Harrell's plan to activate downtown Seattle mixes law, health and the arts

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell on Monday rolled out the first stages of his much-anticipated Downtown Activation Plan.

It includes small changes, like waiving street-use permits to draw food-truck operators downtown, to bigger land-use changes to allow more housing, hotels and restaurants in neighborhoods adjacent to downtown, like south of Pioneer Square in the stadium district.

Harrell also issued an executive order to address the public health and safety impacts of the fentanyl crisis. It includes a new overdose response unit.

Markham McIntyre, director of the city's Office of Economic Development, said officials still are developing "bigger, longer-term ideas," including upzoning "select blocks in the retail core for high-rise residential towers, with significant incentives to include child care and education facilities," he said.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2023/04/17/harrell-downtown-activation-includes-cops-art.html