Between Progress and Preservation: Seattle’s Chinatown-International District

Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID) is the only area in the continental United States where Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipinos, and African Americans settled together to build one neighborhood, according to the Wing Luke Museum. Today, the neighborhood remains a vibrant hub for Asian American businesses, community organizations, and residents.

In May 2023, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Chinatown-International District as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. This designation comes as Sound Transit plans to build another light rail station in the neighborhood, which could have detrimental consequences for the community. Unfortunately, this is just one of many projects that have threatened the Chinatown-International District since the late 1800s.

In this documentary, four CID community members share their experiences and thoughts on the balance between progress and preservation in their neighborhood.

Learn more and support Seattle’s Chinatown-International District
• Seattle Chinatown-International District Official Website: https://www.seattlechinatownid.com/
• Neighborhood Business Directory: https://www.seattlechinatownid.com/th...
• Wing Luke Museum: https://www.wingluke.org/
• InterIm Community Development Association: https://interimcda.org/
• Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority: https://scidpda.org/
• International Examiner: https://iexaminer.org/
• Northwest Asian Weekly: https://nwasianweekly.com/

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A Documentary By
Allison Yang

Featuring
Maya Hayashi
Trinh Ong
Chera Amlag
Nora Chan

Images and Additional Videos
Wing Luke Museum Collection
Museum of History & Industry, Seattle
InterIm Community Development Association
Sharon Tanagi Aburano, Wing Luke Museum Collection
Ralph S. Ochi, Wing Luke Museum Collection
Johnny Closs / The Seattle Times
Amanda Snyder / The Seattle Times
Robert Brittain / King County (“Kingdome under construction, 1975” by Robert Brittain CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/kingcou...)
Sunita Martini / Seattle Refined
Jeriel Calamayan
Nora Chan
Trinh Ong
Blackboxguild / Adobe Stock
Nick / Adobe Stock

Music
Zen - All Bets Off / FineTune Music
Quiet Times - Late Night Moods / MusicRevolution
Gratify - High Proof / FineTune Music
Acoustic Guitar Ending - ForestMusic / Jamendo
My Favorite Place - A|C / Jamendo
Minimalistic Guitar 2 - Matti Paalanen / Jamendo
My Mom My Hero - Myton Music / MusicRevolution
What Matters - A|C / Jamendo
Feels Like The Wind - Myton Music / MusicRevolution
Sourced from https://stock.adobe.com/

Special Thanks
Dr. Caitlin Ring Carlson
Steffi Morrison
Seattle University Media Production Center

*This video is not monetized and is for educational purposes*