06/16/2015
At the Apr 23 kickoff event at The Hillman City Collaboratory, we heard a LOT of stories, concerns, dreams, and creative ideas for Hillman City's future.
Here's just a quick take on some of the neighborhood concerns that were shared by the 70+ people participating. We have more events planned for the summer, and we'll be hearing from more people about both their concerns and their visions for the neighborhood.
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What folks are concerned about regarding Hillman City:
* Cultural diversity is a draw for many/most people but the thing that brings people here changes the neighborhood
* Fear of neighborhood losing its character. Fear of losing what we value before we even know what we have (the diversity of who lives here, the small shops, the social services and nonprofits, the churches serving a huge variety of communities)
* The more it becomes a cool place to be, or “nice,” new neighbors seem less interested in long-timers.
* Gentrification, while maintaining character/roots/heritage
* Gentrification is significant and change is happening rapidly; importance of getting to know neighbors
* Rent prices are going way up! It’s a tenuous situation for many of these renters, who may need to move elsewhere — how can we prevent that?
* Affordability for all -- including immigrant families, longtime residents, artists
* Would like to be more proactive in how we communicate with our neighbors.
* Getting on the same page. Folks are either very interested in community space, or are doing their own thing.
* Difficulties of connecting with communities different from our own — we assume that people want to be left alone, then the added challenges of language/cultural differences
* Language issue is a big challenge — some communities can’t be reached out to with fliers, emails, etc
* Want things to be more fair
* Messed up, unsafe sidewalks
* Rainier Ave. S. is dangerous! — it’s like a video game trying to cross this busy street — lots of anger and rage among drivers on Rainier
* Road Diet - we need a safer Rainier Ave; some biz owners are worried about how it could harm biz interests
* Walking during the day or night — personal safety concerns
* Perception AND reality of crime
* Property crime – lots of people gone during the day, not a lot of people out
* Some crime and annoyance
* Underutilized space
* Big apartment building developments (like in Columbia City) — drives costs up!
* Quality of local schools
* Concern about who is welcome; are new businesses geared to meeting the needs of longtime residents?
* Too much talk, decades of discussion, without action (historically, and an issue Rainier Valley-wide)
* How to get people to visit Hillman City, to support local businesses
* This neighborhood is great; but there are wholesale changes going on in the whole valley, and most issues need to be addressed in lots of neighborhoods we all drive through.
* The money currently coming into Seattle will swamp Hillman City, which requires that we claim Hillman City ourselves.
* Overwhelmed by money coming into area
* Need realistic expectations about what can be accomplished
* Change has been slow
* Neighborhood’s future is uniquely uncertain
