The Crumbling Sidewalk of James Street
For three weeks, a gaping hole on James Street has left residents navigating a mess, leaving neighbors to wonder if the city has forgotten the street commissioner exists.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
About three weeks ago, the sidewalk on the south side of James street, above Fourth, was torn up in order to make some needed repairs. Since that time, the walk has remained impassable, to the great inconvenience of residents of that section of the city. Nothing has been done toward repairing or replacing the walk, and citizens are beginning to wonder whether the street commissioner has not forgotten all about the matter.
“Citizens are beginning to wonder whether the street commissioner has not forgotten all about the matter.”
A 1887 complaint about a torn-up sidewalk on James Street echoes the perennial, modern-day frustration with Seattle's infrastructure projects and construction bottlenecks. It serves as a reminder that the city's struggle with balancing growth, repair, and accessibility is as old as the streets themselves.
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