Last week, the Mayor (along with the Alliance for Pioneer Square) hosted a stakeholder meeting to talk about what has happened in Pioneer Square in the last 6 months. This is the second meeting that serves as a follow up to the “Pioneer Square 2015 plan.” (apparently I just live tweeted both meetings, never did a follow up post).

The mayor’s blog has a summary of what was said in the meeting, and what are considered recent accomplishment, including:

North Lot
First Hill Streetcar
Only in Seattle Funding
King Street Station
Broadband
Artist Space Assistance Program (ASAP)
New Businesses
Public Safety (still needs serious help)
Restorative Justice Pilot (the first I’ve heard of it)
Restrooms (yes, this is moving forward! I’m on the committee making it happen)
Special Events Management (also needs serious attention still)

So that was the summary part of the meeting. THEN we got to the good part where the group (made up of city officials, business owners, and residents) was allowed to ask questions. The topics that came up included:

1. staggering nightclub hours
2. increased graffiti problems
3. the tolerance the city/police seem to have for bad behavior during sporting events
4. sending hundreds of more buses through the neighborhood due to the viaduct coming down
5. restorative justice for those who urinate in public in the neighborhood
6. and the major problems with drugs and loitering in Fortson Square

A lot of the answers from the Mayor were along the lines of “we’re aware it’s a problem, and we’re looking into solutions.’ Here’s the thing: if I weren’t more involved in neighborhood groups, that statement would concern me. But I know that there are incredibly hard working staff members at the Alliance and other dedicated volunteers in the neighborhood that serve on so many committees that are already battling these problems and are actually coming up with solutions. At the beginning of the meeting, Leslie Smith of the Alliance, mentioned that this neighborhood has never had so much attention and support from city officials as we do right now. So let’s capitalize on that and continue to speak out for what this neighborhood needs to make it even better than it is now.

Along those lines, can I just end this post with a comment from “Paul” on the Mayor’s blog?

Pioneer Square is simply an unpleasant place. It feels dark, dirty and unsafe and nothing discussed above will change that any time soon. There are too many bars, too many homeless and no real reason to spend any time in the neighborhood. There are a couple of good art galleries but that is not enough to get even an art lover like me to go there very often. The loss of Elliott Bay Books was huge but even before that Pioneer Square wasn’t worth the visit. More housing will help but somehow the City needs to make walking the streets more enjoyable.

If you would just indulge me for a moment to defend my neighborhood from this very short-sighted comment. Pioneer Square is made up of fascinating residents, unique businesses, and amazing historic architecture. We had a snowstorm that shut down the city. Instead of staying inside by the warmth of the fire, locals headed out to the restaurants who stayed open to show their support. We walked over to Carmine’s (who had just passed away) through an empty neighborhood, and joined a full, bustling restaurant, when it seemed the rest of the city was empty. That’s the type of neighborhood we live in.

And on our walk home, a random person ran up to me and handed me a piece of record art, then ran away — no explanation, nothing on the record that says who the artist is. That’s how unique this neighborhood is.

We have business owners, like Mike and Derek from Delicatus, who have an incredibly busy lunch crowd, and use that business to stay open for the residents in the evening, even if it can seem slow at times. There are numerous other business owners who also live in the neighborhood who dedicate their free time to committees that have accomplished things like getting portapotties set up throughout Pioneer Square on gameday, or changing the type of confetti that’s used, or researching the best options for restrooms in the neighborhood. That’s the type of neighborhood we live in.

There is a resident who single-handedly took on the alley behind their building to activate it and make it more friendly to walk through.  [And that's not even part of the group and organization that are doing this to all the other alleys in the neighborhood.]

We have the art walk, we have a summer market, we have tech mixers, and business mixers, we have art galleries, and Sounder fans who march through the neighborhood (peacefully), we have unique businesses, and small business owners, and struggling artists. We have the Storefront Seattle program, and the Underground Tour. We have walkable streets, activated alleys, gorgeous ivy covered buildings, and an ideal brick park for family, engagement, and wedding photos. This is the neighborhood I choose to live in.

