Fremont's Dark Streets
The Seattle City Council faces a standoff with the electric company over street lighting for the neighborhood.
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A delegation from Fremont appeared before the house of delegates to urge that lights be placed there, as the streets are in total darkness and the situation is urgent. No action was taken, as an ordinance has already been passed providing for four lights, but the electric company refuses to extend its wires for less than eight. The council is willing to grant seven or eight incandescent lights but considers that eight arc lights would be out of proportion to other parts of the city.
“The streets are in darkness, and it is very urgent that some be placed.”
Fremont’s 19th-century struggle for basic infrastructure like lighting echoes modern Seattle's perennial debates over neighborhood growth, zoning, and equitable public service delivery as the city densifies.
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