Formal Planning and Neighborhood Change in Ballard, Seattle: An Assessment of the Impacts of 1990's Planning Policy on Attachment and Identity

Abstract

Seattle is a rapidly growing and changing city. Ballard, a secluded neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of the city, has absorbed significant residential growth over the last two decades and transformed from a quiet, industrial, working class neighborhood into a bustling urban village. This is by design; in Seattle’s first Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 1994, Ballard was designated as a Hub Urban Village under the City’s new land use plan to direct urban and economic development to specific urban centers. As a part of the 1994 plan, Ballard also underwent a local planning process to identify community needs and priorities, which culminated in the Crown Hill-Ballard Neighborhood Plan, adopted in 1998. This research seeks to uncover how these formal planning documents influenced the physical development patterns in Ballard and in turn, their impact on residents’ place attachment and the neighborhood’s place identity. This research employs qualitative interviews to understand current Ballard resident’s perceptions of how the neighborhood has changed. The data from the interviews reveal that while individual residents maintain a strong affinity for and attachment to the neighborhood, they recognize that new development patterns are changing the neighborhood’s identity and impacting community and interpersonal relationships. These findings connect back to larger urban planning considerations of who to plan for, and how to balance resident’s immediate needs for shelter with a long term desire to preserve community heritage.