Pike Place Market Pedestrianization Pilot Boosts Sales and Visits (www.theurbanist.org)

submitted 3 weeks ago by CombatWombat@feddit.online to c/seattle@lemmy.world

4 comments fedilink hide all child comments

All signs point to Seattle's pilot program limiting car access to Pike Place being a success: sales were up 6.5% in 2025 compared to 2024, and the number of local visitors jumped by 5.6%. As the City considers permanent changes, a pedestrianized Pike Place still has its detractors.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] CombatWombat@feddit.online 5 points 3 weeks ago

It is so cringe we ever let cars in the market:

Sales at retail stores within the Market rose 9.2%, with restaurants seeing a 10.2% boost between May and September, the busiest season at Seattle's most popular public market. The number of visitors who live within 30 miles of the Market increased by 5.6% from one year to the next, a figure that translates to an additional 127,000 Puget Sound residents dropping by Pike Place at some point in 2025.

[-] yakko@feddit.uk 6 points 3 weeks ago

It's such obviously bad logic if you flip it on its head. E.g. "Let's add car infrastructure to areas normally exclusive to foot traffic! School campuses, parks, beaches, shopping mall interiors, and hospitals! Oh no, people are using them less?"

The darkly hilarious part of this is that I tried really hard to come up with comedic examples, but I'm willing to bet someone has seen it happen in real life for more than one of these.

this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2026

62 points (100.0% liked)

Seattle

2057 readers

24 users here now

A community for news and discussion of Seattle, Washington and the surrounding area

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

steelrat@lemmy.world