This is our successful 2023 grant application from 4Culture.org
Under The Flight Path: A community history of Sea-Tac Airport
A documentary of the Airport Communities of Sea-Tac from 1959 until today: Tukwila, Normandy Park, Des Moines, Federal Way, SeaTac and Burien. This will be the first modern history of South King County and also the first about any similar US Airport communities. The film will be supplemented with a web site which will provide complete versions of all materials referenced in the film.
Narrative
Over the past sixty years, Sea-Tac Airport has grown from a small regional airport to the eighth largest airport in North America. Unusual for airports is the fact that it is surrounded by large, diverse communities on all sides.
Media coverage of Sea-Tac has focused almost exclusively on either passenger experience or intermitent major controversies (like the Third Runway project). However, there has been almost no coverage of how these communities have changed over time and been affected by life under the flight paths.
Unfortunately, the last dedicated print news in the region ended in 2010. Since then, news has been limited to small web sites which have no ability to do long form journalism or track ongoing trends.
However, since 1959 (literally) the entire landscape of the area has been changed with lakes filled in, wetlands moved (and removed), tens of thousands of trees lost, and a mountain plateau extended. But because there is no ongoing historical record, it is almost impossible for people to see just how dramatic those changes have been.
Additionally, the demographics of South King County have changed just as dramatically. The shift of BIPOC and immigrant communities southward has been largely fueled by the airport and the industries that serve its needs. Those causes have not been well explored, and neither have their effects on local business, housing, employment, health, education, human services and culture.
We will tell this important story in a one hour film which will be compelling and entertaining for general audiences unfamiliar with the subject matter or the region. To do this we’ll rely heavily on graphics and animations and timelines of key events.
We’ll describe key events people may already be familiar with from a passenger perspective, but contrast those events with what the surrounding communities looked like at each step along that path. We’ll show what it means for residents of an idyllic area, when a small airport grows into the dominant force for an entire region.
Both Seattle and national media coverage of Sea-Tac Airport has always tilted heavily towards the romance of air travel and the economic benefits of regional growth. Each time the airport has expanded, local governments and community groups have activated to address concerns about a variety of negative impacts, including noise and pollution. But those outcomes have always ended in frustration and a mass community exodus. This turnover results in a loss of institutional knowledge. So every subsequent generation ends up ‘re-inventing the wheel’ re-learning even the basics of what their rights are and how to advocate with the appropriate organizations.
This combination of slanted media coverage and a lack of institutional memory has created a series of enduring myths that consistently worked to the disadvantage of both local governments and their residents, including:
• “The noise and pollution are just annoyances”
• “The airport is an economic plus for everyone!”
One goal of this project is to bust those myths:
• Both the noise and emissions correlate with several serious negative health outcomes ranging from low birth weight to reductions in life expectancy
• In 2020 only 59 residents of Des Moines had living wage jobs with the Port of Seattle),
• The overwhelming benefits of the airport have been felt by Seattle and East Side communities.
Another goal is to help provide that institutional memory, allowing people new to the area, especially marginalised communities, to understand how we got here and to give them the tools they need to move forward without re-inventing the wheel.
Just one of the important stories that need telling: Between 1973 and 1976, residents organised and brought the FAA, the Port of Seattle and King County together to create an unprecedented agreement known as the Sea-Tac Communities Plan. The STCP was meant to provide a long-term solution for the communities and the airport to live together in harmony. But very quickly local politicians walked back almost every aspect of the agreement and now, most people have no idea those promises were even made, let alone broken. Suffice to say, if the plan had been implemented, or could be revived, the lived experience for residents living under the flight path would be dramatically different.
We will present, for the first time, a history of each of the Airport Communities. We’ll talk about the airport, but primarily within the context of its effects on each city. We’ll explain the unique character of each city and explain both how and why it has been so challenging for them to work together to respond effectively to the challenges presented by the airport’s growth.
The dramatic shift in demography and income inequality for the airport communities makes this story all the more important. Demonstrating clearly how the growth of airport operations tracks with the shifts in any number of disparities, including education, health and opportunities for youth, will be a powerful tool for advocates and decision makers.
Both Seattle and national media coverage of Sea-Tac Airport has always tilted heavily towards the romance of air travel and the economic benefits of regional growth. Each time the airport has expanded, local governments and community groups have activated to address concerns about a variety of negative impacts, including noise and pollution. But those outcomes have always ended in frustration and a mass community exodus. This turnover results in a loss of institutional knowledge. So every subsequent generation ends up ‘re-inventing the wheel’ re-learning even the basics of what their rights are and how to advocate with the appropriate organizations.
This combination of slanted media coverage and a lack of institutional memory has created a series of enduring myths that consistently worked to the disadvantage of both local governments and their residents, including:
• “The noise and pollution are just annoyances”
• “The airport is an economic plus for everyone!”
One goal of this project is to bust those myths:
• Both the noise and emissions correlate with several serious negative health outcomes ranging from low birth weight to reductions in life expectancy
• In 2020 only 59 residents of Des Moines had living wage jobs with the Port of Seattle),
• The overwhelming benefits of the airport have been felt by Seattle and East Side communities.
Another goal is to help provide that institutional memory, allowing people new to the area, especially marginalised communities, to understand how we got here and to give them the tools they need to move forward without re-inventing the wheel.
Just one of the important stories that need telling: Between 1973 and 1976, residents organised and brought the FAA, the Port of Seattle and King County together to create an unprecedented agreement known as the Sea-Tac Communities Plan. The STCP was meant to provide a long-term solution for the communities and the airport to live together in harmony. But very quickly local politicians walked back almost every aspect of the agreement and now, most people have no idea those promises were even made, let alone broken. Suffice to say, if the plan had been implemented, or could be revived, the lived experience for residents living under the flight path would be dramatically different.
We will present, for the first time, a history of each of the Airport Communities. We’ll talk about the airport, but primarily within the context of its effects on each city. We’ll explain the unique character of each city and explain both how and why it has been so challenging for them to work together to respond effectively to the challenges presented by the airport’s growth.