Originally published Saturday, November 1, 1997

By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Not too many years ago the main worries were drugs and crime. The Central Area was dealt a blow in the 1980s when crack cocaine ravaged the neighborhood and attracted addicts from outside the city.

Five years ago, the hot spots for gang activity, prostitution and drug dealing were Yesler, Madison, Cherry and Union streets between 23rd Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. But the gangs are almost gone, police say, and prostitution is rare.

The turnaround started "with people calling the police, working with the police and caring about their community," says Officer John Knight, a member of the East Precinct community police team.

Starting about 1992, the community began to fight for their streets. Homeowners near Garfield held weekly parades. Residents on Jackson Street got a cut rate on burglar alarms and lobbied for more street lights. Pratt Park residents got behind the installation of colorful water jets so their kids would have a safe, fun place to play.

Judkins Park residents got grant money to hire kids to clean up the neighborhood. And as part of a broader community plan, work is finally about to start on the 3/4-mile Central Park Trail. The lighted, landscaped pathway will link existing parks, schools, library and shops in the heart of the Central Area.

Despite such community effort, many people in Seattle assume it still is a less than savory neighborhood. But not according to police statistics.

Crime between Interstate 5, Lake Washington, the Ship Canal and Interstate 90 has plummeted in the last five years, so much so that 35 to 40 police officers have been reassigned to other neighborhoods, said Capt. John Diaz of the police department's East Precinct.

Between 1993 and 1996, murders in the Central Area dropped from nine homicides to three. Robberies plunged from 206 to 68 in the same period. Residential burglaries dipped from 337 to 249.

Car theft remains a problem, as it is elsewhere in the city, police say. The Central Area also was hit this fall by a rash of small, potentially dangerous arson fires.