Projects
We're a determined group of neighbors in Rainier Beach transforming a sprawling overgrown chunk of city median from an abandoned eyesore into a lush greenspace. And cultivating community in the process.
The boulder is now the signature landmark of the Waters Median Project, lit up at night among red crocosmia and tall grasses. People give directions by it.
Volunteers set the boulder at Waters Ave S and S Pilgrim St, paid for by our first Neighborhood Matching Fund grant. We had money left for some flowers, too!
Before. Same corner, same sign, a lot less going on. A narrow strip of turf and weeds.
The boulder is now the signature landmark of the Waters Median Project, lit up at night among red crocosmia and tall grasses. People give directions by it.
SDOT's new stairs, finished by neighbors. Two months after the city built them, volunteers added granite edging, boulders, and colorful drought-tolerant plantings.
In August 2024, SDOT replaced the old walk with concrete stairs and handrails, a clear safety improvement for everyone in the area.
The old walk at Norfolk was worn, mossy, and unsafe underfoot.
SDOT's new stairs, finished by neighbors. Two months after the city built them, volunteers added granite edging, boulders, and colorful drought-tolerant plantings.
The stone wall is rising at the overlook, set by neighbors.
Neighbors cut and fit every piece themselves. The overlook is going up one stone at a time. We wanted this amenity to be special, and permanent.
Looking down the street toward the water. This sightline is the reason for the overlook.
The stone wall is rising at the overlook, set by neighbors.
A few seasons in, the wall is a living border that smells as good as it looks.
We packed the wall at Holyoke with jasmine, lavender, black-eyed Susans, and Sky Pencil Holly.
The Holyoke wall as we found it, bare and overgrown with weeds and blackberry.
A few seasons in, the wall is a living border that smells as good as it looks.
The median in morning spring light, and a strip that was just grass and weeds starts to feel like a street loved by a community. Trees are how an overlooked median begins to breathe.
Nothing here but turf and weeds. Long, featureless, and easy to speed along without considering the people who live nearby.
For some in the neighborhood, trees along this corridor were a dream decades in the making. We made it happen, together.
The median in morning spring light, and a strip that was just grass and weeds starts to feel like a street loved by a community. Trees are how an overlooked median begins to breathe.
A year after planting, the slope on Perry is thick with shrubs, grasses, and stout groundcover. One neighbor, from across the street, planted all of it.
Black plastic sheeting covers the slope for monnths, starving the invasives of light and water, with no herbicide. It's one of our go-to methods for clearing a site before planting.
Small plants go into bare soil on the slope, and every one gets a drink to start its roots.
A year after planting, the slope on Perry is thick with shrubs, grasses, and stout groundcover. One neighbor, from across the street, planted all of it.
