Visualize Tacoma - Let's Go Green

High tech. Low tech. All I want is grass.

Let’s bring back that old fashioned notion of grass in public spaces. Instead of simply having a new looking downtown with an empty convention center and wall to wall urban townhouses, we could bring back the grand boulevard. We built a very high tech lightrail system. Imagine a park like ribbon of greenery connecting the Tacoma Dome to the Theater District. Let’s plant grass around the lightrail tracks. It’s been done in Europe and looks spectacular.

Grassy Lanes

Imagine a place where gravel is replaced with grass. Most of the city’s early 20th century homes have alleys behind them. However, not everybody’s alleys are paved or finished. Some of our nicest neighborhoods have gravel and dirt alleys fronted by dilapidated garages. Let’s consider copying the Vancouver country lane project and begin engineering grass in the city’s alleys.

“The Country Lane is designed to provide a rural aesthetic while reducing environmental impacts and discharges to the City’s storm sewer system. The design will allow rain water to percolate over vegetation and through the ground, providing natural drainage. Increased vegetation will filter storm water and may improve air quality.”

The city’s current unfinished alleys give the entire city a bit of a dirty patina. Rather than just cover the dirt with concrete, going green could actually help the city swing further upward.

What would you like to see?