Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Where did West Seattle go and where'd this disgusting place come from?
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July 10, 2015 at 6:48 am #817884
missingwestseattleParticipantIt disgusts me and makes me sad and depressed looking around. What happened to decent people amd original establishments like the Benbow, Admiral Way Cafe, The Rocksport, Huling Bros, and so on? Why does every house have to become a characterless box? Why all the highrise apartments and dipshit drivers? Enough is enough, please stop destroying what was an absolutely beautiful community.
July 10, 2015 at 1:53 pm #825622
SmittyParticipantI agree with you generally, but I also think anyone not born and raised in West Seattle cannot really complain much since we ruined it for someone else.
All those establishments were once something other than what you and I remember them as – and were probably the subject of complaints at the time they were established.
It’s hypocritical to say “now that I am here, please stop the transformation”.
edit: I had no coffee this morning. Whoosh!
July 10, 2015 at 3:36 pm #825623
datamuseParticipantYeah, that Huling Brothers dealership sure beautified the neighborhood, didn’t it.
Really?
July 10, 2015 at 4:23 pm #825624
wakefloodParticipantOne person’s beauty is another’s eyesore. There’s all sorts of ways to look at the changes WS has been going through – and will continue to go through. It’s pretty clear that this trend will continue at some accelerated pace given our growth.
So, fight for what you think deserves to be preserved and let go of what you can’t impact and keep breathing.
Someday, three generations from now, a person will post on this blog a longing for the good old days when that business that displaced your favorite one today, gets displaced by another one in 2039.
July 10, 2015 at 4:24 pm #825625
LindseyParticipantIt disgusts me and makes me sad and depressed looking around. What happened to Duwamish people and original establishments like longhouses and canoes? Why does every house need electricity? Why all the brick houses, roads, and cars? Enough is enough, please stop destroying what was an absolutely beautiful native community call Ha-Ah-Poos.
-Fixed that for you. Also, as someone who owns a souless box house built after most of my neighborhood was already developed, trust me. I’m as sad as you are that I don’t live in a 100-year old craftsman bungalow with original wood flooring.
July 10, 2015 at 4:31 pm #825626
wakefloodParticipantAnd not that this is a guarantee by any stretch BUT, what if the current plans to make walkable (and dense)communities – combined with the “locally produced” phenomenon brought back the corner market?
As folks like MWIS can attest, there used to be dozens around the peninsula. Folks who knew you by name. :-)
July 10, 2015 at 4:31 pm #825627
StarskyParticipantI agree this with the first post 100%
July 10, 2015 at 4:46 pm #825628
twobottlesParticipantI’ve lived in West Seattle for 28 years (yeah, a newcomer, I know).
Neighborhoods and cities change, always have always will. Sure I miss some of the old places (For instance, I still believe that the old Caddyshack Tavern, where Mission is now, had the best burgers ever… EVER).
But I try to embrace the change and always welcome new places. Benbow front room? Luna Park. Benbow back room? West-Five. Admiral Way Cafe? Chelan Cafe. Rocksport? West Side Public House (although the service is kinda lacking, the food is great) or “The Lodge” and upcoming place in the Junction.
Sure, you can find all kinds of bad about how West Seattle has changed and what it’s become. You can also find a lot that is good, if not better.
After living here 28 years (and now retired), what are my plans? I’m staying right here… and loving every minute of it.
July 10, 2015 at 5:18 pm #825629
waynsterParticipantIts called greed all the high rises where businesses once were…. now the mayor and he counsel want to destroy it even more with more…..West Seattle was once a blue collar community when people cared…..now its all about the dollar… more I can get for a home that’s not worth the price the better… bigger is better….. all you have too do is look at ballard and capital hill uncontrolled growth thats what happening…I was born in West Seattle grew up went to school here like my mom and my grandparents before me my great-grandfather fought the great Seattle fire now they reside in forest lawn.. has it changed for the better no…..Seattle is dieing like most city’s of size the more people come the more crowded it will get sad until someone will say enough.. they won’t lets build where you can’t can someone say L.A ….. this is what the they want….what do you want…
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Less-room-for-single-family-homes-in-Seattle-6373119.php
July 10, 2015 at 5:42 pm #825630
StumbledoreMemberAt least it’s not Burien.
