| Seattle, Washington, and the residential areas surrounding it are booming, due largely to Microsoft, Boeing, and other technology-related companies. The boom has caused a rapid increase in population and housing prices to skyrocket. Within the Central Area of Seattle, high home and rental prices are forcing the low- to moderate-income African Americans and other people of color out of the Central Area to more affordable residential neighborhoods outside the city. This scenario on the surface may seem beneficial to the Central Area. However, when one considers that historically and traditionally this area had been predominantly African American as well as the melting pot of Seattle's ethnic diversity, it is clear how the changing ethnicity and gentrification of this community disturbs the ethnic balance of the neighborhood.
Seattle Central Community College is targeting its Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) efforts to the Central Area, a designated HUD Enterprise Community. The challenges of this area include the inability for the predominately unskilled and untrained labor force to enter into the labor market or pursue any entrepreneurial ventures. The lack of technology skills of the residents in the computer-driven environment of the area also present large challenges.
After nearly 15 months of community meetings and studies, the Seattle Central Community College COPC will address three urgent needs in this community. These areas are housing, business and economic development, and job training. Project objectives will be accomplished through a series of activities jointly implemented by the college, Seattle Central Area organizations and associations, and government agency-implemented activities.
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