Fired Amazon employee-activist leads Seattle City Council race

Seattle City Council candidate Maren Costa was knocking on doors in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood, ahead of Tuesday’s primary, when she came across a house that stood out.

It was in the modern, mixed materials style that developers of new construction tend to favor. In many neighborhoods, it would’ve blended in, but it cut a sharp contrast with the small, older homes surrounding it.

“What about the poor neighborhoods, like South Park?” asked resident Nikki McCall after Costa made her pitch, as part of her City Council campaign. “I mean, we are a gentrifier, as you can probably tell, but this is a blue-collar neighborhood.”

South Park struggles with pollution of every kind. It’s a major artery for car travel. The Duwamish River that runs through it is a toxic superfund site, and there’s constant noise pollution from air travel. Still, South Park hasn’t escaped the affordability crisis plaguing the city.

“People die here earlier,” McCall said.

Costa agreed — 13 years earlier than Laurelhurst residents, she said.