by Jake Goldstein-Street
Half a dozen candidates for the Seattle City Council’s District 2 spot met for a Tuesday night forum at the New Holly Gathering Hall as they answered questions on transportation, housing, and the environment — three of the most important issues for local residents facing gentrification and displacement, pushing them farther and farther away from their jobs, forcing them into cars, and driving up carbon emissions.
by Hannah Myrick
In a small office along Tukwila International Boulevard, Tawfik Maudah is preparing to move his business for the second time in less than a month.
Maudah’s car dealership, grocery stores, hair salons, and a travel company were among the 16 majority-East-African-owned businesses who scattered across Tukwila to make way for a new justice center as a part of Tukwila’s larger public safety plan. The businesses signed settlements with the city of Tukwila requiring them to relocate from their former community center on March 31.
Continue reading Tukwila Businesses Scatter as Justice Center Construction Begins
by Aaron Burkhalter
A King County judge has dismissed a lawsuit by business owners from SeaTac Center, a commercial complex in in the city of SeaTac that is set to be sold and redeveloped, displacing a business community made up of Muslim immigrant populations, predominately people of color.
Continue reading Judge Dismisses Lawsuit by SeaTac Business Owners Seeking Displacement Benefits
by Carolyn Bick
As a senior on disability, Laura Hale lives on exactly $971 per month, not counting the $182 per month she receives in food stamps.
The 65-year-old Hale lives in the basement of her son’s house, a few blocks away from the Southeast Seattle Senior Center, where she regularly plays bingo on Wednesdays. Like many seniors who live on fixed income, such as disability payments or Social Security, Hale cannot independently afford to live in the area anymore, thanks to increasing costs of living, as developers move in. And like many seniors, Hale is on several city housing waiting lists that are literally thousands of names and several years long.
Continue reading Rising Rents, Long Waiting Lists Displacing Seniors From the South End
by Reagan Jackson
Rainier Beach is the new gentrification ground zero. I have a front row seat. I recently celebrated my seventh anniversary of being a homeowner. I have watched my neighbors get foreclosed on and pushed out. I have watched the house flipping teams come through and trim up the yards, slap up new fences, and paint over bright color with the neutral blues and grays white people seem to prefer. When I walk through my neighborhood now, it’s a lot less like the vibrant diverse place I chose to live in and a lot more like Pleasantville.
Continue reading The Displacement Tax: An Update from Gentrification Ground Zero
This article originally appeared on the Emerald in 2014. We are reposting it now in advance of a screening of Princess Angeline on Nov. 1. Click here for details.
In a lifetime spent unearthing stories from history’s cellar as an award winning filmmaker, Sandra Osawa has discovered her fair share of untidy portions of the past that most would sooner forget. Osawa, however, has made it her mission to shed ample amounts of daylight on the travesties of yesterday and their lingering residue found in our present times.
Continue reading From the Archives: Filmmaker Shares Untold Tale of the Duwamish
by Laura Loe, Gregory Quetin, and Andy Katz
The lack of affordable places to live, fueled by rising rents and home prices, has pushed many people out of the city, and some people out of stable housing altogether. Building a lot more housing in North Seattle won’t solve South End displacement, but we, members of Share the Cities, believe it is a piece of the housing crisis puzzle and will take some of the gentrification pressure off areas at risk of displacement throughout Seattle. Share The Cities is asking you to take action by October 24 on the Talaris Master Use Permit. This historic open space should be used as the catalyst for a more affordable community, with abundant housing choices.
by Beverly Aarons
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced the winners of the Displaced: Design for Inclusive Cities Competition Tuesday, September 18th, at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center. The event was part of the Seattle Design Festival and in conjunction with the Discovery Center’s exhibition Design With the 90%: Improving Lives Around the World. There were 40 submissions from 19 countries.
by Carolyn Bick
Conversations around what the City of Seattle is doing to combat its burgeoning affordability crisis have been dominated by discussions of Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) and Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) policies. Some neighborhood groups are concerned these projects will not create the expected amount of affordable housing, while worsening the effects of redlining –– and a report from the City of Seattle supports the notion that the effects of MHA have the risk of disproportionately impacting communities of color.
Continue reading Seattle’s Own Housing Affordability Efforts Could Worsen Displacement
by Irene Jagla
The time for grief is over; the time to act is now.
That was the common refrain during Got Green’s Town Hall event, “Don’t Displace the South End.” What began as a campaign to ensure community organizer Esther “Little Dove” John avoided displacement from her longtime residence by a micro-studio development has evolved into a broader effort to stop predatory developments across Seattle’s most vulnerable communities.
