In a dramatic departure from its classic format which includes four rail lines, a sneak peek of Hasbro’s new Bellevue-themed Monopoly game shows it will include just one rail option surrounded by acres of free parking spaces.
“One railroad is more than enough,” said Kemper Freeman, who owns The Bellevue Collection and fought light rail construction for years with lawsuits that went all the way to the State Supreme Court. “If I had it my way, there wouldn’t even be one because all anyone really needs here on the Eastside is stories and stories of free mall parking surrounded by miles and miles of street and freeway traffic gridlock—and by anyone I mean my shares in Shell and Chevron.”
Despite wide public support for the game to show the Bellevue’s shift from sleepy bedroom community to a smart, modern city with more public transit options and walkable neighborhoods than ever, Freeman was adamant with Hasbro that the game should work otherwise.
“We want you to play the game and compete for the real estate, not some boring, valueless public works—how are you going to get rich collecting paltry rents from public utilities?” Freeman said. “The real money is in constructing another shopping mall surrounded by at least 6,000 free parking spaces.”
At press time, the release date of the game was reportedly still up in the air due to Hasbro stoking HOA tensions by assigning greater value to 130th Place SE than 165th Place NE.
