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Sunday, January 27, 2008

Double Happiness

posted by on January 27 at 13:44 PM

Seattle’s Chinatown finally got a gate. And it was worth waiting for…

chinatown_gate1.jpg

It straddles S King Street, at 5th Ave S, clearly defining King as the neighborhood’s commercial thoroughfare. Take that, S Jackson. An employee at Seattle’s Best Tea Co, next to one of the mostly painted columns, says the scaffolding came down about six days ago. The official unveiling will be held February 9th. Northwest Asian Weekly has more on why our gate kicks San Francisco’s gate’s ass.

RSS icon Comments

1

Beautiful!

Posted by Deacon Seattle | January 27, 2008 2:15 PM
2

Somebody needs to pull a Paul Allen on that area. Chinatown has really gone downhill. I'm sure this gate will fix it though :-)

Posted by crk on bellevue ave | January 27, 2008 2:18 PM
3

You can see my apartment building in the background of that photo, and across from it is a small park where crazy homeless drunks hang out, screaming at each other at 2am. The building directly to the right of the gate appears to be abandoned and is thoroughly run-down. I'm not sure exactly what the gate is supposed to do, but it is certainly not making Chinatown any less of a festering wound.

Posted by Chris | January 27, 2008 2:36 PM
4

@2... not that I disagree, but the gate is right across the street from Paul Allen's Vulcan everything headquaters.

Posted by john | January 27, 2008 2:36 PM
5

Oh, and to the left of the gate is a bar outside of which all sorts of undesirables seem to hang out at all hours of the day and night.

Posted by Chris | January 27, 2008 2:37 PM
6

People frequently ask me what they should see as they stroll through our Chinatown. I don't know what to tell them but I keep thinking about the Wah Mee alley in my mind even though it probably does not mean much to out-of-towners.

Posted by Gay Seattle | January 27, 2008 2:39 PM
7

You know, just repaving the streets and putting in those sidewalk buffer things like they did on the ave would go a ways to improving things. Right now the damn place looks like a parking lot with a couple buildings here and there.

Posted by crk on bellevue ave | January 27, 2008 2:41 PM
8

such a typical seattle sentiment -- "why our gate kicks san francisco's gate's ass..." it's a nice new gate, yes, but i can't imagine san franciscans ever getting huffed up about something like that, and i'm sure they'll never even notice you got a new gate.

seattlites -- no other city is competing with you. you are the only, lonely player in this "we wanna be a metropol" pissing contest, and it makes me sad for you. you're a better city than that, so get over yourselves.

Posted by Judith | January 27, 2008 2:57 PM
9

"...why our gate kicks san francisco's gate's ass"

Especially when you consider what is *behind* the said gate in SFO is much nicer than what is behind the gate in SEA.

I could namedrop portland, but that would be obvious trolling :-)

Posted by crk on bellevue ave | January 27, 2008 3:00 PM
10

Judith, San Franciso kicks Seattle's ass in virtually every other respect, including its Chinatown. We deserve a chance to gloat about our schmancy new gate.

Posted by Dominic Holden | January 27, 2008 3:01 PM
11

=) fair enough, dominic.

but it's not just the gate statement i'm referring to when i mention needless civic competitiveness and "world city" insecurity. or maybe i've just read too many seattle condo brochures.

Posted by Judith | January 27, 2008 3:10 PM
12

I could assert that San Fransisco is the more mature version of Seattle. I'd also say Vancouver is only a few years ahead of us in terms of going through adolescence.

One could argue that we compare ourselves to those we aspire to become. If we dont see what our neighbors are doing, we risk reinventing the wheel.

Posted by crk on bellevue ave | January 27, 2008 3:16 PM
13

I wish they hadn't built it. Until now, we had the only chinatown in basically the world that didn't have a silly gate, and now we're just like everyone else.

