My wife and I chose to live in Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood because we wanted to raise a family in a walkable area with independent businesses and good transit. It offers some of the best things about the city: community, diversity and great public outdoor spaces.
One reason I ran for city council was to harness similar opportunities across Seattle to create urban neighborhoods that would set a precedent for others to follow.
These “model urban neighborhoods” need the following elements:
- Vibrant businesses, including street-level retail
- Housing density that provides a critical mass of customers for local businesses and transit
- Affordable high-speed internet, which is critical for emerging technology business
- Efficient transit that connects to other neighborhoods and downtown
Seattle residents should be able to enjoy their city without the expense of owning a car – or two cars – and without related headaches like parking. Owning a car adds about $10,000 to a family’s annual budget. As in other dynamic cities, we should be able to take a train or streetcar or bus where we need to go. Routes should be logical and service should be reliable. The experience should be easy!
There are lots of other reasons to create urban neighborhoods. Accommodating more of the region’s growth in the city will help curb sprawl. Focusing growth near new light rail stations can maximize our investment in transit. Adding more housing supply will lower the cost of owning or renting.
As a city, we have already established 25 areas where growth should be concentrated while preserving existing single-family neighborhoods. Unfortunately, our current timid city policies are holding us back. Local businesses suffer because there aren’t enough potential shoppers on the streets. For Internet service we’re hostage to Comcast, which holds a local monopoly. And in much of the city, traveling without a car is frustrating. (It takes about four times longer to get to West Seattle or Capitol Hill from my neighborhood by bus than by car.)
We can do better. According to The New York Times, the private sector in Hong Kong is providing fast Internet services for less cost than in the U.S. because there’s a strategy there to coordinate development. In Seattle we could incentivize similar private sector investment with an infrastructure package for urban neighborhoods that accommodate more residents. Grassroots support is critical, of course, and the city should provide a helping hand to coordinate local organizing. After all, a strong neighborhood business group is one of the reasons my neighborhood, Columbia City, is viewed as a success.
One place where we could start is North Beacon Hill, where a brand-new light rail subway station currently stands amid empty lots. The area offers great views, nice parks and close proximity to downtown and other communities. It’s a perfect place to combine fiber for fast internet, new power infrastructure and smart grid technology to save energy — and make the neighborhood even more vibrant.
It’s time to seize the opportunity. It’s time to make Seattle’s urban neighborhoods a model for the 21st century.