Reasserting the Place of Nature in Seattle’s Urban Creeks - Politics of Urban Runoff: Nature, Technology, and the Sustainable City - page 148

Figure 6.7
Aerial photo of Northgate Mall, showing key features of the redevelopment controversy
(the dotted line represents the approximate location of the buried pipe conveying Thornton
Creek from Interstate 5 to east of Fifth Avenue NE).
There is some debate about the premall condition of this section of the
creek, but most agree that it was not a free fl owing channel but rather a
boggy wetland that conveyed the creek from west of Interstate 5 to the
east of Fifth Avenue NE and eventually to its outlet at Lake Washington
(see fi gure 6.7).
Beginning in the late 1960s, homeowners downstream of the mall began
to complain about the deteriorating conditions of the creek and associated
fl ooding problems. The Thornton Creek Alliance was formed in 1992
and—similar to other neighborhood creek organizations—has been active
in monitoring, restoring, and educating area residents about the creek.
Despite their efforts, Thornton Creek today has a reputation as the one
of the most abused creeks in the city due to the intensive development of