ABSTRACT
The Pike Place Public Market is a truly amazing place. Approximately four blocks long and two blocks wide, it is perched on a bluff facing Elliott Bay. The market is filled with fishmongers, vegetable sellers, butchers, and fruit vendors. Craftspeople jostle for tables brimming with assorted, hand-made goods. The market is a microcosm of the Citistate Seattle. It offers abundant opportunities for small scale, entrepreneurial creativity to thrive. Personalized, friendly, face-to-face communication is proffered instead of packaged products and experiences. The Market also demonstrates our fondness for messy democracy. The place is governed by a myriad of organizations. The Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority—an independent arm of the city—owns and manages the real estate. The Market was saved from near destruction by a citizens initiative in 1971. The city and the downtown business community had intended for most of it to be demolished and replaced by towering condominiums, offices, and parking structures.
