Visions of Wallingford

The residents of Wallingford are exploring a creative and participatory way to share their visions of the neighborhood.

Throughout the summer, neighbors led public walking tours throughout Wallingford, where they detailed personal histories and experiences and outlined ideas for the future of the neighborhood. The walking tours — designed to explore new methods of community dialogue and relationship-building — have been compiled into a documentary film, which will premiere soon!

The City of Seattle is currently conducting outreach for a major update to the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan, which lays out a 20-year vision for land use, zoning, transit, and capital expenditures. In past years, the Wallingford Community Council has organized efforts to integrate the Wallingford Neighborhood Plan into the city-wide Comprehensive Plan. This year, the Neighborhood Learning collaborative project seeks to fashion a “living” neighborhood plan made up of the stories, experiences, and visions of local community members.

Wallingford residents are taking on leading roles within the project. Residents hosted public walking tours this past summer, and they worked together to compile the documentary and organize the film screenings. Facilitating the project is Wallingford resident Ari Hock, a PhD candidate in the University of Washington’s College of Education, who is conducting dissertation research on how communities come together to build relationships around shared visions.

“At a time of deep political polarization, when many Americans are finding it difficult to engage in meaningful civic discourse, our community project is exploring new ways to share perspectives and find common ground,” Hock said. “This is something you don’t get sitting in a meeting room or in front of a laptop."