One of the most diverse communities in Seattle and the nation, Rainier Valley hosts a wide array of authentic local businesses that cater to the plethora of minority groups from around the globe who live in the area, including culturally appropriate shopping, service, and entertainment establishments. Despite the historic underinvestment in this area of the city, the Rainier Valley serves as a business incubator and an important source of jobs, especially for new and recent immigrants. According to a 2009 retail development strategy study carried out on behalf of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development, the Valley boasts its own business clusters: “enclaves of international businesses draw tens of thousands of shoppers from throughout the Seattle metropolitan area and are important economic anchors and drivers” for the area . The demographic features of Rainier Valley support a wide variety of immigrant-owned businesses. For example, West African immigrants have formed a cluster of businesses over the past two decades along a thirteen-block stretch of Rainier Avenue South that includes a West African market, African hair braiding, auto body repair, and a mosque. This has led to cross-ethnic business partnerships as well. One of the most well-known and successful partnership in the area is Plate of Nations. Founded by Asari Mohamth, a refugee and restaurant owner, Plate of Nations is a unified marketing event that brings together independently-owned ethnic eateries along MLK Way South to provide menu samples for visitors that pay a flat rate to visit all of the restaurants.
Impacts of Light Rail on Business
The Central Link Light Rail, which began operation in 2009, was the impetus for changes in business and retail development patterns in southeast Seattle. With a price tag of over $3 billion, the light rail created great incentive to develop in ways that would maximize transit use. This was achieved through use of a development pattern called Transit Oriented Development (TOD). TOD has taken many definitions and has been used to mean a variety of different things. Simply put, “TOD is unparked, mixed-use, walkable development near high quality transit investments. It provides essential retail services, at least some employment, and access to high-capacity, rapid, reliable transit, all within a convenient, 5-minute walk.” Figure 8 below provides a diagrammatic explanation of the typical urban form of TOD as compared to standard development.
Changing Development Patterns
Locations of business development have also seen change with the light rail. While retail hubs in Southeast Seattle prior to 2009 almost exclusively resided along Rainier Avenue South, the light rail alignment was put along MLK Way South, an adjacent arterial. The above maps show quarter mile and half-mile rings around each of the Rainier Valley light rail stations and their proximity to different zoning designations. Note that there is significantly more neighborhood/commercial-zoned land (orange) along Rainier Avenue South than MLK Way South, as well as the distance between light rail stations and the established retail hubs on Rainier Avenue. The light rail was put on MLK Way because the land was more affordable, had more development potential, and because it would directly serve two low-income housing developments: Rainier Vista and Holly Park. This placement decision has resulted in two important outcomes. First, based on the description of TOD outlined above, most new retail development is occurring along MLK Way to have better access to high capacity transit. Due to the reduction of road capacity on MLK Way, automobiles have redirected and now use Rainier Avenue more predominately as the north-south arterial. This change has made it more dangerous for pedestrians in the historic retail centers along Rainier Ave. Second, the new retail development along MLK Way conflicts with existing retail hubs less than a mile away. This competition has the potential to weaken the markets in both the older neighborhood retail hubs and the new TOD adjacent to the light rail.
Recent Initiatives to Improve Transit-Oriented Development
Five years after the light rail opened, the expected economic growth associated with this development has been slower than desired and a number of efforts have been recently initiated to target business growth along the light rail corridor. The Rainier Beach Station is one area where TOD has been difficult. The City of Seattle Planning and Development Department is now looking at building a vocational school directly at the light rail station to increase the capacity of workers in the neighborhood. In March 2015, the City of Seattle announced a $1.8 million investment in neighborhood business districts, eight of which are located in South Seattle. This investment will be used to visually improve storefronts and business areas to make them move inviting to customers, assist with the organization of businesses into business improvement areas, and fund business development. The Othello station is one area where these types of programs have been successful. Othello has benefited from a community marketing campaign called “O, Hello Othello,” the creation of a business district, and a storefront cleanup effort. Othello is currently attracting the type of new construction and housing development that hasn’t been in the area or seen for decades.
Origins of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund
Businesses that were located along MLK Way South previous to construction of the light rail line feared the negative impacts that construction and the eventual light rail would have on their business. Save Our Valley was a group formed of those who disagreed with the decision that the light-rail tracks would be placed at grade through the Rainier Valley but underground in the more affluent, largely white neighborhoods north of downtown.
During the project’s Environmental Impact Statement process the businesses and residents of the Rainier Valley won two large victories. First, Sound Transit agreed to shorten the length of the light rail trains to address the concern that patrons could be deterred from shopping with long trains piercing MLK Way South. Second, the Sound Transit Board established a $50 million Transit Oriented Community Development Fund to be dispersed to those most negatively affected by the project. This fund later became known as the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund.