Those of us who live in this neighborhood, and those that choose to open and keep their businesses in this neighborhood are the people that we want here — we’re just waiting for the rest of you to stop judging this book by its cover and recognize the good that is down here already. Change will come to this neighborhood, but it will be slow, and it won’t ever really change the feel of Pioneer Square. We will always have the homeless in our neighborhood. But that’s ok — because as housing is added and more businesses open, this neighborhood will find a balance that works a little better.

And then the rest of you will see what we see.

I apologize for not posting this earlier:
  
The Mayor, city council representatives and Alliance staff and board will meet with Pioneer Square stakeholders early in 2012 to provide an update on progress in relationship to the 2015 plan. Join us at ING at 83 South King Street, Wednesday, January 25, 4:00pm – 5:30pm.

That’s what developer Urban Visions’s CEO, Greg Smith is proposing (on DJC – subscription only), as we are going to lose more and more parking spots due to viaduct construction and changes:

Urban Visions is studying the parking idea with the team that’s working on its development project, 200 Occidental. The concept so far is to build between 120 and 200 stalls of short-term parking under the tree-lined park at Occidental Avenue South and South Main Street.

Mature trees could be saved, Smith said, “and you could put the exact park back down.”

Smith states in the article, “I’m sure it will be controversial,” to which I have to reply: what?? a new idea in Pioneer Square controversial? That never happens around here…

Our issues with the streetcar were recently featured on PubliCola and the Seattle Transit Blog. Originally, PubliCola stated the following:

The only thing is, the city never “promised” Pioneer Square it would build the streetcar to their neighborhood. In fact, according to city staff, the city only told the neighborhood it would try to extend the streetcar to the neighborhood—if, and only if, it could meet its contractual obligation to Sound Transit to keep the streetcar on ten-minute headways (the period riders must wait between trains) and to keep costs below the $123 million Sound Transit agreed to provide under an interlocal agreement with the city (which will actually build the streetcar).

In a follow up post today, however, Leslie Smith from the Alliance for Pioneer Square was able to provide multiple places where our neighborhood was, in fact, made promises by the city that we would soon get the streetcar:

The evidence: At a public forum on the future of the Pioneer Square neighborhood in June, Mayor Mike McGinn said, “We have the streetcar coming” to Pioneer Square. “That’s good.”

Additionally, the city’s Pioneer Square 2015 Committee adopted a list of economic development strategies for the city last year that included “implement[ing] the streetcar line extension through Pioneer Square.”

Although I shouldn’t have been surprised when I started hearing rumors that the First Hill Streetcar may not come into our neighborhood as planned, I still couldn’t really believe it as I talked with city staff to verify that it will possibly now stop at 5th and Jackson, instead of coming into Pioneer Square.

David Hiller of the Mayor’s office has been calling a few Pioneer Square stakeholders to let them know about the situation they are currently in. Part of their contractual obligations with Sound Transit included a scheduled streetcar coming by a stop every 10 minutes (called headway). Right now, it is timed for about 12 minutes, which is apparently most easily solved by stopping at 5th & Jackson. Although that is where the streetcar originally planned to stop, the neighborhood celebrated when the decision was made to bring it down Jackson and to loop back up Main Street.

In a blog post back in February of 2010, I included a list of benefits to the neighborhood from having the streetcar come through, including the following:

• Will be completed before the viaduct removal begins making our neighborhood more accessible during construction
• New connection helps with economic development in the neighborhood
• Adds to the marketing draw for residential and office development alike
• Allows commuters to safely navigate the intersection at 4th and Jackson
• Brings users closer to the Waterfront, creating a more walkable area
• Project is fully funded by the ST2 mass transit system
• Elegant transportation connection to the east from a convenient location in our Pioneer Square neighborhood
• Creates another leg to the transportation hub at King Street Station
• Helps eliminate the need for parking, especially during stadium events
• Environmentally beneficial as it should reduce the need for vehicles for many uses
• Crosses the ‘gateway’ into Pioneer Square

Hiller says that there are a number of factors that lead into this decision, including the lack of funding to purchase more than 4 streetcars. When meeting with Sound Transit to discuss the issue of potentially being unable to meet the 10 minute headway requirement, Sound Transit expressed a desire to find other alternatives so that the 10 min mark would still be met, even if it meant that the streetcar would no longer come through Pioneer Square.

