SODO Underwater | SODO works

SODO Underwater

Welcome to SODO

Okay, not literally underwater. But, sometimes, in some places, it’s close.

Standing just a dozen feet above sea level on very soggy fill, the SODO industrial area highlights its watery foundation nearly every time it rains through rapidly spreading mud puddles that often reach epic proportions. That’s partly because in vast stretches of SODO public drainage facilities are poor to non-existent, a fact that reflects a much broader lack of basic civic infrastructure.

Yet, every once in a while, someone or group steps forward with a SODO Big Idea – a visionary redevelopment plan that would transform the area into a rose garden of urban entertainment and living.

Not so long ago, it was a spectacular vision to transform Terminal 46 into an urban playground, with offices, condominiums, restaurants, yacht moorages, and even a slip for the ever-wandering art deco aluminum ferry boat, the Kalakala.

You can still see lushly illustrated visions of this concept – right on the drawing board where it remains firmly rooted.

Which brings us back to the mud puddles, dead ends, unpaved roads, pot holes, lack of drainage, lack of sidewalks, and the pollution that swirls throughout the groundwater that literally ebbs and flows beneath parts of SODO with the saltwater tide.

Who would fix all that? And, who would pay for it?