If you’ve walked “the Ave,” you know Queen Anne Avenue is the beating heart of the neighborhood with all kinds of shops from clothes to dog toys, from an old-time butcher to ready-to-eat meals, grocery stores, and plenty of restaurants. The atmosphere on a summer evening is invigorating. It feels like a small town nestled inside a big city. At the height of summer or anytime, you can stroll the Avenue and pop into one of the shops for pizza or a refreshing frozen treat. On Thursdays, you can stop by the Farmer’s Market and pick up some fresh local produce.
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| Garden at the Bottom of the Galer Steps |
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| Garden at McGraw & Queen Anne |
It wasn't always so cozy and inviting. In the early
2000's, there was just gray and grayer: buildings, roads, and the winter sky
all faded into one another. Queen Anne Avenue had become a mix of broken
sidewalks, faded crosswalks, littered streets, rusty signs and the occasional
lonely planter box. The only attractive natural elements were the mature maple
street trees, planted in the 1980’s by neighbors with inspiration and financial
help from the City’s tree planting program.
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| "Before" at the Galer Steps |
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| "Before" at McGraw & Queen Anne |
In 2005 and 2006, the neighborhood was done with gray!
They came together and organized a revitalization nonprofit. Then the newly
formed Picture Perfect Queen Anne, with funding from the Department of
Neighborhoods, enlisted Queen Anne resident and urban planner, Don Miles, of Zimmer, Gunsul, Frasca Partnership, to
spearhead the creation of a plan for the streetscape—the public space along the
six blocks known as “the Ave,” Queen Anne’s commercial core along the Avenue
bearing its name between Galer and McGraw Streets.
Three community meetings were held to brainstorm
design possibilities. The resulting vision became the Queen Anne Avenue Streetscape Master Plan. It reflected the community’s desire for an attractive
and safe commercial core that included
• Gathering
places with seating
• Street-level
vegetation
• Public
art
• Safe
sidewalks
• Pedestrian-level
lighting
• No
litter
• Clear
street signs
• Human
scale store fronts
That master plan and the principles that founded it
continue to be the guide of Picture Perfect Queen Anne’s hyperlocal, grassroots
organization today.
Geography
Queen Anne Avenue cares for garden beds flanking Galer
Stairs, the NW corner at Boston, and the 4 corner beds at McGraw. The beds are
owned by the City of Seattle, but the maintenance and watering are organized
and paid for by the volunteer organization Picture Perfect Queen Anne. It is
registered in WA state as a (501c3), making donations deductible. The garden design is donated by landscape
designer and board member, Kathy King of Land2c Landscape Architecture.
The city is responsible only for the trees in these
beds. Picture Perfect Queen Anne keeps these community assets attractively
planted, well-tended, and free of litter or weeds. The beds are especially
colorful in the warmer months. There is not an irrigation system, so beds are
watered by Seattle Conservation Corps with a big truck—Keep your eyes open in
the summer, and you may spot it! Picture Perfect Queen Anne also hires a
professional gardener to do the bulk of the garden maintenance throughout the
year.
Current Events
Picture Perfect Queen Anne regularly collaborates
with local groups and city departments to keep the Queen Anne commercial
core vibrant and welcoming. At any given time, we’re actively involved in a
number of projects, including design review processes for new buildings or
developments on the Avenue. Please see our Projects page for
more details about our community advocacy efforts past and present.
How To Get Involved
Picture Perfect Queen Anne hosts volunteer
opportunities 2-3 times a year to plant and spread compost throughout the beds.
Please contact
us if this kind of volunteering interests you.
Your financial and volunteer
support means that our neighborhood will continue to have a welcoming,
pedestrian and family-friendly, safe and vibrant main street.
Though Picture Perfect Queen Anne uses professional services and a specified
color scheme, we welcome garden or plant suggestions from the community. Contact the
board with your comments or requests. Financial donations are
always welcome.
Board of Directors
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© LOUISA CLAYTON/CLAYTON COMMERCIAL ARTS
Clockwise from Front Row Left: Laura Day, Sheila Callahan (Treasurer),Wayne Winder, Ellen Monrad (Vice President), Margaret Okamoto (President), Kathy King (Secretary) |
Newest Board Members Judy Massong and Denny Bird
