Before gentrification, the community's drinking places were blue collar, seaman's bars. Ballard was and is the hub of Seattle’s commercial fishing industry, a thriving, cohesive enclave. But while the Fisherman’s Terminal still has many of it larger vessels, the berths for the smaller boat are now mainly filled with recreational craft. With the industry’s decline, Ballard too became a favorite of developers.
As with much of my multilayered work this image rewards deeper observation of it dense detail. Examining the far lower right corner of the map layer shows four brew pubs within a two block radius. That detail is a clue to understanding this place as one in transition. I believe that there are enough other such nodes of connection in the work that committed observers can connect the image to there own experience of places shifting their identity--or having it shifted for them.
