Photo credit: GreenLakeThomasB
Reader Amy wrote to us a little while back with a question about Green Lake Park.
Amy, who visits the park at night, asked if the Parks Department has ever considered putting in lighting around the Green Lake loop.
I forwarded Amy’s question to Kelly Davidson, Project Manager at Seattle Parks and Recreation. Kelly reported that there is no current plan to put in lights around the Green Lake loop, and there is no funding to do so.
“If there is community interest in this,” Kelly said, “your readers may want to contact one of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy planners for information about the next Opportunity Fund applications. The deadline has passed for the current cycle, but there should be another coming.”
The Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund provides funding for community-initiated park development or property acquisition projects. You can read more about the Opportunity Fund here. The Opportunity Fund’s Project Planner is Susanne Rockwell. She can be reached at 206-684-0902 or susanne.rockwell [at]seattle.gov.
What do you think? Would you like to see lights put in around the Green Lake loop? Leave a comment with your thoughts below. And, if you would like to volunteer to head up an Opportunity Fund application, leave a note about that too.
No, PLEASE. It’s one of the few places that actually gets dark in the city. PLEASE no.
As dark as it gets on the path at night, can you imagine the light pollution caused by 3 miles of lights around the lake, plus their reflection in the water? If you want light, stick to the outer path along Green Lake Dr., but leave the innter path alone.
Please no. Definitely not big park activity lighting like the obnoxiously bright ones at the soccer fields, not street lighting, and not even low voltage path lights. I’m so very happy that Green Lake is one of the few places in the city that is not plagued by light pollution. The sometimes glow of the moon against the water is all it needs.
It would be great if all night users had lights, but we should not install lights that would take away from the natural beauty. The moonlight on the water and sense of peace generated by the natural darkness and distant city light reflections – all these are why Parks and Rec exists in the first place.
I’d say “no” too. I’d rather see the main pathway enlarged, with fast cyclists and skaters physically separated from little kids. And where the path passes close to Aurora on the west side, we need a traffic barrier. Several years ago, a car left the highway there and only good fortune stopped it with a tree, preventing it from colliding with a dozen or more people on the path. That could happen again.
I actually enjoy walking the parts of the path than get really dark. As others have noted, it’s hard to find a place to walk in Seattle that’s not lit by the glare of streetlights, blocking our view of the moon and stars. It’s simpler and less costly for those who’re made nervous by darkness to carry flashlights and walk with friends.
Please no. I’ve run around the lake at night for 20 years and always have had enough light to see. And a full moon on the lake — uninterrupted by lights — is magical.
just bring a flashlight
Actually, i’m against the idea. While i could see some down-ward focused solar-garden-type lights, I hate the idea of light pollution hitting the area. I know there are safety issues with the interior path on dark nights, but I don’t like the idea of adding expensive and bright lighting to the area.
I’m against it too. I run around at 5:30 am and though I bring a headlamp just in case I need it, I find that I rarely do – there’s enough light to see where you’re going and its nice to be able to see the stars.
No. The wildlife likes the dark and there are enough lights next door at the tennis court and soccer field.
No thank you… as many others have already said, let’s not ruin the lake with a blast of artificial light.
Massive stadium lighting all around. It should be bright enough to do watch repair work everywhere at all times. They should install giant speakers on poles all around the lake too, playing classic rock music at 120 dB. Maybe they could just pave the lake over and make it part of a freeway.
I’ve been running at Greenlake for years and have been back and forth about how this could be done effectively. In the winter, it is dark by 5pm when most people are getting off work which sucks because it’s just not safe to run at night. That’s why I head to Greenlake because it at least feels a little safer then running around Ballard alone in the dark. However, around the inside of the lake, few people wear reflective clothing and/or bring flashlights. I wish people would wear those little clip-on blinking red lights, those are great! But Im always suprised to almost run into people wearing dark clothing (hello!) On the other hand, I also think it would be terrible to have glaring lights that were on all night. What about some type of soft, low to the ground trail lights that were only on until 10pm-ish, so that people who get off work later would have a chance to run around the lake safely? Or some kind of solar powered lights that fade after a few hours? It would be nice but then again, it would be expensive and probably anger Greenlake residents so I guess maybe Im still undecided…
A few years ago, the New York Times had an article about people trying to preserve the night sky by cutting down the light emissions we already have. I think it’s a great idea and adding lights to the path around Green Lake at night would be a step in the wrong direction.
