Susie Burke ruined Fremont.

[Cascadian]

I was watching this feature on KIRO 7 and they had Susie Burke on. She was glorifying the "New" Fremont. The Fremont with big, imprersonal, corporate buildings and condos that ordinary working people cannot afford. In the last few years, I have seen the funky, iconoclastic district of Seattle ruined by out of control gentrification. Poor people and small business people have been driven out because of this. This story is being played out all over this city. Old buildings and homes being torn up. Anybody remember the old Music Hall downtown? Art deco building with beautiful jade panels. Torn down! A home On Queen Anne that was designed by a student of noted architecht Frank Lloyd Wright built in 1911, torn down. Where will it stop? The historic United Methodist Church is going to be destroyed as well so that a another skyscraper can be built.

Look I am not against progress and change is always obvious but why is the City of Seattle allowing itself and it's past to be destroyed? Rebuilt as an entity that nobody can no longer recognize. Tacoma has taken steps to preserve many of it's buildings as is Portland. Why can't Seattle?

Why aren't people in this town doing enough to preserve and protect old historically worthy buildings? We cannot even create a proper light-rail/monorail system but that's a another issue.

Getting back to Fremont,Susie Burke says she is simply trying to improve Fremont. For whom Susie? The yuppies? The mulitnationals? Tearing down old historic buildings helps? Where do the poor figure in this?

This uber-gentrification is going to continue is this town and it will happen ALL OVER the city. After Fremont, they will go after Georgetown, Rainier Valley, etc... Until people finally care enough to say enough is enough. I wished somebody would come up with a Historical Preservation law for the City to preserve old homes and buildings to stop further destruction. Sadly, I am afraid it maybe already too late.

John

[flamingyouth]

1. I miss the Fremont of my childhood in the '70s

Heck, I even miss the Fremont Noodle House, and that's just from the '90s, but that building was great. And Thaiku in Ballard just isn't the same to me. :(

[swag]

2. I am very sorry about Fremont, Seattle

home of many happy afternoons with Seattle friends, beers, coffees, sunshine, rain.

Seattle is still a glorious city, but it is sad indeed what has happened to Fremont.