Why: Respondents to the 2024 Madrona Community Survey conducted earlier this year cited “Sense of Community and Social Engagement” as their primary response to the question “Which aspects of our neighborhood would you most like to see improved?” (34.5% of the 142 respondents chose “sense of community”, with a close second being “walkability and pedestrian safety” selected by 28.2% of respondents).

Research in urban design highlights community seating areas as essential for building community connection because they offer a place for people to linger, offering more opportunity for connection. As many of you may already know, 34th Avenue has limited public seating available. There is currently only one public bench located just South of Café Soleil on E Union Street. Madrona’s limited community seating means there is an opportunity to update the design of Madrona’s main shopping corridor to achieve better community connection by adding more public seating spaces. As a result, Madrona’s Community Seating Project was born.

We have explored alternative public bench additions and other community seating options with the city that would not repurpose two parking spaces, however Madrona is an old neighborhood and our sidewalk width is out of compliance with contemporary standards and code for neighborhood design. The city will not approve anything else to go along our sidewalks. Replacing parking space for community seating is the only option to experiment with seating improvements at an affordable price, and within a timeline that isn’t dependent on large-scale redevelopment projects that can take years.