Growth, Resources, Equity, Accessibility, Transit

GREAT FOR ALL IN THE CID

working class, immigrant, multiracial communities for the #next100years

Let’s Go CID North & South

We embrace CID North and South as the preferred alternative for a station on Sound Transit’s new light rail line under downtown, the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions. 

The North and South locations will allow for expanding affordability of our neighborhood, undoing institutional harms, and ensuring the CID continues to be a home for working class and immigrant communities for the #Next100Years 

OUR VISION

We want equitable transit oriented development. We support the growth and use of light rail. We also believe that light rail should come with affordability and strengthen the cultural vitality of our current residents and small businesses. A station for the CID on the new rail line must come hand-in-hand with land acquisition for community-owned affordable housing and cultural facilities that are by and for the community.

CID is home. 

The CID is on indigenous Duwamish lands and has been home to multiracial, multilingual communities from across Asia and beyond. It is where we live, where we work, and where we find connection to our ancestors, cultures, histories and heritage.  

We envision a Chinatown International District (CID) that remains stable and prosperous for our working class, immigrant and multiracial communities.

We demand repair to generations of instituational harm from massive infrastructure projects unfiarly placed on our neighborhood. We call on the City, the County and Sound Transit to undo the institutional harms of generations past that have seen the CID simply as a place to get through for other people, with little care for the people who call the neighborhood home. The CID is home for us now, and for generations to come.

CID North & South

  • Construction of the new underground line and stations will result in disruption of the neighborhood for a significant period of time, possibly up to 10 years, and costing millions in economic losses.

    However, the proposed CID North and South stations will keep most of the disruption away from the historic core of the neighborhood, where we have most of our housing and small businesses.

    The North/South locations minimize economic hardship on the historic CID neighborhood caused by Sound Transit construction.

  • The CID South station allows us to grow the best parts of our neighborhood, making it possible for our community to build MORE affordable, community-owned housing and have more cultural and green space for our current residents.

    From experience of other API, Black and Latinx communities around the U.S., new light rail lines often cause gentrification and displacement of working-class communities. Left unchecked, real estate developers will buy up the land in our neighborhoods and develop it into market-rate housing that is unaffordable for our non-English speaking workers, families, and elders.

    But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, with regulation, anti-displacement planning, and most importantly, investment in affordable, community owned housing and cultural places, we can keep our neighbors permanently rooted and small businesses strong.

  • Contrary to claims that attracting wealthy residents supports small businesses by increasing local shopping and dining out, this kind of gentrification will also increase competition for existing businesses to find leases. High-end retailers, fine dining, and luxury stores will be drawn to the new, wealthy residents. This will drive up rents.

    There is also no way to tell whether new residents will shop and eat at our current small businesses in the CID, many of which have been serving CID residents for generations.

    CID small businesses cater to the needs and wants of current residents, and offer culturally and linguistically unique services. If rents were to rise and our CID-serving businesses pushed out, then the entire ecosystem could collapse.

    Our historic neighborhood represents a web of deeply held relationships, support systems, storytellers, and family legacies. It is an important site of Seattle’s Indigenous, Black, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese heritage and history. If the CID were to be displaced, it could never be replaced.

    In addition, when constructing new stations, Sound Transit acquires significant land to set up and store construction equipment and to make station construction possible. Once a project is completed, Sound Transit is legally required to make sure any unused land is for affordable housing. This policy is known as equitable transit oriented development (ETOD). The North/South station option will create the most opportunity for these kinds of benefits to our neighborhood.

    We must ensure that ETOD is prioritized in the Sound Transit expansion. The CID is a home, not just a transit hub.

    We envision a Chinatown International District (CID) that remains stable and prosperous for working class, immigrant, multiracial communities for the #next100years.

