Goddamnit Murray, we need money for the arts now more than ever.

Scarecrow is far more than just the rental business...

It'll be even more awkward when the study is published and it says that the best way to support local icons is by giving them money.

Murray said something that wasn't true? I'm shocked!

He's our own Donald Trump.

Ed Murray, drunk again.

If a video store can't survive on it's own. Then it needs to die. Less and less people every month stop rent DVD's and VHS tapes.

If they did, then Scarecrow wouldn't have had to go "Non-Profit", to stay open as long as they have. They are way past their prime.

Maybe Scarecrow can be innovative and "host a homeless" in their back yard.

@6 - I imagine you feel that way about most museum pieces too huh?

Oh please, a study to explore public funding businesses that are no longer viable? The city council will approve the scheme and also fret about how expensive it is to live in Seattle. They will find a convenient villain to cast blame, businesses that of turn a profit. Is it any wonder City Administration has lead the city to its current state as a blue tarp KOA and Junk RV campground?

Oh you silly kids! Don't you know that in 'Murka it's "profit uber alles"? If it's not a successful Capitalist enterprise earning oodles of money for its owner or shareholders, it has no intrinsic value to society and therefore should be tossed onto the ash-heap.

Let Scaregrow relocate to a new build retail space and make their old building a homeless shelter. RVs can park in the lot. It's a transit-heavy and service-adjacent location. If you think we need a video rental store more than housing for the poor, you're gross.

@13 - why can't we have both?

I have many fond memories of going to Scarecrow Video. I say "memories" because I haven't set foot in the place in well over a dozen years. (Something about internet streaming services and not trekking to the U-District.)

If the city wants to preserve this aspect of Seattle's culture, great. Quit fooling around with grants to study making grants. Buy out Scarecrow Video, give the entire collection to the Seattle Public Library, and hire the current staff as temps to transcribe the collection over to modern digital format, which can then be made available to all holders of Library cards.

For extra fun, create a Scarecrow Video Room at the University District branch of the Library (right near the current location of Scarecrow Video!) which would house a rotating set of samples from the archive of originals, just as the downtown Library has an Aviation Collection Room. There, film geeks can bump into each other and trade stories of who saw what film when. (It'll even require a trip to the U-District, just like old times!)

Then, bulldoze the old Scarecrow building and erect low-income student housing, because demand for the UW ain't getting any smaller.

Everybody happy now?

What? You mean Prince Ed can't just walk around dispensing wads of cash from the city coffers at whim? Outrageous.

For those you too young, or too stupid, or too ignorant of historical retrospective, or perhaps, just too lazy to give it a second thought because there isn't an app that replaces the need for cognitive critical thinking, consider this:
There was, and is, a mode of of cinematic expression of varying cultural persuasions that completely bypasses the trappings of Internet "convenience" and immediacy. When you "own" a DVD or VHS, it does not vanish at the end your subscription. Anything else? Oh, yes! When your Internet service goes face-down (not that your ISP isn't fantasitco, unless you have one of the big 4, in which case you're stuck), your DVD drive still works. And Neflix may be great for all the latest crap, but their legacy catalogue is narrow and shallow, which I suppose is fine for anyone who enjoys movies, but sadly, thinks modern film began with Star Wars. Yes, kiddies, Scarecrow is worth preserving. It's practically the Smithsonian of modern film with local access and relevance, and is a Seattle institution of historical significance and value, unlike the squandering of $50K for a redundant "study."
A special commendation to Charles Mudede for bringing this Mayoral ceremonial cluster-fuck to the public's already-wary eye.

@14 - Read my comment. I said move Scarecrow to a newly built retail space (you know, the ones that sit empty for months/years with "For Lease" signs in the windows?) and move the homeless into Scarecrow. Every business that goes under during our current homeless emergency should first be looked at as a possible shelter. We can get college kids and un/under-employed people to do the demo/conversion buildout. All hands on deck. If we need to raise taxes to buy all these buildings, open the floodgates. This is an emergency and everyione needs housing - not VHR tapes.

Scarecrow isn't all about video rental. It is about film preservation. Scarecrow keeps pieces of art that would otherwise be lost, available to the public so that YOU have access to them. You won't be able to return to Netflix in five years and see any of the films that are on there today, but Scarecrow will. Netflix is fine for casual watching, but if you love film you are eventually going to want to watch older, weirder, and more extreme movies. Scarecrow has them.