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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Seattle was one of 63 cities named in November 1967 to start planning in the Model Cities program. Subsequently it received a $209,720 planning grant to develop a plan for a 2.25 square mile area in the center of the city. About 10 perc·ent of the city population, or 58,000 people live in the model neighborhood on two percent of the city's land area. The model neighborhood contrasts sharply with the general prosperity of Seattle, which is considered a "white collar" city with a median average income of $6,942. Unemployment in the model neighborhood is three times the city rate, median annual income is 27 percent lower, nearly half (45 percent) of family heads did not finish high school, and onethird of the families live at or near the poverty level. Eighty-five percent of Seattle's Negro population live in the model neighborhood, making up more than half the neighborhood population. The area also includes Japanese and Chinese communities as well as small numbers of American Indians, Eskimos and Filipinos. Ten percent of the residents are white. Citizens Involved Seattle's five year program for upgrading this area incorpor. ates the work of 10 citizen planning task forces working closely with volunteers from public and private agencies at the local, State and Federal levels. During seven months of weekly and semi-weekly meetings, over 1700 citizens participated in task force planning. Proposals approved by the task forces were passed on to the Seattle Model City Advisory council, composed of 86 representatives from neighborhood organizations, ranging from church and fraternal to militant civil rights groups. The City Demonstration Agency (CDA) staff, a group of 23 professionals, including seven persons on full time loan from city, county, State agencies and private enterprise, worked closely with th~ task forces and the Council to develop the final plan for approval by the Mayor and City Council. Five Year Strategy Seattle's five year program aims at a turn-around of all as pects of life in the target neighborhood. "Solutions will be aimed as much at the inherent contradictions of our institutions as the individual victim of these contradictions" the Seattle program says. "We need altered ways of life as well as altered lives." - more - �- 2 - To accomplish this, Seattle looks to both public and private support. Two key elements of the plan, an economic developme nt corporation and a housing development corporation, are expected to bring several million dollars of private and other non-federal funds into the n e ighborhood and multiply the impact of this money by keeping it in the neighborhood. Backing up these programs will be concentrated manpower training and supporting health and social services to give model neighborhood residents the chance to get the jobs involved in the physical and economic improvement of the neighborhood. At the same time, fundamental improvements in the education system -- dealing with what is taught, how i t is taught and how parents and childre n in the neighborhood look at the scho o ls -- are projected as ess e ntial to the long r a nge self-s uffici e ncy o f individua l residents and of their community. Coordination of these various efforts will take place bath at the city level, where similarly operated agencies have gain e d new experi e nce working togethe r, and at the neighborhood level, where the Model Citie s program already h a s opened n e w ch a nn e ls fo r p a rticipation in gove rnme ntal and other decisions affecting the neighborhood. PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS Economic De v e lopme nt and Employment Seattle's basic approach is to provide adequate family income to overcome poverty in the model neighborhood and at the s2me time increase the amount of economic leadership in the neighborhood and elimin a t e ma rginal employment by upgrading skills. The City hopes to double in the ne x t five y e ars the number of mod ~ l _neighborhood f a mi li e s who own or control e conomic r e source s. A k e y e leme n t for d e v e loping n e w res ide nt-owned bus inesse s in the n e igh~o r h ood i s t h e United Inne r-City Development Foundation now being organized with the coope r a tion of some 30 groups in the area. This .corporation would dra w on the r e sources of the Washington State Deve lopme nt Co r pora tion and pri v a te and Fe d e ral resource s to increa s e t e n f old a n ini t ial c api t a li zation of $3 million. Th e economic de v e lopme nt p r ogram wi l l b e b acked u p by c h a nges in the d e live r y of manpower services, e x panded skills and managemen t tra ining and a n e x tensive consumer prote ction program . To coord inate existing e mp loy me nt c o~s e lling, t ra ining a nd p l a c ement now pro v i ded by 12 agencies , t h e p l a n c a lls f or a n Emp l oyme n t UniCe n ter with outreach and one-stop serv ices. Among o t h er activi ties, the UniCenter would immediately start a Manageme nt and In tern program d es igned to bring r es ide nts into supervisory and policy @aking positions in government and eventua ll y in t h e pr i v a te sector. - mo re - �- 3 - A City Trainee program would also be started to give special training and placement to model neighborhood residents normally ineligible for city jobs. Housing, Physical Planning and Environment The Housing program in carrying out its objectives to increase the supply of housing and the degree of homeownership in the neighborhood will be another key element in the economic development of the neighborhood. A non-profit Housing Development Corporation is expected to bring $6 million into the neighborhood to meet a goal of 5,400 housing units over the next five years. The Corporation will be owned by stockholders from industry, government and the neighborhood, with neighborhood stockholders electing the Board of Directors. · Planning is under way for the first 150 uni ts of new and rehabilitated housing. A start would also be made on establishing a Land Bank to purchase vacant land in the neighborhood for housing use. The Physical Planning and Environment program focuses on expanding recreation areas in the neighborhood, transportation needs of r e sidents, and resolving problems caused by two proposed transportation corridors through the neighborhood. Planning will continue on a public transportation and development corridor to