Lake City has no supermarket and no pharmacy, and residents say City Hall has done little about it.

The closures of Fred Meyer, Walgreens and Bartell Drugs over the past three years stripped the North Seattle neighborhood of its retail anchors, the Seattle Times reported Sunday, Oct. 25. All three storefronts remain vacant. Older adults in the Savoy, Cedar Park and Victoria Park apartments now ride the bus a mile or more to reach the nearest QFC or Safeway.

The retail desert is one piece of a larger picture. Open drug use around Lake City Park on 33rd Avenue Northeast has become routine, according to the Times. A smoke shop next to Syrian Wrap restaurant has had so many windows broken that plywood covers the openings.

Whoever wins the Tuesday, Nov. 3 District 5 special election will be the neighborhood's third council member in 18 months. Cathy Moore resigned in 2025. Debora Juarez was appointed to fill the seat until the election.

The winner will face voters again next year when Moore's original term expires.

Both candidates, Nilu Jenks and Julie Kang, call Lake City a priority. Their approaches differ.

Kang said the city has "normalized" open drug use and would push for more law enforcement, the Times reported.

She said she would personally recruit grocery chains, naming H Mart and Saar's Super Saver Foods. Kang, who co-founded Pacific International Bank in 2001, said her banking background gives her insight into attracting a supermarket.

She is endorsed by Councilmembers Bob Kettle, Maritza Rivera and Joy Hollingsworth.

Jenks, who lives in Lake City, said the city needs to confront conditions on 33rd Avenue directly.

She proposed a neighborhood location for community crisis responders to handle drug, homelessness and mental health calls.

She also said she would reduce fees on small businesses and streamline permitting to draw new shops.

Jenks led the August primary with about 50% of the vote and is backed by Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay.

Trust in elected officials is thin.

Linda Pruitt, with the Lake City Community Council, said the real work has come from people who live in the neighborhood.

"We've taken things into our own hands. It's hard work. It means showing up," Pruitt said, according to the Times.

César García, co-director of Lake City Collective, moved to the neighborhood 13 years ago.

He finds needles in his yard and said an RV once discharged waste on the road in front of his duplex.

He and his wife, Peggy Hernández, started the collective in 2018 to give communities of color a voice in North Seattle.

Art Rudnicki, another community council member, said a double homicide at Virgil Flaim Park in August 2025 pushed him to act, the Times reported.

He said he used to walk past people using drugs. Now he approaches them and connects those who want help with treatment providers.

The Lake City Business Alliance counted 65 operating shops on the main corridor between Northeast 120th and 135th streets. Chris Leverson, who leads the alliance, said about 35,000 cars pass through on Highway 522 each day but few stop.

Anna Deliganis, who owns the BODE 125 affordable housing complex, told KING 5 that 40% of her building sits empty. She said prospective tenants respond to listings in large numbers but sometimes decline to tour after visiting the neighborhood.

Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Lake City is about $2,000 a month, roughly $700 below the Seattle average, according to Zillow estimates cited by the Times. Median household income in the ZIP code Lake City shares with Northgate is $99,000, about $20,000 less than the citywide figure, census data shows.

Ballots are already in the mail. They must be returned by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3.