Little Saigon Business District

We worked with the Seattle Chinatown International District Public Development Authority (SCIDpda) and the Little Saigon community on short-term and long-term improvements and reinventing Little Saigon's business district and public spaces. Key planning topics include neighborhood identity, affordable commercial space, public safety, on-street parking, and economic development. Little Saigon has great potential that we want to capitalize on as resources allow.
We worked with the Seattle Department of Transportation on a street concept plan for Little Saigon. In May 2016, Global Green USA conducted a site visit as part of their neighborhood sustainability assessment for Chinatown/International District, including Little Saigon.

Project Goals

We worked with Little Saigon business owners, cultural and service organizations, and other community members to work on the following goals:

  • Create a prosperous business district
  • Enliven everyone's experience of Little Saigon
  • Make Little Saigon an attractive and safe neighborhood
  • Improve customer and visitor parking
  • Find grants and other funding for improvement projects

The End Result

  • Increased community capacity to accomplish improvement projects for the neighborhood
  • A strong vision for the future of Little Saigon
  • Recommendations and strategies that may be implemented by the community in the near-term and long-term
  • Grant applications and funding proposals to implement projects emerging from planning process
  • An ongoing, broad-based advisory group to initiate and guide implementation of strategies and projects

Little Saigon Business District Plan

We partnered with Friends of Little Saigon and the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda) to develop an action plan to make Little Saigon a greater place. Our project builds on the work accomplished so far through the Little Saigon 2020 Action Plan (2012). We engaged the Little Saigon community in developing strategies and in building a coalition of neighborhood interests to improve Little Saigon over the long term. We teamed up with SCIDpda to work with business owners, cultural and service organizations, and historically underrepresented communities to create a prosperous future for Little Saigon.

In the spring quarter of 2014 graduate students in the University of Washington’s Landscape Architecture 503 studio, taught by Professor Jeff Hou, met with the Little Saigon community. The students worked with the community to perform a thorough site analysis. They then developed design proposals for Urban Design, Residual Spaces, the Jackson Corridor, and Urban Forestry. Check out their Placemaking Little Saigon report; it's a summary of all of their design proposals.

In the winter quarter of 2009 graduate students in the University of Washington's Landscape Architecture 503 studio, taught by Professor Jeff Hou, worked with the Little Saigon and Chinatown communities on a community design project for South King Street. The students findings and design recommendations may be seen in the King Street Visioning Project Report.

Planning and Community Development

Rico Quirindongo, Director
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 94788, Seattle, WA, 98124-7088
Phone: (206) 386-1010
opcd@seattle.gov

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The Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) develops policies and plans for an equitable and sustainable future. We partner with neighborhoods, businesses, agencies and others to bring about positive change and coordinate investments for our Seattle communities.