Is Change good for Downtown Seattle? (rent, condos, crime rate)

[DevanXL]

In Recent years, I have seen many drastic changes happen to Seattle's Urban core. We are starting replace= the blue collar businesses with condos and more retail. Urban living in the city center is rapidly growing as more is added to Seattle everyday. Is this change good for the city's future and how will it effect us economically 10-15 years from now?

[civic94]

change = gentrification. also, if you notice, many areas in downtown have homeless folks there, I hope it turns out like south lake union.

[RunTheDistance476]

There is nothing wrong with urban renewal, most cities in America are begging to have some now. Seattle's crime rate as also drop by about 20-30% since 1995, if it 2020 the crime rate is below average, I'd take it for sure.

[eskercurve]

There is a definite trend in preferred lifestyle among the Millennial generation to live closer to work and ditch the single family home, multiple car lifestyle for one that depends on mass transit and denser living.

While I can't say it's for everyone, like myself, I will say that having people living and shopping where they work, and the resulting investment in the city by local governments, corporations, and small businesses, can only bring good things. What needs to happen next, if the city wants to keep a price point for those with less than yuppy (i.e. $125,000 or more a year) wages they have to maintain affordable housing. Otherwise you'll see the poorer folks live far out and have to commute in and we won't see drops in traffic. Also, more investment in mass transit is required.

We're taking the right steps though, all in all.

[Kayela]

What needs to happen next, if the city wants to keep a price point for those with less than yuppy (i.e. $125,000 or more a year) wages they have to maintain affordable housing.

Definitely. There's plenty of city-assisted projects in and around DT, but the problem is that you generally have to be scraping the bottom of the barrel pretty hard to qualify for them. This creates that strange dicotomy of having the area solely comprised of the 'haves' and the 'barely-hanging-ons'. There's very little for the people in-between, and it's hard to get that without going the NYC-route with things like rent control (which comes with it's own issues).

[Jalhop]

Originally Posted by eskercurve

What needs to happen next, if the city wants to keep a price point for those with less than yuppy (i.e. $125,000 or more a year) wages they have to maintain affordable housing.

Yes, and affordable housing is a euphemism for subsidized or lottery-based housing, either of which is unfair. Change can be good but usually causes the price point for a particular lifestyle to increase faster than the rate of general wage inflation. Once a city gets big enough the disadvantages of change (in general) outweigh the advantages, so I voted no.

[RunTheDistance476]

Originally Posted by RunTheDistance476

There is nothing wrong with urban renewal, most cities in America are begging to have some now. Seattle's crime rate as also drop by about 20-30% since 1995, if it 2020 the crime rate is below average, I'd take it for sure.

[CrazyDonkey]

Are we talking about Downtown or the Urban Core?

Change can be good, bad, or mixed.

Good: Light rail expanding to Capitol Hill/UW, Market/Waterfront development (once Bertha gets unstuck), First Hill Streetcar coming, South Lake Union, hot job market (especially tech), world-class food scene, finally getting serious about bicyclist safety.

Bad: Aggressive begging/homeless/crime, rents, traffic, parking costs, construction disruption.

Mixed: Gentrification, tourism (the more tourists, the more will move here, but revenues are up).

[AmFest]

Originally Posted by DevanXL

In Recent years, I have seen many drastic changes happen to Seattle's Urban core. We are starting replace= the blue collar businesses with condos and more retail. Urban living in the city center is rapidly growing as more is added to Seattle everyday. Is this change good for the city's future and how will it effect us economically 10-15 years from now?

For your information, "effect" does not mean the same as "affect".

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Are we talking about Downtown or the Urban Core?

Change can be good, bad, or mixed.

Good: Light rail expanding to Capitol Hill/UW, Market/Waterfront development (once Bertha gets unstuck), First Hill Streetcar coming, South Lake Union, hot job market (especially tech), world-class food scene, finally getting serious about bicyclist safety.

Bad: Aggressive begging/homeless/crime, rents, traffic, parking costs, construction disruption.

Mixed: Gentrification, tourism (the more tourists, the more will move here, but revenues are up).

When I worked with tourists on a daily basis, they annoyed me unendingly. But I see them more as a positive than a negative. Mostly they go home after leaving their money here. The old line was " If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them?"