As you know, the WCC is an all-volunteer community organization representing and advocating for you…the Wedgwood community. Over the past year, we have made some changes to the way we operate and have made steps towards the priorities you shared for us in 2012. However, there’s always room for improvement. While the Vision Plan gives us great direction and provides us long term goals, your priorities and feedback are also critical. As we plan ahead for 2013, please help us by voting on the polls below and provide your constructive feedback in the comments section below.
If you are interested in getting involved with the WCC, we’d LOVE to talk with you. Please email » Per Johnson or email » Brian Turnbull to discuss more about how you can help.
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My top priority for 2013 would be to save the open space at Thornton Creek School. Also, I would support the Vision Plan goal of enhancing the playfields at Wedgwood and Thornton Creek Schools with park-like amenities. It is important to provide active play areas for our children and families in a near-by, easily accessible location within walking and biking distance of where we live.
Thank you for this opportunity to give input on 2013 community priorities.
I agree with Carole – not just for the sake of open space, but the huge impact – for example traffic and crowding – the school district’s plans to house 1000 students at the Decatur site would have on Wedgwood overall. It is not good planning for the NE or the city to concentrate schools geographically like this, so I would like to see the NECC go further as well. A livable city needs to be able to deal with the ebb and flow of the youth population over time and it’s high time for Seattle to address this.
Great feedback, Chris and Carole. Keep the feedback coming. Very, very useful.
I worry about the massive scale of up to 1,000 elementary students crowded into Thornton Creek School playground, a community resource for the whole of Wedgwood–adults who run their dogs in the early morning and evening hours, the kite flying on a windy day, model airplane flyers, walkers and runners, pickup games, and even cross-country skiers on a snowy day. Then there are the over 1,000 hours of practices and games played by sports teams throughout the year. A large new school on the grounds, leaving space for only one playing field, is not adequate for the school children nor the community. If this new school is built, it will not solve the need for more schools. From what I understand, if the projections are correct for how many kindergarteners are coming along, the school district and the city will need to face up to the acquisition of new property. In the meantime, we could lose this treasured open space, burden all our streets with some 840 additional car trips a day through the neighborhood, and still have inadequate safety measures for walking and biking children. Such a large educational facility is totally out of keeping for our small-scale, wonderful neighborhood. A large number of us in Wedgwood, not just the neighbors to Thornton Creek, are working to get the school district and city to think beyond building in our school yard just because the land belongs to the city. There is no visionary planning here. I hope the WCC will take a lead in coming up with creative ideas that will save our playfields and also house our students wonderfully. Have we really thought big enough yet? We have some great minds in Wedgwood, let’s put them to work!
My number one priority is to see Wedgwood continue to be the most livable neighborhood in Seattle for families.
Margaret, can you expand on what you mean by “livable?” What makes Wedgwood so livable?
I encourge the Wedgwood Community Council to work toward preserving the open fields at the Thornton Creek Elementary School. These fields have provided space for youth sports, a place to walk and to enjoy fresh air. Our neighborhoods need these spaces, not more buildings. Please work with the school district to keep these fields as they are.
Priorities in addition to those listed on survey:
1. opposing addition of a second elementary school on the Thornton Creek grounds
2. more sidewalks!
3. enhancing commercial development in the neighborhood, specifically more local places to eat and shop. Having these places within a short walking distance helps make Wedgwood a livable community.