A Different Waterfront Trolley

Take the South Lake Union streetcar to the south end of the lake, and then walk up the lakeshore to the Fremont Bridge. This might, but probably won’t, take as much as an hour. If you keep following the shoreline, you’ll walk under the south bridge approaches and, a little further on, past the SPU playing fields, eventually reaching a small park and a public dock at the marine spill response unit.

Along the way, you’ll pass some public waterways, usually marked by signs. These are lands owned by the public, as are the streetends that reach the lake.

All of this, but particularly the stretch from south Lake Union to the Fremont Bridge, would make an excellent location for a historical trolley. The public waterways could be developed as mini-parks where the public could enjoy the water.

At the south end, you have the Center for Wooden Boats, with boat rentals, a museum and a public park, and at the north end you have a short walk to restaurants and taverns. Who wouldn’t want to spend a nice day here?

Pamper yourself, Seattle! Build the parks, get the historical streetcars running here, and Lake Union becomes a real jewel, a place where people can bring their families and spend the day without bringing their cars. And- need we say?- this could all be done for less than it cost to build a sculpture park.

Lake Union will never get any bigger. Make the most of what you have.