neighbours alley
activation

Neighbours Alley, long used as a back entry to one of Seattle’s most vibrant gay bars, is part of the culture of the Capitol Hill neighborhood. It is also adjacent to a block of Seattle Central College, two theaters and housing. But for much of the day, the most visible elements are rows dumpsters and their spillover trash.

The Capitol Hill Housing EcoDistrict saw Neighbours Alley as an untapped resource for the community, and hired Framework to work with an advisory group of stakeholders to test possibilities and community support for new uses of the alley. The first order of alley use is to tame the trash and to make the space feel safe. We worked extensively with property owners and Seattle Public Utilities to understand how the alley might be made cleaner and more sanitary. The existing building fabric was studied to find opportunities to open adjacent buildings onto the alley, including the Erikson and Egyptian theaters. A wide range of activation ideas were tested with community members at a festive winter event. The gentle slope along the length of the alley helped create an outdoor bowling alley; a local artist designed a piece that was attached to one of the dumpsters and colored in by event-goers; multiple marching bands enlivened the space and local merchants brought out food and drink.