It’s well known – Sidewalks in North Seattle leave something to be desired. When I walk to the bus in the morning from my house, I walk 3 blocks. Only 1 of those blocks has a sidewalk on it, and I’m one of the lucky ones. The rest of the time, I’m dodging cars on the side of the road.
But how bad is the problem? It’s pretty bad. Here’s a file (Source: City of Seattle/SDOT) that really shows you just how bad this is. Take a look at this diagram and you’ll see that North Seattle as a whole is the most shortchanged of all neighborhoods in Seattle.
And the issue is widespread in North Seattle. All the way from the Sound to Lake Washington, we see Tier 1 sidewalks across the North Seattle region.
Yet, in reports, such as this one, or this one from the City of Seattle don’t mention any of the North Seattle neighborhoods once. This means that in strategic plans produced by SDOT, they have essentially de-prioritized all of North Seattle. No matter that we are a center of families and commuters to downtown, we just don’t end up getting a piece of the pie on sidewalks.
How to fix this? As a friend of mine once told me when I was dealing with what seemed to be an insurmountable problem: keep asking the hard questions. Write to City Council. Talk about this issue. Tell your friends.
North Seattle is underserved – and it’s clear from the lack of sidewalks. Some of this is history, some of this is representation. But none of this means that we can’t move forward with the rest of Seattle.
5 Comments
Thanks for the map! We made sure the District 5 candidates were asked for their sidewalk funding plan in candidate forums. Debora Juarez knows that there are 11,000 block fronts without sidewalks, and 60% of them are in North Seattle. Move Seattle originally funded 150 blocks of sidewalks over nine years. That’s the 660-year plan to provide essential infrastructure (at 16.6 blocks /yr). Tim Burgess noted that half the cost of sidewalks in North Seattle is actually Seattle Public Utilities work to separate the sewers from the storm runoff, another major piece of infrastructure that North Seattle lacks. Burgess suggested that perhaps the storm sewer portion should be paid by SPU. He initiated a conversation about cheaper, less permanent asphalt sidewalks. Using this lower standard, the Mayor extended the funding to 230 blocks, so now we have a 455-year plan to complete Seattle’s sidewalks (25.5 blocks/yr).
We have several so-called urban villages in District 5, including Lake City, Northgate, Bitter Lake/Aurora, and Greenwood, all lacking sidewalks. In addition, the Comprehensive Plan calls for adding an urban village around a planned 130th St. Station. The standard for urban villages is a 10-minute walkshed. How can we call them urban villages–or expect people to get out of their cars–without sidewalks? No one can or should plan a new urban village without including sidewalks in that plan.
Sarajane thank you so much for your comments! I am so encouraged by your presence in North Seattle.
It’s amazing that the best that we can do for Sidewalks is a 455 year plan to bring us to full capacity. Studies consistently show that sidewalks are increasingly important when it comes to building community.
It almost seems as if Sidewalks are lip service to the North Seattle community. They know that we are lacking in this area, yet no tangible plan seems to be surfacing. I’m wondering if the cost is overstated? Do you have any research on this? I’m going to find out more about this specific issue from the city directly, but would love any more input anyone has on Sidewalks, their cost, and the feasibility of constructing them in North Seattle.
At the Maple Leaf Community Council Primary Candidate Forum, all At-Large, Ditrict 4, and District 5 candidates in attendance were asked this question. In my opinion, Tim Burgess nailed the answer. Worth seeing what the others answered as well.
The ONLY way this gets fixed is if residents of north and SE Seattle (who has the same problem) make it clear our district representatives either start a definitive solution or they will only be around for a single term.
Link to a video of the event
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbYpEg-Dw4c
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