Posted by Andrew | January 27, 2008 4:32 PM
14

that gate looks out of place.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | January 27, 2008 4:49 PM
15

@12,

part of the problem is that seattle doesnt have any real desire to become like these other cities we aspire to because we have people that refuse any density, public transportation, etc etc. seattle can't aspire to these places with population spread out as much as it is, and with the population so small.

also we need to encourage more minorities to move here.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | January 27, 2008 5:00 PM
16

@14, That's because it's not a gate to anything. It's just a gate in the middle of nowhere. You walk through it and what do you have? The parking lot to the old Uwajimaya and a little place I've always thought of as either a drug distribution center or a women's shelter. I like many of the things I can find in Chinatown, but a nice place it is not.

Posted by An Andy | January 27, 2008 5:05 PM
17

"we have people that refuse any density, public transportation"

Surely these NIMBY folk exist in any growing city. Do you think everybody was hunky dory when they put in the subway system in new york? Look at the big dig? Tons of controversy but in 50 or even 25 years from now people will forget all that and just say "damn, Boston is nice".

In 15 years, when all of the "real houses" on the hill are gone, will people living there remember all the comments in slogs dissing how the hill sold out to "corporate America"?

In other words, is whining just a part of adolescence?

Posted by crk on bellevue ave | January 27, 2008 5:15 PM
18

crk, the difference is the big dig, subways, actually got done with whining and complaining. if there is even a whiff of complaining here it doesnt get done.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | January 27, 2008 5:58 PM
19

I think we like to say that, but is it actually true?

- Streetcar.
- Lightrail.
- Belltown & SLU.
- the new tacoma narrows bridge

In other news:

The big dig was conceived (according to wikipedia) in the 1970's. The first EIS was in 1983 and construction started in 1991 and finished in 2005, almost 30 years after it was conceived.

Discussions around BART began in 1946. the BART district (aka sound transit) was approved in 1957 and voters approved on their plan in 1962. Construction began in 1964 and after 8 years and a "financial crisis" later, bart opens in 1972, almost 30 years later. (http://www.bart.gov/about/history/history_1.asp)

What is my point? Public works projects take a long time and all have whining. Whining is a byproduct of the fact that government has to be accountable to all it's citizens. Good thing? Yeah. Frustrating? Very much so.

Posted by crk on bellevue ave | January 27, 2008 6:28 PM
20

I should have mentioned that while we've been thinking about some kind of rail system, at least on a ballot, since 1958, sound transit's sound move was on the ballot in 1996, started construction in 2003 and is due to open in 2009. Seven years of bitching, six of construction for 14 miles of track.

Voters in California voted on 75 miles of BART and the opening date had completed 12 miles. That was 10 years between voter approval of the plan and opening of which 8 years was for construction.

Posted by crk on bellevue ave | January 27, 2008 6:36 PM
21

bellevue what are you talking about?

looks like Chinatown got a monorail station like ten years ahead of schedule.

Posted by whatever | January 27, 2008 6:45 PM
22

Not to derail the already derailed topic of "Revitalizing the ID, but I'm not sure if anyone's noticed, but there's been a ton of these mom and pop places going out of business. Some are quickly turned over into similar businesses, but there's others that are just dormant. Add on that the historical buildings that are just crumbling into the earth (and will most likely be condemned in the next 10 years - the Publix hotel right next to the gate is a great example), I don't know if the ID can be revitalized. (Note: I've even heard that Portland's Chinatown is supposedly moving to Beaverton due to rent hikes (anyone know if that's true??))... In any case, i find it aggrivating that developers will tear down entire blocks on Pike/Pine, while not attempting to breathe life into the ID. Oh well - with our real estate bubble bursting at the seams, I'll guess we'll just get more crumbling buildings and less urban housing in the ID. Oh, and more crime since that's the only economy that's in the red at the moment.

So, yes, the gate is pretty and once the Wing Luke moves up the street in it's new headquarters, it will make for a nice attraction for the waddling masses on their way to the stadiums...

