Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan released the Duwamish Valley Action Plan, setting forth a series of actions and strategies to expand economic opportunity, make environment progress and increase investments in the South Park and Georgetown communities. The plan is the result of an 18-month process that engaged City staff, residents, workers, and businesses of the Duwamish Valley to create a framework that reflects their priorities. The plan will be used to guide the City’s work and investments for years to come.
“We are taking another important step together toward realizing the community’s vision of a more inclusive, equitable, and vibrant Duwamish Valley. As a City, we are standing together to say we will do more with a plan that brings together the community’s vision for economic opportunity and environmental progress with a plan for making it real,” said Mayor Jenny Durkan. “From the Duwamish River Opportunity Fund to the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps to the South Park Merchants Association to the Latino Community Fund, the City has committed partners in this effort to ensure real economic empowerment, public safety, and a healthier environment in the Duwamish Valley. In all our actions, we will strive to honor the special importance of healing and preserving the ecosystems on the land and in the waterways to the Native people, including the Duwamish Tribe, which gives the Valley its name.”
By applying an environmental justice and racial equity lens, the actions form an environmental justice, equitable development, and anti-displacement strategy that is focused on seven priority areas: Environment, Parks & Open Spaces, Community Capacity, Mobility & Transportation, Economic Opportunity & Jobs, Affordable Housing, and Public Safety. It includes:
- 50 near-term (0-2 years) actions the City has already taken in South Park and Georgetown from 2016 through early 2018 to address community priorities, show responsiveness, and build trust;
- 37 mid-term (2-5 years) opportunities, with specific strategies and actions, that the City will begin implementing in 2018; and
- 5 long-term (5+ years) strategies with bold and ambitious goals related to Anti-Displacement, Workforce Development, Climate Change, Parks & Open Spaces, and Health.
In 2016 and 2017, the City invested approximately $500,000 in actions that advanced or addressed previously identified community priorities. For example, youth capacity building and training related to tree canopy enhancements; de-pave (removing asphalt) and tree planting in industrial areas; and capacity building for an emerging housing and anti-displacement coalition.
