Comments

1
That's funny because I know a number of people - all white - who have bought houses in that area over the last year. Maybe not "funny" so much as "glaringly obvious."
2
This just in: Adding Ammenities Raises Land Values.

Next up: SAGE Recommendes Lowering Rents in RV by Removing Electric and Sewer Services.

Adding transit, like any ammenity, will raise prices because people will want to live there. The logical solution is to add more housing. The less logical solution is to force fast food restaurants to pay white collar wages. (Breaking News: RV Loses Fast Food Restaurants, Remaining Few Automate Production and Sales)
3
When it comes to reaching for solutions to this problem, maybe an early step is calling out the NIMBYs who oppose TOD. They have their stated "reasons" for opposing TOD, they claim to want to maintain the character of the neighborhood, but when they oppose the inclusion of more mixed-use affordable housing and more social service organizations, you have to wonder what their true motives are. Maybe it's time to call them out as pro-gentrification, or maybe even xenophobic. It's also worth noting that the intitiatives and steps proposed by SAGE are frequently opposed by Sharon Tomiko-Santos, when she rails against gentrifiers.
4
You know, the same thing happens when any formerly less desirable neighborhood - due to distance and rundown housing stock - suddenly gets revitalized due to improved transit that makes it faster to get to with new housing stock.

It's called gentrification.

Besides, all the smart people of color have been migrating to Ballard for the last few decades. I don't recall any articles about Scandinavian Communities Under Assault ... people move. Race is such a 20th Century concept here in the West ... admittedly a big deal in the South and the racially separate communities in the East.

I wish Mike well in this, and I encourage affordable childcare near light rail stations, and the return of living wage jobs to SeaTac airport, but I'm not sure how this will really help. What would help more is PEOPLE ON THE EASTSIDE HIRING PEOPLE OF COLOR FOR MIDDLE CLASS WAGES. And by people of color I mean American Citizens, not H1-B visa holders.
5
by the way, the day the SLOG actually mentions an event for communities of color in Rainier Valley is the day I fall down in shock. No, I don't mean the odd restaurant review - those are great. I mean promoting some of the big community events. I don't know how many times I've been one of the only white people in a room planning events down there ... if it wasn't for the arts organizations and city programs, it would be like there's a giant gap between the ID and Seward Park from SLOG's perspective.

Seriously, get a little out of your comfort zone sometimes.
6
Oh nos! Will it soon be safe for hipsters to pull out their iPhones again?

So we've paid to build it, we have to pay again to let the po' live near it? Should have run the line Dow
99 straight to Seatac. At least then it wouldn't take a for-fucking-ever to make that trip.
7
"Since construction of the light rail land values around the stations have increased dramatically,"
-Rising property values (in the midst of the great recession)… such a problem to have!

“While the minority population grew by 47 percent over the last decade in King County (and the white population shrank by two percent), in Rainier Valley, the trend is reversed: Communities of color only increased by 5 percent over that same period—and the white population increased by 17 percent.”
-No, If the trend were reversed, the minority population would have shrank while the white population grew. More accurately, both populations grew with greater parity.

“The study notes that 23 percent of low-income Rainier Valley residents depend on public transit to get to work (versus only 14 percent of their more affluent neighbors)”
-Now we’ve transitioned from race to income… or are we to assume that minorities are poor and whites are rich… that’s pretty racist.

"The report highlights, and we hear it over and over again, that the success of light rail threatens to destroy what we find beautiful in the neighborhood,"
-Yes. Rainier Valley used to be so beautiful. Unbearably beautiful.

Fortunately, steps are being taken to halt all this distressing gentrification: http://seattletransitblog.com/2012/04/01…
8

"One of the tricks is figuring out how to do that," O'Brien says. Over the coming months, O'Brien is organizing meetings with his fellow council members and SAGE representatives to figure out how the recommendations can be absorbed by various city entities and projects.


Yes, with a $30 million + deficit, that's going to be quite a trick.
9
Good luck fighting the tide on this one.
10
Black people in Ballard? Pix, or it didn't happen.
11
The Rainier Valley was going to become wealthier (and whiter) with or without light rail, simply because it is one of the last places in Seattle where single family housing stock is still affordable. Light rail has hastened this reality, as now people young commuters are also interested in TOD and apartments close to light rail.

As @9 side, good luck fighting the tide on this one.

Also, you do know that this was the whole point to begin with, right?
12
Neighbors. Up at 67th and Jones.

Seriously, you see more and more every day.

I didn't say they lived in The Highlands or on the view properties.
13
"social justice" is the biggest boondoggle of the progressive left this decade.

Why do we spend money on this again?
14
I didn't realize you just get to pick your organization's acronym, SAGJHE.
15
This is just dumb. How does a 5 percent RISE in minority population constitute "driving minorities out"??!!
16
@12, one black family and you've got an epidemic. I swear, you can't hold this stuff in, can you? You're a zero.

"We're pretty good about housing in the city", that's pretty rich. "Affordable retail space" -- there's almost no retail space in the Rainier Valley, for its size. What there is is in strip malls, which don't have the city seal of approval, but the city's alternative is...nothing. Most of the areas around the stations are in fact wastelands (aside from that one building next to Othello).
17
I moved to SE Seattle because of Light Rail and because of housing affordability. I remodeled my house, fixed up my yard, and I take the train and bus all the time. I know my neighbors and pick up trash on my street. I shop at local business. I am white, and so is my wife, and our 2 kids. My FilipinoVietBlackAfricanMixedRaceMexican neighbors all do pretty much the same things I just described. We know each other. We try to make our lives nice.

But apparently, I am a HUGE PROBLEM for my neighborhood.

