♪♪
-Please welcome downtown
Seattle Association Board Chair, Sung Yang.
-We're delighted to be back
in the Seattle Convention Center's Summit Building.
A facility that continues to welcome thousands of people
to downtown, helping drive our revitalization.
In fact, over the past 12 months,
with the Summit addition,
the Seattle Convention Center has welcomed
nearly 400,000 attendees,
bringing visitors to our restaurants, shops,
hotels, arts and culture, and science venues.
This place has played a significant role
in fostering that sense of connection and community
critical to downtown success.
Before we continue,
the Downtown Seattle Association acknowledges
that we gather today on the homelands
of the Coast Salish people.
The first peoples of Seattle,
who have continued to steward the lands and waters
since time immemorial.
We make this acknowledgement,
recognizing the unique role
we play in stewarding downtown's public areas
and pursuing our vision of a downtown for all people.
The DSA commits to meaningfully engaging, including,
and honoring Coat Salish people in pursuing actions
to amplify their rich history, culture, and contributions.
Now, last year, we gathered in this space
to talk about the optimism and opportunity
for our downtown in 2023. And I think it's safe to say
that we have made significant progress
over the last 12 months.
Investment in downtown is strong.
And we continue to benefit
from creative public-private partnerships,
including a very big and exciting one
that you'll learn more about today.
And speaking of partnerships,
you've probably noticed a little bit of a change at City Hall
the last few months. And because of that,
the spirit of partnership is stronger
than it's been in quite some time.
And a large part of that is
because of City Council President, Sara Nelson,
who will join us shortly with an update on the new Council
and her priorities for downtown's
future revitalization.
Yeah, that's worth clapping for.
[ Applause ]
Last, in keeping with our theme,
today's event is designed to help you connect
with other members of the DSA community.
Our corporate and non-profit members, downtown residents,
and civic and elected leaders. In a moment,
DSA President and CEO Jon Scholes
will take the stage with the State of Downtown address.
Jon will detail downtown Seattle's progress,
challenges, and choices we have to make.
For this year's keynotes,
we are thrilled to get insight
on a few big efforts impacting downtown and elevating Seattle.
The redevelopment of our central waterfront
is the most transformative civic project we have seen in decades.
Yeah. That's worth clapping for. And the Seattle Aquarium's
new ocean pavilion project will open later this year.
That and the recently announced Elliott Bay Connections project
will create a waterfront experience
that will be the envy of cities across North America
if not the world. And in a moment,
you'll hear from Joy Shigaki and Leslie Koch.
Our program will wrap up with KOMO 4's
Chris Daniels leading a conversation
with three people driving progress
on critical issues facing downtown.
That discussion will feature City Attorney Ann Davidson,
Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz,
and CARE Department Acting Chief Amy Smith.
Now, I would like to recognize our generous event sponsors.
First, thank you for our presenting sponsor, Lane Powell.
And in a bit,
you'll hear from Lane Powell Present Barbara Duffy.
The vanguard sponsor is Alaska Airlines.
Our convenor sponsor,
bringing you today's happy hour reception,
is MoPOP and Cruise Lines International Association.
Go MoPOP!
Everybody's happy about happy hour.
Our innovator sponsor is Mortenson.
And today's live music sponsor is PNC Bank.
And you'll be able to enjoy the band
at our post-event reception.
And to our visionary sponsors, Amazon,
Clark Construction, Downtown Van Hudson Pacific Properties,
Lease Crutcher Lewis, Onni Group,
Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt,
the Seattle Children's Research Institute, Uber,
Urban Renaissance Group,
and appreciation also goes out to all 13 of this year's
steward sponsors
for your contribution in helping us bring you
this year's State of Downtown.
And also thanks to our media sponsor,
the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Now please help me thank all our sponsors and partners
and our 43 corporate seating hosts.
Thank you all.
[ Applause ]
Finally, let's give a special welcome to the elected
or appointed leaders who are here today
and I ask they stand to be recognized
and remain standing while I call their names.
And let's hold our applause until all are announced.
First, starting with the man
who helped make the summit a reality,
King County Executive, Dow Constantine.
King County Assessor, John Arthur Wilson.
King County Prosecuting Attorney, Leesa Manion.
King County Council Member, Claudia Balducci.
Port of Seattle Commissioners Ryan Calkins,
Sam Cho, Hamdi Mohamed.
Seattle City Attorney, Ann Davidson.
Seattle City Council Members, Sara Nelson,
President, Joy Hollingsworth,
Cathy Moore, Rob Saka, Dan Strauss, Tanya Woo,
my gosh I think we have to note this is a public meeting today.
And also Suquamish Tribal Leader, Leonard Forsman.
Thank you all for being with us today.
Thank you.
And before we move on, I have one more housekeeping item.
We encourage you to join
and amplify today's conversation and post
about this event on social media using the hashtag SOD2024.
SOD2024.
We hope you enjoy today's discussion about the state
of your downtown.
Thank you.
-Well thank you everybody, thank you, Sung,
for that introduction.
And thank you to the sponsors.
And just thank you for being here
and your interest in downtown.
I just love this building so let's take a moment
to recognize the beauty.
Hi, I'm Sara Nelson,
City Council President and Chair of the Governance,
Accountability, and Economic Development Committee.
And I just have to say that I agree,
that this is a transformative moment in downtown
because we've now got a super majority pro public safety,
pro economic growth, city council.
Yay.
And the very fact that we've got six council members in the room
today I believe is an indicator that things are changing.
And we've come a long way since two years ago
when I talked at this event
and I said my job is to give a damn about downtown.
Well now I've got company and it's really exciting.
And I recognized, however,
that actions speak louder than words, right?
We've got still a long way to go to get to where we need to be.
And that's because in part we've seen, well I would say,
a complete breakdown in the correlation
between city spending and progress on the events
that matter most to the people in this room
and all over the city.
Crime, addiction, homelessness, housing affordability.
And so it's no wonder that public trust in council
is at an all time low.
Just have to recognize that.
And we know, council knows that to build back your trust,
we've got to deliver results.
Thankfully we don't have to reinvent the wheel.
Because last year, Jon presented a road map
of steps that we should be taking to work
toward economic recovery in downtown.
And I won't touch on all of them,
just two that I'm trying to make a little bit of progress on.
So the first is obviously return to work.
Return to office.
And even if we never get back to the levels before the pandemic,
that doesn't mean we don't keep trying.
And we have to build those numbers you.
But I'm not going to tell you, this room,
what to do because it's up to your elected leaders
to lead by example, right? I think so.
And we know, to quote our mutual friend,
that public service requires being in public.
And conducting it in public.
And so I'm really happy to say there's good news.
Every council member has returned to City Hall.
They're working there every day fully staffed
and it's made all the difference.
Yeah. The vibe is totally different.
I mean, we can be more productive.
People are getting to know each other.
and it's just a lot more fun.
And the next time you watch a meeting in chambers,
we're all sitting up there at the dais.
Which is quite a change from last year
if anyone was in that meeting to renew the MID, right?
And so that's happening.
And I'm working on updating the city return to work policy.
And that will be coming out soon.
So, that's good.
And yep, there we go.
When I said council meeting in chambers,
what must have got into your thought bubble
was what happened last week?
And I'll just cut to the chase
and say no,
we're not going to let people disrupt our council meetings.
We're going to stop that disruptive behavior.
That's what we do.
We have to do the people's business.
And so, that shouldn't have been any controversial thing, right?
That's just what we do. Keep the ball rolling.
So clearly people aren't going to come back to work
or the retail core or the theatre district
unless they feel safe on our streets and on public transit.
And so public safety is the next item.
There's a reason why I made the District 7 Representative,
Bob Kettle, Chair of Public Safety.
Because he has to listen to you.
He has to listen to his constituents.
And he's got more skin in the game.
To drive the change that we need to see.
So, that was on purpose.
And it's clear
that nothing's really going to change fast enough
until we can bring back SPD staffing levels.
That's the most important thing of all,
not just for downtown but for the whole city.
And we don't just throw up our hands
because every other city is having problems
with the labor pool, et cetera.
No, we have to ask why.
And then dig into our internal processes
to figure out what's working and what isn't.
And also
for council to develop some legislative fixes if necessary.
And that's the role of council.
To act as an oversight body.
And so that's what I'm doing. I'm identifying barriers.
And you'll be seeing something come forward pretty soon,
that's just a little bit of a tease.
So that's one of those things that I'm working on,
and I just have to say that it all comes down, of course,
to accountability.
That's what we do as a legislative branch.
That's why there's a formal place in my committee.
By putting that name in there.
And it takes both the executive and council to work together.
We've got a better relationship with the Mayor's Office
than we ever have before.
And so, this is extremely exciting and all
I have to say is that we could just go down the list
of everything that's going wrong
but you're going to hear so many positive things
that are happening downtown in 2025,
in 2026,
what I call let's just give a plug for 2024
being the year of downtown. I'll just state that right here.
And say that for that I need your help.
This is my last point. It's a call to action.
You've got allies on City Council,
you can't write us off as a lost cause anymore.
We need you. We need your voice.
We need you to make comments, send emails,
urge council and the Mayor's Office to be bold.
Because that's what it's going to take to get us
where we need to go
and I'm just so much
looking forward to a stronger partnership
with the people in this room
as we look forward to our shining future
and just thank you for being here,
thank you, DSA, for bringing us together.
That's it. Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you for being here.
Thank you, Council Member Nelson, for being here.
For your remarks.
