Our blog hit the Greenlake Moms and Ballard Parents listservs yesterday (thanks to one of our neighbors) and was blasted out to approximately 2,000 in our community. She forwarded the response so far:
“Wow, I just checked the pictures and they’re ugly! I’m so sorry that this is happening in Ballard. The reason why I’m writing is to let you know that we do have rain gardens next to the new library on Seattle University’s campus. They’re filled with plants, grass, and some gravel too but they look great. Nothing like what the blog shows. Just letting you know in case some Ballard residents want to check these out to show the city how to do it right. (Note that the raingardens at SU were just built this summer so I don’t know if they’re doing their job right.)” – A.M.
“Thank you very much for sharing this, and I am really quite shocked to hear something negative about this–I have only heard great things about this from everyone in the neighborhood. With that said, the endeavor did look very problematic to me soon into the project. Taking a very long time and I just don’t see how it could have increased property value. I don’t understand why standing water should ever be present, furthermore I never knew that some amount of standing water was allowable. I really never thought of child safety in the project. Isn’t any amount of water dangerous for child safety? The Puget Sound experiences the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez spill every 2 years due to all the runoff from the city–this project is here to help prevent a lot of this runoff. Again, have never heard anything negative about this project and everyone wants this for our block. Looking forward to hearing other comments on this.” – D.K.
“I’d like to back up [neighbor] on this. I have a 20 month old son and am quite concerned about the rain gardens on our block. They contain stagnant, standing water for long periods of time, and are an eyesore and a hazard. I realize that the city has severe issues with run off, but this solution hasn’t so far delivered the promised result. I would strongly caution anyone considering signing up for the rain garden program to discuss the pros and cons with a homeowner with a rain garden.” – A.
“THAT’S what’s been going on????? I was wondering what that project was all about as we just moved back to the neighborhood last spring. I feel out of the loop so thanks for bringing this up. What a terrible idea! I understand why in theory it would work but to take away all the parking, cause elderly and all people to have a tough time manuevering around the muddy holes, making the street an eyesore and allowing kids or animals to get sick from drinking or playing near it is awful! Again, thanks. I am so mad right now.” – C.C.
Thanks for the support, everyone! Since the city planners maintain the project looks fantastic, we need lots of awareness and backing from the community.
The Ballard Raingardengue 
I live on 28th and 77th NW in Ballard. Thank God, these rain gardens have not been installed on my block. When I first heard about them I thought they sounded like a good idea, and when they were finished I thought they actually looked pretty nice. Today, however, my opinion has changed 100%. They look absolutely terrible. The ones near my house are constantly filled with large amounts of water. Most of them never drain. I am sure the submerged plants must have all died by now. What a waste of money! I have 3 kids, ages 7, 4, and 1. I am definitely worried about a small child wandering off and falling into one of these. There is no doubt in my mind that these are drowning hazards. My neighbor behind me on 29th was opposed to these from the get go, and somehow managed to avoid having one built in front of her house. Smart, smart lady!!
We also live in the neighborhood, at 72th and 28th–luckily not next to the raingardens. My biggest concern from reading this blog is that the city thinks they’re working as planned–not only are they ugly, prevent curbside access and are a hazard to small children (we have an 18 month old) but they don’t drain properly. Over the weekend, I noticed that most of water from the raingardens was pouring onto the street through cubside cuts, some of which were partially blocked by sandbags.
can you add a link to the email of the folks in charge at the city? I’d really love to send in our two cents from living in the neighborhood and minimally prevent them from building more of these until they can fix the existing ones and prove that they actually work.