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BE Studio Envisions a New Seattle Neighborhood

Smith Cove arial photo
A view from Smith Cove of a proposed new neighborhood in Seattle’s Interbay area.
Photo: CREDIT: UW "ECOBAY" TEAM EDDIE KIM, SARAH LUKINS, SIIRI MIKOLA, DANG WU

Architecture and planning students love to wrestle with big ideas. And while their end-of-the-quarter presentations sometimes include out-of-the-box ideas, they usually don’t have the attention of public officials. But this time was different.

Students with the University of Washington Built Environments Studio recently had former Governor Gary Locke, State Representative Gael Tarleton, and Seattle Office of Community Development’s Sam Assefa sitting in the front row, saying things like “this could happen if we start planning now” and “the public needs to see this.”

The project these students are exploring — building a new neighborhood in Seattle from scratch — is unique in the city’s modern history. The neighborhood is slated for 25 acres near the Magnolia Bridge. And so, people with influence over this project came to nod, clap, and encourage these students to keep dreaming.

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