The city is waiting to hear back on actual costs for the streetcars, and will know by mid-October what will happen. According to Hiller, however, they are very short on options. And although he says there is nothing that the community could do to affect the decision, I still urge you to write to the following people, to show them how important the streetcar is to this neighborhood, and that we’re tired of the city breaking its promises (i.e. waterfront streetcar):

Mayor Michael McGinn’s staff person, David Hiller, david.hiller@seattle.gov

County Executive Dow Constantine, Dow.Constantine@kingcounty.gov

King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, joe.mcdermott@kingcounty.gov

There is a draft Stadium District Concept Plan that has recently come out, that was created by two volunteer public boards, to protect the public’s investment in Safeco Field, and CLink Field + Event Center. It is a draft plan that is supposed to present a vision for the district over a ten year period. It envelops anticipated changes to our neighborhood, such as the North Lot, the waterfront, and the changes to the viaduct.

You will be pleased to know that our stadiums do well by most measurements when compared to other stadiums, such as Camden Yards in Baltimore (Stadium District and Inner Harbor), Coors Field in Denver (LoDo District), and Petco Park in San Diego (Gaslamp District).

Our stadiums are seen as effectively managed and maintained and are environmental leaders. Our analysis shows that Seattle generates more stadium district foot traffic than the other cities studied. On the other hand, our stadiums have not had the same economic or positive neighborhood impact in stimulating new housing, activating old buildings, driving retail activity, or achieving new public amenities like open space, pedestrian and bike friendly streets, sidewalks, and transit that other cities have experienced.

Denver, for example, has a stadium district population of 25 households per acre while the Seattle stadium district averages only two households per acre. For food and beverage revenue outside the stadiums, Seattle ranks last.

The Concept Plan goes into detail about a vision for the area and how the stadium district interacts with Pioneer Square, SODO, Chinatown/ID, and the waterfront. Part of the plan includes the following “targets under a 10-year plan for development within a 15 minute walk of the stadiums:”

1. Increase of 2,000 new market rate housing units
2. Minimum 2,000 new parking spaces
3. Enhanced pedestrian, bicycle and transit facilities and connections
4. A major new destination open space

(click image to view larger)

The plan goes on to break down the district into four different “faces” that can be improved: Occidental, 1st Avenue, PARKing, and Nexus. Ideas that are suggested include:

• a warehouse/industrial environment with outdoor celebrations and other places activity that make pre-game activity more enjoyable IN the neighborhood
• housing + hotels that increase activity on roof decks, and on the street
• covered open space that can provide outdoor venues for performance and events
• enhanced lighting (that also help with wayfinding)
• a (park)ing garage [a parking garage with a park on top]
• incorporating places to “get wet, play ball, swing, slide, etc.” — places for kids and families to get together and play

The report is packed with graphics and images, vision and possibilities. Go and check it out online, and please provide comments and ideas — there is no current deadline, but they want to hear from as many people as possible on what can make this district as successful as possible. (comments can be emailed to comments@stadiumdistrict.org)

Over the past couple of months, Councilmembers Clark, Rasmussen and I have visited Pioneer Square for meetings with residents and small business owners and gone on walking tours to assess conditions in this important neighborhood. During these outreach efforts consistent and repeated complaints have emerged related to (1) crime and street disorder and (2) parking, transportation, and the retail environment.

Here’s a summary of what we’ve heard. I don’t believe any of this will be surprising to you. However, it seems a strategic and integrated City response that involves several departments is necessary.

Crime and Street Disorder
Complaints center on criminal behavior, mostly related to drug trafficking by both individuals with addictions who are buying and selling to satiate their need and enterprise dealers who are selling for financial gain. Other crimes mentioned include car prowls, theft, simple assault, and pedestrian interference.

The street disorder complaints describe public urination and defecation, litter and graffiti, groups of social service agency clients clustered together and behaving badly with lots of screaming, pushing and shoving, foul language, etc., sexual activities in doorways and parking garages, drug use and intoxicated fans before and after Seahawk football games. (This last category has always included remarks like, “Mariner and Sounder fans don’t cause problems.”)

It may be appropriate for the City to consider the following interventions to resolve these ongoing issues—

· Increased uniform police presence, primarily foot beat officers, and directed police efforts at the enterprise drug dealers who prey on those with addictions.

