(Image: Seattle MID)

It won’t cross I-5 and include Capitol Hill — yet — but Seattle’s updated Metropolitan Improvement District that collects around $15.5 million a year from residential and commercial property owners to fund “daily cleaning of downtown streets and sidewalks, graffiti removal, security patrols, hospitality and concierge services, connecting unsheltered residents with services, parks programming, and more” is being planned for an expansion into Pioneer Square.

The Seattle City Council’s Economic Development Committee is considering the proposed 10-year renewal (PDF) and expansion of the district Wednesday morning.

The downtown program’s crews are known for their yellow safety jackets and are often the most visible city presence on downtown’s streets and sidewalks. Program officials say its spending has changed to emphasize more use of unarmed security and “increased use of trikes, bikes and machines” to get the job done downtown. It also spent more to recruit and pay the program’s “ambassadors.”

On Capitol Hill, the Broadway Business Improvement Area serves a similar purpose but at a smaller scale. In 2019, CHS reported on the failed effort to expand the Capitol Hill district that also took down the neighborhood’s chamber of commerce.

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