Seattle targets drug dealers with new “9½ Block Strategy”

Mary Bruno

Mary Bruno Jun 29, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Seattle targets drug dealers with new “9½ Block Strategy”</h1>
                <h2><p>We all know (don't we?) that drug dealers operate, 24/7, in downtown Seattle. Business is especially brisk in the blocks bordered by First and Fourth avenues and Union and Stewart streets, and neighborhood business owners and residents have been complaining. According to The Seattle Times, the Seattle</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mary-bruno-crosscut-com/">Mary Bruno</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>We all know (don't we?) that drug dealers operate, 24/7, in downtown Seattle. Business is especially brisk in the blocks bordered by First and Fourth avenues and Union and Stewart streets, and neighborhood business owners and residents have been complaining. According to <em><a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/seattle-tackles-drug-dealing-disorder-in-downtown-core/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">The Seattle Times</a></em>, the Seattle Police Department fielded 10,000 calls from that part of town last year. (That's a lot.) Well, the city has finally had it with the drug trade and its related crime, so civic and business leaders and the SPD are deploying a new “9½ Block Strategy” to take back those streets. "Bus stops will be moved, alleys restricted and newspaper boxes used by drug dealers removed," reports <em>The Times</em>. Will it work? We'll wait and see.</p>
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We all know (don't we?) that drug dealers operate, 24/7, in downtown Seattle. Business is especially brisk in the blocks bordered by First and Fourth avenues and Union and Stewart streets, and neighborhood business owners and residents have been complaining. According to The Seattle Times, the Seattle Police Department fielded 10,000 calls from that part of town last year. (That's a lot.) Well, the city has finally had it with the drug trade and its related crime, so civic and business leaders and the SPD are deploying a new “9½ Block Strategy” to take back those streets. "Bus stops will be moved, alleys restricted and newspaper boxes used by drug dealers removed," reports The Times. Will it work? We'll wait and see.

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By Mary Bruno

Mary was Crosscut's Editor-in-Chief and Interim Publisher. In more than 25 years as a journalist, she has worked as a writer, editor and editorial director for a variety of print and web publications,