The SPD is encouraging anarchy in the Pike Place Market.
The Seattle Police Department is encouraging anarchy in the Pike Place Market. Charles Mudede

Pike Place Market can't have it both ways. It's either one or the other—cars or pedestrians. And because the city refuses to do the rational and most obvious thing—ban cars from Pike Place Market—the police must enforce the existing laws against jaywalking. At present, pedestrians walk up and down the street, which is between the corner of Pike Street and First Street, and Pike Place and Virginia Street; they perpetually cross it in areas that are not designated for crossing, they get tangled with stupid (locals) or clueless (tourist) drivers, and these drivers are often quick to honk and get their rage on.

The fine for jaywalking is $56. The Seattle Municipal Code has eight offenses in it. All of them are committed non-stop by the pedestrians of Pike Place Market. There is lots of money to be made here, and order must be restored.

Let's just continue to make the experience of Pike Place Market unpleasant because we are incapable of just saying no to cars on a stretch of street that's shorter than half a mile. Honestly, if cars cannot be banned in this place, then we might as well give up on the rest of the city. We should also give up on the future of brick-and-mortar commerce. These business owners need to evolve if they hope to survive in an environment that's more and more dominated by the conveniences provided by Amazon. And car-free corridors accessed by forms of public transportation that are not at-grade or have dedicated lanes, will vastly improve the shopping experience.

You need people to enter the city without fear of getting stuck in a car or going around and around, looking for parking—drivers in this city spend "an average of 58 hours searching for parking each year." One of the best weapons brick-and-mortar businesses could have against Amazon is accessible car-free streets. Amazon can't mail an urban experience.