For your convicted leadership.
I had the great pleasure for over 20 years
of calling Sara a friend and a colleague
and I'm glad that we all today
can call her the President of the Seattle City Council.
It's got a great ring to it.
And thanks for modeling the way of being back in the office.
I think democracy in public service
should be done in public again.
And I think it's good for government,
it's good for downtown, certainly.
And it's good for the relationship
between our elected leaders and our mayor.
We were down at City Hall meeting with some
of the new council members over the last week
and it was really nice to have those meetings in person
and not behind a laptop.
So thank you to you and your colleagues
for modeling the way there.
Somehow we scheduled this on the same night
as the State of the Union. Awkward.
I wish President Biden's people had called my people,
we would have sorted it out.
But we're glad to be here
and sorry to be competing with our president.
And it's good to be back in this incredible building.
This ballroom, this building, is such a gem.
And it's still got that new convention center smell.
It's good to be back for the second year in a row.
This weekend over at the Arch Building,
the Seattle Golf Show will be taking place.
4,000 or so attendees in the Arch Building.
And then here,
6,000 folks for the Student Affairs Administrators
in Higher Education. That's a mouthful.
The golf show sounds more fun, I'll be at the golf show,
but I'm glad the other 6,000 will be here.
And last weekend,
we had 75,000 people over the course of three days
come through this building for Comic-Con.
And I was talking to Jeff Blosser,
the head of the convention center earlier,
about their experience here. It was phenomenal, they said,
and they look forward to being back.
So, it's great to have this building functioning
at such a high level as well as our Arch facility.
A couple of just acknowledgements
before I begin here.
I wanted to give a special welcome to David Downey,
who is the President and CEO
of the International Downtown Association.
Which is our umbrella group of folks
who do what we do around North America, around the world.
And David and his colleagues and 1200
or so folks will be coming to Seattle
in September of this year
for the annual International Downtown Association conference.
We are delighted to be hosting this conference
in partnership with David's team.
This year, in comparing notes with our colleagues
from around the world,
around the revitalization of our downtown.
So thank you for making the trip out from DC, David,
and being with us today.
And I mentioned Jeff Blosser earlier.
I want to acknowledge Jeff's extensive service
in the convention industry.
45 years of service in convention center business
across our country.
13 here in Seattle,
getting this facility built through a pandemic.
22 years in Portland.
An incredible asset for Seattle,
who will be retiring from his role,
well earned retirement in May.
So thank you, Jeff, for all you've done for Seattle.
For shepherding this project through a really difficult time.
And Mary Bacarella,
the wonderful executive director and leader
of the Pike Place Market,
who steered that incredible 100 plus year old institution
through a very, very difficult time.
Six years leading the market.
Mary will be retiring later this spring.
She's had her hand on the helm of some of Seattle's
great institutions, from SIF and the Space Needle.
She's made great contributions to our culture here in the city.
And been a great leader for the Pike Place Market.
She's here today,
I want to recognize her service
and wish her well in her next adventure.
Those are two resilient leaders.
And they embody, I think, Seattle's best values.
And I've been thinking a lot about resiliency recently.
And the resilient individuals that we have in our city today
and in our past
and just the resiliency of our city structures.
The city itself, the urban form, how we come together,
the resiliency that our cities have demonstrated for hundreds
if not thousands of years.
And I got to London last year with my son.
And I was thinking a lot about London.
And we had a great time.
That's what a 14 year old looks like having a great time.
He's such a cool dude. He's 14 going on 34.
And we had a blast.
And I wanted to watch, our final day there,
I'm like let's just go watch the final round
of the Open and F1 at the bar.
And he played the role of the dad.
He's like we can do that
but not until we go see Buckingham Palace
and the British Museum.
I said fine. In any event, we were in London,
I reflected on that city's history.
2,000 years of history.
They've been bombed, they've faced riots, plagues,
multiple pandemics, terrorist attacks,
and that city stands today proud and thriving more than ever.
The parks were alive, the retail was phenomenal,
the bars were alive, the museum was packed.
We had a fabulous time.
And while Seattle does not have the same extensive history
of London, we've faced our series of challenges as well.
And we've demonstrated a significant amount of adversity
over our 150 years.
A significant amount of resiliency
as we faced adversity over our 150 plus years.
And we all saw those predictions coming out of
the pandemic of the demise of our cities,
of gathering in downtowns and urban places.
And we saw new phrases, the Urban Doom Loop.
And even the author of that phrase
has sort of walked it back.
That's not what we've seen.
We've seen progress and people returning to our cities,
returning to our downtowns and urban areas.
Wanting to be connected with one another.
Wanting to share in experiences
that they can't get anywhere else.
And I think we've all seen that progress here in our downtown
over the last two years.
No doubt we have a lot of work to do.
But we're making significant progress.
And I just want to say,
it's always a great privilege to be able to deliver
these remarks on behalf of our organization
and our board and our membership to you.
I think this is my ninth or 10th opportunity to do that
and it's something I take a lot of privilege and enjoy as well.
So I want to talk to you today about just a couple
of what I see as our strengths and assets
as we continue to rebelled and revitalize in our downtown.
And two challenges
that I think we need to see more urgent action on
and more attention and focus. Number one,
we're revitalizing from a very strong base
with a great mix of uses in our downtown.
This has never been a downtown where you just go to work.
It's never been just a commercial area of our city.
We've had this great mix
that's been intentionally created over decades.
That's been our recipe and our playbook.
To locate our arts and culture and performance
venues within the downtown core.
Our sports stadiums and arenas tucked close into the core
and near one another.
Our convention center.
The existing building, the Arch, and the new convention center.
To have those close into the downtown.
This was probably the most complicated place
in the state of Washington on top of the transit facility,
the bus tunnel that was here, to build a convention center.
But we made the decision to do that
because it's good for this mix.
And I echo Sung's shout-out
to County Executive Dow Constantine.
Anybody involved with the convention center
will tell you this building would not be here
but for Dow's leadership in getting this thing done
as the owner of the underlying dirt
that this building sits on today.
So thank you for that, Dow.
So we've got this. Yes.
So, we've got this great mix of the aquarium is here,
the symphony, arts and culture, and yes, commerce as well.
And it's a neighborhood.
We've been intentional over many decades of locating thousands
of residents and residential units in our downtown.
And we've seen continued growth over the last 20 years.
And the number of people living in downtown Seattle.
Today, there's more people that live in downtown Seattle
than did prior to the pandemic.
A record number of people living in downtown Seattle,
106,000 folks calling downtown home.
And 74% growth since 2010. So a remarkable story,
and very intentional about creating this mix
of residential arts, culture, sports,
and commerce in our downtown. And we've got more coming.
More than 6,000 units of residential development
under construction.
Currently just trailing the City of Denver
among our peer downtowns west of Chicago.
And within the last year, 2,500 residential units opened.
So we've got this great mix.
Which is really the recipe for any downtown
that wants to be successful and relevant post-pandemic.
We need to move from a central business district
to a central experience district.
That's what this place is about.
It's about connecting people, it's about community,
it's about social experiences,
experiences you can't get anywhere else.
And it's about having that great mix of uses
and this flywheel that feeds economic activity,
walkability, proximity.
That's what the market wants.
And we've been focused on that for a number of decades.
I think it's one of our assets
as we continue to make our way out of this pandemic.
And I will say this mix that we have
is only going to get sweeter
when the Sonics return to the City of Seattle.
The city's ready, we've got an arena that's ready,
Seattle Center is ready.
And we have a locker room.
That is ready for an NBA team.
There's a lot of chatter lately about the return of the Sonics.
The mayor mentioned it in his State of the City speech
a couple weeks ago.
There's this buzz about town about the Sonics'
potential return.
Downtown cannabis store owner Sean Kemp said
whatever he can do to sweeten the pot for the NBA
to return a team to Seattle, he will do it.
He said Climate Pledge Arena is a phenomenal place,
he's very high on Climate Pledge Arena.
There's not a better joint in the country
for an NBA team to play.
So wheel it forward to the Sonics' return to our city,
we deserve it. Moving right along. Number two.
We are investing in our downtown.
We continue to make investments.
The public sector, the private sector,
the philanthropic center.
Even in these uncertain times, we are investing in this place.
It's a critical strength of ours
and it's something worth being very, very proud of.
The new aquarium that will open later this year,
Coleman Dock in the improvements to the ferry terminal
to make sure 8 plus million
pedestrians can get through there plus cars as well.
We're expanding light rail.
Lynnwood light rail, Lynnwood Link will open later this fall.
All trains lead to and from downtown Seattle.
So huge investments in public infrastructure.
And big investments and programs and promotion
and cleaning as well.
We renewed
and reauthorized
the Metropolitan Improvement District
for another 10 year term
last May under the leadership of Council Member Sara Nelson.
That was a huge lift.
Which will mean more than 200 million dollars of investment
over the next decade in cleaning, marketing,
beautification, park programming, and staffing.
That is a huge win. Just in the last two months.
We've hired 35 additional ambassadors,
a team of 165 full-time ambassadors out there.
Lots of new equipment as well.
[ Applause ]
And we're promoting our city as well under the leadership
of Visit Seattle and the investments,
our hotel community, our making which increased this last year.
10 plus million dollars a year
in promoting downtown and Seattle to the world.
To the country.
To leisure travelers.
And to folks looking to host conventions here.
So on total,
we've got 5 billion dollars or so under construction
or recently delivered of public infrastructure
and 400 million plus in ongoing spending over the next decade
to keep this place clean, beautiful,
and to promote it to folks from around the country
and around the world.
