Scroll down to see before and after photos of popular and frequented places across the Seattle area. And join us in our excitement for the day we all hope for, when we'll return to busy streets once more, and perhaps, with a set of fresh eyes too.
John Moore/Getty Images
BEFORE: Members of the Human and Earth Defense League protest in front of The Gap in downtown Seattle, banging drums and handing out leaflets. They also protested yesterday in front of the Banana Republic, Old Navy and Niketown.
Paul Kitagaki Jr./Seattle Post-Intelligencer
AFTER: A pedestrian wearing a mask passes a boarded up Gap store on Saturday, April 18, 2020, in downtown Seattle. Streets remained mostly empty due to Washington state's ongoing stay-at-home order and non-essential businesses continuing to be closed as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Ted S. Warren / Associated Press
AFTER: The streets of downtown Seattle, which are normally packed with holiday shoppers, are empty on December 9, 2020.
CLAIRE MAULDING, SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLEPI
AFTER: The streets of downtown Seattle, which are normally packed with holiday shoppers, are empty on December 9, 2020.
CLAIRE MAULDING, SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLEPI
BEFORE: Evening light illuminates Mt. Rainier as it rises above the White Center neighborhood on June 24, 2019.
Genna Martin/SEATTLEPI
AFTER: A colorful mural painted on a boarded up business in White Center on April 1, 2020.
Kristina Moy
AFTER: A colorful mural painted on a boarded up business in White Center on April 1, 2020.
Kristina Moy
BEFORE: Nick Wiley, Kathleen Whitson and their two sons, Clayton, 4, and Joey Wiley, 1, choose apples from Tiny's Organics at the West Seattle Farmers Market.
Karen Ducey/Seattle Post-Intelligencer
AFTER: Masked customers walk through the West Seattle Farmers Market during its first opening in nearly two months because of the coronavirus outbreak Sunday, May 3, 2020.
Elaine Thompson/Associated Press
BEFORE: Friends play soccer in the sand on Alki Beach on July 29, 2016.
GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
AFTER: A Seattle Parks & Recreation sign posted along Alki Beach on April 16, 2020.
Kristina Moy
BEFORE: Felix Hernandez, #34 of the Seattle Mariners, tips his cap to the crowd before the game against the Oakland Athletics at T-Mobile Park on September 26, 2019.
Lindsey Wasson / Getty Images
AFTER: Seats are shown with cutout photos of fans during a baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers at T-Mobile Park on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, games are being played without fans in attendance, but the Mariners allowed people to purchase photos to place in the seats, and if a foul ball makes it to a seat, the team will mail it to the fan whose photo is there.
Ted S. Warren / Associated Press
AFTER: A general view of the empty streets along T-Mobile Park on March 15, 2020 in Seattle. Major League Baseball cancelled spring training games and has delayed opening day by at least two weeks due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Abbie Parr/Getty Images
BEFORE: The Space Needle's observation deck is full of visitors.
GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM
AFTER: A flag that reads “#We Got This Seattle” flies atop the Space Needle.
Ted S. Warren / Associated Press
BEFORE: The Pike Place Market Centennial Celebration drew large crowds on August 17, 2007.
Meryl Schenker/Seattle Post-Intelligencer
AFTER: The Pike Place Market sits virtually empty of patrons on March 10, 2020. The historic farmer's market is Seattle's most popular tourist attraction, and business has been especially hard hit by coronavirus fears.
John Moore/Getty Images
AFTER: The Pike Place Market sits virtually empty of patrons on March 10, 2020. The historic market is Seattle's most popular tourist attraction and business has been especially hard hit by coronavirus fears.
John Moore/Getty Images
BEFORE: Taho Kakutani, an employee with Pike Place Fish Market, throws a King Salmon at Pike Place Market in Seattle on Tuesday, April 8, 2008. the Huskies won 1-0.
Mike Kane/Mike Kane/seattlepi.com file
AFTER: Customers shop in masks at Pike Place Market in Dec. 2020.
CLAIRE MAULDING, SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLEPI
BEFORE: Thousands of people were out Saturday afternoon admiring the Yoshino cherry blossoms, which reached full bloom in the quad at the University of Washington on March 30, 2019.
Genna Martin
AFTER: An empty row of Yoshino cherry trees blossom at the University of Washington in March 2020.
Rosemary Washington
BEFORE: Cars head into Seattle from Mercer Island on the I-90 bridge on Wednesday, June 28, 2017.
GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
AFTER: An empty I-90 heading west into Seattle on April 10, 2020.
SeattlePI
BEFORE: The City of Seattle celebrates the Sounders' MLS Cup Championship win with a parade from Westlake Park to Seattle Center and a rally, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019. The Sounders beat Toronto 3-1 to bring home their second MLS Cup in four years.
Genna Martin/seattlepi.com
AFTER: Lumen Field, where MLS soccer's Seattle Sounders play home games, sits empty. In efforts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a ban on large public gatherings. That decision impacts the Seattle Mariners, Seattle Sounders, and Seahawks home games.
Stephen Brashear, FRE / Associated Press
BEFORE: A photo of a busy Seattle gym.
Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media
AFTER: A man works out in an empty gym at an apartment building in downtown Seattle, Sunday, March 15, 2020.
Ted S. Warren/AP
BEFORE: Passengers walk through Concourse A at Sea-Tac Airport.
Don Wilson, Port Photographer
AFTER: An empty SeaTac airport awaits passengers in April 2020.
