The City of Seattle wants us—you, me, and our neighbors—to decide how to spend $2,000,000 on small-scale neighborhood improvements. Does your community need a new crosswalk? How about a median? Or a flashing beacon, repaired sidewalk, curb ramps, park benches, or trail improvements? That’s what this project, “Your Voice, Your Choice,” aims to accomplish.
As real estate agents who believe your local community matters more than your house’s square footage or a perfectly landscaped lawn, we love this idea. It’s all about making an investment in community, responding to real needs, and enabling individual efforts at neighborhood improvement.
“Your Voice, Your Choice” will accept proposals online until February 26. The guidelines for proposals:
- Any physical project up to $90,000
- Street projects might include traffic calming (traffic circles, median islands, speed feedback signs, etc.) or short segments of sidewalk construction (less than 100 feet, or one third of a block)
- Parks projects might include accessibility improvements, trail/path maintenance and upgrades, park benches or tables, natural area renovations, minor playground improvements
Potential projects include low-cost sidewalks, ADA accessible picnic tables, speed humps for low-speed areas, tree planting, painted curb bulbs, and many more. A full list of ideas is available here (along with price tags).
In March, project development teams in each district will evaluate ideas received based on need/impact/feasibility and choose ten projects to advance to a community-wide vote in June. Once the winning projects have been selected, construction will begin in 2018.
What does YOUR neighborhood need?