Comments on: Notes from the Playground – Wannabe Trackster http://www.wallyhood.org/2009/12/notes-playground-wannabe-trackster/ Wallingford, Seattle - News, Happenings, Goings On and Gossip Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:28:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Sharon http://www.wallyhood.org/2009/12/notes-playground-wannabe-trackster/comment-page-1/#comment-8431 Sharon Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:12:32 +0000 http://www.wallyhood.org/?p=4317#comment-8431 Thanks Greg - great information! BTW - do you have a specific contact at the parks dept that you could send me? I'm looking to get an update on a few things. Thanks. Thanks Greg – great information! BTW – do you have a specific contact at the parks dept that you could send me? I’m looking to get an update on a few things. Thanks.

]]> By: Chris W. http://www.wallyhood.org/2009/12/notes-playground-wannabe-trackster/comment-page-1/#comment-8396 Chris W. Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:05:59 +0000 http://www.wallyhood.org/?p=4317#comment-8396 Thanks for the info -- and all your hard work -- Greg! Thanks for the info — and all your hard work — Greg!

]]> By: Greg http://www.wallyhood.org/2009/12/notes-playground-wannabe-trackster/comment-page-1/#comment-8393 Greg Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:07:58 +0000 http://www.wallyhood.org/?p=4317#comment-8393 It is great that you enjoy the path that Friends of Wallingford Playfield and Parks added to WP in 2003. This design element, a walking path with multiple benches for sitting and viewing, was not present before and was added as a means to include features for use by our neighborhood seniors, many of whom still live nearby at University House and are frequent path walkers. Community surveys during the community design process determined that seniors were an underserved population at the park. As you have discovered, the walking path also functions as a place for light-use running. It was not designed as a running path and will not hold up to heavy use. We tried not to duplicate features in the design for Wallingford Playfield that were present nearby such as the full-blown running path nearby at Green Lake. We also discussed lighting during our many design meetings. As you can imagine, there are pros and cons. The balance selected by the community was to provide enough lighting for routes to walk through the park after dark, between Densmore on the north, to the East entrance, the SE entrance, the South entrance and the SW entrance. Lighting was not provided along the west and northwest portions of the park out of courtesy because that part of the park is very close to homes and also because Parks experts informed us that lighting can exacerbate illicit activity, which may seem counter-intuitive. The park is a great community resource and we worked very hard to improve and add to the multi-purpose features that encourage shared cooperative use. Providing a place for our neighborhood seniors to walk, or sit to converse and watch the activity was an important element. Thanks for your entertaining reports about the park! Greg Flood Friends of Wallingford Playfield It is great that you enjoy the path that Friends of Wallingford Playfield and Parks added to WP in 2003. This design element, a walking path with multiple benches for sitting and viewing, was not present before and was added as a means to include features for use by our neighborhood seniors, many of whom still live nearby at University House and are frequent path walkers. Community surveys during the community design process determined that seniors were an underserved population at the park. As you have discovered, the walking path also functions as a place for light-use running. It was not designed as a running path and will not hold up to heavy use. We tried not to duplicate features in the design for Wallingford Playfield that were present nearby such as the full-blown running path nearby at Green Lake.

We also discussed lighting during our many design meetings. As you can imagine, there are pros and cons. The balance selected by the community was to provide enough lighting for routes to walk through the park after dark, between Densmore on the north, to the East entrance, the SE entrance, the South entrance and the SW entrance. Lighting was not provided along the west and northwest portions of the park out of courtesy because that part of the park is very close to homes and also because Parks experts informed us that lighting can exacerbate illicit activity, which may seem counter-intuitive.

The park is a great community resource and we worked very hard to improve and add to the multi-purpose features that encourage shared cooperative use. Providing a place for our neighborhood seniors to walk, or sit to converse and watch the activity was an important element. Thanks for your entertaining reports about the park!

Greg Flood
Friends of Wallingford Playfield

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