Liberals never tire of dismissing history when it gets in the way of some serious bullshit narrative about a fake community lore.
In fact the history of the Central D and Valley isn't as a "black" neighborhood. First, and for 80+ years, it was developed as an Italian & Japanese community. At the north end of the valley was, like Ballard, one of the few discernibly European ethnic neighborhoods in the city. Rainier Valley was known as "Garlic Gulch."
During the twentieth century, the Valley attracted more residents of various backgrounds. By the late 1960s many African Americans moved to the Valley from the Central District in search of relatively inexpensive housing.
The Central District and Valley's "loss" as an "black" community is some melodramatic victimization-mentality crap cooked up to make us feel all boo-hoo about the natural progression of cities.
The gives an incorrect email address for Central Area Arts and Cultural District. The correct email address according to CAACD's website is historiccaacd@gmail.com.
@4 Zok So it's been a neighborhood associated with several ethnicities over the years. How does that imply that it wasn't a historically Black neighborhood, just because it was something else first? The fact that it was one of the areas that redlining and other forms of housing discriminated allowed Black people to buy property ensured that it was a place where Black people became established (51% Black is a significant presence in a town that's 10% Black).
By the way, the demographics of Black Americans have shifted a lot in Seattle--due to people leaving Seattle proper for outlying areas, I'd guess probably mainly as a result of the economic crisis and maybe rising costs of property. A lot of the Black people remaining are actual African immigrants, who are far poorer than African Americans with a longer history here.
The fact is that the cycle of gentrification continues, it helps drive sprawl, and pushes out anyone who formerly moved to an area because it was affordable. I don't personally know what to do about it, since all areas with things built on them were developed at some point. At the very least, taking into account the fact that poorer people might be harmed by development in some way would make sense. And if you think it's a false story about victimization, have you ever been in conflict with monied interests like developers? I imagine it could cause trouble for anyone, victimization narrative or not. And the fact is that the establishment sometimes puts less effort into helping people who need it most.
Going off about liberals ignoring history while ignoring a bunch of it yourself just makes you sound like a partisan hack, by the way.
@7
" taking into account the fact that poorer people might be harmed by development in some way would make sense."
And doing something to mitigate that harm, at the very least. Doing otherwise would be putting monied interests ahead of the interests of normal citizens, which I think is a garbage way to run a society.
@1 Good point. I'm not sure where to find that data, it's out there, but maybe not pre-compiled to show how the demographics have shifted over the years.
But the population of Seattle as a whole hasn't changed all that much, so unless there was a housing construction boom in the CD at some point in recent history, it's hard to imagine it's denser than it used to be. Still a lot of single family homes out that way.
The CD is a lost cause. It'll become another dudebro-centric Whiteytown for techies, especially with SHA pairing up with Vulcan. Seattle doesn't care about being a thriving multicultural metropolis. It's a big town, not a small city.
"love it when a white man says 'racism'"
"wry smile"
Well now, sounds likes the event's hosts were less that gracious. Don't blame the mayor.
In fact the history of the Central D and Valley isn't as a "black" neighborhood. First, and for 80+ years, it was developed as an Italian & Japanese community. At the north end of the valley was, like Ballard, one of the few discernibly European ethnic neighborhoods in the city. Rainier Valley was known as "Garlic Gulch."
During the twentieth century, the Valley attracted more residents of various backgrounds. By the late 1960s many African Americans moved to the Valley from the Central District in search of relatively inexpensive housing.
The Central District and Valley's "loss" as an "black" community is some melodramatic victimization-mentality crap cooked up to make us feel all boo-hoo about the natural progression of cities.
By the way, the demographics of Black Americans have shifted a lot in Seattle--due to people leaving Seattle proper for outlying areas, I'd guess probably mainly as a result of the economic crisis and maybe rising costs of property. A lot of the Black people remaining are actual African immigrants, who are far poorer than African Americans with a longer history here.
The fact is that the cycle of gentrification continues, it helps drive sprawl, and pushes out anyone who formerly moved to an area because it was affordable. I don't personally know what to do about it, since all areas with things built on them were developed at some point. At the very least, taking into account the fact that poorer people might be harmed by development in some way would make sense. And if you think it's a false story about victimization, have you ever been in conflict with monied interests like developers? I imagine it could cause trouble for anyone, victimization narrative or not. And the fact is that the establishment sometimes puts less effort into helping people who need it most.
Going off about liberals ignoring history while ignoring a bunch of it yourself just makes you sound like a partisan hack, by the way.
" taking into account the fact that poorer people might be harmed by development in some way would make sense."
And doing something to mitigate that harm, at the very least. Doing otherwise would be putting monied interests ahead of the interests of normal citizens, which I think is a garbage way to run a society.
But the population of Seattle as a whole hasn't changed all that much, so unless there was a housing construction boom in the CD at some point in recent history, it's hard to imagine it's denser than it used to be. Still a lot of single family homes out that way.