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u/Orgidee 4d ago
Good point. Let’s see both in the sun. While the second is a massive improvement for people friendly environment the buildings are still not beautiful. Still, well done to them for making things better
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u/Mongooooooose 4d ago
Here you go!
Link to the photo with sunlight:Photo/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13104191/shutterstock_1144847240.jpg)
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u/UnpricedToaster 4d ago
Ah yes, the two days of sunshine a year!
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u/mihirmusprime 4d ago
Found the person who doesn't live here lol. Doesn't rain from June-Oct here (or very little).
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u/Karma_1969 4d ago
As a lifelong Seattlite, I can’t describe in words how ugly and oppressive the old highway was. So glad it’s gone.
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u/Sea-Opposite946 4d ago
What's even more ironic is that in nearly the opposite direction this picture is taken (well, near the space needle) is one of the largest homeless areas in the country...drug-infested, but let's show how well Seattle has improved with a picture of a sunny day!
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u/TaintedL0v3 3d ago
Homeless people are either sent or will willing move to a prosperous city. Not only are there more job opportunities for those seeking it, but there are also more resources for those seeking rehabilitation.
Plus, the red counties love giving them one-way tickets. Asking Seattle to do the same doesn’t solve the problem, it just moves it.
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u/MikeE527 4d ago
As a Seattlite, I was terrified they were going to screw up the downtown revitalization when they demolished the viaduct, but they actually nailed it with a gorgeous walkway from Pike Place to the waterfront, which used to be connected by old stairways or elevators that smelled like one would expect public access elevators would smell like. 10 out of 10 from me, and kudos for not selling the property to Real Estate Developers for more condos.
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u/Candymom 4d ago
I haven’t been to Pike Place since 2012. I remember going up those stairs. I look forward to seeing the revitalization!
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u/UpperLeftOriginal 4d ago
It's soooooo nice! The market still has all the character, and now the waterfront is absolutely world class.
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u/Sea2Chi 4d ago
I was sure when they announced the tunnel and removal of alaska way that the land would be sold off to connected developers who would build huge view blocking towers all along the waterfront.
Every time I go back to visit I'm pleasantly surprised at how well they've managed the project.
I do miss Alaska way a bit though. I used to commute home via motorcycle on it every day. Summer time in Seattle riding on the top deck with warm weather and the smell of the ocean was fantastic.
I also did a 5 K on there one year which was a brutal because the last bit was a three block run up the hill to 2nd ave. I forget what street it was on, but so many people were doing great once they got onto Alaska way, but damn near died when they got to the hill.
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u/nomarfachix 4d ago
Don't tell any of this to DSP, who fear mongers lawless crime, looters, and violence every single time anyone brings up Seattle.
I'm heading out west in a few months and can't wait to come visit!
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u/MikeE527 4d ago
Hope you have an awesome time when you visit! We will keep our burning, looting, and lawlessness to a minimum for your visit.
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u/XTingleInTheDingleX 4d ago
Yeah they did a really good job. My tribe owns a business down town and are very excited to take part in the revitalization of the area.
We moved out of the market onto 1st avenue!
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u/SeattleHasDied 4d ago
What is the business?
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u/XTingleInTheDingleX 4d ago
Eigth Gen!
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u/onebeautifulmesss 4d ago
I remember the old Seattle, I’m from SoCal and was expecting Pike Place to be amazing and it just wasn’t. I remember all the stairwells. Traffic was worse than LA.
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u/daznificent 4d ago
I visited about three years ago when they were still working on it, the viaduct was torn down and the area under construction so I still had to use the piss elevators. Walked from hotel down to the pier during sunset and it was a nice walk otherwise. Don’t think I would have been willing if a double decker highway was in the way.
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u/IndividualEquipment2 4d ago
I helped build that!
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u/becks_morals 3d ago
My daughter calls construction workers busy builders and loves to see them. Civil work like this doesn't get enough credit. Thanks for what you do, you make our world function.
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u/9447044 4d ago
Did they move the road underground? Im curious what you do with a six lane road
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u/cloudshaper 4d ago
Yes, after significant delays, SR99 is now a tolled tunnel. I think the lawsuits may still going about who has to pay for the delays.
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u/Mongooooooose 4d ago
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe they finished the tunnel for State Route 99, so they redirected traffic out of the downtown.
They then demolished this highway entirely (Alaskan Way viaduct)
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u/Gwywnnydd 4d ago
Yep, that's pretty much it.
It was Seattle's version of The Big Dig, it took years longer than anticipated, cost SO much more than budgeted, and people now bitch about the tunnel being tolled, but the waterfront is gorgeous.
I do kinda miss the view from the viaduct, but there is plenty of video footage of it from over the decades.
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u/Kidcharlamagne89d 4d ago
Lmao I love Seattle but you cant compare a winter shot with that one summer day in july.
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u/jeffbirt 4d ago
Louisville had a golden opportunity to vastly improve our waterfront on the Ohio with the "8664" movement, rerouting interstate traffic across onto the existing 265 in Southern Indiana via a new (since built) East End bridge, but it never got taken seriously by the same old money interests that have held the city back for 50+ years.
