A struggling Seattle neighborhood says it wasn’t one of the areas promoted to All-Star visitors, but that changed with just a few weeks to spare.
The guide for out-of-town All-Star fans was geared for downtown and waterfront destinations, but Northwest Newsradio’s Ryan Harris got a call from some advocates for the Chinatown-International District, who said the neighborhood just a few blocks from the stadiums was left out. So we talked to Rex Hashimoto, store director at Uwajimaya, who told us, “The area was excluded initially, but we got a call from the mayor’s office to try to do something.” Hashimoto says in a month, they managed to put together a street festival, Home Run Hangout, that would have taken three months if the mayor’s office hadn’t helped, “pushing permits through, being able to close the street down, S-DOT’s help,” Hashimoto says, “wouldn’t have been able to do it without that help for sure. Hashimoto says All-Star fans are coming to the CID, and they are noticing the increased traffic.
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office sent the following statement:
The Mayor’s Office has actively worked with the Mariners and Seattle Sports Commission in preparation for All-Star Week, including proactively engaging to ensure the CID community truly benefits from the events, rather than serving as a “pass through” neighborhood. This intentional focus has included both supporting new efforts and directly connecting CID community members with All-Star Game organizers.
Deputy Mayor Greg Wong and Senior Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell regularly meet with members of the CID community — earlier this spring, our office invited the Mariners and Sports Commission to attend that meeting to speak about this topic. CID community members followed-up directly with those organizers.
Further, here are two major examples of positive collaboration in action and our efforts to drive residents and visitors to the CID:
- We worked to ensure the official “Green Path” that is being pushed out to All-Star Week attendees includes businesses in the CID. A number of CID businesses are featured, in fact more than any other neighborhood: MLB_AllStar_GreenMap_VSEdits (visitseattle.org). Similarly, the map the Intentionalist put together of small businesses to visit, which is done in partnership with Visit Seattle, includes a large number of CID businesses: MLB All-Star | Visit Seattle. The mayor and City leaders have promoted both the “Green Path” and the Intentionalist’s curated map in the lead up to the event.
- We asked the community what THEY wanted to do to make sure there is community benefit. As a result, Uwajimaya came up with the idea of a block party to feature CID vendors and make a community-based celebration. This came together quickly and we at the City partnered to help bring it to life. Uwajimaya is hosting a weekend BBQ and then a bigger block party on Monday. We would certainly welcome promotion of these events: Upcoming Events at Seattle – Uwajimaya and All-Star Week Events | Monday, July 10 | Seattle Mariners (mlb.com).
Finally, I’ll just add that the Chinatown International District is part of Mayor Harrell’s Downtown Activation Plan area, and it has been a priority to deliver to the neighborhood the kind of improved services that we hope will be sustainable beyond one single week — for example, enhanced Unified Care Team efforts and a specific focus of our partnership with Uplift NW to address graffiti on small businesses and private property.
