Talk:Rainier Valley, Seattle

Gangs
"A lot of gang activity" in "recent years"? Sounds pretty dubious to me. I've spent quite a bit of time in the Rainier Valley, and while it was pretty rough in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Seattle's rate of violent crime is way down from that period (though it has lately shown a slight uptick). Columbia City (probably the Valley's most prosperous neighborhood), is currently home to two live theater venues, a cinema, and several upmarket restaurants, and as far as I know they are doing fine. "A lot" is very vague. If we are going to talk about crime - we don't for most Seattle neighborhoods - it should be based on something a lot more solid than one newspaper article (which is all that is cited). - Jmabel | Talk 05:24, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

why "most diverse ZIP code in Pacific Northwest"?
Why does the first paragraph constrain that statement to the Pacific Northwest? The link is to the HuffPo article about how 98118 was found to be the most diverse ZIP code in the United States, in the 2010 census. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dmahugh (talk • contribs) 23:42, 22 January 2012 (UTC)
 * "Diverse" means lots of non-white people. 108.38.29.47 (talk) 05:53, 27 March 2016 (UTC)

Martin Luther King Way, the light rail, and urban blight. Maybe.
The article's previous description of MLK Way certainly seemed to have some axes to grind. It appeared quite opinionated, lacking sources, and lacking NPOV. I tightened it up and added citation needed tags (some even to my own words...) Hopefully I was able to mark opinions as opinions in what I left behind.

I don't think there was any light rail planning for the valley before the mid-1990s (around the time of the original Sound Transit proposal), but I could be wrong. I agree that a station near Orcas or Graham street would be a fine thing. The presence or lack of a station would have little impact on accessibility to I-5; signal timings at all level crossings feel long-timed. (opinion mine.) I can't comment on Valley politics during the period given below, and this article doesn't seem to be the right place to air these grievances.

The main excision follows:


 * though unfortunately, the Way is underserved by rail stops, of which there are only four (McClellan at the start of the north valley, Columbia City at the north end of the Central valley, and Henderson and Othello in the South Valley). This unfortunate circumstance arise from Valley politics of the late-1980s/early 1990s, when the light rail was planned, when Seward Park residents ensured there were no stops in the center of the Central Valley, by either Orcas or Graham Streets, despite these being the home of a natural stop (between the two streets), so that they would not be inconvenienced by a stop as they made their way to I-5 on these two access roads. As a result, there are no light rail stops on Martin Luther King Jr Way South from Othello Street to Alaska Street, a two mile-long stretch, an absurd length for an urban transit system that is supposed to provide access for the Valley (which many Seattleites will refer to as "inner city" despite its lower density than almost any other part of residential Seattle except downtown) to downtown and the airport. As a result this two-mile portion of the "Way" is more depressed than it should be, and between Orcas and Graham (approximately 1/2 mile) remains seriously blighted; in this half-mile stretch, where a station naturally belongs (approximately one mile north of the Othello stop and one mile south of the Columbia city stop), there is none.

Co149 (talk) 04:52, 27 January 2012 (UTC)