Slog - Comments on Letter to the Editor

Comment by Gitai

Gitai — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 22:09:19 -0800

Whine, whine, whine about a neighborhood changing. All neighborhoods change. Just accept it. Capitol Hill used to be a shitty ghetto, then it got gentrified, and now the junkies are taking over Broadway again. The Central District had cheap rates and so people made offers and moved in. The people who sold me my house made about $200,000 over what they paid for it and happily went on to Renton. Yeah, things change. Get over it.

Comment by someguy

someguy — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 11:36:11 -0800

GITAI,

Thanks so much for posting that.

I totally agree.

We purchased (god help us for being white) a home in the CD last year and laugh whenI read Charles opinions on this matter.

Here's a newsflash Charles, I have no sympathy for some crack head, piece of shit, waxing philisophical about days gone bye. If anything, If I saw hime in front of my house, I would call the police.

I remember driving through the CD and looking at the houses in nasty shape, with abandoned vehicles in the side yards, long abused rotting couches and furniture, etc...

These days about 1 out of every 3rd or 4th house is being restored to it's original state, or... being torn down and entry level housing being built in it's place.

I'm confused on what your are griping about? Developers buying these places and building nice homes? Police actually making arrests for crime? Let's face it, gentrification of this neighborhood is not a bad thing. If anything it is providing the FAMILIES of all races that live in this area an environment that they should be proud to raise their kids in.

Charles, why don't you do a story about how the bars on the windows in this neighborhood are being torn down? Or how a jewish neighborhood was taken over in the years after World war 2 and made into a high crime area?

Comment by lar

lar — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 12:41:13 -0800

funny...when i first moved here in '91, my uncle-who-wasn't-related-to-me(Eddie Chin, the Hoe's Best Friend, an LA pimp) drove me around the CD, showing me all the spots. Oscars, he said, is where the players dwelled. We had a nice fish-n-grits breakfast at Helen's. It was a real nice intro to the city.

Not long after I started reading, and hearing, all the rumble from white seattleites, bitching about Californians moving up here and buying up the property. Changing the city's rugged character. Defiling their precious neighborhoods, where they had history, dammit.
Now I read and hear all this rumble from white seattleites bitching about Blacks bitching about the whitening of the CD.

The cyclical nature of things provides it's own brand of entertainment of you're around long enough to notice it.

Comment by Progress is good

Progress is good — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 14:59:03 -0800

Quit bitching about progress Charles. Cities grow and change. I read the Stranger because it cares about Seattle's future not the past. Seattle Weakly is always whining about some skank bar closing down, or some precious old building. Who cares? Not homeowners who want to see property values rise.

Comment by Tina Marie

Tina Marie — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 20:46:37 -0800

I live on Beacon Hill. My partner and I bought this house from a lovely old couple who had lived here since 1954. They made a 300k profit on their home when they sold it.

Gentrification works both ways....

Comment by trisime

trisime — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 11:47:46 -0800

I read the article and did not see it as bitching or whining about change. I read the article and felt I was being informed about change. The above posts show me that folks take things too personally and react too quickly.

Comment by Amy Kate

Amy Kate — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 11:26:39 -0800

All of you (except Trisime) need to READ THE ARTICLE. Charles takes no stance on the continuing evolution of the CD. Idiots.