Seattle expanding street program despite business harms

Seattle plans to expand its People Street program in 2018, despite some businesses reporting that past events harmed sales.

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People Street events are organized by the Seattle Department of Transportation. A city block is cut off from traffic and opened to pedestrian use. It resembles a promenade. There were three People Street events in 2015 and again in 2016. In 2017, Seattle conducted 10 such events on either Thursdays or Saturdays. The events are quirky and fun — pianos in the street, yoga in the street. Cafes expand tables into the roadway.

SDOT’s goal for 2018 is to permit 10 People Street events in three different neighborhoods. Neighborhoods can apply to host an event online. The expansion of the program builds off of a survey conducted at 2017 People Street events on Pike Street.

That survey indicates the programs may have hurt businesses in the area around the street closures. The majority of businesses surveyed stated they either took a hit in sales, or saw no benefit.

A total of 44 business responded to the survey. A total of 34 percent reported lower than normal sales during the street closures; 25 percent said that sales were unaffected; and 5 percent reported sales were higher than normal. One business reported that its sales were 33 percent lower during the closures compared to the year before.

One business quoted in the survey said:

Temporarily affecting a space such as this creates a disconnect for the public – either it has to be permanent or a one-time thing/event. This method was a disaster for our business and the businesses around us because it removed the vibrancy that we normally have (before 10 p.m.) without instigating an equal or better energy.

Adding up People Street numbers

(SDOT)

Non-business attitudes about the events were more positive. A total of 96 percent liked the events and would like to see more pedestrian streets in the future; 91 percent felt the pedestrian-only aspect made the street feel safer; and 77 percent indicated that cutting the blocks off from traffic for pedestrian use did not make it more difficult to get to the Pike/Pine area.

The survey also produced such insights as:

The majority of people we encountered during Pike people street either lived in or were visiting the neighborhood.

Which leaves one to wonder: What other options are there? Were the minority of people dragged there against their will? The survey does elaborate that some people work in the area or own a business. I’d tell you more about that if not for the fact that the survey’s percentages add up to 150 percent. For example, 60 percent of the people surveyed live in the area, and 44 percent were visiting. Those two options alone add up to 104 percent. There could be overlap, of course — someone living in the neighborhood, and owning a business, and working. So I guess some people were both living in the area and visiting the area at the same time…

SDOT’s report on the events states that on Thursdays, people more often came to the events around 7 p.m., whereas on Saturdays foot traffic peaked around midnight. People spent the evening dining, dancing, passing through, and other activities. Of course, the results for activities around the events add up to 256 percent (again, I’m assuming overlap). A total of 16 percent had come out just for the People Street event.

A People Street event on Seattle’s Capitol Hill in 2017. (SDOT)

• 55 percent drinking
• 53 percent dining
• 44 percent walking around and hanging out
• 25 percent dancing
• 17 percent art / performance / art walk
• 16 percent on the way to / from home
• 16 percent People Street
• 14 percent shopping
• 14 percent work
• 2 percent other

It’s more difficult to explain the percentages on the ethnic background of those surveyed — 106 percent. SDOT includes a “mixed” category, which one would assume would account for overlap. A total of 72 percent were white; 14 percent were Asian; 4 percent were Black/African-American; 10 percent Latino; 3 percent Native; and 3 percent mixed.

Again, giving SDOT the benefit of the doubt — overlap — the percentages for travel add up 101 percent: 43 percent bikes or walked; 20 percent carpooled; 15 percent rideshare; 12 percent transit; 10 percent drove alone; 1 percent carshare.

Now granted, I went to public school and certainly didn’t major in any mathematics. But I’m assuming that the numbers will have others scratching their heads as well.

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