RECLAIMING SEATTLE’S CENTRAL DISTRICT

Ambitious moves aim to bring the Black population back to an historic neighborhood

I was quoted in a Seattle Mag article along with a hand-full of organizations making strategic efforts to ensure Black people remain a vital part of the Central Area of Seattle.

As it stands today, the Central District has transformed from an area with more than 80% Black residents to fewer than 10% due to a combination of gentrification and redlining over decades uprooting families and businesses.

My Quote:

"Gardner Global is run by Black developer Jaebadiah Gardner. He aims to preserve community in the Central Area and has purchased two properties at 23rd and Union to develop into affordable apartments. One was occupied by Mount Calvary Church and a parking lot, and the other by a teen center. Both projects are in early design phase, and Gardner wants to incorporate design and art elements that speak to the culture and history of Central Area African American churches, such as stained glass. Some of the units will be lofts where artists can work and live.

“We have to be patient,” Gardner says. “Things won’t change overnight. But I’m excited and bullish on where the Central District is heading.”

Thank you for including me in the article and spreading the word that help is on the way for those displaced.

Written by: HEIDI MILLS for Seattle Mag

This article originally appeared in the May/June 2023 issue of Seattle Magazine.