include parks, recreation-entertainment centers and public facilities along the proposed R.H. Thomson motorway runni ng nor th-south thr ough the entire length of the neighborhood. A simi lar study f or a housing and park complex is scheduled f or the proposed I-90 which would cross the neighborhood in an east-west direction. The start of several recreation projects and block developme nt to provide sma ll recreation areas in each block is scheduled immed iately . Th e p r ogram also include s a proj e ct in which r es i dents wil l o perat e a r ovi ng " F i x- it" wagon to provide minor home r epa i r services at cost to neighborhood families. Educ ation Despite f our y e ars o f compens a tor y e ducation progra ms , model neighborhood student s are f our y ears beh i nd other cit y c h ildren at the end of high school . Seattle' s go a l s -- e n riching e ducation, making educatio n a better preparation fo r wor k life , and b r o adening parent, teacher a nd studen t p a r ticipati on in the s c hoo ls -- are designed to deal both wi th felt and expressed n eeds and realization of institutional c h ange. - more - �- 4 - SPattle has given priority to the socio-economic integration of schools as a means of enriching education when combined with curriculum redevelopment and staff training and retraining. As the first in a series of educational complexes planned by the Seattle public schools, a Middle Schools Educational Park Demonstration for grades 5-9 would be planned and built on the edge of the University of Washington campus. Since no complete program for vocational education now exists .~ in the schools, Seattle plans an early start of an extensive Occupational Skills and Incentive program to provide technical training for 6,000 students immediately. As a start towards its objective of doubling employment of model neighborhood residents in schools, Seattle would begin a project to hire 100 students as apprentices and tutors, and 200 adults in a New Careers program for education. These activities, combined with Youth Leadership Development and counselling, are designed to better prepare model neighborhood students for work. s ~veral activities are also aimed at increasing neighborhood participation in the schools, including a Model Neighborhood Educational Advisory council and an office to handle complaints or problems of teachers, pupils and parents. Welfare Seattle's welfare program is based on an assumption that the quality of social service is directly related to those requiring the service. Tying in closely with economic development, the welfare program aims to eliminate poverty in the model neighborhood, heighten the dignity, status and self-esteem of recipients and strengthen and coordinate social services. As a part of its coordination and concentration of social services, the city plans comprehensive day-care services for 5,000 children; neighborhood centers to coordinate social service delivery, and expanded services for the elderly. To test possible modifications in the welfare system that would offer incentives for reducing welfare rolls, the city proposes a Direct Income Grant Demonstration program for a limited number o f model neighborhood families. This is one of two in the nation under serious consideration by the Department of Health, Education and We lfare. As a means of improving communication between welfare recipients and the Wel fare Department, the program calls for special support to the ADC Motivated Mothers Council . Health The Health program focuses on delivery and increased use of health services by model neighborhood residents to achieve a level - mor e - �- 5 - of heal.th in th e neighborh o od c omp a r a bl e to th a t of the cily. On e appro a ch will be a multi-s e r v ice he a lth cente r with outrc ac l1 into the neighborhood through health stations that would provide 24-hour emergency treatment a nd transportation ser v ices. Another clement will involve Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound and Blue Cro s sBlue Shield with servic e s being financed throug h a pre p a id health insurance plan. The program also calls for a Detox ification Center to treat alcohol and drug abusers. All health activities in the neighborhood would be coordinated through a special Model Ne ighborhood Health Advisory Board. Law and Justice The probl e ms ment and tution a l Law and Justice program focuses on both the short-r a ng~ of easing racial and comrnuni ty tensions around l av; e n forcethe long-range impact of chang e s in the judicial and instis y stems. As a start toward increasing the minority repr e s e ntation on the police force, the city would establish a Public Safety Trainee program for residents, leading to a career in the Police Department. Other activities to improve police-community relations include paying officers for time spent in non-enforcement functions and employing reside nts in non-enforc e ment dut i es and a s observe rs to record police and resident interaction. To improve legal services for residents the city would e x pand the public defender system, and continue planning to provide legal help to the marginal poor, and work toward increasing the number of judgeships. Culture and Arts, Youth • The Arts and Culture program is designed to help give Negroes in the model neighboihood an opportunity for cultural ~d e ntity and to increa s e th e numbers of residents in art related careers . A priority project to start immediately is the conversion of a former synagogue into a multipurpos e neighborhood center with an auditorium for movies and the p e rforming arts, and space for other community activities including a Teen Canteen . Also planned immediatel y is an Afro-·Ame rican Arts Museum which would display the work of residents and well-known artists and include a bookshop and arts shop . The plan calls for a revised school curriculwn to include courses in African a r ts and culture. The Youth program f o cus e s o n e conomic lif e chanc es o f yo uth t h r ough a special emp loyment service and registry for part time job s . To p r omote man a g er i a l . s ki ll s th e pro g r aD pro po s es d eve lop ing bu s ines s es s uc h a s a youth-oper a t e d Maintena n ce Serv ic e tha t wo ul d con t ract wi th l o c a l b u s i ne s ses a n d a9 artm2n t b u i ldi ngs and a Yo uth Tr a n s p or t Service to prov ide minibu s s e rvice to th e mo del ne ig hb o rh o od.

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