That's a big deal.
So even in these uncertain times,
we're doubling down on investment in this place.
That's a strength and asset of ours
and something that gives me a lot of encouragement.
And of course, the waterfront.
And I won't say anything more than that
because you're going to hear from Joy and Leslie soon.
But this is going to blow people's hair back.
When this thing is done.
And we're not far from it being done.
But looking ahead,
one other additional investment to highlight,
the Seattle Kraken the folks
that brought us Climate Pledge Arena
and the One Roof Foundation under the leadership
of Mari Horita, the Vice Chair of the DSA,
and her colleague, Rob Johnson,
who are think are here with us today.
They've proposed a 100 plus million dollar remake
of Memorial Stadium. And boy does it deserve it.
That dilapidated stadium
that serves so many kids in our community
and has served all kinds of other purposes
over its history deserves additional investment.
And with a partnership with the city and the school district
and some incredible pros in delivering
phenomenal stadiums and arenas,
we are going to have a traffic facility
that is going to continue to serve kids in our community.
Seattle Public School kids.
But be available for all kinds of other uses as well.
It's going to be another injection
of great positive energy on the Seattle Center Campus.
So thank you to them for what they're doing there.
This is a big deal. And a big investment to come.
So the third area that I see as a strength
that gives me encouragement is really around our brand.
Our brand remains strong.
Seattle's brand remains strong around the country.
And around the world.
And our brand got beat up pretty good during COVID.
And for some good reasons.
Some well-earned reasons and local press
and national press and beyond.
But I think what we've seen with these strong return of visitors
that have come from around the world to have experiences here,
either for the first time or to have them again,
is that our brand remains strong.
We had a record crew season in the summer of 2022
and in the summer of 2023.
Thank you to our friends at the Port of Seattle.
And some of our other cruise friends in the house today
for all they do
to drive economic activity into our downtown.
There's a lot of my colleagues from around the country
that would love a cruise business as part
of their downtown.
But they don't have any water.
And we benefit from the water and all those people
that get off the boats and spend money in this downtown.
They drive a heck of a lot of economic activity.
And later this summer,
those boats are going to be plugged into shore power.
So we're making big environmental strides as well
to support our cruise business.
So people from those that are on cruises
that come in for weekends with your family,
whether it's from Issaquah or Iowa,
folks coming for conventions.
People return to Seattle.
And that's a good thing.
And I think some of us were worried as we reopened,
coming out of the pandemic,
after we saw a lot of negative headlines
and not just us but folks from around the country,
whether it's on the Today Show or other places,
would they come back?
And they have.
They have come back in big numbers.
And Taylor Swift.
Who was at the Taylor Swift show?
One of them. Yeah.
I mean she rocked Lumen Field, right?
And Ed Sheeran, he rocked a barista shift at Starbucks
before he rocked two shows,
one I think at the Paramount and another at Lumen.
These big events. The concerts at Lumen.
The concerts at Climate Pledge.
They are big business for our downtown.
The Saturday night of Taylor Swift's show,
we saw the most hotel revenue ever captured
and generated within the City of Seattle.
By leaps and bounds she blew that record out of the water.
7 plus million dollars generated in a single Saturday night
when she was in town.
The Blue Jays were here too.
And Capital Hill Block Party.
My colleague Tammy Canavan, the CEO of Visit Seattle,
reminded us there was a lot of things going on that night.
But she was the top bill.
So in total, in the summer of 2023,
we had more than 6.5 million visitors come
to downtown Seattle.
That's about where we were in 2019.
So we've seen a really strong recovery
over these last few summers
as we've worked our way out of the pandemic.
And I want to mention conventions.
Last year was a really strong year for conventions
in downtown Seattle.
And this year's going to be even stronger.
55 conventions booked in downtown Seattle.
That compares to about 44 booked in 2019.
So, a real strong return of conventions back to our city.
And hotel room nights sold already this year
to support conventions,
Visit Seattle tells us is 114% of what it was in 2019.
So that's a lot of economic activity coming through downtown
over these next several months of 2024.
And just another shoutout to Visit Seattle.
We've got one of the best destination marketing
organizations in the country.
And a tremendous leader in Tammy Canavan.
With a terrific team
that is selling Seattle every day around the world.
And foot traffic to some of our major attractions
in the summer of 2023 outpaced in
and around our major attractions.
You can see them here. Outpaced foot traffic in 2019.
So, a lot of progress in the return of visitors.
And I think a big signal
that we've got still a really strong brand in our city.
Both around the country and around the world.
And if you thought we had a lot of visitors last summer,
buckle up for 2026.
When World Cup descends on Seattle.
And our friends from Seattle World Cup are here,
April Putney and some of her colleagues,
and thank you to them for all they're doing.
And I understand Peter Tomozawa, the CEO,
is with FIFA and the other 14 or so cities
down in Miami for a meeting.
But they are hard at work
to make this a phenomenal experience.
It's the biggest event on the planet,
it's going to be the biggest party our town has seen
since the World Fair.
And it's a great marker two or so years out for all of us
to rally around and toward.
It is going to be a treat. And I should say, too,
the Seattle Sports Commission and Beth Knox, their CEO,
all that they're doing to support
and we had a bid on this to win,
so there was a lot of work going back many years
to just get this thing.
And now the work,
the additional work that it takes to actually host it,
a huge shout out to Beth for the incredible success
we've had bringing and hosting All Star Week.
The Winter Classic.
And now we turn our sights on this major event.
There's a few in between,
March Madness Women's Regionals will be here as well.
But thank you to Beth
and her team at Seattle Sports Commission for all they do.
[ Applause ]
So, our brand clearly remains strong.
We're investing.
The public sector, the philanthropic sector,
the private sector continues to invest in this downtown.
And we've got this dynamic mix of uses.
We're not overall subscribed to one sector or another.
We've got arts and culture and residents,
commerce, sports, and conventions in our downtown.
These are all positives and things
a lot of downtowns would really die for.
These are two challenges I believe warrant
additional action and more attention and more focus.
First, locals are coming less often
to the retail core of downtown.
So when you isolate out Seattle Center and the great arena,
that drives a lot of traffic, and the stadiums on the south.
And we're just looking here at the retail core,
I think, 1st to 9th Avenue.
So this building to the Pike Place Market and Stewart
to roughly Union.
Locals that folks that live within 10 miles of downtown
are coming half as often post-pandemic
as they were pre-pandemic.
You can see those visitation frequencies there.
And when we compare ourselves to some of the other entertainment,
retail, and food and beverage centers within our region,
we're trailing their recovery.
They're about back to where they were
when it comes to frequency of annual visits of locals
to those places, pre-pandemic to post-pandemic.
So we've seen this market shift in who is coming
into our downtown.
We've seen more visitors from out of state, which is great.
We want them to come here,
spend money and then they go, which is not a bad deal.
But for our downtown to be successful,
for downtowns to be relevant,
they've always had to be places that locals love first.
Locals love them first,
then everybody else is going to love them too.
And we've got work to do here to re-introduce locals,
folks living within 10 miles of our downtown,
to the 50 yard line, to 1st and Main,
to the core of downtown,
which is such an important part of our city,
where many of our cultural institutions like the symphony
and 5th Avenue are located.
The Pike Place Market and others.
And we have a lot of assets in that part of town as well.
We have a lot going for us.
You know, the Pike Place Market
and the Nordstrom Flagship
are two of the most incredible retail anchors
that any downtown could ask for across the country.
Right? We've got those, both of those, in our downtown.
But we've got work to do here.
And I think coming out of this pandemic,
urban trips, trips to urban areas, downtown,
are very much less obligatory.
They're less sort of obligation than they were pre-pandemic.
They're much more discretionary.
And three, four years ago people had to be in the office
five days a week because they had a job
and their employer told them to be.
Well, that's not happening right now.
Those were obligatory trips.
We have a lot more discretionary trips today.
So people have choices.
Whether where they go to shop, to eat, to dine.
Whether they go to enjoy arts and culture.
They have good reason to choose downtown Seattle.
And we've got to give them more good reason
and we've got to continue to raise our game
to get locals back.
And I think the opening of the waterfront project
is going to be this big invitation for folks
that may have not been downtown since the pandemic
or may have not been downtown that often since the pandemic.
We have an opportunity to leverage the opening
of that incredible asset.
To re-engage and re-invite locals back to our downtown.
And a must-do to attract more locals to our downtown
is to ensure it is safe, clean, healthy, and welcoming for all.
If cities do not get that right,
if they haven't gotten that right,
they've never been successful.
And while we've made progress on reducing violent crime
in our downtown, and in 2023,
we actually had fewer violent crime incidents
at any one point since 2018.
So we've actually seen in the downtown area
a reduction in violent crime.
So that's a good thing.
And while we've made progress there,
misery and suffering in our downtown are up.
This is Kimberly, one of ambassadors,
who performs CPR and Narcan
way more than I think anybody of us would like.
Along with her clings, Kimberly, in total with our ambassadors,
have performed about 300 administrations of Narcan
over the last year plus or so.
The misery and suffering driven by the Fentanyl crisis
is way up on the streets of downtown,
across the City of Seattle,
across King County, and across the state of Washington.
We have a moral crisis, a health crisis,
and potentially an economic crisis
if we don't wrap our arms around this worsening emergency.
And let's look at some of the numbers.
Washington State between 2022 and 2023,
along with Oregon,
led the nation in the total percent increase
in fatal overdoses among all 50 states.
