Friday, February 23, 2007

Smith Tower Goes Condo

Seattle PI article ignores the obvious and and instead worries about how condos in Pioneer Square would affect a pizza stand. Even the tour operator for the Underground Tour gets to weigh in: Smith Tower condo conversion raises concern: "Smith Tower condo conversion raises concern"

The typical Seattle resident is far too reserved and polite to raise the more interesting question: what is the projected market for condos located next to two busy sports stadiums, a party spot for drunken eastsiders and frat boys, and a homeless park marked by despair and the smell of urine?

2 comments:

Steve said...

I can see this train wreck coming in slow motion.

You know as soon as you get residents in that area, they will start complaining about the noise from the clubs being open late at night.

This will lead to more police patrols, complaints to liquor board, lost licenses, and closures.

Then before you know it, you'll have a another downtown area that becomes a ghost town after 5:00 PM.

The condo owners will be happy, but they'll wonder what happened to all the fun stuff that use to be available.

Is there a book out there explaining how to kill a downtown in a few years? Seems like every major city follows this scheme.

Diligent Blogger said...

Plus people who live downtown, though they may not have children, would still want stores that provide groceries, hardware, clothing, cosmetics, prescriptions, and more. The demand for bars and nightclubs is still there, but they wind up catering to people who don't live there. In Belltown, residents complain if people outside bars are smoking.