
Trip
Urban Walk - Seattle Central District
This 2nd of four urban night walks through Seattle's Central District (CD) explores the legacy of "redlining". We also explore the history of segregation, exploitation, exclusion and enforcement. About 3 hours.
- Mon, Feb 10, 2025
- Seattle Urban Walk Committee
- Urban Walking
- Adults
- Moderate
- Mileage: 5.2 mi
- Elevation Gain: 600 ft
- Pace: 1.5 to 2.0 mph
- 1 (11 capacity)
- FULL (3 capacity)
- Cancellation & Refund Policy
This up and down night walk criss-crosses East Seattle to follow the central boundary of a large "redlined" district noted in a Kroll 1936 real estate map. We traverse Seattle University and move through the heart of the Central District on Marion St to I-5 before returning via Yesler, then north through Powell Bartlett Park to our start. We'll look for enduring evidence of 20th century segregation in our fair city.
Yesler St (old Mill St) plays an outsized role in Seattle's history of racial and economic segregation.
March 2013, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "A clear-eyed view of our past reveals a history of racial and ethnic intolerance. In the 19th century, all Native Americans were banned from living in Seattle, a city named for a local tribal leader. In the 1880s, Chinese workers were expelled amid riots. The Japanese internment during World War II remains a stain.
"But Seattle’s exclusionary practices extend beyond those events, and were in place much more recently. The city was stitched together with racial exclusions written into property deeds and community covenants. Real estate agents and lenders used “redlining” to draw racial boundaries. In 1960, Seattle was 92 percent white. More than 90 percent of Seattle’s black population was pushed into the Central District. In 1964, Seattle voters soundly defeated an “open housing” ordinance that would have let anyone live anywhere. It lost by more than 2-to-1. The city was segregated, and a large majority wanted it that way."
See Megan Asaka (2022) Seattle from the Margins. UW Press.
The University of Washington Seattle Civil Rights Labor History project provides insights to our history of racial segregation:
http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/segregated.htm
Meet shortly before 6pm, geared up and ready to walk, at the intersection of E 30th Ave and Marion St. Plenty of on street parking.
Required Equipment
Water, snacks, appropriate outerwear, and sturdy shoes.
Headlamps required and brifght and/or reflective clothimg advised.