In recent years, we have made major investments in education and the future of City:?in my first months in office,?we expanded the Seattle Preschool Program and?created the Seattle Promise, which guarantees free tuition to high school graduates.??
This week,?Seattle Public Schools?(SPS)?and the City came together with a?new partnership?that would allow?a?new?downtown school and a?renovated Memorial Stadium.?This?partnership?is an investment in Seattle?s future for students?and families across Seattle. Memorial Stadium is 74 years old, and in need of replacement.?We have seen the transformative power of Climate Pledge Arena, and now, we have a once-in a lifetime opportunity make progress on Memorial Stadium ? one that will provide incredible opportunities for our youth and the community.??
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Students from across the district should not have to play in facilities that are in disrepair. We owe it to the youth of our City for generations to come to build?a high-quality venue for arts, sports, culture, community gathering and music at Seattle Center (see map?here). To?make this happen,?Seattle Public Schools is proposing $66.5 million in next February?s Buildings, Technology, and Academics/Athletics (BTA) V Capital Levy to provide for a replacement at a scale to meet the basic needs of student athletics and graduations.??
This partnership?would allow the City of Seattle to work with the district to expand the scope, scale, and functionality of the new Memorial Stadium, with the City and private philanthropy providing additional funding.?Investing in education, equity, and improving Memorial Stadium will help Seattle to build back better, as we look towards recovery from the?COVID-19 pandemic. The future of Memorial Stadium,?a downtown school,?the waterfront,?and?the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena?are critical as Seattle continues to grow.?
As always, please continue to write me at?[email protected], reach out via?Twitter?and?Facebook, and stay up-to-date on the work we?re doing for the people of Seattle on my?blog.????
Stay safe and healthy,???????
Mayor Durkan,?Councilmember?Dan Strauss?(District 6, Northwest Seattle) and Councilmember?Debora Juarez?(District 5, North Seattle) celebrated the passage of?Council Bill 120149, which amends size limits and parking requirements for indoor sports and recreation uses in the Ballard-Interbay-Northend?Manufacturing/Industrial Center (BINMIC).?
Alongside Mayor Jenny Durkan, Councilmembers Strauss and Councilmember Juarez helped to usher the legislation through the council.??
The Seattle Storm team has won four WNBA championships, making them the most decorated of all regional professional sports teams. The Storm also offers basketball clinics for youth and supports social-justice movements.?
Over 12,000 Seattle residents enrolled in Fresh Bucks can now shop with their Fresh Bucks Card or app, eliminating the need for paper vouchers and improving customer and retailer experiences.?
Fresh Bucks, a healthy food program that provides monthly cash assistance to eligible and enrolled Seattle residents so they can buy fruits and vegetables, is providing customers a new way to shop for produce using an electronic benefits system.?The new system replaces the use of paper vouchers, leading to smoother transactions at checkout and an improved experience for over 12,000 Fresh Bucks customers and 43 participating retailers and farmers markets.?
Mayor Jenny A. Durkan and the Seattle City Council have announced their appointments of community members to serve on the Seattle Redistricting Commission, the body responsible for overseeing the development of new City Council district lines in response to the completed 2020 Census.?
The Food Equity Fund is a new grant program that prioritizes projects led by and for communities most impacted by limited access to healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant food. Applications are now open. Community-based organizations working?to?address?food education, access, and security?in Seattle?are encouraged to apply?for the fund by November 30, 2021.?
Save the date!?The?National?Film?Festival?for Talented?Youth (NFFTY),?the Office of?Economic?Development?(OED), and?the Office of Arts and?Culture?are partnering to host the third annual City of Seattle Film Career Day on Saturday, Nov. 6, happening both in-person and virtually. This is a FREE event open to anyone ages 13-26 who is curious about filmmaking or is seeking a career in the film industry. Learn about unique career opportunities here in Seattle, and network with industry leaders and peers.?
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Crowds of people tried Seattle's newest stretch of light rail this week, ending at Northgate. As they exited the station, many of them were greeted with a neighborhood undergoing massive change.?
The first thing you may notice when you exit Northgate station is the site of the old Northgate Mall.?
Shaun?Kuo?grew up across the street. He used to play with the wooden train sets at the local Toys R Us. Now he?s an urban planning student who writes for the Urbanist. He?s been tracking changes coming to what used to be the mall.?
?We?re almost at the demolished Nordstrom,? he said, pointing to yet another part of the shopping center that now looks less like a mall and more like a sinkhole.?
Simon, the owner of this property, is tearing most of the buildings down in phases and building a new neighborhood on private land. At its center is the Kraken Community?Iceplex. Around that will be a little park, and something like an outdoor mall, with midrise office towers and apartment buildings above.?
?How do you feel about these changes to the place where you used to spend so much time as a kid?" I asked?Kuo.?
?Very positive,"?Kuo?said. "Northgate could use a change. When the mall was around, and before that, it was very much like a young suburb of Seattle."?
But with light rail now open,?Kuo?said "it will be actually a part of the city, part of the urban core. Because the travel time between Northgate and Westlake is 15-ish minutes. It?s basically part of downtown at that point.??
Based on the permit activity?Kuo's?been tracking, he estimates the new development will be complete sometime in the mid 2020s.?
In the neighborhood around it though, community stakeholders are getting new ideas about how to use their land.?
North Seattle College is across the freeway from the new light rail station. A pedestrian bridge connects the two. College President Dr.?Chemene?Crawford says her campus was kind of isolated before the light rail arrived. People could see the campus from the freeway, but it wasn?t always obvious how to actually get there. But now, more people seem to be finding it.?
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