Parks

For many families with disabilities, few Seattle playgrounds feel meant for them

Would you pay $700k to discourage a homeless encampment? Washington state did by buying rocks

In city planning terms, “hostile architecture” is the practice of using spikes, or bike racks, or cement blocks — really anything — as a design choice to prevent people from loitering or laying down in public places. Sometimes hostile architecture is actually hostile landscaping.

Controversial totem poles must return to Pike Place Market, says historical commission

The city’s parks department petitioned the Market Historical Commission to be allowed to replace the totem poles with art more representative of local tribes.

A beaver dam blocked spawning salmon at Carkeek Park. Now humans are giving nature a nudge

Typically, a major construction project in Seattle requires a city permit. Changes to a park would have you wading into the political process – maybe lobbying your city council member or the mayor. But beavers can’t be bothered with land use applications.

The love story that grew Seattle's 'secret garden'

Since 1972, the Streissguth Gardens have become one of Seattle’s most unique landmarks. The gardens take up a full acre of hillside just west of Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park. If you’ve spent a morning running up the long Blaine Street Stairs, you’ve passed right by the gardens. But the story of how this unorthodox public garden came to be is one of coincidence, love, and perhaps a bit of magic.