And in King County,
deaths from drugs have more than doubled since 2020.
Continuing to go up at an alarming rate.
And among peer metro areas,
we are outpacing the growth in fatal overdoses
over the last year. And increasingly,
an overwhelming majority of deaths from overdoses and drugs
within King County are centered in Seattle.
Nearly 60% of all deaths from drugs
within our county last year occurred within Seattle.
Population of Seattle's about 30% of the overall county.
And increasingly as well,
the impact of drugs is impacting the most vulnerable
in our community.
25% of all deaths from drugs within King County
last year were folks that were living unsheltered
or living in emergency shelter.
More than 300 folks living most vulnerable in our community
dying from drugs outside.
And this is a huge drain
on our public emergency management system.
And like our panel that follows will talk more about this.
But you can see in downtown, just in downtown,
the significant increase in 911 calls driven by overdoses
over the last year.
So, I don't think we can expect locals to return
if they have to wade through a public health crisis
that fosters urban disorder and takes a lot of lives.
And let me be clear.
This is a moral crisis, it's a health crisis,
there's too many people suffering.
But it also has the potential to be an economic crisis.
And I don't think the previous challenge
I highlighted of locals not returning in the same numbers
they did prior to the pandemic even
though they've returned to similar frequencies
of visits to the entertainment centers in our region,
and this crisis are unrelated.
And as I said last year, I think we can have a thriving,
vibrant, safe,
and health downtown with more arts and culture
and small businesses and restaurants and retailers
that are back open in the core downtown
just a few blocks from me.
Or we can have a Fentanyl marketplace
that produces a lot of suffering.
We're not going to be able to have both.
And I think we're at a moment
to make a really difficult decision about clear actions
that we need to make to foster more safety, health,
in our community.
Which shouldn't be a difficult decision, excuse me.
And it's time to make that.
And the rate of growth on these charts is scary
and it's immoral.
And we need to come together as a community and do more.
[ Applause ]
And I do want to acknowledge what the County announced
earlier this week.
The five steps that County Executive Constantine
along with some council members announced.
Along with public health.
I think these are critical initial steps.
We have to act with urgency.
This is everybody's crisis.
Philanthropic sector, private sector,
all levels of government need to come together
to make a difference here.
So, we no doubt have some tough challenges
to confront that require collective and urgent action.
And we have some advantages and strengths as well.
As I covered earlier.
And I do think, and I agree with Council Member Nelson,
I think we are at this unique moment and inflection point
of sorts in Seattle.
I was having lunch the other day at the Nordstrom Grill
and I was reflecting on the passing of Blake Nordstrom,
which was just a little over five years ago
this past January.
And I was reflecting on what he would always say in a board.
Blake was a chair in the Downtown Seattle Association
many years ago, among his many civic contributions in Seattle.
And I remember him in a committee meeting
or a board meeting,
any kind of meeting he would always be sort of challenging
whether or not we had consensus and alignment.
Consensus and alignment.
If we didn't, we're never going to achieve any progress.
We'll never reach the outcome.
If we didn't agree on the scope
and sort of contours of the problem
and how we were going to address it, we'd never get there.
Consensus and alignment, consensus and alignment,
he would just sort of pound his fist on that.
And I think at this moment we sit in in Seattle,
when you look at the council we have,
you look at the mayor and his focus,
you look at what voters just said in November,
you look at where the philanthropic sector
is investing,
you look at what the business community
and the private sector are doing.
Seattle does not get closer to consensus and alignment
than we are right now.
And we ought to not waste it.
We should be bold and act with urgency to address the crises
that I just covered and to seize the opportunities
we have in this room. In this city, excuse me.
And if you think about the actions of the generations
that came before us,
as they work their way out of produce of adversity,
whether it was the great fire or the Boeing bust
or the retail core threatened in the mid-1990s
when it was all boarded up and Frederick & Nelson left.
I think we should draw inspiration from
how bold they acted, the convection they led with,
the [bleep] they got done,
that we still all benefit from today in downtown Seattle.
And we should take that same attitude,
that same conviction and apply it to the problems
and the opportunities we face today.
That's our charge at this moment
to maximize the consensus and alignment we have in this room,
in this downtown, and in this city.
Let's get it done, it's worth it.
Thank you very much.
[ Applause ]
-Well, good afternoon, everyone.
It's surely my pleasure to join all of you
on behalf of my law firm, Lane Powell,
which is proud to once again serve as presenting sponsor
of DSA's State of Downtown.
Lane Powell has been long-time sponsors of this event
and long-time residents of downtown.
In fact, next year we look forward to celebrating
our 150th anniversary as a firm.
That's our Lane Powell mosh pit down there.
We're as excited as ever at the possibilities
that lie ahead for Seattle's future.
Connections and community, the themes of today's event,
are two essential qualities of many strong organizations
and of a vital and thriving downtown.
While we've spent the last few years integrating
virtual connection into our every day lives,
nothing can replace that shared experience
where people come together in person,
shoulder to shoulder, eye to eye.
The heart of our city offers so much.
Offices, parks, restaurants, shops, and comment spaces.
These are the places
where we can come together and build strong,
lasting connections.
Where we mix with friends, old and new, forge bonds,
build trust, making memories,
shoulder to shoulder, eye to eye.
These are the places
that make our downtown so vital and lasting.
Lane Powell has a deep
and lasting connection to downtown Seattle.
Our firm arrived in this city, excuse me, in 1889,
and we've had a front row seat to the events
that have shaped Seattle's history.
In fact,
the year Lane Powell opened its doors in Seattle
was the same year
that an overturned glue pot in a carpentry shop
produced the Great Seattle Fire along the city's waterfront.
That fire decimated 25 city blocks
and the entire business district.
But in its aftermath,
this community rallied in a remarkable way
and came back stronger still.
Within a year, more than 460 buildings had been built.
And most of the reconstruction
of the central business district was complete.
Our waterfront was reborn.
Seattle showed its resilience and vision
then and has continued to do so time and time
again in the many years since.
That forward thinking vision is the basis of the revitalization
that we will be discussing today.
A commitment to making bold moves
and meaningful investments in spaces
that will elevate this beautiful city.
When the Waterfront Park and Elliott Bay Connections
are complete,
Seattle will enjoy 50 acres of gorgeous parks
and public space connecting along 3 1/2 miles of waterfront
in the very heart of our city.
These will be amazing new public spaces for residents,
visitors, and tourists to enjoy,
especially bringing those locals downtown to rediscover
and connect with our city.
Something, as Jon mentioned, is just vital to our success.
And in just a couple of years,
that space will be ready for the world to see
and enjoy when we welcome a truly global audience
to our downtown for the 2026 World Cup.
Our two keynote speakers today will highlight
the truly transformative moments that lie ahead for our downtown.
These are big, substantial moves for our community
and the impacts will be felt for generations to come.
[ Applause ]
-I'd like to thank Jon, the DSA Board,
and staff for this invitation to be with you today.
I'd like to also acknowledge our elected officials,
DSA members, and sponsors.
Many of our colleagues with the City of Seattle,
friends, board, and staff who are here.
Community organizations, civic leaders, residents,
and downtown champions and advocates.
Thank you for your belief and investment in this city.
The theme of community and connection
couldn't be more appropriate for Waterfront Park.
What you saw in that segue video was pretty powerful.
Starting with the beginning of this place,
which is Coat Salish land.
And those who are still thriving in this place.
But also the audacity of a city like Seattle
and what it's taken for us to grow into ourselves
and also be resilient.
Through also what was a difficult time of pandemic.
Waterfront Park is a project
that is more 15 years in the making.
And I think that that's a reminder of
how big audacious projects can happen with the talent of people
in a city like Seattle.
We're known for our innovation, our passion,
our creativity, and our audacity.
And this is one of the largest campaigns
for a civic space in our city.
And I think we should be very proud of that.
It'll be a catalyst for re-imagination,
for revitalization of downtown, and the 15 million people
who are anticipated to come to enjoy the beauty
of our waterfront
but also discover the rest of downtown and our neighborhoods.
The Elliott Bay Connections project will continue
this experience for an additional 16 acres
and Leslie's going to talk a little bit about that.
But Waterfront Park is opening in a year
and I came back only a year and a half ago,
so many of you were dealing with the construction
for 10, 12 years.
But it's absolutely thrilling that it's in our sightline
and it's a year from opening.
So I'm a kid that grew up in Seattle.
I grew up in parks,
which have a lot of special meaning and memory for me.
I ran the trails at Discovery Park, got my first medals.
I climbed this like very unfriendly child structure
if you were there in the '70s and '80s.
And ate my mom's rice balls and chicken
as we played a mean game of whiffle ball.
I had family events, birthday parties,
community events at Seward Park,
and walked that loop time and time again.
Both with friends,
but also needing time just to reconnect
and find respite being in nature.
I was a kid at Rainier Playfield.
We ran around in summer nights as my dad played softball
and we saw ourselves in that community
being able to play safely and seeing kids that looked like us.
And later as a Franklin High School tennis player,
go Quakers, any Quakers in the house?
Alright, thank you. Worked on my serve.
But also found a place of self and safety
in the south end as a public high school kid.
And so when you think about your favorite park in the city,
or the place that you grew up in,
what do you smell and taste and hear?
And who are you with? Is it someone that you love?
Are you there for a special family memory or event
or a cultural event?
And are you finding respite in nature just to disconnect?
Because even as humans, we really need to be in nature.
