Yi 1

Jion Yi

Richard Conlin

HONORS 230

July 23, 2017

South Lake Union: Steering the Rapid Urban Development

in the Self-Sustainable Direction

It is unusual to find a neighborhood growing as fast as South Lake Union. In 2006, Seattle

proposed to target Queen Anne and SLU for 20% of all new jobs and households in the city. While

this kind of growth would be welcome by any neighborhood, the direction of the growth is a

critical issue to be pondered over. How will SLU handle the economic opportunities and

population growth in such way that optimizes the benefits for both its existing community and

newcomers? When we think of this question, we must think about what Charles Wolf says in his

book, Seeing the better city: to determine first what comes naturallywhat could be readily

observable, indigenous facets of urban settlementswhat could be considered readily

observable, indigenous facets of urban settlements. (Wolfe 6) There are many paths of urban

development that can be taken. For this essay, we will focus on two of them which I believe are

of priorities for SLU: Improvement on the street and transportation grid and environmental

sustainability. If SLU changes its street grid in such way that facilitates transportation and

pedestrian routes with Queen Anne, and incorporate environmentally conscious projects, SLU

will be able to become an exemplary neighborhood that is worth emulation. Now, let us dissect

and analyze SLUs progress in street/transportation grid and environmental sustainability.

SLUs Street Grid and Transportation Problems

 Yi 2

The street grid problem in SLU is multifaceted. While the City of Seattle has been working

on numerous projects regarding the issue, some of the projects are yet to see notable

improvement. One significant problem we see today in SLU are the frequent traffic congestion in

Mercer Street. The so-called Mercer Messthe traffic gridlock, vacant parking lots, and

abandoned warehouses on Mercer and 5th Avenuehas met many complaints [5]. The traffic

gridlock hinders commutes in and outside the neighborhood, and the unutilized warehouses and

parking lots remain as wasted opportunities. This combination of problems sabotage heightening

the density of the neighborhood and possibly force development of nearby forests and

farmlandswhich is inefficient and undesirable in environmental and financial perspectives.

Taking this situation into account, the City of Seattle has started Mercer Corridor Project, which

aims at adding eastbound lanes and install an updated traffic signal system on Mercer street that

lead to I-5 and enhancing mobility. [2] [5]

The neighborhood has attempted to resolve this problem by working on the public transit

system. The transportation scene of SLU is rather unique. The neighborhood has been running a

streetcar system since 2007, which is frequently used by tech workers employed by Amazon and

Microsoft in the neighborhood. [6] With its priority in traffic lights, the streetcar system has been

deemed fairly popular. When Amazon entered the neighborhood, its ridership soared to 3000

riders per day. According to a Partnership in Environmental Sustainability report in 2012, the tech

companies in the area invested additional $200,000 to the system to expand its benefits to their

employees. [6] On the other hand, there is also a project going on to make Valley Street more

pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly by building sidewalks. [6]

Generous Government Support for Environmental Sustainability in SLU

 Yi 3

The improvement of the street grid plays a key role in enhancing environmental

sustainability. It results in better pedestrian and transportation routes, which then would

encourage people to use fewer vehicles in their commutes and travels. Hence, the citys carbon

emission would be reduced. In fact, we see that SLUs infrastructure for environmental

sustainability is quite well balanced, thanks to the generous amount of government funding that

the neighborhood has been receiving. SLU was granted 20 million dollars by US Department of

Energy in 2010 and 10 million dollars from the States Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan

Program. [3] With this fund, SLU participated in the Community Power Works, which aims at

enhancing energy efficiency in residential, institutional, commercial buildings in Seattle. Another

nature-friendly project that is more visible is Swale on Yale, a private green infrastructure on

Yale and Pontius Streets in SLU. This amenity filters almost 200 million gallons of storm water per

year in the neighborhood. There is also the Watershed Management Assistance Program, which

was funded by EPA to increase the neighborhoods density and preserve agricultural and forested

areas nearby. The project was proposed in 2012 to preserve 25,000 acres of the corresponding

lands. [6] This is remarkable as it is hard to see such visible and large-scale environmental

sustainability project like Swale on Yale in other neighborhoods.

Progress is Followed by MaintenanceKey Questions to be Addressed for Future

Implementation

Without a doubt, the improvement on the two elements of urban developmentstreet

grid and environmental sustainabilitywould ultimately foster the vivacity of the neighborhood.

SLU has been working on numerous projects to make visible progress on a lot of the issues related

to these elements. However, there still remain a few key questions that must be addressed for
 Yi 4

further improvements. Here, I will discuss two of them: 1) Is SLUs current public transit system

well designed to resolve the issue of constant traffic jam on Mercer street, and 2) given the

current administrations declined interest in environmental sustainability, how is SLU going to

develop and maintain its environmental infrastructure in the future? SLUs achievements by far

undoubtedly deserve much recognition, but challenge remains. They should be able to maintain

the infrastructure amidst the changing political and socio-economic circumstances.

The Seattle Department of Transportation reported in 2017 that the streetcar system is

lagging its originally projected performance level. [4] Compared to the original expectation of

1.24 million riders in 2016, only 840,049 passengers used the streetcar system that yearfar

lower than expected. [4] From this information, perhaps we can deduce that the streetcar system

is not efficient enough for the riders to use it more often. Rather than using the transportation

system, more people choose to use their own cars insteadcontributing to problems like Mercer

Mess. According to Al Hurd, the author of Carbon Efficient City, transportation greenhouse gas

emissions are the result of the interaction of four factors: vehicle fuel efficiency, the carbon

content of the fuel burned, the number of miles that vehicles travel, and the operational

efficiency experienced during the travel. (Hurd 134) Based on this insight, what SLU needs is a

less carbon-intensive transportation mapa public transportation system with larger vehicles

that run on natural gas and electricity instead of fuel, in addition to well designed and useful

routes for the residents and workers in the neighborhood (Hurd 134). In other words, what SLU

can do is add more bus routes and possibly connect to the light rail system, insteaed of adding

lanes for vehicles. That way, more people will be motivated to use the public transportation
 Yi 5

instead of using their vehicles to work. Plus, investing in the transportation system and improving

its efficiency now will certainly help, as it will be harder to obtain government funds in the future.
 Yi 6

Works Cited

Courtney, Ricky. Seattle streetcar ridership takes big hit. K5. Jun 29, 2017.

http://www.king5.com/news/local/seattle/seattle-streetcar-ridership-takes-big-

hit/453123767

Hurd, Al. Carbon Efficient City. University of Washington Press, Sep 1, 2012.

Wolfe, Charles R. Seeing the Better City. Island Press, Feb, 2017.

South Lake Union referred to as Mad Max by council candidate. MyNorthwest. Jul 17, 2017.

http://mynorthwest.com/695032/south-lake-union-chaotic-seattle-traffic/

Mercer East Project Background. Seattle.gov.

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/ppmp_mercer_desc.htm

South Lake Union. Seattle Streetcar. http://www.seattlestreetcar.org/slu.htm

Coven, Finn. Program & Policies: Office of Sustainability & Environment. Seattle.gov.

https://www.seattle.gov/environment/buildings-and-energy/programs-and-policies