THE EMERGENCE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION IDEAS IN THE HISTORIC DISTRICT OF SEATTLE

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the preservation concepts of the Pike Place Market Historic District in Seattle, which was one of the earliest examples in the U.S. that included ideas of neighborhood conservation. To analyze the way to raise the concepts I studied the ideas and opinions expressed by the citizens' group advocating to preserve the district, especially by Victor Steinbrueck (1911-1985), an architect and the leader of the group. The study shows that the preservation concepts based on Steinbrueck's socialism and regionalism were emphasized more clearly through a criticism on gentrification after the late 1960s. At that time Pioneer Square District, another historic district in the downtown, had succeeded in revitalizing by adaptive reuse of historic buildings, but at the same time low-income residents were forced out by steadily rising land prices and rents. Concerning that the communities around the Market would be lost for the same reason, Steinbrueck and other activists insisted to maintain communities and their activities as well as to preserve the market buildings. Thus the neighborhood conservation ideas were raised from a criticism against not only the urban renewal plan but also the historic preservation project that aim primarily to vitalize real estate market, and after the 1970s, such ideas were adopted in historic preservation policies of Seattle and other American cities.