In downtown Seattle, in the Little Saigon neighborhood near the International District that serves as an important cultural hub for the Vietnamese community, a drama is unfolding. The area, which is the “gateway” for one of the city’s largest Asian diasporas and where language and traditions are preserved, is now suffering from widespread drug use and street crime. The only surviving business — ChuMinh Tofu café — continues to operate against the odds. According to 911 data, a quarter of all drug-related calls in the city are for the Chinatown area, and half of those are concentrated on a single block between 12th Avenue and Jackson Street.
ChuMinh Tofu owner Tanya Nguyen has run the place for 15 years. Despite dirty streets and fences topped with barbed wire, her vegan Vietnamese food has gathered more than 1,000 five-star Google reviews. “We’re the last ones holding on,” she says, pointing to empty shops in a shopping center ringed by chain-link.
The Seattle Police Department described the situation in a recent report as a “chaotic and unsafe environment,” with crowds of up to 100 people openly using drugs and trading stolen goods. Local activists, such as Gary Lee of the Community Safety Council, blame authorities for being too lenient: “We ask the police to enforce the laws, but they just roll their eyes.”
Dennis Chinn, owner of the neighboring Asian Plaza, says the city deliberately concentrates problems in immigrant neighborhoods so as not to bother wealthier districts. “They don’t count us because we don’t complain loudly, and many people don’t speak English,” Lee adds.
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s administration tried to address the issue by increasing police presence in 2022 and opening Hoa Mai Park, located in the Lake City area in northeast Seattle and created in 2015 with participation from the Vietnamese community as a symbol of cultural heritage. But the effect proved temporary: the park is now filled with people using drugs, and its hours had to be cut back to 7:30 p.m. because of “unsafe activity.”
Tanya Nguyen sent a letter to new mayor Seattle Mayor Kate Wilson asking for help but got no response. She warns that if order isn’t restored before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, for which Seattle was chosen as a host city thanks to modern Lumen Field and developed infrastructure, international visitors will see the city in a shameful light. While neighborhoods like downtown with Pike Place Market, Capitol Hill, and the Elliott Bay waterfront are considered the city’s “showcases” for tourists, Little Saigon risks being overshadowed by problems.
Even though 13% of all CARE team drug calls are for this neighborhood, the situation has changed little. CARE (Community Assisted Response and Engagement) is an alternative emergency response service where trained social workers and medics — not police officers — respond to calls. “We will take any help,” Lee says. “But people know they can come here to sell stolen goods, and social work alone isn’t enough.”
The city council plans to discuss alternatives to police methods, and the Friends of Little Saigon group has launched the Phở Đẹp beautification program and is preparing to open a cultural center. However, as Nguyen sums up, without sustained attention Seattle risks losing a gem of its culinary and cultural scene.
Based on: Amid Seattle’s neglect, a Little Saigon gem somehow hangs on