Accidental Park
Construction crews have enclosed Occidental Park in Pioneer Square with metal fencing, signifying the city's intent to move forward with a contentious renovation project, including cutting down 17 trees.The City of Seattle is making a big mistake. They intend to "renovate" Occidental Park in Pioneer Square, but in the process they are railroading the process to swat away a court challenge by local business owners.
And those business owners have a point. They've established a Web site at http://www.ohnoyoudont.net/ at which they argue that the new park space will not deal with the real problem of the park of drugs and homeless people.
The city's argument regarding the trees, "that the canopy of leaves becomes so thick that it's hard to stay warm in the park, even in summer, and that's it's also very dark" is just ridiculous. This is the Pacific Northwest. Get out of the city a bit and remind yourself of one of the reasons why this area is so beautiful: the trees. These London plane trees provide shade, but they also create a rare green space in a city full of concrete. And the reason why one doesn't stay warm in this park also has to do with the fact this is the Pacific Northwest, where it rarely ever gets warm, and when it does, it is nice to have place for us local weather wimps to sit in the shade.
Occidental Park doesn't need chess tables and a bocce ball court. Go to San Francisco and see how much this deals with the homeless problem on Market Street - it doesn't. Nobody is going to play bocce ball in downtown Seattle. The court/pit will simply take up space and gather garbage and refuse.
As for the concession building, why don't we simply call it what it is likely to be: a future Starbucks.
This whole project, at $1.2 million just reeks of avoiding the real problems in Seattle, and this park, and sacrificing 17 trees in the process, while disregarding a lawsuit that seeks to forestall their destruction, does nothing to solve the problems, and smacks of arrogance and callousness.
Posted at 2/19/2006 11:47:00 PM PT
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3 Comment(s):
I disagree. I think removing the trees will be a net good. I'm not thrilled with the bocci. I have nothing against it, but don't I think it's going to get people to the park. But I do think less trees will. But I think we can all agree that it's a shock that ohnoyoudont.net was still out there.
Let's take the argument further: should we cut down trees at Volunteer Park to make it safer? Some areas there are pretty dense with trees and bushes.
If I told you there were 60 trees in Occidental Park you'd never believe me, but there are. Yet it doesn't feel like a dense forest in there.
The trees are not the issue. They merely are an excuse for not addressing the real issue.
I think the trees should not be cut down. I want to tie myself to one of the trees. Their reasons are so inept. " It's too dark"...." what about safty". Most of the trees are in healthy condition, so the only "safty" they are worried about is the safty of humans, they need to understand that its not always about humans, its about the enviroment. Why should their be any conderation for humans when humans are the ones who created most of the "unsafe" condions in this world. Its time to start thinking about the enviroment for a chance, or is that asking too much?
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