Mayor Of Seattle Nickells

Danny Westneat South Lake Union's barely noticed boom

Danny Westneat

Years after a huge political and cultural battle over whether to convert a worn-down part of town into a sort of loft for the creative class — and after we kicked out the mayor who staked his career on it — an early verdict is in on South Lake Union. It worked. In terms of jobs, it has worked spectacularly. It's exceeding even the optimistic claims made years ago by its most starry-eyed promoters.

Seven years ago, Paul Sommers, an economist, wrote a report that became a flash point in Seattle's ongoing battle about what kind of city it wants to be.

He's the guy who predicted that if the city joined hands with billionaire Paul Allen to make over an entire neighborhood, the payoff could be huge: as many as 23,000 jobs by the year 2020.

"People did doubt that, and said it was too Pollyanna," remembers Sommers, who has since retired from Seattle University. "I always felt it was solid."

It turns out he wasn't Pollyanna enough.

Years after a huge political and cultural battle over whether to convert a worn-down part of town into a sort of loft for the creative class — and after we kicked out the mayor who staked his career on it — an early verdict is in on South Lake Union.

It worked. In terms of jobs, it has worked spectacularly. It's exceeding even the optimistic claims made years ago by its most starry-eyed promoters.

When does that ever happen? When do local leaders over-deliver?

By the close of 2010, the Vulcan-developed "Allentown" area was judged to be home, already, to 14,000 jobs. That's 30 percent more than Sommers had projected by this time under his rosiest scenario.

Plus the figure of 14,000 jobs, included in a recent report from the city's Office of Economic Development in conjunction with Sommers, is almost certainly low. It was tallied at the end of last year, so it includes only 3,200 jobs for Amazon. Amazon hasn't said how many workers it has at its new headquarters, but based on square footage it's believed to be at least 6,000 by now and on its way to 10,000.

Earth Week is April 17-23 | Tacoma Weekly

Pacific Lutheran University senior Reed Ojala-Barbour was looking for a way to make his passion for environmental activism tangible.

He found it in a habitat restoration project on PLU’s campus. The project involved clearing invasive plant species from a site on the lower west side of campus and planting native species to recapture native habitat on campus. Tobiason ensured the preservation of more than 100 acres in the Parkland area through Cascade Land Conservancy and was pivotal in organizing a large group to prevent the three acres around the university campus from becoming a paved parking lot. He worked to restore the area by sculpting hills, planting and laying nurse logs to mimic natural habitat after it had been graded. Tobiason worked with Ojala-Barbour in guiding the restoration of the site.

Earth Day speaker

Former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels will speak on “All Politics is Local: Even Global Warming,” from 7:30-8:30 p.m., April 18 in the Scandinavian Cultural Center at PLU.

Nickels served eight years as the 51st mayor of Seattle from 2002 to 2009. While mayor, he focused on four priorities: getting Seattle moving, keeping neighborhoods safe, creating jobs and opportunity for all, and building strong families and healthy communities. Primarily known outside of the region for his leadership on climate protection, Rolling Stone called Nickels the “Pied Piper” of mayors for his works to protect the climate. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded him its 2006 Climate Protection Award. Nickels launched “Seattle Climate Action Now,” a grassroots effort to protect the climate by taking action at home, at work and on the road.

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