And are you feeling a sense of belonging?
A sense of joy? A sense of connection to place?
And how is it a reflection of that city,
whether the be Seattle, or the place that you live?
This is Pier 62 at Waterfront Park
that opened in the throes of COVID in the fall of 2020.
No ribbon cuttings. No fanfare. Lots of masks.
But we have been programming this part,
thanks to the work of the City of Seattle,
who has built this extraordinary place,
to be able to bring community together to connect,
to create belonging, and to create memories.
This was last year's REI S'mores on the Shore.
And we expected 200 people.
And we had 900 people on the wettest day.
This Sunday,
we're actually having our final fire pit and REI
is also hosting, so please come down.
Last year we hosted our Lunar New year event.
There's a trend.
We thought maybe 400 people would come?
But it was the day after the massacre in Southern California
and over 2500 people came to be in community,
to be connected even when times are difficult
and to find a sense of place in this incredible space.
And this is Soul on the Water, sponsored by Africa Town,
really bringing the best of the black community's culture,
art, and community,
and connection back to the Central District.
Over a million people have come to Pier 62.
And it has been a reminder of how parks can be transformative.
That they make for dynamic, democratic cities.
And nationally,
we're seeing this trend of reclaiming
old infrastructure projects, highways,
double decker highways, railroads,
to be able to reclaim the beauty of our cities
from what they once were.
And Waterfront Park is going to be part of that renewal.
It is going to be part of the revitalization and part
of creating a place that everyone sees themselves in
and memory to be created.
So with a reminder,
this is a place that is on Coat Salish land.
The stories, the voices,
the histories are centered in this place of Indigenous people
and will continue to be centered in the work of friends
and how we keep evolving this place
for our city and our region.
So a reminder, like the segue video,
this extraordinary double decker highway cut
across the most beautiful part of our city
like the Embarcadero in San Francisco.
Like other cities across the nation.
It was not about human centered design,
it was about disconnection.
But the audacity of the vision
after the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake,
the conversations even before that was,
what happens when you build a new tunnel?
We actually had a final walk and party on the Viaduct.
I heard there were like 100,000 people for that.
And tear it down to reveal what is possible
about a new waterfront.
And a new park to be born. It is a 20 acre park
that is in the shadow of the former Viaduct.
So I've met people who have actually moved
after the Viaduct came down and said what's the big deal?
It's like oh, you don't remember.
So, part of the storytelling of this place
is retelling that story, right?
What it took to get here to take that double decker highway down.
The political leadership, residents, advocates.
This 20 acre park running from the Stood District
all the way to Belltown
will be creating this dynamic tapestry of experience
of public space, connection to the waterfront,
the tendrils back down to Pioneer Square,
the 20 block pipeline extension to Capital Hill.
And down back to Pike Place Market
is part of that vision of reclaiming
this extraordinary space.
There is massive economic impact on this project as well.
And so that is an important aspect of this.
The Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects,
our colleagues who are here, Angie Brady,
who's the current director, and her team,
are building this extraordinary park with the talent
of contractors and amazing construction workers.
Over 1.1 billion dollars in construction overall.
6200 jobs.
And then there's a reality of ongoing economic impact
to bring locals, regional visitors,
national/international visitors for spend.
Of experiences, of hotels.
And then the quality of life for the 100,000 people
who live downtown.
For the people who are in these areas
in many low income communities who are also around this area.
And to create a vibrant downtown that we know.
So a little bit about Friends of Waterfront Park.
We are a non-profit that was established in 2013.
So when you think about these big
urban infrastructure projects, and big parks,
the new model nationally is needing the leadership
of a non-profit to provide fundraising,
organizational management for programming and activation,
stewardship and park operations,
and in our case with our partners with Seattle Center,
which I'm going to talk a little bit about.
And it's not just for now, it's for generations to come.
So we care for this place in extraordinary ways.
So you think about groups like Friends of the Highline
in New York or Friends of the Underline in Miami,
we are becoming that trusted non-profit
to be working in partnership.
And that work is done through partnership fundamentally.
Through public-private partnership.
And it's leveraging the best strengths and assets,
as Jon talked about, with people across our cities.
Non-profits, businesses, residents,
community based organizations,
that's the core of our work.
And that's the invitation to all of you.
Our first decade of Friends is really modeled.
Our transformative place making,
the innovation and piloting centered in equity.
Because you can build a place and expect them to come
and that was a movie.
But that model is flawed.
Because you have to be intentional to ask
why people do not feel that sense of safety and inclusion
and belonging in public space.
And so Friends has been driving programming and operations and
community engagement from the early design back in 2012,
and bringing over 400 community groups together
and meetings together to be able to share information
and test this programming.
We've been doing public safety campaign for Waterfront Park.
We've been a convenor and really centering into DEIA
and what it means to build equity.
And what that means is that we listen.
You really ask the question of who's not included and how
do we go deeper to make people feel that sense of connection?
By co-designing programs, by curating programs,
our team is doing incredible work
alongside extraordinary community organizations
in Seattle and keeping that experience local.
We do that also through our community committees
advising us,
helping us make sure that we're staying true
and accountable to the work,
because this is going to make it a park for all.
And this is just a sampling of our program impact
the last three years.
176,000 people have come in for our free public programs.
Over a million people have come to Pier 62 and on and on.
Our cultural master plan will be launching
in the next couple months.
Asking the question of how does this become
this extraordinary new civic space for our city?
We've been doing programming with community,
Skating Like a Girl, and hosting Salmon Homecoming,
which is true to who we are.
And this moment too is actually really exceptional.
This is not only a moment of transition
for the Viaduct but for Friends.
And we have moved forward with an exclusive sneak peek
into our rebrand,
which is a reminder of the conic peers
that we are sitting on
and the park that we're creating together.
Hopefully it's fresh and it's welcoming
and we will become your favorite neighbor and organization
that you're going to want to be part of.
So more to come.
But a little bit of the progress on the waterfront,
and I'll do my best to honor our colleagues with the waterfront
and civic projects and the contractors
who are working on this.
This is Railroad Way on the southern end of the park
that's butted up against the Stadium District.
And how it's looking now on Railroad Way,
an open area for gathering.
For moving folks who are visiting
and going to games at the Stadium District
or going to concerts
and make their way back to the waterfront.
The Pioneer Square enhancements
that will create this extraordinary
pedestrian friendly experience connecting you
from the waterfront into Pioneer Square.
And a recent groundbreaking. Pioneer Square Habitat Beach,
that had a soft opening in time for All Star Game.
And opened to the public for people to be a bully
to touch the water for many, many years.
It's been many years.
And be able to enjoy the views of the Salish Sea
in a quiet moment along.
Our one mile Park Promenade that runs from Pioneer Square
all the way north to Pier 62
that will create this extraordinary connection
along Waterfront Park.
And actually, on the right hand side,
there's actually swings that have just been installed.
To give everyone an experience to connect to the beauty
of this place,
but also, to make safe passage all along the promenade.
Benches have gone in.
And thousands of plants, trees, and other bushes
are also going in to make this a lush, beautiful park.
Pier 58, formerly Waterfront Park,
is currently under construction
and will open by the end of '24 or early '25.
We'll have a beautiful lawn and tree grove.
Places to gather and activate. And to gather.
The Pike Pine Streetscape, which will open this fall,
makes for great safe passage all along Pike and Pine
for 20 blocks from Pike Place Market
all the way to Capital Hill and down to the waterfront.
At Ocean pavilion,
our colleagues, Bob Davidson and his team,
preparing to open the extraordinary Ocean Pavilion.
Which is embedded in Waterfront Park in the Overlook Walk.
And it will be a world class aquarium reflecting
on conservation internationally
and generating new generations of conservation leaders.
And the Overlook Walk, the real sweet spot,
kind of the selfie spot.
It's going to give you the experience of 360 degree views,
the same height of the Viaduct for those of you
who are really missing those views driving north
on the Viaduct, people talk about that a lot.
And extraordinary places to sit and to reflect
and the beauty of the landscaping.
You see the boulders that have recently gone in.
The sailor steps.
And the views that you'll be able to take in.
We are wrapping the campaign for the Waterfront Park,
which is a 170 million dollar effort.
And we've raised 88% of that goals, which is extraordinary.
And we're in the last stretch to get there.
So it's a real invitation to all of you to join us.
To close this chapter of this campaign
and move into how Waterfront Park is going to be part
of this town and this ecosystem.
We're making public safety investments.
We've invested 3 million to date on Pier 62 alone.
Modeling a new model for public safety
that's centered in a humane approach,
as Jon talked about,
we're working with Project Reach
to provide outreach workers for those who are unhoused.
Our staff are the eyes and ears on the park.
And a new partnership with Seattle Center
is providing public safety officers
to be able to be available to address issues,
to be able to enforce park rules,
and then you call the Seattle Police Department
when it's needed.
But that unique approach is what we need to solve
for some of these more challenging issues.
As part of that partnership, we invested 5 million dollars,
that was matched by the Metropolitan Park District.
Because private-public partnership is critical
for solving for challenging issues.
And that's important for making sure this park is a park
you all feel safe when you come
and everyone feels that sense of welcome.
Our partnership with Seattle Center,
I'd like to call out our colleagues that are here,
started on July 1st.
And we are grateful for the wisdom and the expertise
that exists on that 78 acre campus.
They are providing extraordinary urban park space management
with friends
and we're absolutely thrilled
that they will be managing maintenance
and public safety now into the future.
