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Comments
What Charles doesn't mention is the significant regulatory costs and risks in this region which have significant impact on affordability beyond just permit fees.
For more on transit connectivity via Red and Blue lines by 2023, look at this articles:
https://seattletransitblog.com/2015/08/1…
https://seattletransitblog.com/2015/08/1…
Did Charles get a degree from UW?
This is like saying the Stranger is nothing but a bunch of race-baiting, pseudo-intellectual bullshit after reading an article from Charles. Of course this assumes he's actually taken a class at UW
"Giant mansions?" What is this, 1986?
Seattle is building giant multi-unit condos and luxury rentals for the rich now, gramps. Get your narrative straight!
Their recently completed "The Claremont" Apartments are only 2 blocks away, on the site of the old Chubby and Tubby store on Rainier Ave. A few blocks down from that are another 5 low-income housing projects from SEED, including their large "Rainier Court" development.
I worked in all the old public housing projects. They were awful. All of them, except Yesler Terrace (which is the oldest) were built as temporary housing for defense workers in World War II. They were flimsy and beat up, and full of lead and asbestos. Maybe they were picturesque for someone like you, but they were no place that anyone would want to live, and they were a constant reminded of just what the rest of Seattle thought of the residents.
As for the Mt Baker neighborhood, the stretch of Rainier Avenue from I-90 to Genesee is not Mt Baker. It's the Rainier Valley. The designation of Mt. Baker is just Seattle bureaucracy and wishful thinking. Mt Baker starts at 34th Ave S, and runs down to the lake, and gets wealthierr the farther east you travel. The "business district" is the small building at the corner of Mt. Baker Boulevard and S. McClellan Street, which has been a series of artsy places since City Light moved out in the 1970's.
Look, eventually, the QFC site will be redeveloped. So will the Lowe's site. They've just started building market rate stuff behind the QFC west up McClellan. I can understand the worry that too much low-income housing will get concentrated in one spot, but at the end of the day, I don't think that's going to happen. As I said elsewhere, the area between McClellan and Jackson on Rainier is going to have some of the best transit connectivity of any neighborhood in Seattle. Go up to 18th and Massachusetts. Look at all the new construction going on up there. All that stuff is Walking distance to the Judkins park stop on east link (Blue Line).
Now imagine Rainier with less warehouses and parking lots and more housing. Also imagine Rainier as less of a highway and more of a regular residential arterial street (e.g., like California Ave in West Seattle between California Junction and Admiral Junction). I know it may be hard, but do it anyway.
IMHO, the area near the Judkins Park stop is going to become increasingly desirable, and as it does, there's going to be more and more momentum to change the dynamic of traffic on Rainier.
From blog post on Seattle Transit blog about estimated travel times on Eastlink (the Blue Line). There's also a blog post up there about estimated travels times on central link (Red Line), which is also super interesting.
"On the Red Line, I defined Link’s ‘centers of gravity’ as Downtown (for maximizing short trips) and the Rainier Valley (for minimizing long trips). The Blue Line is a bit more fragmented by uneven stop spacing – a natural consequence of a long lake crossing – but the centers of gravity are still what you might expect.
For maximizing short trip possibilities, Downtown still reigns, as its residents can travel anywhere from Lynnwood to Bel-Red in less than 30 minutes, with only Overlake inching beyond 30 minutes. But Judkins Park and Mercer Island also do very well. At Judkins Park, a 30-minute window gets you to either 185th St or Overlake, whereas for Mercer Island a 30-minute window gets you to either Northgate or Overlake.
If you want to live in a residential part of Seattle but have good access to Downtown Seattle (10 minutes), Downtown Bellevue (14 minutes), and Overlake (24 minutes), Judkins Park will be about as good as it gets."
https://seattletransitblog.com/2015/08/1…
It's literally not.