Under the Radar Urban Comebacks

[jbermingham123]

Seattle's South Lake Union deserves a mention

Historically, this area was an industrial and dockyard district, equivalent to the meatpacking district, or the hudson side of chelsea. So despite being geographically close to downtown, it was a completely separate area with separate people and activities. At one point Henry Ford built the first Ford factory west of the mississippi here.


Anyway, Seattle's downtown never experienced a serious decline like St. Louis or Detroit, but South Lake Union did. The containerization of shipping in the 60s eliminated 99% of the labor involved in maritime logistics, and by 1970, pretty much all the dockyards and warehouses were decaying and abandoned.

As you can see in the photo below, the city's response was to convert conndemned buildings into surface parking.

Here is the area in 1970 and 2015:




And the redevelopment is still ongoing. Here are a bunch of empty lots in 2016, and what they are now (via google earth). there is only one empty block left

[mhays]

Yes, but South Lake Union isn't really under the radar, and it's basically a wing of Downtown Seattle...

The aerials mostly show Belltown, not South Lake Union. South Lake Union is basically between I-5, Denny Way, Aurora/7th, and Lake Union cutting off several blocks up around Blaine St.

Some people conflate the Denny Triangle with SLU. That's normally about Stewart/Howell, Denny, and Sixth Ave. The Triangle is mostly highrises now, and is much of it's indisputably Downtown proper.

Both areas have boomed with increasing intensity since the early 2000s. That follows an effort to build a big park called the Seattle Commons that failed votes in 1995/1996 (I was on the staff of the non-profit and campaigns behind this).

If you want to see more current views, try the Space Needle Panocam (despite its overly dark images). Look from basically Downtown proper to the lake. https://spaceneedle.roundshot.com/#/

[ColDayMan]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I disagree. The West End has merely "stabilized". There have been few if any demolitions in the last 10 years, outside of the FC Cincinnati soccer stadium. Meanwhile, the area has not begun gentrifying. Two schools have sat vacant for 10 years awaiting apartment conversions, but neither project has happened. Also, not a single new-construction house has been built.

But a few miles east, the East End has definitely transformed. It has morphed from a run-down Appalachian strip (pickup trucks, confederate flags, barking dogs, arguments) to Yuppie City. Tons of new construction and yuppie stuff like microbreweries.

I mean, the West End in 2002 was a no-go-zone for like 95% of the neighborhood. I'll take the "stabilization" anydayoftheweek of that neighborhood, which clearly was helped by OTR's recent gentrification in order to stabilize to begin with. Otherwise, let's not go back to either neighborhoods' glory days of Smitty's and a bust-down KFC.

The East End has generally been in slow improvement since the early 2000s when they built that awful row of townhomes with garages on Eastern.

The true comeback king, really, is Pendleton but it's so small I didn't feel like including it. The 2024 comeback king now is Madisonville, of all places.

[MolsonExport]

Not under the radar, but this is legendary. The West Side Highway, NYC, 1970s. The Nadir of America's greatest city.

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Not under the radar, but this is legendary.

Now that area of Tribeca is home to Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Lawrence, Harry Styles, and countless more celebrities.