"And the politicians, not the anarchists, will look incredibly stupid."

No. Regardless of what happens both will continue to look incredibly stupid.

The only difference is that the politicians have figured out how to be stupid with power, whereas the anarchists just throw stupid tantrums in the street.

This flier is idiotic.

(1) Building new units where not currently exist doesn't displace anyone; in fact it provides somewhere for new residents to go other than where current residents live.

(2) An "influx of Seattle University students" - oh noes!

(3) "the development project would only exacerbate racial tensions, quality of life disparities, and economic inequality in the surrounding neighborhood." I can't read this sentence any other way than suggesting that races and income groups should be kept apart, which, hey, we've certainly tried that before.

(4) "[it] would not have addressed the social and economic root causes of juvenile crime"
No shit -- it's also not going to cure global warming, poverty, or war. But young people do commit crimes, and they ought to be processed somewhere that isn't falling apart.

Of course if we would simply stop arresting criminals in Seattle, that would handle the gentrification problem -- rampant crime and crappy schools are great for preventing displacement.

So... Taking out the jail entirely and replacing it with a park (sorry, greens space) will slow the pace of gentrification?

If they say so.

I have an idea for how to address the needs of the angry and disadvantaged in Seattle but it's called "socialism" and it will never pass. Either that, or increasing density and not yelling about people who want to build 3 housing units where there used to be 1 (or none!).

@5 That flyer was incredibly stupid, especially in blaming a building from the future for current and ongoing trends. The county's plan may not be perfect, but it does address a real problem (i.e. juvie needs replacement), while the anarchist plan creates more problems without fixing any of the issues it complains about. So, yeah, I do have a better solution, than tearing down juvie and making a park: the solution the county is already working toward.