Molly Moon's and the Gentrification of Columbia City, Seattle... by Someone who Helped Gentrify it

As many of you know, I am the sideYARD columnist for ARCADE Magazine. Sometimes the magazine rejects my articles. Heck, if you knew me in high school, you would think it's a miracle I write anything that gets publish at all! Here is one of those articles that ARCADE politely said no to:

Molly Moon’s Ice Cream has finally come to Columbia City*, Seattle. I should be ecstatic! But, as a resident of one of the most diverse and ethnically rich zip codes in the United States their opening day has given me a racial brain freeze. Getting an ice cream cone from Molly Moon’s wholesome, healthy, socially conscious, charming, and very white store in 98118 seems like the final nail in the coffin of gentrification.

But who am I to complain?  I AM one of the gentrifiers who has gentrified Columbia City!

Most newbie Seattleites aren’t aware that there actually was a time when this neighborhood was perceived by many as a crime ridden, boarded up drag along Rainier Avenue, rather than the hipster hangout it is today. But these stereotypes masked a story of a dynamic and vibrant community.   

Historically, 98118 has always been a magnet for ethnic diversity. At one point Rainier Valley was known as “Garlic Gulch” because of its Italian population. During and after World War II the neighborhood saw a large influx of Asian, Hispanic, African American and Jewish families. Institutional Racism and a practice known as "redlining”** contributed to 98118’s social and economic challenges in the 1960s and 70s, but the area persevered. 

In 1980 the Columbia City business district was put on the National Historic Register. The neighborhood began to experience a slow brewing renaissance pioneered by marginalized professionals, artists, mixed race and gender couples, and an eclectic ensemble of urban pioneers.  During this time, the area continued to prosper with many refugees and emigrants-especially North Africans-flocking to take advantage of very reasonable housing prices and a welcoming district ethos.

Despite the concerns of a number of our white friends, Kerry and I decided to venture “south of the ship canal” in the early 1990’s to find housing. I wish I could say we were driven by some altruistic vision, but we just couldn’t afford housing anywhere else. Our pigmentally challenged real estate agent was a little shocked when we told her we found an old fix-me –upper in THAT neighborhood. Our little street alone was represented by a dozen different languages and cultures. And with the richness of diversity also came the fertility of challenges. We have had many ups and downs as we learned the patterns, cultures and rhythms of Rainier Valley. At times we have blended in like a constituent adding extra richness to a simmering gumbo, and at other times we have humbly felt more like that very ingredient was supposed to go into a Molly Moon’s ice cream. 

 But we thrived, and fell deeply in love with 98118. It appears we weren’t the only ones.  

I’ve heard many urban planners bemoan that the very characteristics creating an attraction to a place eventually kill it. In the case of Columbia City it has been an erogenous, but toxic brew of exceptionally low housing prices, a charming and pedestrian scaled urban core and easy transit to Seattle’s downtown. The place where few white families wanted to be a decade ago has become a gentrification machine! 

As an architect, urban planner, and all around curious guy, I have been fascinated by this case study in rapid urban transformation. As you might sense, I am a bit ambivalent about the whole thing. Sure, it’s been agreeable to have more and more better food options, a lot more PTSA money in the public schools, more neighborhood festivals, more non-profits, more coffee bars and breweries, more fixed streets and sidewalks, more political power, more mowed front yards more community art, more nice bikes and cars, more painted houses, but…

I hate to admit this, but when it comes down to it, the “but” is that my family helped moderate the very identity that made us fall in love with Columbia City. We just got here a few days before the throngs of other Caucasian tourists.    

Columbia City will never be the same, not with the way Seattle is evolving. Recent demographic studies still show the neighborhood has a rich balance of diversity, but the signs are everywhere, and the newcomers don’t seem particularly concerned.  I know a number of the long term business owners in the area. Several have told me that this unprecedented influx of money and people hasn’t made a significant dent in their businesses. It’s really hard to believe a recent family in the neighborhood wouldn’t want to fully embrace the cultural amenities and advantages of any intriguing place, but I believe this is one of the dirty little secret of gentrification. Most gentrifiers don’t care. 

Well, the van der Veens care. As tempted as I am to sneak into Molly Moon’s for one of their pastel cones, I continue to patronize Full Tilt Ice Cream. A commercial pioneer in 98118. Now that I’ve settled in I am a full fledge NIMBY. Not in my back yard you gentrifiers!  

*I am using different names for the neighborhood such as Columbia City, 98118 and Rainier Valley. They all have different geographic boundaries and nuanced identities, but most old timers know that the heart of this community is the urban Core along Rainier Avenue in Columbia City.  

**Redlining is a practice of refusing to loan money to people living in an area perceived as financially risky.