DP
Rising density seems to be an unfortunate fact of life. From my perspective, it’s a mixed bag. Parts of Delridge are getting better as the new multi-family units go up. However, in my area (the 8000 block), things are getting worse.
When developers tear down tarpaper shacks and put up tastefully done built-to-last lowrises with little gardens in front, I’m ok with that. But when they plow under stands of trees and throw up rows of butt-ugly “snout houses” that go right to the street, I’m sorry, but that’s just uglification.
(Are you reading this, City Planning Department?)
And all over the city, it’s getting crowded.
Remember when you could go to a Seattle Center event and not come back with bruises from all the elbowing?
Remember when cruising Alki wasn’t downright claustrophic?
Well, folks . . . that’s density for you. And it’s going to get worse; much worse. Is that what we have to put up with just to keep our economy going? Then maybe there’s something wrong with the way our economy is set up.
For the meantime, I suppose we’ve got to find space for anybody who wants to live here—as long as they can find work. At the same time, though, we should be thinking about the future and encouraging people to have fewer children, because population growth and associated resource consumption at the current rates are just not sustainable.
We also need to take a hard look at immigration and ask ourselves how it’s affecting our quality of life.
Guess I’m with anonyme on this one. I know that people don’t want to talk about population, but we’re gonna have to deal with it eventually anyway, right? —So why not deal with it now, while we still have a few options?
Or . . . we could just let Nature take care of it.
(Not a good choice, IMO.)
—D.P.