I-90 decimated the neighborhood but residents rebuilt it

By VANESSA HO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Judkins Park began crumbling in the 1960s, when the state decided to widen I-90. Legal and political battles mired the project for more than a decade, keeping the community in limbo. During that time, many residents sold their houses to the state. About 400 homes in Seattle's most ethnically diverse neighborhoods were wiped out.

"A lot of beautiful houses were destroyed," says Bradley. "The place became a virtual ghost town. Drug stores disappeared. The mom-and-pop shops closed up. People didn't want to come in here; there was no business."

Crime plagued the neighborhood. When Gary Clark moved in seven years ago, shootings were a regular occurrence. "There was a shooting once a week within 100 yards of our house," he says, recalling a time when gunfire erupted outside, and a bullet whizzed by his neighbor's head and lodged in a living room wall as he watched TV.

Residents fought back, forming vigilant block watches, launching massive cleanup campaigns, and demanding increased police presence. It worked.

According to Jim Pugel, a lieutenant in the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct, crime in the neighborhood has steadily decreased for the past three to four years.

"It's a community that has taken a real leadership role," he says. "The neighborhood is definitely coming back. There are so many good things happening down there."

Continued:

• Once rejected, this urban community unites for the future
• Bureaucratic snafus kept area in limbo
• Diversity and location are drawing new residents
• Neighbors have kept the faith alive