Originally, the Skyway neighborhood south of Seattle was just an affordable place to live. Skyway boomed in the 1940s when many defense workers and veterans returning from World War II were looking for affordable housing close to Boeing. For similar reasons, many Black, Asian, and other people of color moved there in later decades. And once they moved there, they made Skyway home.
Bryn Mawr-Skyway is one of the most racially diverse neighborhoods in Washington State. It has a long-standing community of African American residents, alongside significant populations of Asian, Latino and other communities of color. It’s one of the few areas that has remained welcoming and affordable for BIPOC communities as other local neighborhoods have gentrified.
The people who live in Skyway have made it what it is: a diverse, desirable, and welcoming community. Unfortunately, that means private equity is finding the neighborhood desirable now, too. Like many neighborhoods in King County and beyond, private developers with no connections to the neighborhood have moved into Skyway with the intent to make as much money as possible. They’re coming in, buying up land and real estate, and selling or renting it out at a premium. People with higher incomes and more wealth are also attracted to the neighborhood due to its location, character and affordability. Skyway residents face increasingly unaffordable prices, which means many of them are forced to move away from the neighborhood they love–the neighborhood they made.
For decades, Skyway residents have organized to protect their community from displacement, disinvestment, and development decisions made without them. This has never been only defensive work. It’s also been about building the voice, leadership, and civic power needed to shape Skyway’s future. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, the pressure has only grown . According to Redfin, the median price of a house in Skyway today is $825,000. That’s nearly three times the $281,500 median home value reported in 2016.
Today, Skyway leaders are building on that legacy and taking the work to another level. The goal is not just to stop displacement but to create long-term infrastructure for equitable economic development. They’re working to build more community power over Skyway’s future by becoming a Community Development Association (CDA)—an institution that can center community voice, steward land and projects on behalf of residents, and advance community-driven development.
Through King County’s participatory budgeting process, Skyway community members chose to put money toward turning Skyway Coalition into a Community Development Association. As a CDA, Skyway Coalition will act as a community steward for economic development, meeting local needs through affordable housing, job training, and more. Most importantly, it will put development decisions in the hands of the community, so that community members can determine the future of Skyway together.
Skyway Coalition’s Executive Director Rebecca Zapata says: “We’ve seen firsthand how gentrification and displacement has taken over historically diverse communities in Seattle. Skyway leaders have worked to match its pace by organizing, planning and identifying strategies that build up our current and future residents, neighbors and leaders. Our main counterforce is building community power and capacity.
“Skyway Coalition CDA is built from this historic work, with the goal of engaging, empowering and serving our most impacted diverse families to guide and drive our community’s development. In just 5 years, we’ve had incredible success, including advocating for housing, business and community center investments, partnering with Homestead CLT to develop a 55 unit homeownership project, and supporting Skyway’s Farmer’s Market and other community powered projects. One of our greatest accomplishments is the recent role we’ve taken on as owners and operators of our very own, Skyway Resource Center.
“With our deep connections in the community, our strong partnerships and growing ecosystems, there is no limit to what we can do together–for us, by us.”
People’s Economy Lab is partnering with the Coalition to host a workshop series for Skyway community members. The series is creating space for residents to learn about CDAs, share their lived experiences, and help shape the role, priorities, and direction of Skyway’s emerging CDA.
PEL Lab Leader Njuguna Gishuru, who grew up in Skyway and is now raising his son in the neighborhood, has been excited to lead these workshops for his community. He’s energized by the enthusiasm and engagement of the community members who attended the first two workshops, including a woman who has lived in Skyway since the 70s and her daughter, the owners of a local gym, and Njuguna’s friend since childhood Pearl Nelson who now works at Homestead Community Land Trust, among others. These are folks who are committed to making sure Skyway stays diverse, affordable, and welcoming. They see value in the people and places they call community, far beyond the money that could be made by selling them out.
Community ownership and governance can address rising costs and allow people to stay in the neighborhoods they love, the neighborhoods they have built, and continue to make a good life there for generations to come.
If you live, work, or play in the Skyway neighborhood, join us for our next workshop on June 4th, 5-7pm! We’ll focus on mapping Skyway’s affordable housing landscape. Join us at the Skyway Resource Center, 12610 76th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98178.
If you aren’t a Skyway community member, we encourage you to learn about your local CDA, community land trust, or other forms of community ownership in your neighborhood. And if there isn’t one, what would it take to start one?