I just want to say for a moment to recognize there are many,
many people in this room.
I came back, many of you know,
only about a year and a half ago.
And I recognize that the audacity of projects like this
take many, many people.
And there are a lot of civic leaders in this room
who have fought and solved and fought and solved
and tried to figure things out from the very beginning.
But that's what it takes for these kinds of projects.
And I just want to take a minute to really just acknowledge many,
many people between the Friends board and staff,
many civic leaders in this room, businesses,
residents, LID rate payers that have gotten us here.
The city mayors, there have been many in this project,
I think there are seven.
City Council members. City staff.
Contractors and designers.
Our governor. WSDOT and the Port of Seattle.
The Office of the Waterfront and Civil Projects,
Angie Brady who's the current director,
and Marshall Foster,
the former director who's now at Seattle Center.
They just need a lot of cred for that, exactly.
The Seattle Parks Department,
Seattle Department of Transportation,
and then a special shoutout
to the Seattle Historic Waterfront Association.
The Pike Place Market PDA.
Ben Lyons from Pioneer Square.
And the DSA for supporting the LID.
Thank you.
We do audacious things in Seattle.
We are going to make memories
at Waterfront Park and the grand opening
will be happening in less than a year in early '25.
So stay tuned.
It will be followed by seasons of activation and programming
that will be led by Friends and our community.
So come to S'mores on the Shore.
Call to action if you're around this Sunday.
Take a walk on the waterfront.
And see how much is changing and see this park taking shape.
Reach out to us about grand opening sponsorship,
about co-promotional opportunities.
And give to the campaign for Waterfront Park.
And we just want to invite you to be friends and remember,
this city is extraordinary,
and we appreciate all that you do in this room.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-It's really a great privilege to be here.
A number of you know I'm a former Seattleite.
And I've been living on the other side of the country.
And I'm really here to talk a little bit
about Elliott Bay Connections.
And my job is to work for the extraordinary donors,
Melinda French Gates, Mackenzie Scott,
the Diller - von Furstenberg Foundation, as well as Expedia,
who have really enabled the project
that I'm going to describe.
As Joy talked about, this is all about partnership
and there will be a little bit of overlap
I think in some of the things we'll talk about.
Because that's really what's happened
in the transformation of public space around the country.
The images you just saw are actually all of parks
that were created in the last two decades.
This has been an amazing period in every city.
And I had to carefully choose. I did choose a project,
an island I know well in New York called Governor's Island.
And I wanted to draw your attention to two parks
that I know well.
In my job as an advisor on public-private partnerships,
I've had the great privilege to be in many of those cities.
And these two parks really embody, I think,
what Seattle is about to experience with the opening
of Waterfront Park.
Brooklyn Bridge park and Ralph Wilson Park,
which is part of the Detroit Riverfront,
obviously very different cities, Brooklyn and Detroit.
But those parks have brought everyone from their cities,
from every neighborhood,
to the waterfront
to really create a whole different kind of experience.
And I think you heard in Joy's remarks
what's already happening on Pier 62
and what the vision is as Barbara referred to
in imagining this entire waterfront.
Truly connected.
As I mentioned,
creating those parks is not just about brilliant architects,
it's not just about generous philanthropists,
it's about public-private partnership.
And public-private partnership is really the result
of innovative leaders,
elected officials like Mayor Harrell,
elected officials like the Commissioners of the Port,
three of whom are here.
Who really lead their teams to come up with innovation
and new ways to approach partnership.
So I'd like to take a moment just to acknowledge
the staff who are here. From the City of Seattle,
Deputy Mayor Burgess, Deputy Mayor Wong are here.
I know that Adiam Emery is actually back working.
But if we could just take a moment to recognize them,
the heads of SDOT, Parks, the Office of the Waterfront,
the Seattle Center, very importantly, SDCI.
And then from the Port,
in addition to the commissioners who have been recognized,
Executive Director Steve Metruck and his extraordinary staff.
What I'm about to talk to you
about is truly the result of partnership
with those public servants.
And if we could just take a moment to acknowledge the people
who work every day in the public sector.
[ Applause ]
It is a great privilege to work with them.
And of course, on the private side,
we wouldn't be here without the DSA,
not only Jon and Sung's extraordinary leadership,
but many members of the board
are actually directly involved in the project.
And as Jon alluded to earlier,
the extraordinary staff from the DSA that have brought us here.
So I would like to thank them as well.
And of course, there are many other partners.
Leonard Forsman is here from the Suquamish.
We're working with the Suquamish and the Muckleshoot tribes.
BNSF is an incredibly important partner
as you'll see in a moment.
King County Executive Dow Constantine has
already been recognized.
And of course, the amazing team of local designers,
planners, project managers, and construction managers
who are all based here in Seattle,
many of whom are members of the DSA.
Who are together working with our public partners
to realize the vision that I'm about to share with you.
So a moment to thank everyone.
So the idea of connections.
What Barbara referred to, what Joy referred to,
of connecting that waterfront.
It actually goes back to another era
of public-private partnership.
There were a group of civic leaders,
I do confess they were all men is my understanding,
so a little different, who came together in 1903.
And really with the vision of
how could Seattle be a beautiful city?
That was a full page ad in the Seattle Times.
And they hired the Olmsted brothers.
And as we all know, we can pick a park, Seward Park,
Woodland Park,
what would Seattle be without the Olmsted design parks?
And the Olmsteds really recognized what makes
Seattle unique and gorgeous.
And I think it's worth reading that this, again, from 1903,
120 years ago,
"The primary aim should be to secure and preserve
for the use of the people as much as possible
of these advantages of water and mountain views."
And today is a gorgeous day
for me to question my sanity in leaving Seattle.
But that you live in a very, very special place.
What people don't recognize perhaps
is that the Olmsted brothers also had a vision
for a waterfront park on the other side, not the lake,
on Elliott Bay, that was never realized.
So when we think about the inspiration and vision
for reclaiming the waterfront for all of us,
it actually goes back that long.
And then as we looked ahead but from 1903,
there were many generations of civic activists
in this community who advocated for the removal of the Viaduct
and taking the waterfront back for the people.
Lake to bay was important,
the idea of connecting that waterfront
to the Seattle Center.
And this image is actually by James Corner,
the visionary landscape architect
who's designing Waterfront Park.
And this is from one of his first presentations.
When he was first hired more than a dozen years ago.
And again, recognizing this idea of connection and parks
that can extend along the bay.
And so when you look a little bit more closely
at the central waterfront in the heart of this city,
there's this gorgeous park under construction
which Joy just shared with you. The Seattle Aquarium.
The beautiful Olympic Sculpture Park brought to us
by the Seattle Art Museum.
Many of the people who are here, one of I
think the greatest urban sculpture parks in America.
But as you look at this,
you see that there are some broken connections.
The stretch of waterfront of Alaskan Way
that goes between Pier 62 as well as Olympic Sculpture Park.
And then of course these two amazing public parks
that I'll talk about in a second
that are just north of the Olympic Sculpture Park.
So in coming together
and thinking about the goals for connections,
why are we all using that word?
It's really the idea of realizing that vision
first articulated by the Olmsted brothers
of connecting people.
Connecting the parks with this new greenway.
Connecting the people of Seattle
to Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks,
thinking of them as a connected set of parks.
Not parks that just serve bike commuters.
We know many of you in this room ride your bikes to those parks.
Connecting people to the Salish Sea.
And the stories and the people who have been here
since time immemorial.
And then finally, connecting all of us, right?
One of the great things about the parks
that you saw in that video
is they have transformed the lives of those cities.
There are now places that people share.
And come together from neighborhoods
across their cities.
And that at a time, we have to acknowledge, of division,
that is an extraordinary thing to have done.
So, a quick description.
Our project is building a greenway from Waterfront Park
to the Olympic Sculpture Park,
restoring and revitalizing Myrtle Edwards and
Centennial Parks.
The greenway will create safe green passage,
a shared used path,
in the place of the Benson Trolley tracks
that many people remember.
We're working very closely with SDOT,
who's also bringing the Alaskan Way Safety project,
and adding plants and safe crossing to create a way
for all of us on bikes, accessible, pedestrians,
and families to come.
So this is an idea today of what this looks like.
And what it could be in the future as we move forward.
Then thinking about Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks.
These are two gorgeous urban parks.
You couldn't wish for a better site anywhere
in the United States.
And they are carefully stewarded by our colleagues at the Port,
as well as at SPR.
But in a city where there are many resources and many needs,
the public sector can't attend to everything.
And so we are very privileged to work in partnerships
with these public agencies
to bring a new vision of what these parks
can be connected to the rest of the waterfront.
So as we work at getting input from the public,
and working with our partners,
we're looking at adding much needed
park amenities in those parks.
Enhancing the existing lawns, the plantings, and the trees.
Adding to the 700 trees that are already in those parks.
Improving bike paths and pedestrian paths for safety.
And also for accessibility.
And the two beach coves that already exist,
trying to bring them up to the level
of the Olympic Sculpture Park beach cove
and improving habitat and our access to water.
And then finally, adding new play opportunities for children.
So, again, looking at Centennial Park today,
and imagining what it can be with new plantings
and improved trails,
looking at the beauty of Myrtle Edwards Park
and a beach cove that provides even improved habitat
and better ways for people to access the water and the green.
So with that vision of bringing that all together,
you can imagine,
as Barbara referred to, a really connected waterfront in 2026.
So, to quote her again,
and this is actually a quote from Mayor Harrell also,
we know he can't be here, but he is leading this vision.
