A new city program will ask Georgetown and South Park residents how to reduce pollution and address the effects of climate change in their neighborhoods.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is partnering with community organizations to implement the Low Pollution Neighborhoods (LPN) program in "pilot neighborhoods," including South Park, Georgetown, Capitol Hill, and Lake City, to hear from community members on ways to reduce pollution and improve public health.
These neighborhoods have been identified by the city as places overburdened by air pollution. The goal of the project is to implement solutions that mitigate the climate inequities these neighborhoods face.
The first open house will take place on Sept. 24, 5–8 p.m. in Georgetown, and the second open house is scheduled for Oct. 6, 5–8 p.m. in South Park.
Jaya Eyzaguirre, the program manager and urban designer at SDOT, described the project as community driven and said that the ideas gathered from these engagements with residents will be used to create a comprehensive vision of what a healthy neighborhood can look like.
"The Low Pollution Neighborhoods [program] is a program that's thinking about community in a very inclusive, holistic way," Eyzaguirre said. "It's an opportunity [for community members] to share their vision and their feedback beyond just a specific focus area or a specific type of project."
Georgetown and South Park are home to some of the city's lowest-income and most ethnically diverse communities, due to redlining and affordability. They have also experienced some of the greatest environmental impacts in the city.
"Our community is overburdened," said Alexandra Johnson, a policy analyst at the Duwamish River Community Coalition. "We should be able to live here free from environmental burdens, and unfortunately, that's not the case."
The list of environmental impacts in South Seattle is long.
Most of the Duwamish Valley is industrial, with processing facilities, distribution warehouses, and truck terminals. For years, corporations dumped industrial waste along the waterway and upstream, at times illegally, contributing to pollution in the valley's water and soil.
The Duwamish Valley is also near Port of Seattle facilities, Interstate 5, and state highways 509 and 99. Rail lines run through the area, and residents live under flight paths serving King County International Airport and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
In 2001, the Lower Duwamish Waterway was declared a Superfund site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is responsible for cleaning up some of the nation's most contaminated land. Currently, the waterway remains contaminated. Sediment cleanup construction will take approximately a decade, followed by another 10 years of natural recovery.
Residents who live in the area have faced some of the city's biggest health consequences due to the surrounding environment and proximity to major transportation corridors. Studies have found that people living in those neighborhoods faced lower life expectancy, higher rates of childhood asthma hospitalization, and elevated cancer risks.
Through open houses, tabling events, and outreach to neighborhood groups and community organizations such as the DRCC and the Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association, Eyzaguirre said there will be various opportunities for local residents to provide input on what solutions they would like to see in their community.
The solutions will vary depending on neighborhood needs and community input. Potential solutions can include safer walking routes, electric-vehicle charging, adding trees and greenery, depaving, green stormwater infrastructure, low-emission deliveries, or neighborhood activations.
Community input will be gathered through 2027 and the solutions identified for each neighborhood will begin to be implemented in 2028 and beyond. Funding for the project comes from a federal grant and the Seattle Transportation Levy voters approved in 2024.
"[The LPN program is] one step in an effort towards reparations and a systemic change of policy investments towards our overburdened communities," Johnson said.
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