The Battle Over the Red Light District
Property owners near Third Street push back against an ordinance that would designate their neighborhood as the city's official 'tenderloin'.
Some business men and property owners living west of Third street are disposed to object to the proposed naming of that thoroughfare as a deadline marking the beginning of the tenderloin district. Many of the best business houses and residences of the city are west of Third street, and the owners are protesting against having their property placed under a cloud. The tenderloin has been well regulated for the last ten years and few residents have had any reason to complain of any disturbance. As no one proposes to eradicate what is generally regarded among practical people as a necessary evil, the council should go slow in fixing new metes and bounds for the half world.
“Better leave well enough alone than to fly to evils we know not of.”
Zoning and the location of adult industries remain a flashpoint in urban politics, reflecting deep-seated class tensions and the desire to protect 'respectable' property values. The language of 'the tenderloin' vs. 'best business houses' highlights the spatial segregation that defined Walla Walla's development.
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