Social media post blasts developers

Walk nearly anywhere in the Emerald City and you’ll see them.  Cranes reveal change is here and signs that signal more is coming.  “Seattle to me was always like a big, small town. You had that atmosphere and now it’s gonna be like any other big city,” said Howard Curenton who has lived in Seattle for 20 years.

On Thursday, a sign appeared on social media that shows change is not universally welcomed.  It reads, in part, “You have torn down everything that made Seattle cool and replaced it with suck.”  Peg Moline-Livdaho has lived in the Seattle area for 20 years after moving from Minnesota.  “They are tearing everything down in West Seattle.  I’m sick of it. It used to be a nice community. That’s why I basically moved here from the Midwest.  I think Seattle is going down the tubes.  I really do,” said Moline-Livdaho.

The pace of land use applications and decisions in Seattle is staggering.  There were 63 in just the past two weeks.  There is a personal connection to the growth.  My great grandfather built a building for his laundry company in 1917.  It’s a designated Seattle historic landmark in South Lake Union.  But now, most of the building is gone and replaced with modern apartments developed by Paul Allen.  “Most new development kind of look alike and they’re very quickly built up to make as much money as possible,” said Seattle resident Martin Keereman.

The latest post on social media hits home for a lot of people who have called Seattle home for generations.  One line reads, “Stop building ugly s**t that looks like stacked shipping containers.”

It’s not the first time we have seen this kind of public protest.  Last year, on April Fool’s Day, street artist John Tingley put up fake “proposed land use” signs on some of Seattle’s most famous landmarks, including the Space Need and Pike Place Market. “We’re losing something in Seattle. Make everybody think twice about how much development we’re approving in this city, how quickly it’s going up, and what it’s really doing to change the city of Seattle, the personality of Seattle, the heart and soul of Seattle.”