Maybe you didnt think much about SoDo until March 26, 2000, when the Kingdome was imploded. What was once South of the Dome became, in a dusty instant, South of Downtown: a roughly four-square-mile patch that looms large in our citys narrative. Theres no better person to write about SoDo than Dan Raley, a native Seattleite who spent nearly 30 years at the P-I. His coffee-table book Tideflats to Tomorrow: The History of Seattles SoDo (Fairgreens, $29.95) is packed with little-known history, fascinating anecdotes, and rare photos. From the old Duwamish mud and brine, SoDo has risen from Indian clamming ground to Hooverville in the 1930s to the present headquarters of Starbucks, K2, McKinstry, and other major companies, as well as a billion dollars worth of stadiums that provide a home for the Mariners, Seahawks, and Sounders. Proximate to railroads and the Port of Seattle, its been the citys industrial heart for more than a century. Also: Ravenna Third Place Books, Fri. Aug. 6, 6:30 p.m. MICHAEL MAHONEY
Thu., Aug. 5, 5 p.m., 2010
