Seattle's Reformist Legacy

The 1967 group "Choose an Effective City Council" (CHECC) reshaped Seattle city politics just in time to reshape its physical growth as well.

1 minute read

May 6, 2004, 10:00 AM PDT

By Erin Clark

"In the mid-1960s, the Emerald City--then known as the Queen City--was a very provincial town. Chafing at its backwardness was a group Lyndon Johnson would have labeled 'those Harvards.' They were young professionals, mainly lawyers, who migrated here from the East, or came home after college. They found much with which to be impatient. 'Our Musty Crusty City Council,' as it was described in a Seattle Magazine headline, balked at big things like open housing legislation. It resisted small things, too: The council swatted down a proposal for sidewalk cafes on grounds the food would attract flies." What followed was the successful election of progressive-era councilmembers who quashed a number of proposed transportation and other projects that have made Seattle the city that it is today.

Thanks to Erin Clark

FULL STORY: In the Northwest: Early band of progressives shaped Seattle growth

Wednesday, May 5, 2004 in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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