In Seattle, the city has found ways to reduce the maintenance costs for its small
pocket parks: Invite in gardeners.
The tiny park in Ballard pictured here has just enough public space for about four small families to picnic. There's a postage-stamp lawn, and a pair of paved brick "gathering spaces" at either end of the lawn. There's a nice promenade entrance up a heavily landscaped wheelchair ramp.
The rear of the park is populated by less than a dozen community garden plots. The public is welcome to walk through these veggie gardens, but the produce is owned by the gardeners themselves. In exchange, the gardeners maintain the landscaping in the more public part of the park.
All this community on less than 5000 square feet.
Learn about our privacy policy
Subscribe via 