Staff Editorial - Attack of the developers: There goes the neighborhood

They're coming.

Thousands of them in six-story swarms. Razing buildings to the ground. Sucking the life-blood out of entire neighborhoods, and leaving nothing but Craftsman rubble in their wake.

We're not talking about biblical plagues or a new sequel to Kujo. We're talking about developers.

Last week, The Stranger reported on the plans of developers to demolish an entire block of East Pine Street on Capitol Hill and replace it with six stories worth of condos and upscale retail establishments.

Well, there goes the neighborhood.

The block, bordered by Summit and Belmont streets, is one of the liveliest on Capitol Hill. It houses one of the city's densest concentrations of nightlife including the Kincora, Manray, the Bus Stop, Bimbo's Bitchin' Burrito Kitchen and the Cha-Cha bars, the Winner's Circle boutique and Harry's Grocery.

By next November (the date these businesses were given as the end of their lease), the neighborhood will be effectively silenced. A step forward in the Seattle housing market? Or the destruction of integral city character?

Though we believe Seattle does need more development of affordable close-to-downtown housing, we don't think the creation of upscale condos is the answer[HTML_REMOVED]especially at the expense of small businesses that make a neighborhood what it is.

Many individuals move to Capitol Hill for exactly what the block between Summit and Belmont offers: hip nightlife, colorful local residents and small businesses with flair.

By renovating the block, developers are essentially killing the area's draw and turning Capitol Hill into [HTML_REMOVED][HTML_REMOVED] candidly put by Linda's bar (across the street) owner Linda Derschang, [HTML_REMOVED] "Belltown."

The U-District has already experienced its own version of the East Pine debacle with the destruction of the block north of the Wilsonian apartments. Earl's was lucky enough to find a new home, but many smaller businesses were thrown out on the street. As the U-District grows, this story is likely to become a series.

One hopes that in their plans to add more housing for Seattleites, developers will consider what truly makes an area desirable and leave it that way.

Because if they don't we'll soon be subject to another, even greater pestilence: gentrification.