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City launches survey for new features and improvements at Cal Anderson

The city has launched an online survey as part of its efforts to collect community feedback over possible changes to Cal Anderson Park:

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites the community to participate in 2020 Cal Anderson Park, a project to engage the public on how changing assumptions and language can affect the design of the park space and create a sense of belonging for everyone. Please take this short survey https://bit.ly/2020CalAnderson.

“The goal of Seattle Parks and Recreation is to identify short term action items and long-term strategies to build on and sustain the health of the people, the health of the environment and the strong community that supports the park,” the invitation reads. “Additional opportunities to support the 2020 Cal Anderson Park conversation will include interviews and additional public meetings in September and October.”

CHS reported here on the first sessions in the process as city officials look to meld efforts to “memorialize” features from the CHOP protest zone like art and community gardens with longterm community improvements to the park like lighting and safety changes.

The process comes as the park continues to be a center of protest and activism. Last week, police swept through the space clearing tents and activists who had taken over the Cal Anderson Shelterhouse in an effort they said was to provide resources and services to the homeless community around the park.

 

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Pam
Pam
3 years ago

The survey has some ludicrous questions and has very little to do with Cal Anderson as a city park. Exactly what I expected honestly. The city thinks Cal Anderson is BIPOC and homeless mecca now, its historical or recreational place in the city be damned.

Steve
Steve
3 years ago
Reply to  Pam

Agree. Completed it anyway. If enough of us speak honestly MAYBE someone will take notice. Yeah… probably not.

Kurt Simpson
Kurt Simpson
3 years ago
Reply to  Steve

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought this. I added my opinion in all comment boxes. Was this really from parks and rec?

Glenn
Glenn
3 years ago

Just took the survey. Looking forward to seeing all my suggestions ignored.

Ella Jurado
Ella Jurado
3 years ago

This survey was a total joke. The pictures they used were simply reminders of how the park looks like a dump. The only thing missing was all of the off leash dogs!

Whichever
Whichever
3 years ago
Reply to  Ella Jurado

Seattle dog culture: they can do no wrong

Jacob M
Jacob M
3 years ago

I agree with Pam and Glenn. The takeover of Cal Anderson Park was by activists who almost entirely have no history with the park or having lived on Capitol Hill. Some don’t even live in the city. It’s offensive. I can’t help but notice how sensitive officials and activists are over coming into some neighborhoods and gentrifying it, displacing it, being disrespectful to the long-term residents. During CHOP there were calls to decolonize Seattle. Aren’t these people kind of colonizing the park? So what’s changed now? The emphasis is always on respecting the neighborhood, residents and history and now that’s being swept under the rug in this case. I’m somebody who fits into several categories of being historically oppressed but now when I go to this park that I have been going to since it opened there is a sign in the garden that says due to the history of discrimination against people of color that the space is only for people of color. So I’m being discriminated against in my own neighborhood due to past discrimination done to other minorities? Gays weren’t allowed to be married until relatively recently and yet I’m trying to imagine the reaction if I went into a neighborhood I don’t live in and declaring I’m taking over and that certain parts of that area are gay only due to past discrimination. I bet that wouldn’t go over too well.

Jacob M
Jacob M
3 years ago

Please join if you are not pleased with the changes in Cal Anderson.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HandsOffCalAnderson?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Toodles Noodles
Toodles Noodles
3 years ago

I wonder if “clean, safe, well-maintained” will make the top 10?

EJ
EJ
3 years ago

I know what CHOP and CHAZ and BLM are. I have no idea what BIPOC is.

Ludacris questions indeed and like Glenn looking forward to seeing my suggestions ignored. How about cleaning up the mess and having the dignity to protect our tax funded infrastructure.

Mike
Mike
3 years ago
Reply to  EJ

The term BIPOC stands for ‘Black, Indigenous, People of Color,’ it is meant to unite all people of color in the work for liberation while intentionally acknowledging that not all people of color face the same levels of injustice.

Read more at
https://www.sunrisemovement.org/bipoc-gnd-crash-course

RainWorshipper
3 years ago
Reply to  EJ

BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, People of Color

How is this happening?
How is this happening?
3 years ago

Meanwhile, our unemployment website is completely broken and I haven’t received the claim I filed over a month ago, which went into adjudication for who knows what reason because they are no longer taking phone calls or responding to messages sent via their messaging service, and my elected official has not returned my call. This city’s priorities are ridiculous.

me
me
3 years ago

Unemployment isn’t handled by Parks & Rec

How is this happening?
How is this happening?
3 years ago
Reply to  me

It’s apparently not handled by anyone at the moment.

RWK
RWK
3 years ago

The city has nothing to do with unemployment insurance, as you must know if you have applied for it. This is a state of Washington function, along with the recently ended (at least for now) federal supplement.

Greg
Greg
3 years ago

I had the same reaction as the other commenters. The survey looks like a push poll for what they already want to do, which apparently is not to maintain a popular and central city park for everyone’s use.

MikeH
MikeH
3 years ago

Gave my feedback: The park will feel welcoming to all if it’s clean, safe, and well maintained

Chaz Neighbor
Chaz Neighbor
3 years ago
Reply to  MikeH

Agree with most here. My opinion as someone living across the street and the dark side of CHAZ/CHOP basically played out nightly in our living room, I don’t consider it worth commemorating any further, unless we’re talking about the madness of crowds and failures of leadership.

My only recommendation: I would love to see a skateboard area set up with some proper, well built obstacles. It might go a long way to reduce the garbage and trash in the play court area. Might reduce some of the noise as well.

RWK
RWK
3 years ago

The City, especially the City Council but also the Mayor, has been kowtowing to a small minority of far-left activists for awhile now, and now the Parks Dept. seems to be poised to join this process. It’s got to stop!

JohnnyCH
JohnnyCH
3 years ago
Reply to  RWK

Amen. I attended the Zoom session and it is made clear that priority decision making would be shown to BIPOC, especially transgender BIPOC. It wasn’t BIPOC, especially transgender BIPOC who made Capitol Hill what it is.
So this is very intentional, systemic history revisionism and erasure of who created the Capitol Hill community. The only citizen representative featured as a stakeholder in creating the park is the founder of Black Star Farmers. He’s lived in Seattle less than a year and never lived on Capitol Hill. He stressed that it will be a POC only garden and the fruits and vegetables raised will go only to the BIPOC community along with a lot of homeless services. Apparently it never occurred to him to those who actually created the park and residents who enjoy it should be allowed a say. Talk about entitlement and gentrification!

Adam
Adam
3 years ago

Responded as well. Ridiculous that the city is entertaining memorializng the destruction of the park in this way.