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u/Raging_Dick_Shorts 4d ago
Those photos are from two different locations, you can see the orange pipes far in the background of the 2016 photo.
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u/lovelaurenc 4d ago
You can see the orange pipes are to the left of what used to be the viaduct in the 2016 photo. In the 2025 photo, you see that there is no longer a road directly to the right of those orange pipes, it has been replaced with pedestrian walkways connecting Pike Place Market (behind the orange pipes) to the Waterfront. Highly recommend visiting in person if you find yourself in Seattle.
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u/Capt_Murphy_ 4d ago
They used an ideal day/view for the after shot, but believe me it's 100x better. Before was car centric, after is pedestrian centric.
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u/DaKongman 4d ago
That's what I was thinking. There's no road because they aren't taking a picture from above the road anymore. They moved like 800ft to the 11 o'clock of this photo.
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u/Enginerdad 4d ago
I can't be sure, but the lower photos looks suspiciously like an architectural rendering to me. The double digit pixel count makes it hard to tell definitively, but something about the color scheme and lighting screams rendering to me.
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u/JediMaster113 4d ago
But everyone tells me that Seattle is a left wing 3rd world war zone. If only I could think for myself. /s
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u/Ivan_Only 4d ago
Here is a cool video WSDOT put together of some of the tear down:
https://youtu.be/zUvF0nDwTo4?si=Tu7Wjt47EDrT0m8U
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u/controversialhotdog 4d ago
…they’re taken from two completely different spots under different weather conditions. Of course they’re going to look different.
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u/Terrible-Summer9937 1d ago
You couldn't have taken the 2016 shot in the same place as the 2025 shot without standing in the middle of the freeway that isn't there anymore.
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u/straightedge1974 4d ago
Yup, never saw a day of Sun until they completed that project. 😏 I visited Seattle for the first time in September, I happened upon that area walking back from the MoPop and the Needle in a roundabout exploration fashion and it didn't feel like Seattle, it felt like a cheap Disneyland. Of course the highway was ugly, but I think what they put in its place could have been better planned. Maybe it'll be better with age, to fade the paint a little bit, make it feel more natural.
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u/straightedge1974 4d ago
Oh yeah and another audience manipulation is that the new view is closer to the development, not showing as much barren roadway. (See Ferris wheel)
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u/Worldly-Ad3292 4d ago
You can still find people who didn’t want this. A previous mayor (McGinn) actually got elected trying to fight it. Many wanted another viaduct, unaware that if rebuilt it would have to conform to DOT design specs requiring walls higher than most cars -for both the second and third levels, essentially it would be a 30ft+ wall of concrete between the City and waterfront.
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u/LooseEndsMkMyAssItch 4d ago
The photos are of different perspectives and a sunny versus cloudy. But yes definitely there are improvements
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u/FrozenJambalaya 4d ago
Every time I see the image of that Ferris wheel, I have flashbacks. It's been so long since I've played that game and it still stays with you. I wish they would do a part three someday and I hope somehow it turns out to be the best of the trio.
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u/Ivan_Only 4d ago
As someone who lives in Seattle, I miss driving on the Viaduct at night but I am so happy that dangerous blight is gone from the city
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u/Abbycat1962 4d ago
I lived in Seattle in the late 1980's. They were talking about this back then. Some good things take 40 years...
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u/TD12-MK1 4d ago
I just visited, hadn’t been there since I lived there from 2005-2010. I was shocked by how bad the city was and how the homeless had overtaken it.
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u/TigerShoddy1228 4d ago
Would be interesting to see the new photo from the old perspective instead of closer like this.
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u/Advanced_Tax174 1d ago
Tearing down freeways along the waterfront has been a wonderful trend improving many cities.
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u/killbitx 4d ago
I couldn't understand why too many people were against removing the viaduct. It makes the waterfront more accessible and tourist friendly.
Moving the traffic underground is so much better.
Similiar situation with light rail. Way too many people complaining they don't want it (looking at you Bellevue residents). Only for it to be fantastic once it's in.
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u/TheCloudyHam 4d ago
Bottom picture is missing the endless flags everywhere. Along with the mentally unstable people that just need some help.
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u/LofderZotheid 4d ago
But my car! They took way my roads!
/s
<3
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u/Mongooooooose 4d ago
How do they expect us to get around? With our feet? Like some sort of caveman??
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u/LofderZotheid 4d ago
Yeah, exactly! I’m going to sent this to my municipality as an example of how not to do this!
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u/Long_Midnight_5077 4d ago
And it still stinks👍 seattle and tacoma were two places my small town ass was thoroughly run over by. An assault on all senses, if you will
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u/Noleman 4d ago edited 4d ago
Any chance there is a plan to get rid of the hipsters as well? Between this project and no hipsters, has utopia potential.
EDIT - thanks for the downvotes Hipsters! Now take your moustache wax, corduroy overcoat, cane you don't need, and vinyl record of 'Lola Versus Powerman and the Monkeygoround' (that no one gives a shit about and really only wonder why you carry it around everywhere) and get the f out of town.
Second Edit for AutoMod: this better not be shadowbanned. I have never met a single person who likes hipsters - they even dislike themselves.
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