· Social service directed outreach to those with addiction challenges.

· Assessment of the litter and graffiti problems, along with a street light review, then development of a specific plan to address these issues. (SCL and SDOT worked together very effectively in recent weeks to repair street lights and trim trees that were blocking the lights in the Belltown neighborhood to the delight of residents and business owners.)

· Joint efforts by SPD and the WSLCB to stop over service in restaurants, clubs and bars and at the stadium on Seahawk game days. (The intoxicated behavior by Seahawk fans is directly related to over service, a serious violation of state law that can lead to significant penalties and license consequences. Both SPD and the WSLCB have enforcement authority here.) The City may want to consider a special notification program related to over service, followed by a few enforcement activities to reinforce the education effort. I believe the City’s CCT should grab this issue and consider what we might do to reduce over service. (Some suggest that this intoxicated behavior is not related to over service in licensed establishments or the stadium but rather the hundreds of tailgate parties that occur before and after Seahawk games.)

I realize we can easily become desensitized to complaints about crime and street disorder just because of their continual volume. We all receive these complaints from many neighborhoods, but some of our downtown neighborhoods seem to have reached a tipping point. It’s pretty difficult to listen to a resident or business owner describe what they live with day after day and then realize that they have been living with these conditions for months, if not years. These folks are pleading with us to help them.

Parking, Transportation and Business Environment
Today’s Seattle Times carries a front page story about Masins leaving Pioneer Square. (Interestingly, when CMs Rasmussen, Clark and I met with Bob Masin last week he cited the parking issue that’s discussed in the Times’ story, but placed an equal or even greater emphasis on crime and street disorder as his reason for leaving.)

The complaints and concerns in this category relate to on-street parking meter rates, the amount of on-street parking restricted for use by Metro and the Fire Department which removes these spaces from use by the public, street disruptions related to construction projects and utility work, and the overall retail business environment. The latter concerns center on vacant storefronts, possible delay with the North Lot development project, and the crime and street disorder problems that deter shoppers.

In the Council’s June 14 letter to Mayor McGinn (attached), we recommended eight specific steps that would be helpful for Pioneer Square. Many of these steps relate to parking, transportation and the business environment. Here’s an update on each—

Step #1: Adjust neighborhood parking area boundaries north to Columbia Street. Completed by SDOT.

Step #2: Move Metro layover parking to non-essential streets to free up spaces. Pending.

Step #3: Maintain 6 p.m. on-street parking meter end time and not extend to 8 p.m. Agreed to by SDOT.

Step #4: Waive B & O taxes on “retail trade” businesses located in Pioneer Square Historic District. Pending budget deliberations this fall.

Step #5: Add additional police officer foot patrols. Pending.

Step #6: Provide way-finding signs to public toilets, consider reopening Fire Station 10 restrooms for managed use, consider requiring special event operators (including stadiums) to provide portable toilets during events. Pending.

Step #7: Evaluate street cleanup, street light maintenance, sidewalk and street repair, and street median maintenance and increase levels of service. Pending.

Step #8: Waive special event fees to promote increased activities and better coordination with other downtown neighborhood events. Pending budget deliberations this fall.

This overall summary of what we’ve been hearing from Pioneer Square is intended to keep you informed and to encourage a stronger and more focused City response.

Councilmember Tim Burgess
Seattle City Council
Chair, Public Safety and Education Committee
206-684-8806

The Seattle Times has an article out this morning talking about a dispute over parking that may stall the North Lot project:

The problem: Developer Daniels Real Estate and the owner of the stadium, known until recently as Qwest Field, haven’t reached agreement on replacing 491 premium parking stalls the development would displace.

King County owns the property, nearly 4 acres covering the northern half of the parking lot. The sale to Daniels is to close Sept. 12. Work on the first phase — 444 apartments in 10- and 25-story towers, plus retail — is expected to start days later.

But one of Daniels’ prospective construction lenders put a hold on the loan last week, citing the dispute over replacement parking.

The trigger: a resolution that the board of the state Public Stadium Authority (PSA), CenturyLink Field’s quasi-public owner, adopted Aug. 11, threatening to pursue ownership of the 4 acres itself if the parking flap isn’t settled.

