Apr 12, 2024 - News

Voters to city: Fix the darn potholes

Christine Clarridge

A shovel and a brown shoe belonging to a maintenance worker are shown above a pot hole filled with brown water. The maintenance worker's reflection is visible in the puddle. — A maintenance worker fills in a pothole in California in 2023. Photo: Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images

Seattleites have many concerns about the issues affecting the city, but the vast majority want local leaders to focus on the basic problems of day-to-day city living, like the age-old scourge of potholes.

Driving the news: Among 700 Seattle voters polled in March, nine out of 10 think city leaders ought to focus on things like potholes, maintaining parks and addressing public safety, according to the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce's Index report.

Stunning stat: Seattle Department of Transportation workers filled 25,000 potholes in 2023, the most repaired in the past five years, per the department.

Yes, but: Washington was ranked the worst state in the nation when it comes to potholes, according to a USA Today ranking released in February that also named Seattle the ninth-worst city for potholes.

What they found: One in four of the Seattle voters surveyed listed affordability as their top concern, per the report.

There's also been an eight-point jump since fall in the percentage of people who say they are actively considering moving out of Seattle, per the Index.
Among those who say they are considering moving, 33% cited the cost of living or housing as their primary reason and nearly two-thirds said they're concerned about their personal financial situation in the current economy.

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Voters to city: Fix the darn potholes

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