A recent view of Blanchard Street in Belltown looking west to the waterfront.
Fresh tulips at the Pike Place Market and the moments when our famous Seattle grey sky gives way to the sunshine are clear signs that spring is here. It’s the time you are reminded to start planning for that garden in your backyard; but you know you first have to figure out the prep work for all the work that is to be done and supplies need to be gathered.
The “garden prep-work” is exactly where the minds of the staff are for the Waterfront program. Since the Office of the Waterfront program is currently moving along the schematic design from 30 percent to 60 percent, we are trying to map out where the team can make needed improvements to reinvent the public spaces along the Waterfront.
IN the future, a greener Belltown might look like this.
One of our main goals is to improve local public and green spaces for everyone in Seattle to enjoy. One example of this work will be the transformation of the Belltown corridor. The team has been developing a distinct planting area, which will bring back a mixture of native plants to the Belltown spaces and tell the story of the region’s diverse ecosystem.
The Belltown planting is inspired by the Puget Sound bluff ecosystem and will try to capture similar topography as it cascades down to meet the shoreline. The plantings along this area will likely be deciduous tree species along the bluff slopes; conifers along the top of the bluff where the ground is more level; and various shrub species that are typically found in the Pacific Northwest understory.
You can check out more of the Waterfront program planting layouts here.