Opinions

Northwest Asian Weekly
COMMENTARY: The collateral damage from urban planning

Real Change News
Placement of future CID light rail station sparks heated debate, strains relations

International Examiner
Opinion: Sound Transit must recommend north and south CID light rail options

“As an organization that serves low-income Asian residents across King County, ACRS has a responsibility to ensure that our communities have access to affordable housing, equitable transit options, and thriving and safe cultural neighborhoods. It is clear that the North and South option is best able to meet these intersecting needs - providing regional connectivity without the disruptive construction to an already vulnerable neighborhood that the 4th Ave option would bring. We urge the Sound Transit Board to listen to residents who fear for the destruction of their neighborhood, and choose the North and South option.” – Michael Byun, Executive Director ACRS

“We know many workers need reliable and affordable transit to get to and from the CID area and other transportation connections, including low-wage and service sector workers with jobs in hotels and stadiums. We are in solidarity with Building Trades and other Unions who are going to benefit from good jobs in the project. However, we don’t want this expansion at the cost of disrupting our Asian American cultural home, the Chinatown International District.” - Eunice How Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, Seattle Chapter

“We are the last Chinatown in the Pacific Northwest and one of the last cultural neighborhoods in Seattle. The CID neighborhood is not a justifiable tradeoff for a transit system, especially when the North/South option provides regional access and connectivity. Portland's Chinatown was killed off with 18 months of construction. The proposed 4th Avenue station would require a decade or more of construction risking the permanent destruction and cultural erasure of our precious CID neighborhood. The 4th Ave station is a repeat of racial injustice and discriminatory urban planning at the CID’s expense.” - Auntie Bettie Luke, Diversity Trainer & Educator

“As a resident and worker in the CID, I see neighborhood pressures first-hand, from game day congestion to police violence to gentrification. This neighborhood means so much to me as a young Asian American connecting with her culture and history. I am interested in the survival of our people, our small businesses, and our physical neighborhood--all of which are threatened by Sound Transit's 4th Ave options. It has been frustrating to hear a few community members sell out the neighborhood for increased capital for a future CID that exists for the wealthy. Misguided by Sound Transit and developers, some people would sacrifice our neighborhood for empty promises, but they are a minority. Most of our community is concerned about the CID's ability to survive this. As someone who relies on public transit, I am frustrated that concerned community members have been painted as anti-transit for standing up for our home. This is a matter of whether or not our government will allow another infrastructure project to tear through a low-income neighborhood of color.” - Meilani Mandery, CID Resident & Worker 

“Our beautiful, historic, CID community has endured decades of racism and neglect.  Sound Transit's 4th Ave options add insult to injury.  It feels like we are still being treated as second class citizens.  

In the 1960s, the CID was cut in half by the I-5 freeway project.  We lost our home, as did many of our neighbors and small businesses.  It was traumatic.  The CID has never fully recovered. 

In the 1970s, the domed stadium was built on our border against our wishes.  It created havoc and a dangerous situation for our elders and young families.  Now there are two stadiums which cause dangerous driving, increased traffic and stress on our already limited parking. 

Why does the CID have to give up more of our neighborhood?  Some people think that money is the answer.  I know that it is not.  Our community is priceless.  Once the land in taken away, we can never get it back.  Taking away part of our community takes away part of our soul. 

I run our small family business which was founded by my paternal grandfather in 1911.  We are the last of the original stores in the CID.  My maternal grandfather started his maritime business in 1910.  His sons later ran the business as a grocery store until they were in their 90s.  It is now part of the Wing Luke Museum.  Our family roots run deep in the CID.  I am proud to still be a part of our community.  I share my family's history and the history of our historic neighborhood with visitors to our beautiful city. 

I believe in the importance of public transportation.  Growing up in the inner city, riding the bus was a part of our everyday life.  I have always been a strong supporter of light rail, but how can I support something that will destroy our neighborhood?  

Please help us ensure the survival of our beautiful, precious, historical community.  Do not choose the 4th Ave options.” - Constance Chin Magorty, Sun May Company