Fuck you, SAGE. My block says fuck you and your statistics-driven reality. Down here on the block, it's cool, we're all just getting along, doing what we can/want, and we like each other.
18
@5 "I've been one of the only white people in a room planning events down there [Rainier Valley]..."

And I bet they hated you just as much as we do.

@7 You should double check the date on that article you linked to, shit-for-brains.
19
I didn't say one black family.

Heck, there are 20 black families within three blocks of me in Fremont. But in Ballard, it's been changing over time, as the older Scandiwhovians died off. You'd know that if you paid attention.

Just look at the census data - although that will mask African-Americans since most check multiple boxes on the census form so a standard search by zip in 98117 won't show it, you have to do a multi-racial with at least one African-American answer search.

Seriously, we're becoming multi-ethnic faster than you all realize.
20
White people leave an area? Racist. White people return to an area? Racist. Pick a lane and stay in it
21
Nothing funnier than liberal white guilt.

Carry on.
22
@18
I keep forgetting that liberals are unable to discern sarcasm. Thanks for reminding me.
23
@20 Lmao. Thanks for that.
24
WiS, it only takes one black family in Ballard to make Fnarf's whitopia on Phinney blush with white guilt. Up there all they can do is adopt Haitian kids.
25
I was bemused when the John Fox et al.s fought and defeated the city's proposal to require developers around transit stations to provide low income housing. Their gounds were that it would wipe out the existing low income rentals around stations. The trouble is, owners of existing low income rental housing have no problem selling to developers who will not replace low income housing. This is a surprise?
26
@24 you may be right. Which is strange, since BF Day is one of the most multi-cultural multi-ethnic schools in the North End. And Ballard High School is also much more mixed than people think. As is Roosevelt.
27
@22 And I keep forgetting that whatever-the-fuck-you-ares always try to hide behind "humor" when called out on their dumb-shittery.
28
@27 You missed the point two times now.
29
"Ballard High School is also much more mixed than people think."

The new school boundaries should fix that problem soon with all the Queen Anne and Magnolia kids now assigned there.
30
@5, why are you, a fly white guy from Fremont, the only white person in the room planning events in Rainier Valley? Do "those people" need your white expertise or something? Or have you been permanently barred from attending any kind of meetings in your own neighborhood?

You wouldn't recognize census data if it dropped on your house from an airplane.
31
"...light rail threatens to destroy what we find beautiful in the neighborhood."

Poverty?
32
Looks like period troll is on his period again.
It's pretty predictable actually, any post regarding
Socio-economics, crime, or Dan Savage and his
cowardly, anonymous, basement dwelling ass is here
spewing the same Stormfront approved vitriol.
Get a life dude. Find some friends, get a REAL hobby.
I'm sure you're a swell guy in person, but when empowered
by anonymity and an impunitive mouthpiece, you
really let your freak, er, judgmental er, sanctimonious er,
bigot flag fly.
33
I think everyone should get worried when a group starts advocating the preservation of a neighborhood for a particular class of people. It sounds scary and impractical, no matter what the status of that group is.
34
Can we at least all agree to use the more accurate term "development-oriented transit", rather than the gasbaggery of "transit-oriented development"? Thank you.
36
How is a 5% increase in the minority population a "tide of displacement."

Some people just don't like white folk. Those people should not be driving city policy.
37
Looks like period troll is on his period again.
It's pretty predictable actually, any post regarding
Socio-economics, crime, or Dan Savage and his
cowardly, anonymous, basement dwelling ass is here
spewing the same Stormfront approved vitriol.
Get a life dude. Find some friends, get a REAL hobby.
I'm sure you're a swell guy in person, but when empowered
by anonymity and an impunitive mouthpiece, you
really let your freak, er, judgmental er, sanctimonious er,
bigot flag fly.
38
yeah the statistician in me squirmed at the assertion that a 5% increase was uh....a decrease.
just be honest when writing about the issue. the rate of increase is slowing down. sure, that is indicative of change. but not quite a "tide" yet.
39
lots of properties in RV owned by minorities, including both SFH and multifamily ....the whites buying are often buying from minorities selling....the gentrification also means that for ONCE, minorities who own property got to see its value go up, they got a piece of the ROI on social investment like light rail, so they sold and garnered capital gains and moved somewhere else. This is a good thing. And, btw, if minorities are priced out, or if white folks are priced out, or if anyone is priced out ans has to move to renton....so....what? they're still minorities, they're still white, we still have them, they're participating in the community and they're diversifying the suburbs.

big cities in the middle of big regions over time develop real estate values based on proximity to dowontown; the RC being a 20 minute ride away is valuable; this is normal. the folks who moved INTO RV 50 years ago also displaced someone else. the native americans who lived there displaced someone else. the zulus displaced someone else in southern africa, the vikings displaced someone else when they went to iceland or normandy, there's displacement happening all over. I am glad that north seattle is displacing older homeowner who never go out, the youngsters moving in support more bars and restaurants and it's nice. Let the oldsters move to sequim or the nursing hom or arizona. thehy get to displace people too. the minorities selling out of the RV moving to renton or south county are also displacing ....white people.....why is one displacement bad while other displacement is not bad? certain groups just monger grievances to get handouts from government and overly guilty liberals. of course if you build a $4 billion rail system, SFHs near the close to downtown stations will be more expensive. For ejveryone, poorer whites and poorer minorities. Where are the poor whites in this story, how come their inability to buy in RV now doesn't even merit a mention?
41
@18
Wow... You really are kind of a dumb ass.
42
@37: I really wish they'd give the Slog admins better tools to deal with that guy.

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.