The Downtown Seattle Association has published a report outlining its vision for remaking Third Avenue through downtown.
It points out that the number of bus trips per hour during the day along Third Avenue is 290, far outstripping any downtown corridor in any other city.
It argues, however, that the pedestrian environment — for transit riders, people walking the streets, and people visiting businesses — was not designed to support the high level of transit activity. This, it argues, has created an environment that is bad for people and bad for businesses.
Curiously, the report does not mention crime or homelessness as impacts on the environment along Third Avenue. In fact, neither word appears at all in the report. Many of their recommendations, including activating the streets, would be difficult in the current environment, but at the same time have been shown in other areas to reduce crime. There is also no discussion in the report as to whether the changes they recommend would make the environment along Third Avenue more or less friendly for homeless encampments.
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