50 acres of connected green public spaces and parks.
Extending for three and a half acres.
Peter's not here,
but we have committed to with the City and the Port
to delivering these improved public spaces in time
for the World Cup.
That is specifically, I think, Scott Redman's in the room,
so I'll remind him, that is June 10th.
Is when the World Cup begins in Mexican City.
We have an extra two days, Scott.
Which is June 12th is the first game here in Seattle
and the 19th for the American team.
And we made that deadline because the philanthropists
who are underwriting this project
and whose vision it was believe in the City of Seattle.
Believe in the downtown.
And believe in the public-private partnership
that can happen with the leadership of the Port
and the City of Seattle.
And it is that vision
which can bring people back to the center of the city,
as Jon talked about earlier,
and really create a shared space
that everyone in the city and region can enjoy.
And so it is our privilege to work, again,
in partnership to create this connection
and we hope that you will contribute your thoughts.
We will have another round of public engagement in April.
And we'll work with our partners at the DSA to publicize that.
Because we want to hear from you,
we want to hear from your friends, from your constituents,
to make sure that this vision of connected parks
and the improvements that we are able to make
to these beautiful spaces is what can bring us all
together as a city.
So thank you for having me.
-I want to talk a lot about numbers.
Because you heard Jon Scholes in his presentation
talk a lot about metrics,
both positive and negative in the City of Seattle.
So we're going to share the last part of this presentation today
talking seriously about public safety downtown.
And the Fentanyl crisis and the increasing rates
that Jon showed us earlier.
And I want to start with you, Chief Diaz,
because we are talking about numbers.
And I don't think a lot of people
heard this number a couple of weeks ago.
We heard the Mayor say property crime is down
in the City of Seattle.
You told the Seattle City Council that is not accurate.
-Yes.
So when you look at property crime,
last year it was down about 10%.
This year we're already seeing that same reduction.
But when you talk to businesses,
businesses have expressed, have been burglarized 15 times.
I don't call the police anymore.
And so when you actually get to the ground,
people are struggling.
You know they're being impacted
where their windows are being broken.
A lot of that sometimes contributes to people
and mental health they're experiencing.
And so they're covering those costs because they feel
like if I don't I'm not going to end up getting anything
from the police department as far as just a police report.
And I'm going to end up sometimes having to deal with
my insurance, which they're going to raise my rates,
or sometimes not even have me be insured.
And so these are the challenges that we're dealing with.
We know that over time
that people don't always report crime.
Property crime.
But I think that right now, the last several years,
we've actually seen it
where it's becoming a lot more prevalent.
-And underreported.
And the reason why,
and I think there's been a connection between this,
is the lack of police officers.
I know you're going to give a presentation
before the Seattle City Council on Tuesday regarding staffing.
But if you want to break any news right here
in front of this crowd,
where do you stand with staffing and hiring
since we know you've been short for a long time?
-Yeah,
so we've lost 725 officers over the last five years.
You have to look at the department at that time
in 2019 was about 1,425 officers.
So you could imagine we've lost half the staff.
That means that there's no officers
that would be patrolling the streets
and your Investigations Bureau would
be completely decimated as well.
We've hired a lot of people.
We're still down 375 officers.
So there's still a huge impact of what we're experiencing.
We're working our officers a lot.
Last year's overtime,
just for the amount of time
was equivalent of about 100 officers.
And so we're making it up through overtime,
but we have to be very,
very cautious that we don't burn our people out.
-There was debate before the old City Council
that the bonuses,
that that money should be used for something else.
Should be used for drug treatment programs.
If those bonuses aren't working, was that old council correct?
That this has not been a program that's worked?
-Well for me,
I believe that we have to have an equal playing field
with all other police departments.
If other departments are enhancing
with incentives and bonuses,
we have to be able to do that same stuff for our department.
So, that is going to be part of that discussion next Tuesday.
But I do think that we have to figure out
how we incentivize people to come into this job as well.
-I'd like to put some of the data back up on the screen
as we talk about the trend lines downtown.
And the overdose cause as I talk to you, City Attorney Davidson.
You were a big proponent of the Blake fix
and fixing the drug ordinance here in the City of Seattle.
But we have seen the overdose numbers
as they continue to go up.
How many people have actually been charged
or treated as a result of that drug ordinance?
-It has only been in effect since October,
so we have a few months. I'll check with our chief, too,
I have it about 220 people that have been arrested on that.
And I think the piece that I'm really wanting to focus
on is that enforcement is really part
of what we're talking about.
Enforcement really is what we need.
When we're talking about what Jon presented
and how we want to have more predictability
about the safety of sidewalks and public transit,
it's because we need to say that our laws have mattered
and we do have a drug law now, which we did not have.
And so now we need to enforce on that.
Because otherwise,
I do think it's not compassionate to not hold
people accountable.
That's where we're hopeful for people's best self.
-There's been some scuttlebutt,
City Attorney Davidson,
about an ordinance on how many times somebody can overdose
and refuse treatment.
We heard the City Council President in front of everybody
here tease something is coming.
Care to elaborate?
-Well that's her thing to say,
I'll save it for Council President Nelson.
But I really do think that we shouldn't think
that that's something we should shy away from.
We should not be reticent to enforce our laws
and to put that in there.
Because that's really where we're saying, again,
with our systems, we care enough to actually act.
When we don't care, we don't act.
As we saw with the numbers, it's do or die.
We really do need to do something.
Because the cost is great to people who are overdosing.
And is great for our economic impact
and positive growth in downtown. -One of the issues
that this crowd has been concerned about is graffiti.
We have the ability now to do something about that.
But there's still a lot of graffiti in the city.
How are you going to crack down?
-There is a lot.
We did not have a lot of enforcement prior to my arrival.
We did have an injunction. I'm really proud of my staff,
our line attorneys who got that injunction
overturned at the Ninth Circuit. So we do have that available.
And that is something that we are actively working on.
And so we do know there are crews
that are out there doing this.
Individuals who think it's okay to do.
But it is destruction. It does cost a lot.
And it does create a lot of visual blight,
which in my mind, invites a lot more criminal activity.
-So a lot of people in this room have seen the two of you,
but they have not seen Amy, who is the Head
of the Community Assisted Response and Engagement Program.
-You got it. -CARE. It is a new program.
You are the third arm of law enforcement.
Have you seen any early improvements downtown
from where you sit?
-Third arm of public safety, not law enforcement.
-That's another way to say it.
-No, it's different. So community safety.
I think we're seeing improvements
because we're starting to alleviate the burden
on other first responders.
So I talk to Chief Diaz all the time,
I talk to Chief Scoggins all the time.
Health 99.
We've got to create capacity in the system.
They can't staff up fast enough.
And we can't scale Fentanyl response fast enough.
So it's nice to have a new kind of professional
go out to 911 calls.
-I heard Jon Scholes here last year say
that the City of Seattle
should treat the Fentanyl crisis like COVID response.
-Yes.
-Oregon and Portland
in particular have a state of emergency in effect
that was issued by the governor there
because of the Fentanyl crisis,
that you can make the argument, I've been down there,
I've seen it firsthand,
it's 10 times worse than what we have seen
in Seattle and King County.
Why isn't the City of Seattle and King County
treating the Fentanyl crisis like COVID?
-I don't know that we're not about to.
I mean, I agree with everything I've heard today
that there is strong consensus.
There is awareness that this is an emergency.
That people are dying at unprecedented rates.
It's unacceptable.
I wake up every morning and look at that overdose dashboard.
I look at the age of folks who are dying.
And the medical community is telling us
that people might live with this addiction for two years.
And so I often run 911.
And I often draw the corollary
that when somebody calls 911 threatening to jump,
I go out and get them.
I send lights and sirens and we get them.
And to give them a chance at life.
And we're not doing the same thing right now with Fentanyl.
-City Attorney Davidson, do you agree?
Do you agree with what she just said,
do you think the city should take a different approach here
with the Fentanyl crisis?
-I think it's a substance we've never seen before
and I don't think that we should think
that individuals are capable of choosing to go away from it.
It is so addictive. It is so potent.
And it is so deadly.
And it is deadly to our young children
who are being exposed just
because they happen to be in an area around somebody
who's using the substance. -Is there anybody on the panel
who has talked to your colleagues in Portland
about best practices
and what they are seeing in the first couple of months
of this state of emergency?
Amy? -Yeah, I just did.
So Mike Myers is my counterpart.
And I know that we talked to the police chief down there.
And really what they're doing is treating it like COVID.
They have a joint command call every morning at about 8.
They're very, very focused on law enforcement partnerships
that are targeting the dealers.
So they are criminalizing the dealers,
that's the focus.
So they go into the hot spots, make an arrest.
My understanding is this is with partnership
at the federal level.
And then the term they used with me is saturate.
They saturate the area,
the folks who have been victimized by these dealers
are brought inside or offered emergency temporary shelter
and they're being incentived to accept the shelter.
They're being offered actual support.
Medical support if they need it.
So that they can create a pathway
into permanent support of housing.
-Chief? -So yes.
We're actually having communication
with San Francisco as well.
As you imagine, because of the Blake decision,
it really created a huge infusion of Fentanyl
into our community. Five years ago,
this is five or six years ago we were at about 500 pills.
We recovered 2 million pills last year.
With our federal partners.
And what pill was about 15 bucks
a pill were under a dollar a pill.