SeattlePI
AFTER: An empty SeaTac airport awaits passengers in April 2020.
SeattlePI
AFTER: An empty SeaTac airport awaits passengers in April 2020.
SeattlePI
BEFORE: Grocery workers stock shelves with toilet paper.
Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media file
AFTER: An empty toilet paper aisle at the Westwood Village Target store in West Seattle on March 15, 2020.
Kristina Moy
AFTER: An empty bread aisle at the Westwood Village Target store in West Seattle on March 15, 2020.
Kristina Moy
BEFORE: In this Jan. 22, 2018 photo, a worker, right, looks at the ID of a shopper at the wine and beer area inside an Amazon Go store in Seattle.
Elaine Thompson/Associated Press
AFTER: An empty toilet paper aisle at the Westfield Village QFC in West Seattle on March 15, 2020.
Kristina Moy
AFTER: The cold/flu aisle was almost empty at the Westwood Village Target store in West Seattle on March 15, 2020.
Kristina Moy
AFTER: Empty aisles at the Westwood Village Target store in West Seattle on March 15, 2020.
Kristina Moy
AFTER: Empty shelves at the Safeway store in Newcastle on March 14, 2020.
Amy Sharp
AFTER: The empty toilet paper aisle at the Burien Fred Meyer on March 28, 2020.
Kristina Moy
BEFORE: A grocery store remains fully-stocked.
Courtesy, La Gloria
AFTER: Empty milk shelves at the Safeway store in Newcastle on March 14, 2020.
Amy Sharp
BEFORE: A Trader Joe's freezer case fully stocked up.
Alix Martichoux / SFGATE
AFTER: Empty freezer cases at the Trader Joe's in Lakewood.
Nicole Bennett
AFTER: Empty store shelves at Trader Joe's in Seattle.
Kristina Moy
BEFORE: Kids play in the water off Lincoln Park as temperatures reached a record high of 90 degrees in the Seattle area according to the National Weather Service on Wednesday, June 12, 2019.
Genna Martin/SEATTLEPI
AFTER: A closed gate and signs posted at the Lincoln Park parking lot in West Seattle on March 25, 2020. The parking lot was closed in an effort to increase social distancing and prevent gatherings in the parking lot under Gov. Jay Inslee's statewide "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order.
Aaron Moy
AFTER: Social distancing signs posted at Lincoln Park in West Seattle on April 19, 2020.
Kristina Moy
BEFORE: Customers waiting close together in lines at the Seattle 4th Ave. Costco on Feb. 27, 2020.
Kristina Moy
AFTER: Social distancing floor stickers at the Burien Fred Meyer checkout lanes on March 29, 2020.
Kristina Moy
AFTER: The Kroger Family, which runs stores such as QFC and Fred Meyer, implemented limits to lower the number of customers in the store to 50% of the building's code capacity starting April 7. While the standard capacity for a grocery store is one person per 60 square feet, the new measures will reduce that number to one person per 120 square feet.
Kristina Moy
AFTER: The Kroger Family, which runs stores such as QFC and Fred Meyer, implemented limits to lower the number of customers in the store to 50% of the building's code capacity starting April 7. While the standard capacity for a grocery store is one person per 60 square feet, the new measures will reduce that number to one person per 120 square feet.
Kristina Moy
BEFORE: Yakima natives Cebryna Navarro, 11, and Zendina Madirgao, 8, play on a mini climbing wall at the park.
Jim Bryant/Seattle Post-Intelligencer
AFTER: A playground at Hicks Lake in Burien is closed off with caution tape on March 29, 2020. Gov. Inslee's "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order includes the closure of all King County parks and playgrounds.
Kristina Moy
AFTER: A playground in White Center is closed off with caution tape on March 29, 2020. Gov. Inslee's "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order includes the closure of all King County parks and playgrounds.
This week, King County City Council approved an emergency measure that would provide $2.2 million in funding for free childcare services for first responders and essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding was requested by King County Executive Dow Constantine and passed unanimously by the Council on Tuesday to provide relief to families struggling to secure childcare as many facilities are closed due to the pandemic.
"When the King County Council created and adopted the plan for allocating this funding source, we made expanding access to childcare a top priority. We did not imagine then that the need would grow to be so emergent and acute," said King County Council Chair Claudia Balducci in a statement. "I am proud to work with the Executive and my Council colleagues to repurpose some of this money now to make sure child care is available to first responders, health care professionals, grocery workers and other essential personnel who need our support to keep fighting on the front lines of the battle against coronavirus."
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To enact the measure, the County will work will Childcare Resources to match families with providers. Eligible childcare providers will be reimbursed at a higher rate that reflects start-up costs associated with new health and safety guidelines to continue operating.
The Council has adopted the same definitions of essential workers as Governor Jay Inslee, which includes professions like healthcare workers, emergency services, transit operators and grocery clerks.
"Our first responders have been working tirelessly to keep us safe, healthy and provide essential services during the COVID-19 outbreak,' said Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer in a statement. "The last thing they should be worried about during this crisis is finding and paying for childcare for their children."
On Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee extended his initial two-week "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order through May 4 during an address to Washington residents.
Callie is a web producer for the SeattlePI focusing on local politics, transportation, real estate and restaurants. She previously worked at a craft beer e-commerce company and loves exploring Seattle's breweries. Her writing has been featured in Seattle magazine and the Seattle University Spectator, where she served as a student journalist.
