How a Dormant Lot Near a Shoreline Rail Stop Could Become a Community Hub

Transit riders don't exactly find a smorgasbord of destinations waiting to greet them near either of Shoreline's two light rail stations. But a community-led effort to create a new community hub close to 185th Street station is taking off, with City officials taking the idea and running with it.

While the City of Shoreline has been successful in getting new homes to sprout up near its light rail stations at NE 148th Street and NE 185th Street, community amenities have lagged behind, with none of Shoreline's commercial districts within close walking distance.

A five-minute walk east of the light rail station, Shoreline's Rotary Park isn't really a park most people would spend much time in – it's a small triangle of grass, with a few flowering bushes and trees. Next door is a shuttered lawnmower repair shop and parking lot, sitting behind a fence. Further east are some Seattle City Light power lines.

It's a spot you could easily just walk by without really noticing. But this unassuming square of land has brought Shoreline urbanists and North City neighborhood advocates together to find a way to create the community hub the area sorely lacks.

https://www.theurbanist.org/shoreline-north-rail-stop-community-hub/