But it appears that location closed not for lack of business, but because the building is being torn down—the only circumstance in which I've ever observed a McDonalds shuttering. I'd expect it to reopen nearby unless there's some sort of neighborhood opposition.

Even in SFs gentrification-embattled Mission district, the 24th and Mission st McDonald's is easily the neighborhoods busiest restaurant hosting the most diverse clientele.

weak, as an Odea grad this was a staple in h.s. you will be missed

Lots of angry wackos would come and go, but it had some of the best, hard-working staff I've ever seen in a fast food joint. Not an easy job at that one. It will be missed for a quick coffee and muffin on weekend mornings.

I thought Capitol Hill Blog did a better job with this story back in 2014:

"The First Hill McDonald’s franchise is an intriguing community hub. The Madison and Minor location seems to accomplish what an urban McDonald’s can be at its best: a place for surgeons, construction workers, homeless people and everyone in between to gather together for a cheap, gigantic cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Other times, it’s just weird."

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2014/1…

They've had a few follow up articles as well that are worth reading.

There's no mystery as to why McDonald's serves a wide section of society: the food is cheap. It's cheap because of low labor costs and an efficient (read: not particularly green or animal-friendly) supply chain.

There's a tension between good environmental and labor policy (which makes some basics more expensive) and the purchasing power of working class people. It is a genuine dilemma.

It's not the most pleasant McDonald's but it was one of the few places I could walk to from Capitol Hill and get a meal, a place to sit, free wifi, and a decent restroom for under $10. I always thought it was funny how they closed at 10 PM though. Hope the employees are reassigned or find other good jobs.

@6 That tension is exacerbated when you take profit and executive wage into consideration. A main reason there's so little purchasing power is because of the search for profits and an ever expanding stock market.

"Some even had Black Lives Matter posters. But once in these businesses, there were only white people. Sure, they believed in diversity but they were not living it"- how are they supposed to "live it"? Tell me, what can be done to make sure the clientele is diverse? You've written years worth of inane crap, but this has to be one of the most incredibly stupid things you've said.

@6 But the food isn't cheap. Your typical "value meal" cost is approaching $10, which, with a little creativity can be turned into a much more nutritious meal for a whole family.

Fast food is bad all around: bad for your health, bad for your wallet, bad for employees, bad for the environment.

Celebrating McDonald's because of the diversity of their customer base is like celebrating RJ Reynolds for targeting minorities with cigarette marketing. I suppose there's nebulous value in recognizing that a community exists at all, but it's far outweighed by the harm the product itself does.

You conveniently left out the fact that the MacDonald's you visited is located near JBLM. All those diverse POCs were probably there as a result of defending your right to be a Marxist POS.

@11 I think the bigger question there is why anyone would chose that McDonalds when Tijuana Taco is so close by. That is obviously the better option for fast food if you are exiting I-5 in Lakewood.

@10 fyi the whole "your $6 value meal at McDonalds could feed you lentils for a week! lol stupid poor people" schtick is: 1. tired. 2. long-debunked, as it doesn't actually account for the time spent shopping for and preparing the lentils. Time is money, espcially when youre poor and have to work long hours.

@13, OH YEAH, ,,,, well, well, you're a Stupid!

@1:

The McDonald's at 85th & Greenwood closed quite a few years before the block was redeveloped. But yeah, very rare to see one of those go away.

Isn't this analogous to not tearing down old, moldy lowrise buildings because they're "affordable?" Of course they're *dollar* affordable; you're paying part of the price with your health, your sanity, the environment, etc, etc.

Anyway, last I checked, ages ago, McDonald's isn't even that cheap.

Thank you for this perspective. . This type of empathy is needed in Seattle when you see the above comments calling these people rif raf and wackos and deciding what is proper for people to ingest. It's reminiscent in spirit of the Right towards Planned Parenthood.
Also for the record, their breakfast is really good.

semi-related: I wish I could go back in time and spend some minutes in the lower eating level at the Wendy's that existed downtown. It was like another universe there.

Sounds to me like Charles' family travelled to/from Portland in a horrible, polluting, selfish automobile instead of using the kind of mass transit (Bus/Amtrak) that he's always insisting our society should rely on.

F'ing hypocrite!

Chuckles, had you not decided to feed your family crap and driven two blocks in either direction you would have found half a dozen family owned Korean restaurants. @12- you are correct.

@15 - Crazy, I lived a few blocks from that intersection in the early 90s and just can't picture where the McDondals was. Perhaps because I was young and broke and they didn't have a dollar menu.

I'm still sad about Broadway Taco Bell with the walk up window.

@23 - If they come fo Dick's next, the protest mantras should at least be amusing.

"We stopped at a McDonald's that's on Pacific Hwy SW and near I-5"

Perhaps the reason it is necessary to go to stops along freeways to find diverse clientele is that cities like Seattle cling to exclusionary zoning which perpetuates residential racial segregation.