COMMUNITY GARDEN

230 NADEN AVE S KENT, WA WINTER & SPRING 2022

World Relief Seattle (WRS) are looking to expand their operations onto a new site, to offer sustainable urban farming, address local food deserts, and serve as a social and entrepreneurial hub for immigrants, refugees, and asylees. This project is intended to get the class up to speed to be able to apply King County Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) goals in south King County to produce a spatial strategic framework to address Climate & Equity goals with the WRS project.

Purpose

The main goal for this project is to align the King County 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) with World Relief Seattle (WRS) Immigrant & Refugee community garden network to offer sustainable urban farming, address local food deserts, and serve as a social and entrepreneurial hub for immigrants, refugees, and asylees.

Through finding potentials for the site of development, the second goal for this project is to introduce future development plans for the City of Kent to not only decrease the impacts from flooding, but also to create a new leisure community hub to accommodate alternative mobility within the community to reduce greenhouse gas emission & Increase job oppotunities which align with one of the main objective of the Strategic Climate Action Plan 2021.

The strategies of the proposal will introduce green spaces & expanding pedestrian walkability. The green connection from downtown, community garden, and green spaces along the Interurban Trail will feature Kent urban district and its natural system. The new community garden will feature groundwater infiltration & flood prevention to protect the ecosystem while increasing local food resources and career opportunity.

SITE: 10 Acre Next to state highway 167, sitting between Naden Ave. S & the Interurban Trail within center Kent area.

Vegetation Building Type Transportation

Urban Form

Findings

There are multiple nodes across the area, the commercial node reaches towards the Town Square Plaza and is pedestrian prioritized. Both leisure nodes on the north od the site is connected by the existin trail.

Redesign moderate traffic street (Meeker St) to allow a more pedestrian-friendly route that connects to the site. The site development forms an outdoor learning space for nearby schools.

Site Analysis

There is a decent amount of coverage of public green spaces within the site area, forming a good base to strengthen connections between open spaces. The surrounding of the community garden is well developed with residential and commercial buildings, along with a good amount of community services. This indicates the site has a strong community with a consistent flow of people within the site area. There are multiple transportation options near the site within walking distance for commuting around the city. The Kent train station is located 1 mi. away from the site which is a transportation hub itself. The Interurban Trail next to the site connects north & south along with nearby green spaces.

FINDINGS

The site is on a flat surface which avoids potential flooding risk.

• Introduce new green spaces to improve groundwater infiltration further & reduce GHG emissions.

• Access to commercial district & community services is within walking distance. Opportunity to introduce offices & affordable housing for future residents.

• The site is connected from north to south with the Interurban Trail.

• Multiple transportation options around the site encourage people to access it without driving.

1. Kent Station Shopping Mall/ Green River College

2. Town Square Plaza

3. Kent Lion Skate Park

4. Uplands Playfield

5. Early Learning Center

Design Framework

Site Plan

FINDINGS FINDINGS

There are multiple nodes across the area, the commercial node reaches towards the Town Square Plaza and is pedestrian prioritized. Both leisure nodes on the north od the site is connected by the existin trail.

Redesign moderate traffic street (Meeker St) to allow a more pedestrian-friendly route that connects to the site. The site development forms an outdoor learning space for nearby schools.

A leisure community hub that provides academic & career opportunities for future immigrants/ residents also introduces open green spaces & water catchment features to reduce flood risk & GHG emissions while forming a calming public space for the community to experience sustainable urban farming to increase local food source.

• The site will be developed as a leisure community hub that provides a rest area for travelers along the Interurban Trail.

• Introduce office & institutional buildings on site to provide career training and job opportunities for future immigrants. The site will be fully pedestrianized without traffic interruption.

Street Section

Street

A redesigned pedestrian prioritized Meeker Street will introduce two 8-foot wide sidewalks and a 5-foot wide bike lane to encourage civilians to travel to the site without driving. The existing street parking will be repaved with permeable paving to improve groundwater infiltration.