"I'm not against the way things have become," he says. "I think there's been some good. But it's different. You can see the, uh, color differential. You see a lot more Caucasians down here than you did before. It doesn't bother me. I get along with whomever."
Which appears clear as he moves through the bar, saying hello to Ted, to Linda, to Coral. As Columbia City moves upscale (read: wealthier, whiter), Angie's remains what it was -- a neighborhood bar in one of Seattle's few black neighborhoods. As McDowell talks, about two-thirds of the bar's 20 customers are black.
At the same time, directly across the street at the Columbia Ale House none are.
The color of the neighborhood does seem to be changing as more investment pours in. It'll be interesting to see what happens after the light rail lines open - I'm hopeful that since those living north of the ship canal are so anti-low-income housing it hurts, that we might be able to see more mixed-income developments like Rainier Vista and be able to keep a nice mixed neighborhood with lots of different viewpoints, personalities, and yes, colors.
That said, I have to admit, despite my protestations otherwise, I've yet to convince the Admiral to go to Angie's with me. Perhaps the chance to see some of the roots of Columbia City, still alive and kicking, might sway her.
2 comments:
You should definitely go to Angie's! Great jukebox, sake is served, play some pool! It's a good time!
I second the recommendation to go to angie's. we were there the other night. The staff and clients were all friendly, it was pretty hoppin, there's darts and 2 pool tables, no pretension. Now, all those cameras can't really be hooked up, can they?
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