And so you think that when you actually talk to people
on the street
and they're using anywhere from 15 to 20 doses a day,
that seems like a habit of about 15 to 20 dollars,
but they've got to steal for that habit as well.
And in order for them to do that,
you're stealing 50 to 60 dollars if not 100 dollars for that.
So this crisis not only has the overdose impact,
but it also has impact to a lot of our small businesses.
A lot of our just overall business environment
that affects the downtown quorum.
Because we know that 3rd and Pine and 3rd
and Pike and 12th
and Jackson have been areas for trafficking of property.
And not only are we dealing with Fentanyl
that actually every single time,
and it seems like every single time,
that we're arresting somebody for dealing Fentanyl,
we're recovering a gun as well.
Where when I was actually working on the Anti Crime Team
way back in the day,
we would find sometimes dealers selling
crack cocaine or heroine.
But we weren't recovering a gun every time
that situation happened.
With Fentanyl, we are recovering a lot more firearms.
So it's more dangerous, not only for the user,
but the actual environment is actually
a lot more dangerous as well.
-So I just asked the City Attorney about the ordinance,
you just mentioned particular response around town.
12th and Jackson is still bad.
And those areas on 3rd and 4th are still bad.
You're the one who's enforcing the drug ordinance.
Do you think it's made any difference?
-Well, I actually would say 12th and Jackson
has gotten a lot better.
And even, I was just on an email string with our community
who actually also noted that they feel it's improving.
It still has a long road ahead.
But 3rd and Pine and 3rd and Pike is still a huge challenge.
We've actually staffed officers at both areas.
Actually have it between 12th and Jackson
as early as about 8 in the morning
to about 8 in the evening.
Because we have a school that's very close by.
At 3rd and Pine and 3rd and Pike we have another set of officers
that come in for about seven more hours
to provide evidence patrols there.
So we're trying to make sure
that we're having an impact with that.
We're running operations
where we actually are targeting not only users but also dealers.
And so we do find ourselves,
like sometimes you find a little bit of a whack-a-mole.
Because you go into an area, they make some arrest,
they go back to the precincts, and a lot of times,
that whole group is back occupying that space.
So that's a huge challenge for us as well.
-I think it's the first time anyone's talked to you
since we heard what the State Legislature did earlier
in this week on the police pursuit laws.
So as we talk about enforcement on these laws,
when that police pursuit law goes into effect
in 90 days after the session,
is that going to change anything
for the Seattle Police Department?
-We're actually evaluating right now,
currently our vehicle pursuit policy as well as
our vehicle tactics policy, such as pinning vehicles.
Especially when people are sometimes passed out.
Because we are experiencing people
that are going through Fentanyl overdoses.
But they're passed out at the wheel.
And so we also have to make a safe environment
to make sure they're not driving off.
So we're currently doing that right now.
We're actually in the midst of training our
vehicle tactics policy.
But right now, I'm mindful of
when you loosen up some of the standards,
our biggest payouts for sometimes traffic deaths
because of a pursuit death are in this area.
And so we tend to be more restrictive
when it comes to our vehicle pursuit policy.
I had 9,000 stolen vehicles last year in the city.
So we want to make sure that we push it the to edge of
where we think is still keeping people safe in the community,
but also making sure that we're not making a harm
to the community by pursuing everything that's out there.
-So now that we've painted a really dark picture,
let's talk about something positive.
Amy, you are relatively new to this gig.
You've been making the rounds.
You have seen what has happened over the course
of the last few months.
Is there a reason for optimism for this crowd?
-Yeah.
I always say I'm the most optimistic.
Because I just got here.
I've never been around politics before.
I think everyone gets along.
I think labor's fun to work with and city and the county
and everything goes well.
And honestly, that has been my experience.
I've just wrapped up my first year.
I'm current non-profit.
I'm used to being on the frontlines of service provision.
And so that's where I still spend a lot of my day
trying to identify where the gaps in the system are.
Especially across the medical community, clinical,
social work, outreach.
And it's really encouraging how much consistency there is.
And I think that's what we need here is some intellectual
and ethical consistency in our policy design.
The Mayor's Office has been great to work with.
I think people are curious. I'm known for being very candid
and people are curious if I get notes on that.
I don't.
I've been very supported to answer questions as I see them.
As the literature reflects.
And I'm having a great experience
with this council as well.
So I think we're going to see a lot of change.
And a lot of collaboration.
And a lot of improvement as we stay anchored in the evidence.
-Chief?
With those shortages you're talking about,
how can people be optimistic about the future of Seattle?
-I'm very optimistic in the sense of our officers
are doing phenomenal work.
Just last weekend we actually made three homicide arrests.
And obviously you don't want any homicides,
but to make three homicide arrests in a weekend,
that's just the amount of effort
that is going into these investigations.
The amount of time that our officers and detectives
are committed to doing the work.
Last year we recovered more guns than we've ever recovered.
Even with 375 less officers, we made more arrests.
I mean, just all of our crime stats are going down.
So even if you look at last year,
robbery, aggravated assault, rape and not homicide,
homicide was the only one
that was really up as well as motor vehicle theft.
But you're seeing crime stats start to trend
in the right direction.
And we're looking at these trends
to make sure that are they just kind of like a seasonal trend?
And they're not, they're holding.
And so I think that's a really amazing work
to our command staff.
It's also trying to make sure we put the officers
in the right spot.
To the officers that are going out
and doing the work every single day.
So I think honestly,
and the Mayor's Office has been extremely supportive.
I mean like having CARE really help us out with crisis calls,
massive improvement.
When you look at homeless issues.
Having the UCT team, all these are supportive of us.
So we actually need these resources to be
able to do the job.
-City Attorney Davidson,
we talked a lot about drug addiction, crime,
any reason to be optimistic? -Absolutely.
I'm very thankful to have a lot of new people to government.
Especially on the council.
I think new people to government is really a fantastic view
that we can all gain from.
New eyes on the same problem of also expecting
a different delivery of time.
It doesn't have to take years upon years
to actually see some of the change.
I think to be able to let loose and to say we can come together,
we actually have people who now want to problem solve.
Not be divisive and rhetoric.
But also look at what is the best approach?
Do we call everything under one label
and then we just get it all bogged down
and we don't actually be really distinct
in identifying the problem
so that then we can find a solution?
Now we are starting to identify problems correctly.
We have people who want to work together and problem solve.
And I think that is absolutely a place to have hope.
-So, in my business,
people are told to know their crowd and know their audience.
So we'll end with this.
You've got a lot of people in the business community here.
A lot of people in construction.
A lot of people who would like to see the city change course.
I have been down to Los Angeles
and I've seen how the private business community created
a fund to attract police officers for housing.
I have heard you, Chief,
talk about zoning changes
and how important that is to get foot traffic
to increase public safety.
And there's going to be a big rezone conversation in this town
over the next several months.
So I think let's start with Amy.
Is there anything in the private community
that can be done to reduce the addiction
and reduce the criminal problems
that we're seeing in the City of Seattle right now?
-I think the first thing is just
to acknowledge the officers.
We talk a lot about how to incent officers to be here.
But I sit on 911 and I know this is a hard place to be a cop.
We need to demonstrate our support of these officers.
I observe all the time their expertise and human behavior,
their kindness, their compassion.
They're working overtime all the time.
And it just doesn't really get acknowledged.
So I think we can do that.
I think that my request of this group
would be to not politicize these conversations.
It's not useful.
These are not political questions.
We have people who are suffering,
they have medical emergency, clinical emergency,
and this is not about politics.
And so I think we'll be able to get much further
down the path of response if we don't debate it so much.
I didn't like in the fall
when people debated my title for a month.
I have no interest in that.
People are suffering.
-Chief, quickly.
-I couldn't agree more with making sure
that we recognize the officers.
We're working toward getting a contract
and our officers are charging hard.
We're getting some of the capacity built
up for other units.
But what it also is,
is we're really streaming ahead for World Cup 2026.
And I think that's really going to showcase this city.
And I think we're going to be ready for it.
And actually, I'm not going to think,
we know we'll be ready for it.
-City Attorney, you get the last word.
Anything that the private business community can do
to make things better?
-I still want you to focus on we need to have
in custody treatment.
If we are going to be making a difference,
it has to encompass all aspects of how we deal with this battle.
It can't just be one of the tools that we have.
It has to be all of them.
And that means we have to focus on in custody treatment
and we have to build out re-entry for somebody
at the other side of that.
And that includes at the misdemeanor level.
Because that is really where we are closest to root cause.
We need to address events so we don't invite
and have increase in criminal activity at the felony level.
We need to do it right the first time.
We need to focus at the misdemeanor level.
Build out that system.
The entire process, not just at the front,
but throughout the entire system.
And it will require all of you to be a part of that
because many of you provide those services
and many of you will employ those people
because they can make a recovery,
they can come back to society.
And it starts by showing that we care,
by enforcing our laws,
and we bring people in and get them back at the end.
-Thank you, Seattle City Attorney Ann Davidson,
Police Chief Adrian Diaz, Amy Smith, CARE.
Not law enforcement, public safety arm.
The third public safety arm.
-Correct.
-Three department heads and some guy sitting on a stage.
Thank you.
-With a nice tie.
-Thank you, I try.
And now to close us out, Sung Yang.
-Alright folks, we are at the end.
I want to thank Chris "Supersonic" Daniels.
Our panel members, speakers, and sponsors.
But most of all,
I especially want to thank all of you
beautiful downtown boosters and civic leaders
the post-event reception has officially commenced.
See you in the hall.
[ Applause ]