At a time when small businesses are struggling to keep the doors open and the state unemployment is higher than the national average, we don’t need the Public Stadium Authority (PSA) putting at risk a project that has significant long-term pubic benefit and tax revenues.   For over twenty-years, the Pioneer Square community has been lobbying for the urban renewal and development of the North Lot.   Construction alone will place a total of $671 million into the state economy at a time when such activity is critical to our economic recovery – and the PSA will still get the same tax revenues and replacement parking.

Given the positive impact that the project represents, now is the time for the PSA to truly serve the public interest, and recognize the benefits this project brings to our neighborhood.

[Yes, I marked this post as "politics" and "violence"]

Sign posted by Fenix Tattoo owner in Pioneer Square

From the SDOT Parking Group:

Parking. Whether it’s on the street or in a garage, it’s something that many people do on a regular basis. While people certainly don’t drive for the sole purpose of parking, the act of finding a spot is inevitable. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) wants to hear about your experiences.

SDOT manages the on-street parking network – all those pay stations, meters, and related signs. Right now, they’re working on a project that outlines different strategies to make paid street parking in downtown and neighborhood business districts more available. The technical term is performance-based parking pricing. Other cities like San
Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C. are testing out new strategies too.

SDOT would like to get a better sense for business owner needs, understand the customer parking experience, and look for ways to make it better. Take a survey! You can find the survey here – it should take about 10-15 minutes to complete.

Thanks!

But seriously — take the time to voice your opinions on this one. With the help of a few city council members, we were able to stop the hours from going to 8pm — let’s see if we can be heard on other issues.

Sally Clark and her legislative assistant David Yeaworth have been paying a lot of attention to Pioneer Square lately, including frequent walks in the neighborhood with Alliance for Pioneer Square staff, and supporting reduced parking hours, adding extra police patrols, and other initiatives listed here She also highlighted Pioneer Square in her monthly newsletter:

When Elliott Bay Books announced two years ago it was decamping for Capitol Hill, an alarm bell sounded for many of us. Many Pioneer Square residents and business people had heard the ringing long before, but it took a major loss to get the attention of others. Since then neighbors, business people and city staffers have been working hard to shine up the neighborhood’s image and deliver real progress on a list of community goals. There’s good news to report on many fronts:

• • If you’ve been down recently you’ve seen the “yarn bomb” art project in Occidental Park. I was down a couple of weekends ago for the annual Fire Festival and I’ve come across great music and performances at lunchtime on weekdays.
  • Mayor Mike McGinn announced in May that the City is laying conduit under First Ave. and issuing a request for proposals from companies who want to provide high-capacity fiber to the neighborhood through that conduit. This is great because Pioneer Square has become a hub for gaming companies. In order for the neighborhood to keep and grow these companies, they’ll need more bandwidth.
  • A new streetcar line will soon run up Jackson from Occidental, making stops in the ID, First Hill and Capitol Hill on Broadway. That’s actually great news for all of those neighborhoods. Construction starts early next year. Take a look at visualizations on the Seattle Streetcar site.
  • Construction will begin later this summer on 717 units of new housing, as well as shops and offices, on the parking lot north of the football stadium. Pioneer Square has long needed more residents to love it.
  • The Saturday Market in Occidental for arts and crafts that worked so well last year is moving to Thursday evenings. Combined with the beloved First Thursday Art Walk, this means Thursday throughout the summer becomes a full day of action in Pioneer Square.

There’s more to say about great performances, art and other events in Nord Alley and a possible new tenant for the Globe Building, but there are also challenges. Recently Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen, Tim Burgess and I met with a large pack of Pioneer Square business owners about on-street parking rates (they think they’re too high) and on-street drug dealing (there’s still too much).

One big challenge still on the list is the slated re-routing of Metro buses through parts of Pioneer Square after the Viaduct comes down. Metro plans to move 550 buses through Pioneer Square daily. Granted Pioneer Square is a gateway into downtown, but there are other routes that Metro could use to bring vehicles in from the south and southwest, like Fourth Avenue. That’s part of the reason why the state built the Edgar Martinez overpass and the Fourth Avenue South off-ramp from the Spokane St. Viaduct. I don’t believe Main and Washington Streets are going to be appropriate main routes for Metro in life post-Viaduct. We need a better answer that protects Seattle’s first historic neighborhood.