After the viaduct comes down, the opportunities to create an urban place that people will love on Seattle’s Central Waterfront will be huge.
The biggest threat to that vision isn’t too many cars, or too wide a street, or not enough open space, or lack of spots to touch the water, or the absense of a streetcar line.
It’s whether waterfront planners give people a reason to go there—lots of people and lots of reasons. And that will never happen without significant redevelopment of the public property underneath the current viaduct.
But unfortunately, if Seattle’s history is any guide, any proposal to redevelop waterfront property will be greeted with a howling chorus of “developer giveaway!” For the sake of the future of the waterfront, I do hope the populace can get beyond that counterproductive, kneejerk reaction.
[ Under the viaduct, looking north; click image to enlarge ]
Today, the Central Waterfront attracts mostly tourists. The intensity and mix of uses isn’t right to attract many locals, whether they be office workers having lunch or residents from the nearby neighborhoods looking for something cool to do on an evening or weekend.
I’ve worked at Harbor Steps for more four years, and when I go out for a walk I almost always find myself headed to Pike Place Market, not the waterfront. The reason is simple: People attract people. We are social animals, and there’s almost nothing we like to do more than watching other people.
In late 2008, when WSDOT published renderings of the post-viaduct Central Waterfront showing a spacious linear plaza between Alaskan Way and the seawall, the response was decidedly negative. Most people knew instinctively that such a place would succumb to dead, windswept plaza syndrome. And the thing is, the waterfront doesn’t need all that open space—there will be plenty to go around. What it needs is new buildings that will bring both activity, and a sense of enclosure that will help make it a comfortable place for people.
That isn’t to say the entire corridor should be developed. Gaps in strategic locations could provide visual relief and create focused open spaces—at the bottom of Harbor Steps, for example.
But we could have more fun than that. Imagine Alaskan Way swooping inland for an opportune block or two to leave room for new buildings on the west side of the street—literally on the waterfront. Crazy talk? Pshaw. I nominate the stretch in front of the highly underutilized Waterfront Park for that scheme.
[ Waterfront Park; click image to enlarge ]
Back to reality. The idea of selling off public land on the Central Waterfront for private development has been controversial since the Nisqually quake forced a dialogue about replacing the viaduct nine years ago. As recently as last year, former mayor Greg Nickels was in favor of keeping the corridor in public ownership for a “millennium park.”
But consider this: Because it controls the land, the city has the rare opportunity to set stringent standards for development, and also has a significant incentive—the land—to offer as a carrot. For example, if the city wanted affordable housing, then it could negotiate the land price to offset the extra burden that would put on a developer. New public open space, cutting-edge green buildings, a community center? Same process. The land would be so desirable that the city could make big demands, and we could get just the kind of development we want.
One way to handle all the public-private interaction that would take place in any significant redevelopment scenario would be to establish a quasi-governmental agency to direct the whole process—a waterfront development authority. Why not think big? The Central Waterfront presents a quintessential 100-year opportunity, and calls for bold, visionary thinking.
The rebirth of the Central Waterfront is a major step in Seattle’s process of growing up; and Seattle will have to do some growing up to get it done right.
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FYI: The Committee for Central Waterfront Partnerships will be holding four community meetings in March:
Miller Community Center
330 19th Ave E
Thursday, March 4, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Northgate Community Center
10510 5th Ave NE
Saturday, March 6, 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
High Point Community Center
6920 34th Ave SW
Saturday, March 13, 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Van Asselt Community Center
2820 South Myrtle Street
Saturday, March 20, 2:30 –4:00 p.m.