July 10, 2015 at 6:01 pm #825631
clulessinwsParticipantAmen to the OP.
/
Yeah things change over time, of course, but the current status of WS is disgusting.
July 10, 2015 at 6:24 pm #825632
JTBParticipantWithin urban settings, neighborhoods either evolve or stagnate and decay. Trying to preserve a small town or remote suburban character in a setting like WS is futile.
I moved here in 2003 and since that time, the number and quality of new small businesses have steadily added to the quality of life and character of WS. If Starbucks and Chipotle are as bad as it gets for corporate intrusions, I can put up with it.
I’m frustrated by the congestion caused by the many construction projects and how that exposes the bad driving and lack of courtesy on the part of many drivers. But the construction will eventually taper off and hopefully drivers will learn to match their behavior with traffic conditions. Otherwise, the WSB will still be a tool for the community to call attention to rude, dangerous drivers.
I do believe we are at a point where community/neighborhood engagement will be important to preserve quality of life in purely residential area as evidenced by the upzoning issue which is coming forward. This is going to be an interesting, important discussion for the entire city, not just WS.
July 10, 2015 at 6:33 pm #825633
miwsParticipantAs folks like MWIS can attest….
Who the hell is “MWIS”? ;-)
Man, have so much I want to say on this topic, and may work over the next couple of days drafting up a longer, more detailed comment in Word, to post here.
In a nutshell; I feel much as the OP, and others bothered by the change do, but agree with others, that change will happen, no matter what, (although I don’t “embrace” it.)
I guess it could be said that in my heart, I hate the change, but in my mind, I (begrudgingly) accept it.
This truly is an emotional topic with me, as it is with many others, and since any opinions on it would be based purely on emotion and sentimentality, I generally don’t comment on this topic here, and in development related articles on the Main Page, other than to maybe make a data point.
Mike
July 10, 2015 at 6:42 pm #825634
wakefloodParticipantMIKE!! You know I had to reboot my computer when i noticed my typo and before I could get back in and fix it you posted!! Damn you and your sharp eyes and wit.
But yeah, so maybe what was once common – corner markets – could become logical again?
It would add to some of the lost neighborhood feel.
I’m hoping that several elements of the backlash against monolithic corporate retail gets directed into support for local and small. At least more popular than they’ve been for last 30 yrs. or so…
July 10, 2015 at 6:55 pm #825635
wssortMemberAmen to Lindsey!!!
July 10, 2015 at 6:57 pm #825636
miwsParticipantAnd damn copy & paste, and blockquote too! ;-)
Yeah, I like the “corner store” idea.
I remembered rather recently, that I years ago lamented, at least to myself, how I longed to be able to live somewhere that I could go to the local butcher for meat, the local produce stand for produce, and the “corner market” for other stuff.
It dawned on me, in that recollection, that for the last two and a half years, I’ve been realizing that “dream”, for the most part, in where I live now.
Mike
July 10, 2015 at 7:04 pm #825637
wakefloodParticipantSo there’s that. :-)
July 10, 2015 at 7:07 pm #825638
trickycooljParticipantBeing new (3 years ago) to the neighborhood it really signifies to me how welcome I really am when I see posts like this.
Actually, my grandparents did start their family in West Seattle and bought their house in 1954 and moved away in 1968 because of all the terrible things happening to the neighborhood back then. So were you the one that made them move away? I could have been a West Seattle native and lifer and had a really awesome 1920s brick house in the family had you creeps that came in the 1960s not scared them off to Federal Way. (see how irrational that sounds???)
People come and go for all sorts of reasons. You can’t expect me to have wanted to move back to where I grew up in Spanaway… yikes.
Also thanks for jogging my memory, I just looked up my grandparents’ house on the assessor website and I think my grandma is in one of the pictures. So there ya go.
