College of Built Environments at the University of Washington.
Junction development could harm business.
Wednesday August 2008One of Seatte's neighborhoods, like many in our region, is facing some very greal growing pains. The West Seattle Junction, a city-designated Hub Urban Village, is getting ready for a re-development that will add close to 1000 new residential units to the area within the next two years. While zoning will not prove to be problematic, as the West Seattle Junction has been slated for mixed-use since the mid-1980'2, and while the roads will be kept up to standard, parking will continue to be a major challenge. While locals are hoping that the increased density will help and not hurt the business owners, many of them fear losing customers due to the lack of parking, and the added stress of the seemingly endless construction process.
Said Fritz Wagner, CAUP Professor, that while these businesses will likely benefit from the residential influx, that the stress on the community's infrastructure, parking troubles, and construction headaches should not be ignored. "Economically, those businesses should do better with more people living and working in West Seattle. But its a community's parks, open spaces, libraries, schools and basic infrastructure that create quality of life. Any surge in development is going to stress the system - there's no doubt about it - and the government will have to respond to the lack of amenities. People have got to be concerned about an amenity package that keeps West Seattle a livable place." Looking to how Europe and Asia have coped with these issues without compromising quality of life is advisable, continued Wagner. And "at the very least, the city is concerend about this development issue and is doing the best it can."
For the complete story, visit the West Seattle Herald online.