By Patty Fong
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has issued an executive order establishing the Downtown Activation Team, which includes members from more than a dozen city departments, social service providers, and community partners like the Downtown Seattle Association. This team, modeled after the city’s Unified Care Team—which serves the unhoused population—was unveiled at the same time.
The plan aims to provide a holistic approach to addressing the root causes of street disorder and open-air drug use in downtown Seattle and the Chinatown-International District (CID), while also beautifying public spaces through art installations, lighting, and regular cleanings.
We can only hope that some of these efforts will help the chronically overlooked CID.
It is notable that the Downtown Seattle Association seems to be a key player. That is not surprising in that without a thriving downtown business core, Seattle’s economy could be seriously affected. Business talks.
The CID needs to get on the bandwagon. How? I suggest making the CID a hub for small business entrepreneurs, especially Asian American small business owners and people of color.
The city and private businesses can help attract small business entrepreneurs by offering small business grants and other kinds of essential assistance to small business owners.
Of course, this is all for naught if a focus on building and street maintenance, as well as strong public safety enforcement, are missing in the CID. Get tough on absentee landlords and neglected buildings, the proliferation of gang graffiti, and garbage filled alleys. All of these signs of neglect contribute to an unfavorable public image of the CID. Little Saigon needs to counter the proliferation of massage parlors with more favorable business opportunities for its community.
Finally, the CID needs to become a community with economic and therefore political clout. Developing, encouraging, and supporting small businesses in the CID is a win-win for all!
The CID needs a community-based coalition that would work with the City to get at and treat the root causes of homelessness, violence, and other forms of lawlessness that have been plaguing the city’s only living and historic immigrant community. I grew up in Seattle and our family regularly visited Chinatown. I never witnessed such deplorable conditions as it exists today.
The CID and Little Saigon need a strong public safety presence and cleanups, but these are mitigations at best. You cannot wash away crime and poverty.
I call upon activists such as Tanya Woo and others to help form this coalition and work to develop the CID as a thriving hub for small business. Together, they can create effective, compassionate solutions for the root causes of the tragedies caused by poverty, racism, and inequality that have troubled the CID.
Related
This post was originally published on here
