One of the most stunning impacts of gentrification on street life in Seattle has been the transformation of East Madison Street, formerly a neighborhood dominated by the infamous Deano's Cafe and Lounge, more recently named Chocolate City, and Deano's 24-hour grocery. The stretch of Madison just uphill from 23rd Avenue is one edge of the Central District, and the scene there was rare in Seattle, what Stranger writer Charles Mudede once called one of those "grim ghetto islands" that was about to be "swallowed up by the chain coffee shops, large supermarkets, corporate drugstores, and national banks ..." In 2005, Mudede declared this stretch of Madison "the most prominent and endangered island in the 'hood archipelago." Well, the chains and condos are still swallowing. The club is closed and the equally infamous mini-mart is boarded up and tagged with graffiti. The once bustling sidewalk is now empty of those who defied "no loitering" signs. Everyone – including the druggies and hustlers – seems to have moved on. A sure sign of change is evidence that techies are moving in. "Ron Paul" signs have been popping up along the street. What's next, renaming Martin Luther King Jr. Way "Ayn Rand Boulevard"?
The East Madison 'ghetto island' is lost to – libertarians?
One of the most stunning impacts of gentrification on street life in Seattle has been the transformation of East Madison Street, formerly a neighborhood dominated by the infamous Deano's Cafe and Lounge, more recently named Chocolate City, and Deano's 24-hour grocery.
One of the most stunning impacts of gentrification on street life in Seattle has been the transformation of East Madison Street, formerly a neighborhood dominated by the infamous Deano's Cafe and Lounge, more recently named Chocolate City, and Deano's 24-hour grocery.
