Can one city block become an urban living room?

Now, with the stage set, the first event was hosted by the U District Community Council to begin enjoying our urban living room on National Neighborhood Night Out in August, with a live concert and outdoor seating welcoming community.

Throughout the month of September ten live concerts were performed by great local artists on the Green Street, culminating in a street dance party the last day of the project.

Every Friday in September, the Green Street became an outdoor movie theater with a 21-foot-wide inflatable screen to show movies picked by popular vote, and including ones filmed or set in Seattle and on UW campus. Free popcorn and raffles prizes were handed out.

The summer project culminated with the U District Chow Down food festival. On the Green Street were concerts, a dance class, art gallery, large chessboard, and tables filled with diners throughout the day.

The results from this prototype will directly inform the final design for the NE 42nd Street green street. Community feedback emphasized a desire for more greenery, shaded seating areas, dedicated spaces for art, improved safety measures, and active programming. This input will be critical as the project moves into more advanced planning stages, aligning with the broader vision for the U District as a pedestrian-friendly, accessible urban center.

From the beginning, our community determined the priorities for this project that would become metrics for judging its success. These priorities were:

• Summer activation to prototype future 'Green Street'
• Create places for people, centered on pedestrian experience
• Provide for needs of local stakeholders & small businesses
• Attract people to the U District during slower, summer months

From 87 survey responses, verbal anecdotes, and mobile phone data, the results from the Summer Green Street experiment are presented here:

With grant funding from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and 4Culture of King County, $50,000+ was invested in our community during the slower summer months to attract more people. Surviving the temporary summer experiment are the street trees, mural, and the addition of tree lighting.

From mobile phone data it is evident that visitors to the wider U District actually decreased from last year. One exception was the activated area of the Green Street on 42nd, where we experienced a 10% increase during the summer and a whopping 30-39% increase in activity the last week of activation (not including Chow Down) that likely improved local sales revenues.³

Correspondingly, violent and property crime rates in the U District area went down from the previous year, including a 9% decrease during the two-month summer activation, though these data points are diffuse and difficult to attribute to any one change.

By narrowing the travel lanes to the minimum-allowed width for emergency vehicles, through the installation of white traffic tape, the speed of traffic was drastically reduced thus making this block safer for pedestrians.

Surveys of visitors to the Green Street rated their overall experience very highly (88% good to excellent), with the most popular aspects being the street improvements, outdoor movies, interactions with people, and the support for local businesses.

In fact, when asked if they would be more likely to return to visit local businesses with the Green Street in place, a clear majority (86% agreed).

Most of the survey respondents discovered the Green Street by walking by or through word of mouth, while fewer learned about it through social media, our newsletter, or posted flyers.

Asked which aspects of the experiment should be made permanent in a future street improvement, outdoor seating was most popular, followed by green landscaping and the free programming of events.

With 50+ volunteers over the summer, this project was definitely people-powered. On several occasions, passers-by saw the activity and volunteered on the spot to help shape the project.

The summer project successfully realized its priorities, and was completed on time and on budget. Lasting improvements to the block include the street mural and tree planters, approved by the City to remain in place indefinitely. For the holidays, the street trees will be wrapped with twinkle lights to make the street more attractive and welcoming in the evenings. In the spring, the trees and flowers will return to bring greenery and shade to the street.

Perhaps most telling was that 97% of survey respondents supported the permanent improvement of NE 42nd Street at a 'Green Street'.

With any good experiment, lessons were learned along the way to avoid on future projects. From the candid feedback of stakeholders and visitors, the project Steering Committee addressed the following issues during the summer experiment:

Communication: The main takeaway from engaging with stakeholders was the need to communicate about the project well in advance of being awarded the grant funding. Although the initial street closure for painting of the mural was permitted for two days to protect the volunteers in the right-of-way, it should have been introduced to a wider area of impacted businesses with sufficient time to coordinate deliveries. Frequent and regular notifications were sent during the summer activation to address this valid critique.

Site Selection: Another critique was that the experiment should have been hosted first on a quieter street, impacting fewer businesses. Because one key goal of the project was to attract more visitors to support local businesses during the slower summer months, it was prudent to host the experiment in a concentrated commercial zone. In the end, the project experienced up to a 30-39% increase in activity which likely translated into increased revenues.

Security: Suggested by stakeholders, the project hired a security guard for one of the first events, but this was determined to be unnecessary as pedestrian activity was so high that uncivil behavior was not an issue.

Vandalism: Pleasantly surprising was the lack of significant vandalism of the outdoor furniture, street trees, and art installations during the summer experiment, with just two incidents occurring.

Loss of Parking: Removing all but three parking spots was not without issues, but adjacent small businesses preferred outdoor seating and parking for deliveries more than parking for private cars. From this feedback an additional loading zone was added immediately around the corner.

Combining the results and this feedback will inform the development of the permanent improvements to NE 42nd Street for the better. Most importantly, this summer experiment coalesced our community around an on-going, open discussion of what kind of neighborhood do we want and what are our priorities for the public right-of-way. Please subscribe to get involved in shaping this key street.