What if you gave a party and nobody came? Many Broadway businesses share that mindset regarding Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' recent announcement of $345,000 meant to improve Broadway's fortunes.
But in an unscientific survey of small Broadway businesses between East Roy and East Pike streets, only four of nine business owners/managers had any idea what the plan was about. Of the four, most of them were a bit vague about the specifics. The plan, developed earlier this year, was created by area stakeholders called the Action Agenda Team.
The most common call for improvement on Broadway is an increased police presence, which is not part of the mayor's plan. Beautification and graffiti eradication were both embraced and rejected. Establishing a chamber of commerce was largely greeted with non-committal interest.
"It's like Sysiphus pushing the rock up the hill to keep those poles clean," said Jamie Lutton of the beautification effort. She owns Twice Sold Tales, a used book store a half-block off Broadway at 905 E. John St. "It's cosmetic and laughable." She would rather see the money spent on police.
"That's not as much an eyesore [posters on power poles] as the addicts - not the street kids, but the addicts," she said, adding that a gun-wielding drug addict was recently shot and killed within 20 feet of Lutton's business.
"All the people in these apartment buildings need to know that they can walk down the street and be safe," Lutton said, gesturing to several nearby multi-story apartment buildings. She said police response is slow. What is needed, she said, is cops who walk the beat, chat with people and know the people in the neighborhood.
She also thinks more facilities are needed for drug rehabilitation and homeless people.
"This town has gone to hell since the $25 hotel room disappeared from Skid Road," she declared.
Ed Ryall, one of the managers of Everyday Music at 112 Broadway E., had a more positive take.
"I'm all for the new chamber of commerce that can specialize in this area," Ryall said. He said beautification efforts would be good, but that the street is in a transitional period and once the new condominium and apartment projects are completed, they will do a lot to revitalize the area. Overall, he thinks the area is "on the right track."
Ryall has been working on Broadway for three and a half years and calls Broadway "the life line of Seattle."
"I see the good and bad, but I kind of look toward the future," he said.
"What is the mayor's new plan?" asked Steve Johnson, owner of Jump! Gourmet Espresso at 604 Broadway E. That was a recurrent theme among many businesses.
"It is always difficult to communicate with the businesses on the street," said Michael Wells, owner of Bailey-Coy Books, 414 Broadway E. Wells is president of the Broadway Business Improvement Association (BIA) and co-chaired efforts to develop the Broadway plan the mayor recently approved. He said the BIA is preparing a communication list of addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of Broadway businesses.
Every business on Broadway from East Roy Street and East Pike Street, plus a half block beyond each street, is automatically a member of the BIA. The association is supported by business and occupation taxes.
"You have to show people they are going to get something from it before they get excited about it," Wells said.
"All I heard about was the beautification, which I'm like, When? Now! Please!" said Briana DeLine, manager of Trendy Wendy at 211 Broadway E. She thinks no-loitering enforcement would be a big help, too.
"They're camping on the sidewalk, drinking, doing drugs." DeLine said. "I had people come in my store doing drug deals!"
Keri Morris, of Atlas Clothing, 1515 Broadway, doesn't want to see Broadway become University Village, but she would like to see more police presence.
"The station is two blocks away," she said, gesturing toward the East Precinct headquarters at 12th Avenue and East Pine Street. "It would be faster to go up there, grab a cop by the hand and walk him down here."
Karin Zaugg-Black, communications director for the city's Office of Economic Development, has been working with the Action Agenda Team that has produced the plan. She said "a number of organizations are represented in the planning group" that have Capitol Hill constituents. These groups include property owners, the business improvement association and the Capitol Hill Stewardship Council.
According to Zaugg-Black, public safety is a very high priority of the group, as was making Broadway more attractive to visitors and customers.
Louis Lewis, owner of Peacock Custom Framing, 605 Broadway E., said he had not heard much about the plan, but anything that would put more customers on the street would be welcome.
"What worries me is that cleaning up Broadway means changing Broadway's character," Lewis said. He added that a half-hour free parking on Broadway would be worth looking at. He thinks a number of businesses like his, where a customer can finish their business in a half hour, would benefit greatly from 30 minutes of free parking.
One of the Action Agenda Team's first tasks is to get the Greater Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce up and running. Although the planning effort began with a sharp focus on the Broadway business district, it soon became clear that a wider scope would be needed, Zaugg-Black said. The area was widened to include the Pike-Pine, 12th Avenue, 15th Avenue and 19th Avenue business districts.
The new chamber of commerce can provide the area with marketing help and a single, political voice for Capitol Hill businesses to use in dealing with the city.
Wells said that the present BIA is entirely run by volunteers, small business people who also have customers to help, goods to order and employees to pay. He said a chamber with a large and active membership would have the budget to do more for its members: marketing, cleaning up, talking with the city and mounting a public safety program similar to downtown's Metropolitan Improvement District's Ambassador Program, with paid employees on foot or bikes patrolling the area, answering questions, offering assistance and calling police at the first sight of trouble.
"That's what we believe the chamber will give us," Wells said.
Money the mayor has promised is expected to get things started.
"We anticipate a good chunk of the city resources going to safety and security issues," Wells said. "We would love to have more cops on the street. We've been told that's not going to happen for us."
Freelance writer Korte Brueckmann lives on Capitol Hill and can be reached at editor@capitolhill times.com.
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