A plan to turn a 10-acre abandoned tree nursery into a farm in Seattle

Atlantic City Nursery Concept Plan

City Farming Gaining Ground

Our American Generation
Aug 17, 2010

Excerpt:

In late 2009, the 72-year old Atlantic City Nursery in Rainier Beach was closed by Seattle Parks and Recreation, which cited fiscal reasons. This opened up a public process to determine the site’s future use, and the Friends of the Atlantic City Nursery decided to try to turn the site into an urban farm while also restoring part of the original wetlands. Most of the participants in this process are residents of Rainier Beach; that, coupled with Rainier Beach’s lower-income demographic, should help calm fears of outsider, elitist interests.

While urban farms in general can provide numerous benefits to communities, a farm in Rainier Beach would be especially unique. 2000 census data showed 98118 to be one of the most diverse zip codes in the country, based on the fact that 59 different languages are spoken in the area. The group aiming to establish an urban farm is focused on utilizing the diversity of knowledge that the community holds, and understands that urban farming can be a great tool for communicating cross-culturally. The area has strong immigrant and refugee communities coming from all over the world, but struggles with views that the neighborhood is unsafe. At an unveiling of the farm proposal in late spring, which coincided with Mayor McGinn’s tour of Rainier Beach, some Rainier Beach residents expressed concern that the proposed pathway that would connect the farm to other green spaces would lead criminals into the area.

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