Is downtown Seattle safe to walk around at night? 46% of downtown residents think so.
Crime in Belltown received quite a bit of attention this past week when one watchful neighbor uploaded BelltownCrime videos onto YouTube. This Belltown resident filmed all kinds of interesting activities in her alleyway and posted them up for the world to watch - the videos have since been removed but you can follow all the drama that happened as a result on the The Seattle PI’s blog.
But, this does beg the question (and especially since downtown Seattle is constantly being pushed as a density poster child for the rest of the city) how are things working out for our city center? Is downtown Seattle safe?
Well, according to a survey published by the Downtown Seattle Association, that depends on what time of day you’re downtown.
Sixty-nine percent of residents believe that Downtown is a safe place to live versus 77% in 2006. While overall survey results dipped slightly in 2007, the perception of safety in the Pioneer Square/International District neighborhood increased more than 13%.
Residents continue to feel safe walking downtown during the day (93% in 2007 versus 95% in 2006); however, perceptions of nighttime safety have slipped (46% in 2007 versus 60% in 2006).
What’s really surprising though is the drop from 2006 to 2007. That’s a 25% one year drop in confidence - ouch!
(Crashworks from flickr photo - saw this photo republished first on Belltowner)
4 comments
Here’s one trick to making an area safe at night: diversity of use. San Francisco’s financial district is scary to be in after 7pm. That’s because everything closes at 5, and people dissapear from the street. The only people left are those that live on the street or are engaged in activities that are best done with few people around. All of the buisinesses in the financial district cater to office workers. No businesses means no people walking around - and empty streets are scary streets.
Are we in danger of this happening here? I don’t know. We have some businesses that are open late, and residential units are being built. But there are certainly sections of downtown that are quite empty at night.
In my informal opinion the number of homeless or random publicly drunk people in downtown/Belltown/Pioneer Square is slightly higher than other large urban areas of the US, though it doesn’t really influence my perception of the safety of the neighborhoods. Having a well traveled pedestrian oriented neighborhood is more important in the feeling of safety. During non 2-5AM hours there are usually enough people out walking places in Seattle to establish the safety in numbers density - people tend not to do stupid/disruptive things if there are are many others around. If I’m up at night, especially now that the windows are open more, I hear the random yelling or self-arguing person/people some at night, but that’s no different than other large US cities.
Belltown has its issues but it’s a good start to a livable urban neighborhood. I have noted that the building where I live put the trash bins behind gates recently - the previous few informal residents of the alleyway have since moved out.
I am mostly surprised at what a night and day issue it is (no pun intended). I wonder if having people manning the front of businesses downtown also help make things safer - hotels usually have night staff to check things out, and some parking garages have attendants that are there late.
I think there’s a big difference in safety at night downtown on 1st avenue near the hotels (Hotel 1000, Alexis, Harbor Steps) than compared with just two blocks up on 3rd.
I work late and walk home to Cap Hill from Rainier Tower after midnight 5-6 times a month. I usually feel safe enough but, other than a few people cleaning sidewalks or stumbling around, I’m the only one out there. I think Matt’s Jane Jacobism (mixed primary uses) is exactly the solution to this problem; plus I’d also often like a cup of coffee or something to eat during these late night bouts and almost everything is closed.
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