Why do you go to SoDo? Today So Far

• Why do you go to Seattle's SoDo area?
• Seattle's GO Center has to go.
• Leaded fuel at local airports.

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for July 24, 2023.

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Why do you go to Seattle's SoDo area?

Personally, the only reasons that have drawn me to SoDo in recent years have been "Stranger Things: The Experience," when Ace Comic Con came to Seattle in 2019, and when Jeremy Enigk performed at a winery. I've heard there are also sports stadiums in the area. The fact that SoDo has increasingly become more associated with entertainment than the industrial activity that founded it, has a lot of people rethinking the neighborhood — such as, turning SoDo into more of a neighborhood.

KUOW's Joshua McNichols reports that industry is still happening in SoDo, and the Port of Seattle is still up and running. But folks are starting conversations around how to allow uses like entertainment and even residential into the mix. Seattle's zoning codes just went through an update. A lot of compromises were made. In SoDo, industry was protected against the potential invasion of big box stores. That compromise didn't include residential or arts, etc.

In a former life, I lived just outside of Munich, Germany. In a small pocket of the city, right next to an array of train tracks, is Werksviertel-Mitte. It was once a thriving industrial district with massive warehouses, and a patchwork of concrete and iron structures. When I was there, it had been transformed into a late-night club district, packed with bars and more. I saw Coldplay perform in an old warehouse there. The district has continued to evolve since then. Wanting to keep the creative and startup vibe, folks now aim to add apartments, hotels, shops, and more.

This is not an apples to apples comparison with SoDo, but I could see a similar evolution happening locally, something that fits Seattle; an evolution that accommodates industry while also catering to the creative scene of breweries, wineries, entertainment, and more that has emerged in the area. Don't worry, we don't have to bring Coldplay into it. But such an evolution is not easy. For the full story on this, read here.

Go is a game that is about 4,000 years old. It continues to be played today by fans spanning the globe, including at the Seattle GO Center.

The Seattle GO Center has been in the U-District since 1995, but it now faces the challenge of an evolving Seattle. The building is slated to be torn down to make way for new development. Managers of the GO Center previously thought they had a path forward with the developer, but that path got rocky and they now have to vacate. Check out the full story on this here.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted in favor of requiring airports to sell leaded fuel for airplanes.

Leaded fuel has already been taken out of automobile gasoline. It's also been taken out of paint and other products. Lead isn't all that great for human health. But aviation fuel is one place where lead maintains a presence, particularly in smaller planes with piston engines. In turn, it is spread into the environment. This is especially true around airports, like Boeing Field in Seattle.

The Senate version of this legislation is still in the works, but it also requires that airplane fuel use the leaded variety until at least 2030, or until an alternative is more available. That alternative already exists, but whether or not airports are willing to quickly upgrade to unleaded airplane fuel is another issue (only five airports across Northwest states offer unleaded fuel).

While looking into this story, KUOW's John Ryan spoke with folks around the airport in Seattle, such as Christian Poulsen, who lives in South Park with his two sons.

“I live next to an airport that sells leaded fuel,” he said. “So this is a topic that's really close to home.”

Read the full story here.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

La Conner Weekly News' editor and publisher Ken Stern uses a clipboard to track how many copies of the weekly paper are sold at the different stops around town, including newspaper boxes, the local grocery store, and several coffee shops nearby. He says he's noticed a decline in the number of papers sold from the boxes over the years, but wants to keep them available to people walking throughout town. Stern is looking for someone to buy the La Conner Weekly News so he can retire. (Northwest News Network)

DID YOU KNOW?

The Seattle GO Center has been in its current location since 1995, but Go's presence in Seattle goes back much further. Iwamoto Kaoru was renowned as a professional Go player in Japan. He held champion titles, and challenged other top players to high-profile games. One such game was between Kaoru and Utaro Hashimoto, who held the Honinbo title, in 1945, just outside of Hiroshima. The game was on its third day on Aug. 6, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Kaoru watched the city burn from the suburbs. The building they were in was damaged and some who were present were injured. It's become known as the "Atomic bomb Go game."

The event had a significant impact on Kaoru. He spent the remaining years of his life with a goal to spread cultural awareness and peace. He did it by teaching the game of Go internationally and founding Go centers in Amsterdam, New York, London, New York, São Paulo, and Seattle.

ALSO ON OUR MINDS

Affirmative Action for rich kids: It's more than just legacy admissions

Affirmative action for minority kids may now be dead. But a blockbuster new study, released today, finds that, effectively, affirmative action for rich kids is alive and well. They may or may not always do it on purpose, but a group of the most prestigious private colleges in America are handing a massive admissions advantage to rich kids over less affluent kids — even when they have the same SAT scores and academic qualifications.

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