The headline above may be a somewhat misleading statement because the International District (ID) has recently received a lot of attention, due to the death/homicide of Donnie Chin, hookah lounge controversy, and very violent neighborhood crime.
The attention we are receiving is not flattering.
It is hard to evaluate when you are judging what you are already immersed in, but there is that painful, often depressing point where you have to make concessions that well, things are just wrong and you have to analyzed the points and self-evaluate, if that is objectively possible.
So, a neighborhood evaluation (and please note obviously community-paper biased):
What needs to be addressed? What can we do to make this small but important part of our world…more attractive…safer…inviting…?
There are more questions than answers. What is going on with the crime? The ID now feels unsafe, even more so than other crime-ridden neighborhoods. We do not have the resources to compile all the recent statistics, but what we can do, yet again, is recap what happened recently—and what seems to be popular on Seattle police blotter. Those unfortunate reminders include:
Local hero, ID stalwart, and figurehead Donnie Chin was murdered, shot during the evening when he was on his standard route, in which he served as watchdog and lookout for the neighborhood. This traumatized the community and will continue to do so. This summer will not be forgotten.
In case you didn’t read about it on page one, approximately 30 shots were fired into a car with alleged intent to kill? Maim? Who knows? But we do know is the victim was from Tukwila, the alleged shooter is from Holly Park. But the shooting took place here in our International District. A million dollar bail is requested for the alleged shooter. Gang violence is involved in our neighborhood.
To the police: What does it take to receive the attention we need? Aside from this recent violence?
Crime has been the unfortunate highlight, but there are also other issues the neighborhood should consider and take its own responsibility for. This is not a reprimand, just a small call to action on everyone’s part.
The ID should be more attractive. We are grateful for the flagships in our neighborhood (shout out to Uwajimaya, Lam’s, and Viet Wah!), but how can we do more to promote character and culture? Small businesses should be promoted and encouraged. Of course we love our amazing grocery stores and mega-star restaurants, but what about the tea shops, specialty book stores, bakeries, and even the little place that will sell you a tiny sprig of bamboo, or the new cute dresses from Japan?. The windows the visitors to our neighborhood peer into should offer an opportunity to invite and explore. We should be supporting both our large and small businesses.
Last point:. Please, let’s clean it up, and let’s make an effort to do so. We have character, charm, and it should be respected. We should see that instead of trash and graffiti.
We love the ID and we want everyone else to love it too. (end)