Seattle ticks through to-do list to revive downtown

It's been one year since Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell launched his "Downtown Activation Plan."

He's racked up a growing list of accomplishments. But so far, economic recovery has proven fickle and elusive.

The mayor’s downtown activation plan has 46 action items, from more murals to better street lighting. His office says 27 of those initiatives are in progress and 16 are complete.

The plan has brought in mural artists, satellite farmers markets, and pickleball courts.

The city is working on an opioid overdose recovery center, rule changes to encourage more apartment buildings, and a tribal interpretive center on the new downtown waterfront.

The city’s program to fill vacant storefronts with artists and small businesses has expanded. If you walk the Seattle waterfront today, you’ll see tiny shipping containers on the sidewalk with pop-up retail businesses in them.

RELATED: Seattle artists featured along waterfront in tiny pop-up shops

So, have these efforts helped? It’s still too early to tell.

The number of tourists and residents is climbing, but when seasonally adjusted, the improvement is so faint that you almost can’t see it. And the number of people visiting downtown this July was slightly less than it was a year ago.

SOURCE: Downtown Seattle Association's economic recovery data for August 2024

But other signs are more positive: The number of people who came into work at downtown offices was up 14% over last year.

Some of the city’s strategies could take a long time to bear fruit.

For example, the coming rule changes aimed at making it easier to build housing downtown. While those changes may be helpful, many developers won’t break ground on projects until interest rates come down.