Dear Pike/Pine neighbors,
The August Art Walk event was a success! Neighbors had lots to share about the present and future of Pike/Pine. Special Thanks to Vermillion for hosting the Destination Pike project during Capitol Hill’s Art Walk and allowing us to have a lot of interesting conversations. Attendees shared their ideas with sticky notes and by the end of the night we had 25 new neighbors join this newsletter (welcome 👋), and over 100 ideas added to the wall.
People told us about what they thought of the current core of Pike-Pine and what they loved about it. Some notes mentioned outdoor dining, others listed specific businesses they loved, and a few commented on the unique madness of the area.
We asked how to make Destination Pike a more vibrant place and what the community would like to see in spaces like this micro-neighborhood affectionately known as SoCal (South of Cal Anderson). We asked three questions:
- What would make this a destination?
- What would make this more social?
- What would make this area safer?
The answers were not all that different from what we heard at our first meeting in July – a desire for more people space, less space dedicated to cars, and a variety of requests for more social activities and lighting along these side streets.
What do neighbors want to see?
Four themes emerged across both meetings and what we’ve heard online:
- More people-oriented places
- More accessible sidewalks
- Loading/parking changes
- More activities and events
We want the space to be more comfortable and lively and oriented towards the people walking and using the streets and visiting the businesses. Some ideas for what that might look like included adding streeteries, creating more places to sit, adding trees which provide shade, and adding restrooms and drinking fountains. People also asked for more event spaces, and more places to grab a quick bite. These themes appeared under each question we asked, whether asking what you love about the area or what would make you feel safe or even what would make this into a destination.
Another common theme was asking for more activities and events. Some suggested parties or street activities while others suggested chill zones and more art and murals. One note said to add outdoor yoga. Previous pilots also demonstrated that outdoor yoga was a popular event. We want to see more activities happening in this area to draw people in. This area does not currently have the space to host these types of events outside but prioritizing more people oriented spaces could make this kind of activation easier.
Comparison to the previous discussions
In July, neighbors, business owners, and property owners discussed the biggest issues of this area in small groups (read more here). The most common problems mentioned at our July meeting were the lack of comfortable spaces for people and the poor pedestrian experience navigating this area. This same desire for pedestrian oriented places was also the most mentioned at art walk last week with 43% of notes mentioning it in some way. Commonalities continue with both events mentioning removing trash and lime off the sidewalks and widening the sidewalks to make them more accessible and usable. The art walk ideas also showed a desire for more events and activations to be possible in the area while our July event focused instead on ensuring dedicated loading and pickup zones were available. These are all great suggestions for how to use the space. We will use them as a foundation to push for designs that prioritize these elements.
Tell us your thoughts!
Didn’t make it to the meeting? Came, but you left the room with more to say? Tell us what you want to see in the neighborhood here. We want this project to be guided by the needs and visions of the neighborhood and you are a key part of making that possible.
Want to help us host events?
We have more events in the works and we’d love your help in keeping this energy moving. We’re starting planning our next event in our google group. Join if you’d like to help!
We need help!
All of what we are doing is volunteer-led and run. Do you have something you want to contribute to Destination Pike? Reach out here.