Ethnography of the City: Creativity, Sustainability, and Social Justice in Seattle, Washington

Syracuse University SURFACE Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Geography - Dissertations Affairs 12-2011 Ethnography of the City: Creativity, Sustainability, and Social Justice in Seattle, Washington Serin Day Houston Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/geo_etd Part of the Geography Commons Recommended Citation Houston, Serin Day, "Ethnography of the City: Creativity, Sustainability, and Social Justice in Seattle, Washington" (2011). Geography - Dissertations. 69. https://surface.syr.edu/geo_etd/69 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Geography - Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract This ethnography of the city analyzes institutional narratives of creativity, sustainability, and social justice in Seattle, Washington. Through an in-depth examination of the iterative processes of naming and enacting place, I argue that institutional narratives of place in Seattle at once accentuate the politically progressive ideals of city government and disguise exclusions in the city. In other words, Seattle city government strives to actualize progressive objectives through narratives of place. Yet, the process of performing place along such themes also reproduces and extends racialized and classed inequities. I advance this argument through a sustained engagement with narratives of creativity, sustainability, and social justice circulating within Seattle municipal government and implemented throughout the urban landscape. Specifically, I contend that designing economic development plans based on the creative class template put forth by Richard Florida (2002a) commodifies diversity, compels gentrification, and overlooks place particularities. I then examine how presumptions of choice underpin sustainability efforts in Seattle and, therefore, diminish the extent of programmatic impact and secure sustainability within class, and often racialized, privilege. I draw upon scale to reveal that while the Race and Social Justice Initiative catalyzes transformation at the individual and micro-scales, this very transformation contributes to widespread consent for the overarching power structure of city government at the broader scale, thus enabling neoliberal entrepreneurialism to continue shaping the city. Throughout this ethnography, I resist the temptation to reify the city and instead delve into the contradictions, paradoxes, and tangled threads of three narratives of place. My analysis, therefore, emphasizes the performative and constitutive processes of the city. Moving beyond idealized portrayals of place requires involvement with more than just the ‘official’ story. Thus, I mobilize a research design – comprised of participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and archival research – that enables me to identify and understand the confluence of processes that coalesce into institutional narratives of place and to analyze the ramifications of these narratives. Ethnographic research conducted in 2009 in Seattle city government, King County government, local organizations and not-for-profits, and neighborhood contexts provides the foundation and impetus for this research. Ethnography offers a useful way to both gather data and consider varied aspects of institutional narratives of place. For instance, institutional narratives convey knowledge and assumptions of place. They also help produce knowledge and assumptions about place. Ethnography provides an avenue for directly encountering this relationship of producing and being produced, for sorting through contradictions, and for complicating quick appraisals of place. Accordingly, the heterogeneity of the city persistently comes to the fore. Highlighting institutional narratives of sustainability, creativity, and social justice through ethnography represents a novel way of prying open and unpacking the urban within and beyond Seattle. The questions I raise about the messiness of governance, inclusion and exclusion, and the meaning and performing of the city matter in Seattle and pertain to other urban settings. Locating this ethnography within a city that enjoys esteem in the geographic imagination as a forerunner of progressive social change sheds light on the particularities of Seattle. This ethnography of the city also elucidates more generally the many challenges bound up with efforts to revitalize neighborhoods, achieve environmental, social, and economic sustainability, and create inclusive and socially just urban spaces. Ethnography of the City: Creativity, Sustainability, and Social Justice in Seattle, Washington By Serin Day Houston B.A. Dartmouth College, 2001 M.A. University of Washington, 2006 C.A.S. Syracuse University, 2007 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography. Syracuse University December 2011 Copyright 2011 Serin Day Houston All Rights Reserved vi Table of Contents Abstract i. Title Page iv. Copyright Notice v. Table of Contents vi. List of Figures viii. Acknowledgments ix. Introduction 1 Project Overview Why Seattle? Contributions Overview of Dissertation Conclusions Chapter One – Ethnography of the City: Research Methods and Positionality 24 Ethnography Defined and Extended Participant Observation Semi-Structured Interviews Archival Research Researcher Positionality Rationale for and Challenges of this Research Design Chapter Two – Status, Economic Development, and Racism: Historical Contexts of Contemporary Narratives 54 Seeking Status Economic Development and Developing an Economic Image Racializing the City: Racism and Segregation Conclusions Chapter Three – Masking Inequities, Promoting Growth: Urban Entrepreneurialism and the Creative Class in Seattle 78 Entrepreneurialism and the Creative Class The Creative Class and its Critics Creativity in Seattle Districts of Culture and Creativity: or, More Gentrification? Revitalizing Retail: Commodifying Diversity in Southeast Seattle Conclusions vii Chapter Four – The Privileges of Choice: Sustainability in Seattle 124 ‘Green’ and Sustainable Seattle The Racialized and Classed Dimensions of Choice Way to Go! Paying for Paper or Plastic Urban Agriculture: Focusing on Farmers’ Markets Conclusions Chapter Five – Consent and Transformation: Scaling the Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) 160 Setting the Scene for the RSJI Defining Justice The Business of Diversity Policies that Mainstream The Power of Consent Capacity Building Immigrant Issues Budgeting Changes Updating Neighborhood Plans Broader Contexts Conclusions Conclusions 195 Bibliography 210 Biographical Data 245 viii List of Figures Figure 1: Annotated Map of Seattle Figure 2: Concentrations of People of Color in Seattle, 1980 and 2000 Figure 3: Community Reporting Areas (CRAs) for Seattle ix Acknowledgments Intellectual projects of a few weeks or a few years invariably draw upon the help and expertise of many people. This dissertation is no exception. I greatly appreciate all the assistance I have received along the way. First and foremost, I offer deep thanks to the many people in Seattle who welcomed me into their offices, meetings, and community spaces, shared their perspectives with me, provided access to resources and events, and believed in the importance of this dissertation research. The archivists at the Seattle Municipal Archives retrieved untold boxes of files on many assorted topics throughout my months of fieldwork. I am grateful to them for their patience and assistance as I waded through these records. A National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship funded much of my fieldwork and my PhD. I deeply appreciate this financial support. The opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this dissertation are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. I offer tremendous thanks to my committee: Jennifer Hyndman, Alison Mountz, Jackie Orr, John Western, and Jamie Winders. You all have influenced my development as a scholar and new professor. Thank you for the years of incisive questions, thought- provoking conversations, comments on papers and drafts, and useful references. I would like to particularly thank my advisor, Jennifer Hyndman, for pushing me to sharpen my analysis, question my own assumptions, and engage in critical examinations. Jennifer was among the first people to encourage me to consider graduate school in geography many years ago. It seems fitting to complete the PhD under her guidance. Many thanks as well to Matt Cleary for graciously chairing my dissertation defense. x In Syracuse, Chris Chapman has helped me immensely. From sorting out the details of my fellowship when I arrived at SU to delivering forms as I completed the PhD, Chris has been incredible. Thank you so much. I would also like to thank Emily Billo for years of friendship, for helping me develop my ideas, and for attending to Syracuse based details since I am far from campus. Richard Wright has been a mentor, advocate, teacher, colleague, and friend for well over a decade. He is a deep reservoir of ideas and advice. Thank you, Richard, for helping me think through the many dynamics of my dissertation and for always being available to talk shop. I am exceptionally blessed to be a part of an extensive family and network of friends, a constellation of phenomenal people

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