Pioneer Square
Neighborhood in Seattle, WashingtonWikipedia
57
MENTIONS
43
EPISODES
32
PODCASTS
Search complete. 57 mentions across 43 episodes found for "Pioneer Square".
Oct 31, 2026
speaker_3SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
But it's just curious why so many towers are missing now.
speaker_3SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And so Pioneer Square is one of those examples.
speaker_3SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And this was built in the immediate aftermath of the fire in 1889 is curious because it appears on a real estate map from before the fire in a fully intact form.
speaker_4SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
In order for stone to burn down, it has to reach 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sam J. LeedsPANELIST
are you guys up to this month? I feel like there's a lot of new spots that have opened that I want to check out for places to eat.
Sam J. LeedsPANELIST
One of the ones that I feel like I've been hearing a lot about recently is Doris and Pioneer Square.
Sam J. LeedsPANELIST
It's like a small hole in the wall spot.
Sam J. LeedsPANELIST
Ashley is nodding vigorously.
David KromanHOST
Yes, it is nearly Halloween, and we have another scary story from SoundSide listeners.
Libby DenkmannHOST
Okay, this next story comes from Merchants in Pioneer Square, one of Seattle's oldest bars.
Libby DenkmannHOST
Christopher, who has been working there for around 20 years, shared a couple of stories with us, including one about two women who lived in an apartment above the bar.
ChristopherSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
So one night, I hear a bunch of screaming, a bunch of ruckus.
Brian CallananHOST
And again, just kind of looking more broadly at homeless policy in Seattle.
Brian CallananHOST
The mayor recently released this plan to replicate what the city did leading up to the World Cup this past summer in Pioneer Square.
Brian CallananHOST
Reportedly, 70 out of 80 people contacted in that whole process landed in shelter or housing.
Brian CallananHOST
Mayor Wilson wants to spread this citywide.
Carleen JohnsonHOST
You may recall it was last week that Mayor Katie Wilson came out with her new strategy that kind of builds on a pilot program that they launched during the summer.
Carleen JohnsonHOST
You may recall in the Pioneer Square District ahead of FIFA, the World Cup coming to Seattle, they wanted to kind of clean things up downtown.
Carleen JohnsonHOST
And they wanted that all the people coming from all over the world to Seattle not to see a bunch of homeless drug addicts downtown.
Carleen JohnsonHOST
So they took about 80 people and basically swept them up and said, you're going to go to this shelter or and the folks that were in shelter, you're going to get moved into permanent supportive housing facilities.
Kim HolcombHOST
Yeah, there's some good ones there.
Kim HolcombHOST
But the one that I think people sleep on that's actually really cool is Merchant's Cafe in Pioneer Square.
Kim HolcombHOST
It's one of the oldest, if not the oldest... bar in the city.
Kim HolcombHOST
I'm probably getting that wrong, but it is, I mean, it dates back to when, but even before the Seattle fires.
Patricia MurphyHOST
That's Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announcing the city's newish approach to addressing homelessness.
Patricia MurphyHOST
The mayor's plan has already shown promise in Pioneer Square, downtown Seattle, and through the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.
Patricia MurphyHOST
Similar strategies have also worked in cities like Houston and Denver.
Patricia MurphyHOST
Scott Greenstone is here to break it down.
Scott GreenstoneCORRESPONDENT
Yeah.
Scott GreenstoneCORRESPONDENT
Let me quickly rewind to before the World Cup.
Scott GreenstoneCORRESPONDENT
OK, this year, the city and nonprofits, they housed 70 people who were living outside in Pioneer Square.
Scott GreenstoneCORRESPONDENT
They moved really quickly.
Erica C. BarnettHOST
But it's the same approach that they took in Woodland Park during the pandemic, that they took in the Ballard Commons area.
Erica C. BarnettHOST
during the pandemic that before FIFA, they took in Pioneer Square.
Erica C. BarnettHOST
The idea is basically, yeah, you get not just outreach workers, but you get people on a by name list, whether it's in an encampment or in this case, it would be in a neighborhood.
Erica C. BarnettHOST
And I hate that terminology.
Erica C. BarnettHOST
And then the most important aspect, I think, is that you actually have appropriate shelter for them to go into that works for them.
Erica C. BarnettHOST
And the places that this has been successful is when there's like a designated shelter, like a shelter coming online.
Erica C. BarnettHOST
That's what happened in Pioneer Square with FIFA.
Erica C. BarnettHOST
That's why all those people were able to leave that area and not just get swept from place to place to place.
Bill RadkeHOST
Okay, so we'll see what happens with that.
Bill RadkeHOST
Before we take a break, since we're talking about the mayor and the city and homelessness, Mayor Wilson announced a new strategy on homelessness modeled after what the city did for the World Cup when they wanted homeless people off the streets of Pioneer Square.
Bill RadkeHOST
Here's KUOW reporter Scott Greenstone.
Scott GreenstoneCORRESPONDENT
Mayor Wilson said this new strategy would emulate cities like Denver, which recently saw unsheltered homelessness drop by half.
Ron DavisPANELIST
And so given our limited resources, the best way to spend them is to take the people who have the most disruptive effect and get them into those already expensive spots with lots of support and make sure that we're matching high intense resources with high intensity resources.
Ron DavisPANELIST
folks, as the way I heard that, which seems like you, it is the most bang for the buck.
Ron DavisPANELIST
And, you know, it's not just that we've had the success recently in Pioneer Square, although we did around the World Cup with this, but the state was funding this for several counties.
Ron DavisPANELIST
And the I think the number was 87% of people were accepting services compared to the usual, you know, 20 or 30, when it was sort of the say the Bruce Harrell, like, Do you want to go to a shelter or not thing? And so we know this is really effective in terms of getting people off the street when there's housing available.
Sean ReynoldsHOST
Put him away.
Sean ReynoldsHOST
Under the approach, Seattle will build on the streets to housing pilot launched in Pioneer Square ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Sean ReynoldsHOST
City officials, service providers, and business groups identified 80 people living outside in the neighborhood and coordinated outreach and placements to get nearly 90% into sustained shelter or housing.
Sean ReynoldsHOST
Okay? No issues with that.
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