Happening now: Go play! West Seattle’s PARKing Day parklets are in Westwood, The Junction

Around the city, 50+ parking spaces have become parklets for a few hours, including 2 in West Seattle, continuing until 3 pm:

That’s Sona and her mom in the PARKing Day parklet by Wyatt’s Jewelers (WSB sponsor) in Westwood Village, second year that Wyatt’s has set one up with games to play and a place to sit.

Amber, a citywide PARKing Day organizer who has been making the rounds, tweeted the photo of the West Seattle Bike Connections parklet in front of Mashiko and Husky Deli in The Junction, in full swing with bike-powered milkshakes among other attractions:

We’re stopping by there shortly and should have a pic to add. Both are up and running until 3 pm, as are almost 50 others citywide. Even if you’re off-peninsula – check the map; might be one near you.

ADDED 1:56 PM: Our photo overlooking the parklet in The Junction:

As noted in our daily preview, Michael Oxman brought the greenery. Go test the bike-powered blender!

9 Replies to "Happening now: Go play! West Seattle's PARKing Day parklets are in Westwood, The Junction"

  • West Seattle since 1979 September 19, 2014 (1:25 pm)

    Glad it’s turning into a nice day for this!

  • watertowerjoey September 19, 2014 (2:07 pm)

    So who gets sued when some kids strays into traffic? The city, the driver or the proprietor?

    Yikes.

    • WSB September 19, 2014 (2:32 pm)

      Public right of way (land – a sidewalk, a road, a planting strip) is public right of way. “Straying into traffic” from a PARKing Day spot (heaven forbid) wouldn’t be a different case from (heaven forbid) a child “straying into traffic” from the sidewalk, while walking in a crosswalk, etc., any day or night of the year, or an adult for that matter, etc. For those overall interested in other questions, the PARKing Day FAQ from SDOT is here. That governs the one in The Junction; Westwood Village is a private drive.

  • watertowerjoey September 19, 2014 (4:51 pm)

    Thanks, WSB.

    Just seems that while treated similarly, the margin for error is much slimmer from one of these than from a parking strip. At least if you wonder off a parking strip the cars are (more than likely) moving at “parking speed”.

    That first photo just made me shiver.

    I worry too much!

  • Mike September 19, 2014 (11:53 pm)

    public right of way or not, that’s 6′ of buffer from moving traffic that’s removed to advocate playing inches from moving traffic. I can understand watertowerjoey’s point of view.
    .
    I chaulk it up to the same logic people have crossing a street. Yes, you might legally have the right of way, but you still need to look both ways and make sound judgement prior to walking out into an area where 4,000+ lb vehicles are potentially moving around. I never trust any driver, cyclist or pedestrian. Shoot, I was hit by a cyclist on the sidewalk while I was walking, that should have been safer than these events.

  • AJP September 20, 2014 (12:17 am)

    We went to both! So fun!

  • Kathy September 20, 2014 (8:04 am)

    Thanks to the generous support of Michael Oxman, West Seattle Professional Tree Surgeon, we had potted trees entirely surrounding our park so there was no chance of people wandering out into traffic. Thanks to everyone visiting the park, we had lots of fun, peddling up milkshakes, tossing beanbags, playing Twister, swordfighting with pool noodles, reading bike-themed children’s books, just relaxing on comfy pillowed chairs, and we even did a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle. If we ever got a permanent street parklet in West Seattle, it would have to be completely surrounded by barriers from traffic.

  • Kathy September 20, 2014 (1:52 pm)

    If you visited the park you could easily see that thanks to the generous support of Michael Oxman, West Seattle Professional Tree Surgeon, the play area was entirely surrounded by trees in pots, making it impossible for visitors to stray into traffic. We had a lot of fun peddling up milkshakes for passers-by, tossing bean bags, playing Twister, swordfighting with pool noodles, reading bike-themed children’s books, relaxing in comfy pillowed chairs and doing a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle of a classic bike. If we are ever to have a street parklet in West Seattle, it will have to be protected from traffic by a barricade, of course. Here are more pictures on our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/WestSeattleBikeConnections

  • watertowerjoey September 20, 2014 (6:48 pm)

    Thanks Kathy,

    They must have brought out all the pots after the above (first) picture was taken. I only see 2 pots.

    Good to know I’m not the only one concerned!

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