Walking Seattle's Depressing Chinatown-International District in April 2023

foreign what's up everyone today I'm going to walk through Seattle's Chinatown or more specifically the Chinatown International District CID for short because this is actually three neighborhoods in one Japantown Chinatown and Little Saigon I recorded this video on Wednesday April 26 2023 it's almost 7 P.M it's 61 Fahrenheit 16 Celsius we're starting off here at the Light Rail station International District Chinatown station their light rail system in Seattle is known as the link this is line one and there's the skyline of downtown Seattle this street is Fifth Avenue and very shortly we're going to be seeing the Chinatown Gate this is actually the third Chinatown in Seattle the first one was located on the waterfronts [Music] and it was also severely disrupted by the great Seattle Fire of 1889 but over time this Chinatown develops more immigrants moved in especially the Japanese and the Vietnamese and we have here the Chinatown International districts as it is and there is the Chinatown Gates this here at Fifth Avenue and King Street is the beginning of the Chinatown the area known as Japan town is really more two blocks from here but as we walk around we're going to see that it's really become more integrated now and east of Interstate 5 is Little Saigon just this Chinatown Gate is very ornate could use a little bit of cleaning though there's bird stains on the base and on the top there's a public parking lot early bird specials fifteen dollars and those are the rates normally the American Hotel building the street signs are in Chinese here as well let's take a walk across the street in this park the Hang hey Park foreign very nice that the Hat they have this park here for the local community to enjoy foreign looks like they're doing a news broadcast Alps Hotel building that mural was pretty cool looking with the dragon it's a core mural of Bruce Lee there at the Thai Tong restaurant Fortune Garden restaurant dine in and take out not a pretty big menu they're closed right now for vacation foreign lunch and dinner World Pizza old gift shop sign just come down this way back towards Fifth Avenue so we could walk um through the Japan Town area the street lamps are pretty unique just walking through this area I kind of feel that this Chinatown is very depressed there's a lot of businesses that are closed this building looks like it hasn't been a been used in quite some time this must be a very important organization the chongwa benevolent Association save the CID and there's a statue of Dr sunyat sen here father of the Chinese Republic it's also very quiet in this Chinatown [Music] Community Association building I do love the artwork and the uh CID though gone pay restaurant that's a phrase in Chinese which means drink up yeah like this one this place is closed close on Sundays but it looks like it's been closed for a long time now home style dim sum closing from April 3rd to 27th Hong Kong Bistro up this block I noticed there are several people in need in this neighborhood as well did everyone decide to take a vacation or close up at the same time sure seems that way to me it seems like this district is really quiet I don't know if it's more active it's during the weekends or on holidays I just ate at this restaurant the H Bistro it's really good it's a large restaurant bellwell bellwether happy lamb hot pot uniya is a Japanese bookstore thank you uh give them a warning for me next time double check the sign because they're parked in the yellow this is actually a commercial boat Zone and you have to have a permit otherwise you get a ticket let me know for next time okay that was nice for him to give the uh people there warning but Seattle um parking enforcement is very strict and forcing the parking laws and regulations here it's a pretty big restaurant the EJ pack more here's the dough Zone [Music] foreign back to the Chinatown Gate and we'll also get a good close-up look at this Dragon around the pole oh it's a lot of pigeons across the street right by the Light Rail station they seem to be gathering all around here doesn't look like this Bakery is Around Much Anymore so the around here was historically the Japan Town foreign there's a lot rougher of an area than I thought it was going to be [Music] yeah several mentally ill people in the Chinatown International districts in a way it kind of feels that this area has been neglected by the city foreign foreign Market no restroom length light rail [Music] actually I think that's their uh streetcar system it's different I haven't really noticed too many uh Japanese places so far well that business across the street there is all boarded up that looks rough Seattle Streetcar [Music] thank you yeah this uh International District feels very neglected to me actually kind of depressing to be walking through here seeing a lot of places close a lot of people in need as well I hope something more can be done to revitalize the area this is uh Interstate five above us that we're going to be walking under foreign [Music] columns here right underneath the expressway this parking lot looks very sketchy though I wonder what this is the Pacific Rim Center foreign to the Joy owl seafood restaurant [Music] and now we're on the other side of Interstate 5 this should be Little Saigon according to the uh information I was watching all right now I'm seeing some more Vietnamese uh businesses there's a cool little step Street this Market seems like it hasn't been opened for years same with that one the vietwah yeah I'm uh not really too happy with how this neighborhood looks and I don't really feel a good sense of security with this area up there there's a lot of people on the sidewalk which I don't want to interact with so I'm going to turn around let's make a left on 10th Street back to King I think over there there's some Outreach teams helping out people in need which is a good sign to see they certainly need it here Rising produce doesn't seem to be open for a long long time yeah look at this the signs are all in Vietnamese but most of the business here has left already I would not blame them either with how this neighborhood looks right now it needs a lot of help and assistance the only area which is kind of nice for business is Right By the Light Rail station Fifth Avenue King Street and even over there there's a lot of seedy areas in this neighborhood just from walking through that area there's a lot of people who need help many of them addicted to drugs fentanyl being a major epidemic right now in the United States local governments put up these fences to prevent people from camping out over here underneath the highway foreign Cultural Center import export business tours only a Wing Lake Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience Canton alley bubble tea spot it's pretty popular foreign restaurant that was kind of spooky Thai song chop suey this was the Bruce Lee mural that we saw so as I'm walking back to the Light Rail station here my observations on the Chinatown International District are this I still feel there's a lively atmosphere on King Street and maybe the Street south of it Weller street but the rest of the area is very depressed and it needs a lot of improvement right now as it is on Jackson Street over there it looked like many of the businesses have moved out and I don't really feel too safe walking those streets there's a lot of people there that really need help and it's very sad to see there's still a lot of room for improvement for this district and I really wish that it can get back to the way it once was all right everyone that'll do it for my walk of the Chinatown International District here in Seattle mixed feelings about this District as I said there's a lot to be improved in this area I want to thank all of you for coming out today to watch this video hit the like button if you enjoyed it subscribe if you haven't already to the channel and I will see you next time thank you everyone bye bye [Music]

Channel: ActionKid

Views: 36,533

Keywords:

Id: PmLFeYToe2Q

Length: 40min 46sec (2446 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 30 2023