As with many cities, 2020 was a rough year for Downtown Seattle. The pandemic forced large numbers of office workers, businesses and cultural venues to retreat, leaving people who’d committed to making the urban core their home and people struggling with chronic problems with nowhere to go.

After 10 months in crisis-mode, here are some residents’ recommendations for rebuilding a safe, equitable and livable downtown.

On Design Review

“I wish the city would do REAL public processes not this window dressing crap they do now.  They pretend they care about what residents say they want and then they go ahead and do what they’d planned all along.  Let “the people” determine how things unfold not developers and city leaders.” 

Mary Pat DiLeva, Central Area                           



On Safe, Clean Streets and Open Spaces

Dear DRA,

Santa's wish list for our Seattle City leaders this year includes the following:

·       Supply the leadership, policies and resources necessary to provide an environment where our publicly-funded city streets and parks are clean, well-maintained and free of encampments, drug-dealing, used needles, trash and excrement.

·       Don't just pay lip service.  Listen to and understand the concerns of your constituents.

·       Stop making rash decisions like eliminating the Navigation team only to realize the error of your ways and reverse course.  Always have a plan. 

·       Work with community organizations to make a difference.

·       Stop driving away the businesses, large and small, that pay the tax revenues our City needs to help address homelessness, drug addiction and the mental health challenges being faced by so many humans in need within our borders.

·       Think carefully before you make Seattle the first city in our nation to legalize criminal behavior.  Mothers stealing food for their children are not the main source of misdemeanor offenses.  Seattle businesses and residents need to be able to operate, live and work in a City that is not plagued by constant burglary, shoplifting, damage and destruction.  We want our elected officials to support us by focusing on proactive safety and security while providing for the needs of our population. 

Steve Horvath, Belltown

Bringing downtown back to life

A few ideas for our downtown wish list:

1.      Regain control of parks for their intended purpose

2.      Return to law and order downtown for the sake of residents and business owners  and then advertise that widely to get people to return for dining, shopping, and working.  Change the perception that is presently discouraging anyone from coming.

3.      Provide free parking downtown for 2021 in all city-run parking facilities.  The garages are empty anyway.

4.      Create a marketing campaign to encourage people to eat out downtown one night a week in 2021.

Gene Burrus, Downtown Retail Core

Help the unhoused

My wish list….

• Create a long-term plan to shift resources and address homelessness — not just driving people from park to park, all the while offering inadequate alternatives.

• Protect and encourage low-income housing; stop building expensive condos.

• Provide more treatment for drug addiction, and more mental health support.

Condo Owner, Downtown Retail Core