The city is sprucing up Counterbalance Park (no pun intended).
Over the last week nine new trees have appeared at the gravel and concrete laden ‘urban park,’ most of which have yet to be planted.
The new trees make me wonder if we should trade in some of that gravel for fresh grass? What do you think?
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10 responses so far ↓
1 QA resident // Sep 3, 2010 at 11:09 am
I think trees and grass are much needed at this Concrete Park (aka counterbalance)! I love the lights, but other than that this park needs something attractive like plants!
2 QAHill // Sep 3, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Eh. Don’t think it needs grass. Cheaper for the upkeep if they keep the concrete. The trees will be super nice to soften the area up.
There are plenty of parks with grass that are close, including Kinnear.
3 Jeremiah // Sep 3, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Parks need to be lounged in, played in, rested in. Hard to do with gravel. How about some grass and a few industrial looking planters with native grasses to help soften the edges?
4 devon // Sep 3, 2010 at 3:44 pm
A change would be lovely, given that very very few people use the park now. Will the trees be enough, or is it just a bad design?
5 MsFrench // Sep 3, 2010 at 4:18 pm
The trees will help a lot, but grass is very difficult to keep looking nice in an urban setting like that. Dogs and people can be very hard on a lawn. How will they water it? Are there sprinklers there? It will be difficult enough to keep the trees healthy until they really take root. I don’t like all the concrete either, but maybe some other kind of low-maintenance ground cover would do the trick.
6 AT // Sep 3, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Perhaps a boardwalk or wood decking approach? Some of those can be pretty durable and low-maintenance, but they don’t feel quite as hard and unwelcoming as all that concrete and rock.
Truthfully though, I feel the problem is not the concrete/gravel so much as the appearance that it is one vast expanse of concrete/gravel. Who wants to be the only person hanging out in that?
7 Rachel // Sep 3, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Even if they did some kind of mural/painted concrete, it would bring new life to the park. Love stopping here when the lights are going. Great little spot for a coffee.
8 98119 // Sep 4, 2010 at 10:17 am
It’s lacking a focal point. Build an arbor in the middle with some wisteria so people can find shade or a break from the rain. Of course it’s a little late for a beautiful cedar arbor with the current design. Perhaps a sculpture and some landscaping to cover up those walls?
9 Alex // Sep 7, 2010 at 12:03 am
Throw out that horrible gravel and start growing some grass! A cold, dirty, post-industrial “park” is the last place anyone could relax in any sense of the word. Living plants are always much more welcoming than gravel and concrete.
10 maggie // Sep 11, 2010 at 11:26 am
My friends and I call this “Sad Park” because it is the coldest, most unwelcoming public space ever. A lot full of poison ivy would have been more inviting. Even the Las Vegas lights don’t help. If anything, they remind us that Seattle and good urban planning do not go together.