Urban Commons Lab

Little Saigon Hill Climb

Community Charrettes: Yesler Terrace is Seattle’s first publicly subsidized housing community developed by the Seattle Housing Authority in early 1940, occupying a 30-acre site just north of Little Saigon in the Chinatown International District. As part of the redevelopment of the site to create 1,100 additional low-income units, a hill climb was proposed to better connect the community with the adjacent Little Saigon business area. Working with the staff of IDEA Space, Seattle Housing Authority (SHA), and the Yesler Terrace design team, including interpreters from SHA, faculty, and students at UW developed and carried out two community charrettes to solicit input from the multicultural Yesler Terrace and Little Saigon stakeholders on the design of the hill climb. Construction was completed in February 2016. WASLA Award of Merit (General Design, Public Ownership), 2021.

IDEA Space, Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority, in collaboration with GGLO, Seattle Housing Authority, SvR, and University of Washington (2012). Project Lead/ Jeff Hou. IDEA Space Staff/ Joyce Pisnanont, Ching Chan, Quang Nguyen. Student Volunteers/ Brooke Alford, Nancy Chan, Hai (Orona) Chen, Laura Roof, Angelica Rockquemore, Yingju Yeh.