Archives West Finding Aid

The Department of Community Development administered the City's comprehensive plan and provided direction and support for the City's physical and economic development through community planning. DCD was established in 1969 and assumed the responsibilities of the City Planning Commission and the Urban Renewal Program. In 1972, the Office of Economic Development was created in the Department to provide information to businesses that were expanding or relocating in Seattle. DCD was the lead agency for implementing various types of grant funded projects, such as Neighborhood Improvement Program, Targeted Neighborhood Assistance Program, and Neighborhood Development Program. DCD was abolished in 1992 and its programs were relocated in the Department of Neighborhoods, Department of Housing and Human Services, Planning Department, and other agencies. DCD records include material from the City Planning Commission, Zoning Commission, Metropolitan Arts Commission, Board of Adjustment, and Urban Renewal Program.

Unity 71 was a Model Cities project that was operated by DCD in an effort to rehabilitate and revitalize a small area in the East Model Neighborhood by drawing upon existing City, State and Federal resources rather than creating new service agencies. The project area was bounded by Yesler Way on the south, 17th/18th Avenues on the west, 20th/21st Avenues on the east, and East Fir/Alder Streets on the north.

Unity 71 began in 1969 as a program called "Postage Stamp" intending to "physically and socially" rehabilitate a small residential area in the Model Neighborhood. In 1971, over $1 million in Model Cities funds was authorized for Unity 71, which would attempt to "eliminate physical and environmental blight symptoms" in the chosen area. The Unity 71 fund would finance property purchases, rehabilitation of existing structures, and administrative work for the project. The new DCD positions of Urban Renewal Project Manager, Assistant Urban Renewal Project Manager, and Secretary would implement the project.

An important aspect of the project was its dependence upon the resources of existing agencies to renew a neighborhood by "using innovative procedures and methods." Some of these agencies and programs included the Seattle Model Cities Program, Seattle Urban League, City of Seattle, and Seattle Housing Authority, among many others. Some goals of the project included assisting homeowners in rehabilitation, eliminating "environmental deficiencies and blighting influences," adding housing and community facilities, and improving public utilities and transportation.