Despite unappealing growth trends, Seattleites have the power to determine city's shape
Seattle is known for its quality of life, but is the city's push for increased density killing the very thing that makes it so special in the first place?
Seattle is a second-tier town in every way except for quality of life. Ask anybody who has moved here in the last 20 years and they'll tell you that quality of life topped the list of why they chose to live here - this in spite of the months and months of gray and rain.
Sure, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and even San Francisco have more people and a wider offering of culture and commerce. But there's also more crime, gang violence, traffic problems and smog.
There's a lot less of all of that in Seattle. And like an independent coffee purveyor, Seattle can better retain its personality and public appeal by keeping the reason for that in mind. The place is full of writers, artists, software designers, just tons of creative people. And providing inspiration are the natural vistas of the Puget Sound and snow-capped mountain ranges. When it comes to quality of life, Seattle really can't be beat - yet.
Look at Ballard, Queen Anne and even Magnolia now and you can see Seattle's gravitational pull toward massive density and gentrified development.
Seattle will always have creative people and beautiful views. And for all its faults, it will have plenty of parks, too. Seattle loves its parks. Ballard, for example, converted a long-gone Safeway store into a great open park and skateboard pool. And right now, in the heart of Lower Queen Anne, workers are busy laying the landscape for Counterbalance Park - a prime location owned by the city that could have easily been sold to developers. But sometimes these things come off as more of an after thought to quell protest when another condo project is built or when developers finagle zoning rules to get their multi-family units built.
Density is a fact of city life. Seattle has to appeal to corporations and developers to thrive and compete with other businesses, er, cities. As a result, we see single-family homeowners faced with selling to developers or staying and watching their home values dip and their backyards darken under the shadows of condos. Their Seattle fades away.
There's always a chance that new charm and personality will surface naturally in response to current construction trends. But having felt the joy of what life can be, the ultimate question is: will the people who see it slipping away rise to preserve it?
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