Public Life in Capitol Hill
What does an inclusive, connected, safe, and healthy Capitol Hill look like to you?
Public life is defined by our experiences of public spaces - and by our experiences of each other in public spaces. How well do the streets, sidewalks, parks, squares, and alleys of our neighborhood meet our needs, enrich our lives, and help us to connect with one another?
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To learn more about our public spaces, we have collected data, oral testimony, and storytelling, and we have reality-tested solutions with community members who experience the most impact from decision making.​ Read about what we have learned in our four baseline reports: observational counts, a public space study, a porous public space study, and a pilots workshop.
What's happening?
The Capitol Hill EcoDistrict has concluded community engagement and pilot projects to establish a Public Life Vision and Implementation Plan for Capitol Hill. This process leveraged the strength and creativity of the arts and small business community of Capitol Hill to conceive of public spaces as cultural spaces and centers of community resilience.
Our assessments and visioning will focus on four zones for their status as economic centers and for their proximity to upcoming developments:
Why Capitol Hill and why now?
Capitol Hill has a reputation as a well-resourced neighborhood, but that is not the story of many of its residents, 80% of whom are renters and many of whom live in affordable housing owned and operated by Community Roots Housing. That is also not the story of the workers in its struggling businesses and cultural organizations, the students at its schools, the folks who seek community at its many LGBTQ organizations, and that is certainly not the experience of the unsheltered people who linger in parks, along sidewalks, and in alleyways.
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The following areas of concern give context to ways in which public life in Capitol Hill currently operates:
2019
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Observational counts conducted in four zones (see above)
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Qualitative analysis conducted
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Porous Public Space Masters Studio conducted
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Public Space Pilots report conducted
Special thanks to our partners:
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Arte Noir
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Broadway Business Improvement Area
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Cal Anderson Park Alliance
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Capitol Hill Arts District
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Capitol Hill Business Alliance, a program of the Greater Seattle Business Association
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Central Area Collaborative
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Central Seattle Greenways
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Craft3
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Seattle 2030 District
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Seattle Audubon Society
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Seattle Bird Conservation Partnership
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Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
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Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation
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Seattle Department of Transportation
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Seattle Office of Arts and Culture
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Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development
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