles south of Pine are covered in years-old posters that are tattered and moldy. Why is the City not enforcing the postering ordinance? At the very least, they could remove the accumulating mess.
Tbh I kind of love em.
What do you mean by “enforcing the postering ordinance”? If you are referring to ordinance #121038, I don’t see anything in there about an obligation to remove posters – just a section listing people who are authorized to do it.
The relevant rules are under SDOT’s “Director’s Rule 02-02.” In section 4.11: “A sign may be displayed for a maximum of 30 days or until the date of the event it advertises, if any, has passed, whichever comes first.”
In section 4:12: ” A sign that is in place after the expiration of the period of display is considered litter. The person or organization posting the sign is responsible for removing signs when the display period has expired. City forces may remove signs as litter any time after the authorized display period ends. If a sign remains posted more than 10 days after the authorized display period ends, and it is subsequently removed by the City, the cost of labor and disposal will be charged to the person or organization posting the sign to the extent allowed by law. The City may remove signs posted in violation of the regulations of this Director’s Rule and will charge the person or organization posting the sign the cost of labor and disposal to the extent allowed by law.”
Obviously, those who poster (including businesses that profit by doing so) are totally ignoring the regulations, and the City is making no effort to enforce them.
By the time an advertised event has passed, its flyer will probably be covered by two new flyers for future events.
Those would take about 3 seconds to be completely vandalized and destroyed… but hey if it’s not the city who’s going to be spending the money..
No one needs this. Everyone has smartphones for way finding. Waste of sidewalk space. Will get broken instantly.
Please keep this crap off the sidewalks. They’re already cluttered with bikes and scooters. We don’t need any more corporate garbage out there taking up space.
what a joke. these things will destroyed in no time.
lol, no. they are not welcome and would be destroyed almost immediately.
Followed by pay phones and phone booths?
“community messaging”
“There would be no cost to the city for the installation and maintenance”
I see now…pirate right of way for business purposes. Get the foot in the door. Politics and tech meet again!
If I pay for something? It damn sure better say what I want it to say and not say. I want it on the busiest parts of the city to reach our targeted demographics.
“Proponents would like the system in place in time for Seattle’s part in hosting the 2026 World Cup.”
When they say “We need to hurry as fast as possible!” You are getting fleeced. We HAVE internet on our phones. And using the kiosk is totally secure and won’t be targets of the “stakeholders”. How secure is it really?
“expanding Seattle Police Department surveillance program pilot that combines Closed-Circuit Television Camera systems above the city’s streets with “real-time crime center” software to Pike/Pine.”
NEETO!!! Finally a mass surveillance system to bully people. This is AWESOME!!! Trump’s SS will have no problem Gangstalking people. It CAN and WILL be misused. Also? It will rise in costs as the expand it. Hirer maintenance fees on each. The city council is testing the waters w/o committing. Wait till they get a whiff of positive support from voters, or not.
“There are also smaller efforts. Burgess also said Harrell’s office was “in talks” with neighborhood businesses”
What about the rest of us? The people living here? Do they even give a flying turd? The current council will use the chaos in DC to claw back all gains made by progressives and implement new things to spend money on by taking $308 million from housing and clean energy the voters demanded by winning the election. Laws be damned. A deal is not a deal if they say it isn’t. They will stab voters in the back the minute they get power. Like Joy and stealing from labor. Screw the laws. Screw values. Screw the deal.
The city council is NOT a values based council. They do as the please. Damn the torpedo’s. Just like Trump.
If you want fancy signs? Have temporary signs and park them wherever you want. They DO exist. The World Cup is a great opportunity. Mobile signs are best. You can put them wherever you want. Like a giant parking lot. By the Light Rail station.
Sorry. But this sounds spooky.
How about get rid of the filthy torn flags on the light and traffic poles? They are nasty and dystopian.
Stop taking up the peoples right of way for targeted advertising. They got their extra seating in the streets and sidewalks. Now more of course.
W/O THE KIOSKS people find their way just fine. This is a bad idea.
Forget it.
The trees look cool. Can we do something other than white? Are they high beams or pleasant lights. I’d like like that is also pleasant. The light in the city is enough. We live here and your lights are fine to a point. This plan goes wayyyy beyond the need. On all fronts. We went from a few decorative lights to full on prison camp level security.
I got a way better idea. Ban cars.
Breathe.
The kiosks should be destroyed immediately if/when they are installed. I never consented to allowing private advertising to steal pedestrian space!!!
I don’t disagree with you but it might be to your advantage to be a little more selective if you want people to take you seriously.
I skimmed through IKE Smart City Terms of Use and I would avoid to possibly turning off any device in proximity. I don’t see how this public wifi couldn’t be compromised, both officially and unofficially like any other. Faith-based tech.
“…we cannot guarantee the security of the information you provide to us via a Kiosk.”
Collected data stored for 1 year. Boiler plate but still…
Sometimes it really seems like you should just go get a drink somewhere and try to meet a friend.
I get them liquored and tell them to post, not sorry.
Dumb idea. Distraction. Waste of money. They will be vandalized in a day and just look like more trash on the streets. Isn’t this what phones are for anyway.
+1 to what others have commented
Also peculiar that the Neumos rendering situates the kiosk to perfectly obscure the line of sight for EB drivers to see pedestrians about to cross Pike and the stop sign.
These are better suited for other areas like downtown, along the waterfront, at the airport,…rather than in the middle of a neighborhood. At most, maybe at light rail stations. Not in along a narrow sidewalk, not on 10th & Pike.
Sweet jeebers, do we need more ADVERTISING blaring at us even on the sidewalks?
This seems like a deeply unnecessary service when one can just, you know, ask a human being for directions.
More attempts to make our cities into theme parks and malls… 🙄
Those theme parks and malls help fund your boutique policies and social services. F corporations, F small business, F property owners, F tourists. Good luck financing your utopia without forced labor while assuming you’ll be on the top of the heap issuing orders.
Can we focus on things the city actually needs, like installing public restrooms, ideally the self-cleaning kind?
We tried that… they were also immediately vandalized, usually broken and it only took a few seconds for the Broadway denizens to figure out how to jam the doors so that they could be used as private transactional and using space…
How stupid is this city? The kiosk at the bus and light rail terminals don’t even work. Hey Bruce try to fix the other kiosk before spending millions on more screens that will go unfixed.
FWIW it’s a private venture, so the city at least shouldn’t be paying for any of it… except perhaps to eventually remove the wreckage after they’re completely trashed.
I am supportive if they shoot out electricity to electrocute the criminals who vandalize them.
Since we want everything removed from the public walkways: let’s eliminate any seat, bench, or table at a cafe or coffee shop; store placards on the sidewalk, scooters and bikes, drum-kits, hotdog stands, parking kiosks, and that pitbull chained to the bike rack. Oh yeah, and the bike rack.
Leave the unconscious addict, stumble drunk, and dog shite, and put stickers on those.