You Are Here (Approximately)

I was excited to see a new wayfinding sign on the sidewalk on the corner of Pike and 9th. And then I read it closely.

→ Denny Triangle 🍴☕ 1 min
→ Paramount Theater 4 min
→ Seattle Convention Center: Summit 4 min

So here's a little quiz on the space-time continuum. If it takes 4 min to get to 9th and Pine, where you'll find the Paramount Theater and the Summit, how long does it take to get to Denny Triangle, which is another full block away?

According to the sign: 1 minute.

The sign also promises food and coffee in Denny Triangle. The next block in that direction is 9th and Pine, where if you're hungry, you'll find Bombo, Dough Zone, and the Carlile Room, plus more choices down towards the Grand Hyatt and the Paramount Hotel. Coffee's at Monorail Espresso at the Summit, or at Caffe Ladro at 8th and Pine. Or at Ethioblue, mere steps away from the sign. None of that is in Denny Triangle.

Olive Way, a full block beyond Pine St., marks the southern edge of Denny Triangle. You'll find a few food options there (Just Poke, Mr. West Cafe, hotel restaurants) but you'll have to keep walking for blocks to reach the dining options near South Lake Union.

Would I recommend a walk to South Lake Union from here? Sure. But that's an afternoon's excursion, not a one-minute walk.

← Seattle Convention Center: Arch 1 min

The Arch is the building surrounding you. At the sign, you're standing under the truck bridge. And here, the "one-minute" walk is correct if you're going to the main public entrance at 705 Pike, one block down the hill.

If you have to cross the street to 800 Pike, that's probably another minute at the light.

But at least the sign points in the correct direction.

← Westlake Station 6 min

Westlake Station's entrances are on Pine Street, one block over. There are no station entrances on Pike Street. A pedestrian following this arrow walks down Pike, looking for stairs that do not exist, past a station that is one block away on the parallel street, until they reach Pike Place Market.

Six minutes is the stated time. Maybe, if you time the lights right. And it's about 15 to 20 minutes if you detour by way of Pike Place Market, longer if you stop for humbow.

← Seattle Center Monorail 7 min

The monorail terminal is in Westlake Center, accessed from 5th Ave. and Pine Street. Same wrong-street problem as Westlake Station.

But if you walk down Pike, you'll find Monorail Espresso. I'm sure they'll be happy to give you directions to the Space Needle.

← South Lake Union Streetcar 9 min

The South Lake Union Streetcar's southernmost terminal is McGraw Square, where 5th and Olive meets Westlake Ave. That's three blocks down Pike and two blocks over to the right. Or, as a human being might put it, it's around back of the Nordstrom block.

That means, despite the sign, you won't find a SLU Streetcar stop on Pike Street. There has never been one. The Center City Connector that would have extended the line down 1st Avenue was cancelled in 2019 by then-Mayor Jenny Durkan. The sign appears to be blissfully unaware of this sad development.

That puts the sign at 0-for-3 for transit options. Although it points in the right direction for the front door of the Arch, that's like getting credit for writing your name on the test.

→ Freeway Park 2 min

From this location, there are at least four ways to reach Freeway Park:

1. Go downhill to the 8th Ave. at the end of the block, cross the street, turn left, and walk through the vehicle tunnel, look for the park entrance on your right.
2. Facing uphill, turn right through the Convention Place bus drop-off tunnel. When you reach 7th and Union St., cross Union St. and then climb the stairs by Old Style Shoe Shine and Repair Co.
3. Walk uphill two blocks to the Hubbell Place entrance, which takes you through a narrow passage around the convention center's exhibit halls. There's at least one security callbox, so you'll probably be fine. This is the option that the sign recommends.
4. Go to the 705 Pike entrance and ride the Arch's Galleria escalators to Level 4.

The correct answer to "How do I get to Freeway Park" is almost always #4. Unless you're trying to score.

By the way, none of those paths are doable in 2 minutes unless you're sprinting at top speed, and even then, I'd like to see you try.

→ Pike / Pine 3 min

This one's confusing, and it's not entirely the sign's fault.

Pike St. and Pine St. stretch from Pike Place Market to the Seattle Convention Center buildings. Once you go past Melrose Ave. into Capitol Hill, those two streets turn into E. Pike St. and E. Pine St. In common usage, at least in the tourism corners of the web, the Capitol Hill section is called "Pike/Pine." The downhill side is just part of "Downtown Seattle."

And so it's not factually wrong to say "Pike/Pine" is uphill, even if it conflates two streets that run in two directions. But it is factually wrong to point people to "Pike/Pine" with a walking time of three minutes, which gets you perhaps to the aforementioned entrance to Freeway Park, which is not where most people dine or shop.

A simpler question: Why doesn't the sign say Capitol Hill? That's what the locals call it. It's Seattle's most vibrant pedestrian neighborhood: dense, alive, full of restaurants and bars and coffee and music. You can see it from the sign. It's a hill, you can't miss it.

Someone's relatives in Pennsylvania are still asking if CHOP is there. The sign is not helping.

The sign that dare not say its name.

Here, I fixed it for you:

→ 🏳️‍🌈 Capitol Hill 8 min

→ Melrose Promenade 6 min

The best entry on the sign. Specific destination, correct direction, and it delivers: Taylor Shellfish, Terra Plata, and Melrose Market are real reasons to walk uphill.

It is also the entry that requires the most local knowledge to act on, because "Melrose Promenade" is not yet a name that lands with a first-time visitor the way "Pike Place Market" does.

Personally, I'd call it Melrose Loop.

→ First Hill Streetcar 13 min

If you're looking for a scenic surface route to Little Saigon or the International District, walk up Pike into Capitol Hill and board at Broadway and E. Pike St.

Or just take the light rail from Westlake. If you can find it.

"First Hill Streetcar" tells you the vehicle and the neighborhood — not where it goes. May I suggest:

→ 🚋 First Hill Streetcar 15 min
to 🍜☕🛍️ Int'l District

What's missing?

Walk downhill about ten minutes and you'll find the most visited tourist destination in Seattle and one of the most recognized public markets in the world.

Pike Place Market is not on the sign.

I understand that it's not the most scenic walk, what with all the vacancies on Pike St., but it's certainly the most direct route and worth putting on a wayfinding sign.

I'm guessing that whoever wrote and/or approved this sign drives to work and rarely leaves the building.

They certainly didn't ask anyone who answers these questions every day. For example, the SCC admission attendants answer "how do I get to the market" and "where's the Summit" and "is there food around here" on every shift. They know which directions work and which ones don't. They know that nobody asks for Denny Triangle. They know the South Lake Union streetcar isn't on Pike.

Or just talk to the neighbors. We're right here.

Ivan Schneider is the founding editor of The Convention City Dispatch. He worked as an admission attendant at the Seattle Convention Center in 2023.