July 10, 2015 at 7:33 pm #825639
GinaParticipantOddly enough, I have never missed the Mobil gas station that was replaced by the building that is now BOA on Admiral Way. The only business I really miss is Sheppard’s West Seattle Drug. That moved from the corner, and was replaced by Besaw Carpets. And Sheppard’s moved into the S&Q Grocery store, and later was a video rental place, and now is a bike store nd inbetween is the bakery that is not open to the public, that replaced, the list goes on and on.
July 10, 2015 at 8:41 pm #825640
JoBParticipantChange can be good…
when one place moves out another moves in
as long as we support them
this community is what we make of it
July 10, 2015 at 8:43 pm #825641
JoBParticipanttwobottles..
we will move on when hubby retires
but only because we didn’t move here and buy a house 28 years ago … ;-0
July 11, 2015 at 12:55 am #825642
oddrealityParticipantWe moved to N Seattle after living in W.Seattle for 35 years.It is still pretty much the same here as it was in 1958.How do I know? Because this was the family home starting that year. Half the houses on this block still have people living in them that I grew up knowing. In W.Seattle all that is changing rapidly.I miss a few things about W Seattle but not as much as I thought I would.I do go back to see my doctor and like to visit the nursery while I am there. I know it will grow here also but it is further from stores and main streets so maybe will not grow as fast as it has there.
July 11, 2015 at 7:28 am #825643
JanSParticipantI moved to West Seattle over 40 years ago when I married a man from here. We’ve been divorced for almost 20 years, and I’m still here. Owned a house once, too…and now it’s worth 3 times what I sold it for. In those 40 years, the city where I grew up in has changed totally. Once an up and coming small city in PA, not far from Philly, it is now one of the poorest, most crime ridden cities in the nation.
Things change.
Do any of you remember Don Ameche? He once starred in a movie called Things Change. It’s a good one to find and watch ;-)
July 11, 2015 at 7:58 pm #825644
Talaki34ParticipantI agree with the original poster. Change has come to WS and it continues to come at breakneck speed. I have only lived here for 4 years and I see family neighborhoods that are in danger of becoming shadows of their former selves.
The idea that years from now, others will be lamenting the same kind of things as we do now does not ring true. Today the world lacks permanence. We move quickly from one thing to the next. Look at how we buy homes. It used to be that couples bought a small home with the idea that it would expand as the family grew. They looked at the surrounding neighborhood not only as a place to raise their kids, but also as a place to live their retirement years. We buy and remodel now with the thought of eventually selling.
Personally, I am not opposed to all change; but I am troubled only minimal standards are barely enforced when changes do occur and that there is a loophole for everything. The lack of adequate parking, the disregard for the needs of already established neighborhoods, overworked and limited green-spaces available for our growing community, public services, infrastructure stretched to the limits and environmental needs are just few things I see that should to be addressed before bringing in more development.
Some questions I think we should be asking are:
•What do we want as a community (Not what the Mayor wants or the Developers) and how do we incorporate that into our surrounding communities.
•Do we want a place where families and the environment are a top priority? If not, what should the priorities be?
•Do we really want urban growth? Should we be looking at setting aside areas specifically for this? What would the tradeoffs be?
•Is it possible to merge parts of different communities to support a comprehensive integrative urban living plan? Would such a plan allow for needed urban expansion while keeping current single-family communities intact?
•What types of infrastructure improvements will need to happen if we support urban growth vs. keeping things the way they are now?
•Can there truly be urban growth with a community spin and could it support families from cradle to grave or do we need to shift our perspective?
•Is there room for compromise?
•Are we willing to take on the task of creating something new and sustainable as a collective?
Change and progress have a long history together. Beware the unchecked alliance.
July 11, 2015 at 8:28 pm #825645
missingwestseattleParticipantWow, we all seem to have similar thoughts and feelings about the extreme rate if growth and over development of West Seattle. In this forum thats all it is and will be. Is anyone interested in coming together as a community to fight for our community and its future? I think we all want a safe, healthy and stable community to call home so lets stand together and fight for it.
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