Changing Demographics & Genrtification

The Central District is known for its ethnically and racially diverse history. However, the neighborhood has seen a drastic shift in its demographics as a result of gentrification. As the city of Seattle continues to expand and thrive, city planners and developers race to accommodate the rapidly growing population. In the process, the price per square foot of property has increased, and many of the pre-existing residents and business owners cannot keep up with the rising prices. As a result, there has been widespread displacement of the community's minority population that has called The CD their home for decades.

The diversity of The CD stems from historic discriminatory housing policies in Seattle, primarily redlining. After these policies were abolished, the cost of living in the area remained low, attracting many low income families, most of whom were people of color. The Central District became a hub for the civil rights movement, with the 70% of the neighborhood identifying as Black in 1970. In recent years, that number has decreased to about 15%, while the percentage of residents identifying as Caucasian has soared to above 50%. Once a location for less expensive housing appealing to minority groups, the Central District has become a more desirable--and expensive--location to live in due to its central location, diversity, and convenient transportation.

New Building Developments

In order to keep up with the growth of the city, there have been many new developments popping up throughout the neighborhood. Often times, older construction is replaced with larger and taller mixed-used buildings. This might solve the housing crisis for those who can afford the high cost of living in Seattle, but it is a barrier for many who have lived in the community and cannot keep up with the rising costs. However, this can be viewed as an asset in the sense that the higher price of property raises the appeal of the neighborhood and improves the neighborhood's image.

BUSINESSES

Alongside the increase in housing prices are also the increase in costs to operate a business. This results in many small businesses not being able to keep up and being overtaken by larger corporations.

A controversial business in The CD is Uncle Ike's, a licensed establishment that sells cannabis, located on 23rd and Union. This is the same area that people of color previously dealt substances and would receive heavy sentences for their actions. Many are still upset about the business' operation, labeling its practices and close proximity to a church inappropriate and contributing to gentrification.

TRANSIT & ACCESSIBILITY

The Central District's central location paired with the various bus routes running through it makes it very appealing to many as a place to call home. This is an asset because it makes the Central District accessible and the amount of public transportation available also promotes people to use this resource, decreasing people's carbon footprint. A minor setback however, are the presence of narrow sidewalks. This cannot be helped since the city was not designed to harbor so much traffic a century ago, but should be a topic addressed by city planners when redeveloping the area.

TOPIC ASSESSMENT

I give the topic Changing Demographics and Gentrification a 2 out of 5. As a whole, the topic has acted as a barrier and brought a lot negative effects to many community members, but its benefits cannot be ignored. The entities mentioned above all act as barriers as well as assets, with the negatives outweighing the positives. On a larger scale, all the change in The Central District have been made in response to the large population boom the city is experiencing, and we will continue to see neighborhoods in Seattle being transformed. It is a matter of how the change is brought, and The CD and the city of Seattle can definitely improve on its approaches of balancing gentrification with development.

Sources

King, A., & Shepard, K. (2020, July 21). Race matters: Understanding how the Central Area was gentrified. KUOW. https://www.kuow.org/stories/race-matters-understanding-how-the-central-area-was-gentrified

Population & Demographics. Population & Demographics - OPCD. (n.d.). https://www.seattle.gov/opcd/population-and-demographics

Tu, J. I., & Mayo, J. (2011, March 6). Census: Racial makeup of Central Area, landmark church diverge. The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2014421589_censusimmaculate07m.html

Written by Kelly Ma

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