Thank you, Loviane (and everybody else!), for your thoughtful comments. Here is the NYT article, if anyone is interested in checking it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/14/opinion/light-pollution.html
Keep those comments coming!
-amy, mygreenlake
Please light it up. As someone who runs there frequently, sometimes running workouts around the inner loop, lights would be a massive help. I understand the light pollution argument, but safety is a huge issue. I agree with an earlier comment discussing the dark clothing, particularly for those during winter. Near collisions (or all out collisions- as has happened) with people (and at times their furry pets) create a big issue. For a space that has as much traffic as Green Lake, I’ve always been surprised by the lack of lighting… and the outer loop is great in the daylight or twilight, but not in darkness. Rocks and roots, particularly on the west side are culprits and the spot by the golf course is dicey. A nice comparison in this case would be to Chicago’s Waterfront trail.
NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo, please, please, please No
There is nothing better than a night run around Greenlake!
And believe me the ambient light polution from Greenlake way, Aurora, etc, is more than enough to see the path.
Not to mention the carbon footprint/fiscal cost of the power to run the lighting.
Please, please no!
Something similar to what has been done at Lake Merritt in Oakland would be ok. http://www.flickr.com/photos/aarontong/4235777309/in/photostream/
http://www.fotothing.com/jef/photo/1822e73031de7a9f98dd66f07d03fbf0/
absolutely! it would be great to have a nice safe place to run at night!
What great comments! My kneejerk reaction was “great,” but I’m changing my mind. There is a lot of ambient light, and if there’s a need for night-time running, there’s a very brightly-lit track right there. Sure, it’s boring–but it’s available, and lets us avoid the cost, maintenance hassles, and downsides of even more ight in the city.
My mind must be on Christmas. I thought this article was going to be about Christmas lights around the greenlake loop and I was going to say AWESOME!
Sadly dissapointed. :(
There’s a good amount of ambient light for much of the trail, but several portions are too far from the road to get any streetlight spillover. On an overcast night or when the moon is less than full, they’re pitch black. The section of trail between the golf course and the aqua theater is almost always pitch black because of all the trees. The portion near the Bathhouse Theater that’s far from the road actually has lights installed, but I’ve never seen any of them turned on. The section by the community center would also be quite dark, but I think lights on the building light up the trail a bit.
It’s always surprised me that the City has taken such a lackadaisical attitude toward lighting, considering it’s the only park in the city that’s officially open 24 hours a day. They seem to be inviting a lawsuit by someone who gets hit by a bicycle on the trail or attacked by a mugger or rapist.
Personally I think they need to light at least the portions that are too far from the road to recieve any streetlight spillover. Something not too bright, warm in color, and pedestrian-scale—something perhaps like the lighting along the Wilcox Wall on 8th Avenue on Queen Anne (http://activerain.com/blogsview/1337793/wilcox-wall-on-queen-anne-s-west-slope-major-part-of-queen-anne-boulevard). To me, the reflection of light like those in the water would only add to the beauty of the lake at night.
No thank you. It’s lovely the way it is.
No. not to mention the cost would be ongoing and remember, we are trying to save the GLCC; and the insult to the beauty of our GreenLake environment would be awful. Once a year with candles, great.
Big John emailed us the following comment:
“Please, no, no, no! Lots of reasons (1) lighting will actually attract “undesirables” (intoxicated people, drug users, muggers, etc.), (2) expense, (3) adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, (3) light pollution In general, (4) lake is beautiful in the moonlight, where else in the city can we see beauty like this?
Also, bicyclists use LED lights, which don’t cause light pollution, why can’t runners do the same?
Big John”
NO no no! I WANT SOMEPLACE TO SEE THE STARS AND MOON AND METEORS INSIDE SEATTLE.
On the way back from Trolloween we walked down the moonlit path. It looked lovely, like an old painting, and the people we met along the way all exclaimed over the beauty of it. (We could see them all coming – no bad guys stepped “out of the shadows”, since there wasn’t much shadow to hide in.) Where there wasn’t moonlight, it still never really got dark. Even so, it’s beautiful on the rare occasion when they line it with candles.
If you really need light, go run somewhere else. Let there be someplace free of those awful new streetlights.
With all the budget cuts, lighting the path should be a really low priority right now! Given the ambivalence expressed, I would focus on saving youth and family services, keeping community centers open, and preserving the parks’ infrastructure before adding new bells and whistles!