Re:Nice Downtowns: How Did They Get That Way? People Made Them
by pnathan on Sunday April 19, 2015 @06:10PM
(#9405071)
I also live in Seattle... yeah, I don't know that I'd characterize the Central Business District ("downtown") as interesting or active after 5, save for a few high-end restaurants. Belltown, sure. Capitol Hill, sure. Pioneer Square has a functional bar district. The big City Center area in Downtown - Westlake Park - is well known to be sketchy, and the black market is about 3 blocks north of that last I saw. Tons of tourists, but not an inhabitable place.
There are no schools downtown, there aren't affordable apartments with enough space for kids, which essentially siphons the entire kid-oriented group out of downtown for their condos/houses. The high end stuff downtown is high end, so you get an entire coterie of very rich traveling place to place in their cars from the parking garages, as near as I can tell.
Pike Place is cool, but largely a tourist trap.
So I think maybe the author of the essay should roll down the CBD about 7pm on a Tuesday night and think about his piece.... :-) might have a few corrections.
There are no schools downtown, there aren't affordable apartments with enough space for kids, which essentially siphons the entire kid-oriented group out of downtown for their condos/houses. The high end stuff downtown is high end, so you get an entire coterie of very rich traveling place to place in their cars from the parking garages, as near as I can tell.
Pike Place is cool, but largely a tourist trap.
So I think maybe the author of the essay should roll down the CBD about 7pm on a Tuesday night and think about his piece.... :-) might have a few corrections.