About the Urban Parks Partnership

The Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) and City of Seattle have signed an agreement to place the DSA and Metropolitan Improvement District (MID) in a management role in two of Downtown’s most visible public spaces, Westlake Park and Occidental Square. The DSA and MID work in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Seattle Parks Foundation, Alliance for Pioneer Square and Friends of Waterfront Seattle to enhance the experience of visiting these parks.

To better fulfill the potential for Westlake and Occidental, the Seattle Parks Foundation commissioned Dan Biederman, president of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, to build a strategy for consistently activating these public spaces. Biederman led the effort to transform Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan in the early 1990s, making it a model for private management of public parks. A number of Biederman’s principles of successful activation and measurement for success are being applied to Westlake and Occidental.

“Programming is critical in city spaces that are not scenic wonders,” said Biederman during a presentation at our 2014 State of Downtown. “The idea is to spread throughout the park this activity, which then creates an environment that people feel comfortable in. We might make very subtle changes, but when you add them up, they make for incredible improvements that elevate the value of the surrounding area and make the city a better place to live.”

In partnership with: