donkeymonkey

The Ave & the Have-Nots: how homelessness survived a U District renovation

  Like some other lude institutions, you know it when you see it.  Poverty accounts for approximately eight thousand homeless needing a place to sleep on any given night within Seattle city limits.  While the problem permeates all neighborhoods, University District has housed the street life counterculture for more years than you might think, with University Way serving as the very street to be lived upon.      University Way, or “The Ave” as it is far better known, has remained the non-academic custodian of University District culture for the better part of a century.  To this day, small business represents the vast majority of commercial activity there, with a wealth of book stores, coffee shops, restaurants, boutiques, and record stores inhabiting the nine-block stretch from 41^st to 50^th.  But with the unique culture that grew up there came too something much more ulterior.  Heroin deals in alleyways.  Graffiti.  Late night stabbings and drunken brawls.  Rampant homelessness in doorways and stairwells.  The local nickname for those representing the phenomenon was “Ave Rat”.

The Ave Rat was defined by his or her gape-toothed grins, raggedy dress, unkept hair, loud vocal projections, and a callous attitude that did not go well with any hopes for a pleasant shopping experience local entrepreneurs were entertaining.  They came in a wide array of ages, but largely were only available in the form of panhandlers, drug dealers, loiterers, and general vandals.  They either screamed at you for spare change or else screamed at you for no reason whatsoever.  Home to the homeless, University Way was fast becoming less and less a shopping and dining destination for students.  And with the rise of University Village down the hill, the effect culminated into a severe business drop on The Ave in the late 90′s that prompted drastic attentions toward solving the Ave Rat dilemma.        

In 2002, Mayor Greg Nichols spearheaded The Ave Revitalization Plan: an urban improvement project installing wider sidewalks, bus lanes, benches, lighting, artwork, and even “donation meters” to curb aggressive panhandling on The Ave.  Blocks were shut down for several weeks at a time to accommodate major construction overhauls, working up from 41^st to

50^th Ave NE

over the course of two years.  While a number of small businesses did not survive the interruptions in foot traffic, those that did emerged as residents of a totally revamped thoroughfare.  Business gradually began working its way back, along with the customers.   And while homeless rates city-wide may have not dropped, you are still scarce to find the Ave Rat on The Ave these days…certainly at least in the capacity he/she was available before.  Today’s Ave Rat mostly only comes out at night.  And even then, only occasionally.  The Ave still maintains a vibrant, progressive undertone.  But it is undeniably more commercial now, particularly in such shadows as those of Starbucks and Chipotle Grill.  The Ave is at least desperately trying to be conventional.  Whatever it is doing, it is enough to keep most of the old crew out of sight.    There are a few, however, that have kept their place here, and haven’t moved.  Some for as many years as anyone can remember.  But how do they survive?  How has The Ave changed for them?  Did they benefit from the revitalization?     <interviews to be conducted prior to final project>  John Doe has been panhandling on the Ave for nearly __ years.  He speaks in a low drawl that barely reaches your ears when you pass, with the trademark whisper of “spare change” that starts on a rolling high tone and ends on a low.  He is outfitted with a pair of sunglasses that rarely escapes his face, a curious black wardrobe, and an even more curious resemblance to Lou Piniella.  He doesn’t live here though.  After 5:00, he closes shop and takes the bus to __________, after pocketing anywhere between $50-$80 on the average day.  But he has been a staple on The Ave throughout the student careers of thousands of students.         

He is not an aggressive panhandler and never has been, which is maybe the only reason why he hasn’t been enforced under the anti-panhandling policies enacted in 2000.  When asked how things have changed for him personally since The Ave’s renovations,  he answers that his daily take is actually better than before.  Maybe one in thirty will drop him a little something, as opposed to one in fifty of a few years before.  He explains that there is less competition – and that the surge in foottraffic on The Ave has, more or less, allowed him to corner a robust market…largely on the block between 41st and 42nd in front of Schultzy’s Sausages. 

Jim Smith is another such staple, and you will remember only three things about him.  He has a long, brown beard.  He pulls a red cart with a silver garbage tin.  And he is never without his radio.  He is rare to actually ask for any money, and it is a wonder to several students what his daily occupation is otherwise.  You will spot him occasionally in one of the several cafe’s, sipping on an espresso that looks as if it’s a weekly ritual of some kind.  He seems less phased of any changes than any Ave resident. 

He explains that since the revitalization, students are more polite.  But they also pay less attention to him.  Which he says is just fine, but can’t be if he brought it up int he first place.  He observes that there is less of a line to wait for coffee, and that he can pass his days with much more peace than before.  But he still doesn’t seem to approve of it all.  Despite being a staple, the ground has shifted beneath his feet, and he can only try to belong there.         

 

In the end, neither is an Ave Rat anymore, really.  John and Jim are anomalies, but even they have become more conventional somehow.  The counterculture of The Ave now is one of healthy enterprise, highlighted with bouts of twenty-one runs and the occasional public disturbance.  But it is in the hands of the students again.  It remains to be seen how long this administration will keep control however.     

   

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