Posted by yerbamatty | January 27, 2008 8:17 PM
23

Not to derail the already derailed topic of "Revitalizing the ID, but I'm not sure if anyone's noticed, but there's been a ton of these mom and pop places going out of business. Some are quickly turned over into similar businesses, but there's others that are just dormant. Add on that the historical buildings that are just crumbling into the earth (and will most likely be condemned in the next 10 years - the Publix hotel right next to the gate is a great example), I don't know if the ID can be revitalized. (Note: I've even heard that Portland's Chinatown is supposedly moving to Beaverton due to rent hikes (anyone know if that's true??))... In any case, i find it aggrivating that developers will tear down entire blocks on Pike/Pine, while not attempting to breathe life into the ID. Oh well - with our real estate bubble bursting at the seams, I'll guess we'll just get more crumbling buildings and less urban housing in the ID. Oh, and more crime since that's the only economy that's in the red at the moment.

So, yes, the gate is pretty and once the Wing Luke moves up the street in it's new headquarters, it will make for a nice attraction for the waddling masses on their way to the stadiums...

Posted by yerbamatty | January 27, 2008 8:17 PM
24

Don't get me wrong, the gate is great looking, and the ID was sort of overdue for one (only in that "everyone else has one these days" way, though).

But the location sucks. The fact that its construction didn't affect traffic at all pretty much confirms that. Who is going to see it? All those people who turn down 5th to then turn at un-lighted King to go get their phở fix? Or those people who say "yeah, I'm going to go down King to turn onto 5th instead of just going straight down 6th to Dearborn"?

Posted by K | January 27, 2008 8:29 PM
25

crk are you seriously championing those anemic things on the same level as other projects in other cities?

viaduct
monorail
520

Posted by Bellevue Ave | January 27, 2008 9:37 PM
26

As someone who spends an inordinate amount of time in the ID I have to say the gate is beautiful...but it is akin to painting a turd. Wanna see people drunk on a Tuesday morning about 8:30, come on down to the ID and join the tour. At least you know that half a sandwich you just threw away isn't going to waste.

Posted by maxine | January 27, 2008 9:42 PM
27

Crk @17: As a former Boston area resident, the Big Dig sucks. Royally. Some woman got killed when a huge chunk of concrete fell from the tunnel ceiling and hit her car. And it hasn't even solved the traffic problem. It's designed as poorly as the above ground Central Artery it replaced--no matter which lane you're in some other lane is trying to merge with you. A bazillion dollars and all those years and all they did was move the old expressway underground. Thirty years from now no one is going to be saying "Damn, Boston is nice!" unless they are using the subway, which was built more than a hundred years ago.

Having said that, at least people in the Boston area acknowledged that there was a serious traffic problem and decided to do something, even though it meant pissing off a few NIMBYs along the way. Never happen in Seattle, where every freaking person in the city has to agree on something before it's actually done.

Posted by RainMan | January 27, 2008 10:32 PM
28

Seattle, I love you.

Posted by Deacon Seattle | January 27, 2008 10:52 PM
29

blah. I'm just trying to play devils advocate. The public works projects we've done to date in no way compare to the ones I listed. Boring a tunnel downtown for the viaduct would come close though.

What is it about this region that has so much NIMBYism?

Posted by crk on bellevue ave | January 28, 2008 8:25 AM
30

it is the same thing that attracts so many people here; the idea of having your own piece of the pie in a truly single family home kind of way. anything that comes close to infringing on that idea, not even the actuality gets shot down.

the same thing is happening in montana, where rich Californians are retiring there and spiking up the cost of living. essentially these newcomers are destroying the way of life and of many people in montana but at the same time creating an influx of money that is being lost in industries such as mining and farming. there is always a trade off here. the funniest part about this influx of people to montana is the desire of many 2nd and 3rd plus generation families to montana wanting to enact laws that prevent freedom of people to move there (with land and lot issues, new development taxes, etc etc) despite that being the motivation of their ancestors years ago.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | January 28, 2008 10:31 AM
31

I don't care what anybody sez... When I go visit my crack dealer in the empty parking lot of the old Uwijamaya, I wanna walk through a nice big ornate fucking chinese gate. It makes me feel all crassy & shiiiiit.

Posted by Queen_of_Sleaze | January 29, 2008 3:09 PM

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