Green Street in Seattle

I was researching rain barrels and composting for our own home (next summer's project) and came across a mention of a neighborhood in Broadview that has been engineered to manage the runoff of roof and pavement water so there is little to no impact to the environment and the stream downhill from this North-South street. Using a combination of reduced pavement area, constructed swales that direct water flow, and landscaping with native plants, the designers also kept people in mind by including sidewalks and parking.

Here is a link to details about what they did (and an explanation of a "swale" if you don't already know): tour of Broadview Green Grid

Creative parking solution. The streets are much narrower than the usual Seattle street, so these spurs were added to accommodate street parking.

And then back to the reason I was researching---if you are interested in reducing the runoff from your own property, here is the info from the city of Seattle about buying rain barrels and compost bins. City of Seattle is not the only place to buy them, but it's probably my speed!

Happy Greening!

Lynette Hensley, Associate Broker