No sidewalks? Blame the Great Depression

The area north of N 85th Street was one of the last areas for Seattle to annex and for the most part doesn’t have sidewalks. The Seattle PI’s Getting There column sheds more light on why there aren’t sidewalks in this area.

In short, prior to the Great Depression, annexed areas in Seattle were part of local improvement districts that would pay taxes to support interest and principal payments on city bonds for transportation improvements (including sidewalks). During the Great Depression, property owners couldn’t afford the taxes and the city had to support the bonds. The next annexations took place in the 50s and the city wanted to avoid the risk of getting stuck making bond payments again, so sidewalks were paid by developers or from the city’s general fund, making them a lower priority.

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