Two nights ago, June 5, I walked the whole length of Ravenna Boulevard on my way to Green Lake. Partly, this was to verify with my own eyes that it doesn't have any restrooms or water fountains. (It is, after all, a local park; in fact, its addresses use "NE" throughout its length.) Partly this was to take lots of pictures; it consists of twenty-two separate islands of grass and trees in the street, and I took pictures of each. And partly I just wanted to see it all; I hadn't previously been farther than 9th Ave on it.
It is not an especially dramatic or interesting boulevard. The part I already knew consists mostly of islands with a single row of trees; the part new to me, of islands with two rows of trees. Much of the familiar part interests me thanks to things external to its design - the topography (in this part, the road, and so the islands, curve a lot) and the trees (the boulevard is now old enough that few of these are from the original plantings). In the unfamiliar part the topography gets boring, and I'd stopped really noticing the trees.
The third island is pretty dramatic, so anyone reading you, dear Diary, might as well get that far. And the ninth island, which has its own name, Olga Park, deserves some attention. But I wouldn't blame any reader for ignoring the rest.
Islands 1 and 2
Island 1 goes from Park Road on the north (a little west of Ravenna Ave on the south) to Park Road on the north and 21st Ave on the south. Island 2 goes from there to 20th Ave. Both islands curve, which is their main point of interest. The first two photos below are of island 1, the third of island 2.
Islands 3 and 4
These islands between them go from 20th Ave to 18th Ave; island 3 covers most of that distance, while island 4 is small. The boulevard's sides differ considerably in height for much of island 3's length, resulting in much the most complex planting arrangement in all of Ravenna Boulevard. I normally take the north side of the boulevard when I walk it, with few exceptions; I did so this time. Three shots of island 3, and one of island 4.
Islands 5 and 6, and 17th Ave
Island 5 is the first that I find just plain boring. It goes from 18th to 17th Avenues. Island 6 is a large traffic circle in the intersection with 17th, with big trees on it. This instance of 17th follows this up by becoming a boulevard itself for the rest of its length, to 45th St; there it becomes Memorial Way and remains a boulevard for a block or so. The main interesting thing about the islands of 17th Ave is how the students living along it furnish each one. I got lost one of the first times I walked Ravenna Boulevard, at this intersection, and tried to figure out where I was by remembering that Ravenna was a boulevard but 17th wasn't; this did not work well. One shot of island 5, one of 6, and one of the northernmost island in 17th Ave.
Islands 7 and 8
More boring islands. 7 goes from 17th to 16th Avenues, and does have a giant tree, 8 from 16th to 15th. One shot of each.
Island 9 - Olga Park
From 15th Ave to University Way Ravenna Boulevard widens dramatically, with all the added width going to the island in the middle. As a result, it has room for two rows of trees with a paved path in between, the only such down the middle of a Ravenna Boulevard island; and many of the trees are big.
I'm not at all sure the name posted there, Olga Park, has any official backing; just about the only reference to it online is a Facebook page where disapproval of late-stage capitalism seems to be a criterion for friendship. Under these circumstances it would be invidious to speculate as to the identity of the marathoner the signage claims the name honours. But frankly, this bit of Ravenna Boulevard deserves its own name, and might as well keep this one.
Three shots of Olga Park:
Island 10
From University Way to Brooklyn Ave, Ravenna Boulevard runs alongside Cowen Park. As if to avoid outshining the park, it turns abruptly into a sad thing; island 10 is the only pathetic one in Ravenna Boulevard. This is the only block I usually walk on the south side of the street, because the north side, being in Cowen Park, has only a gravel path. One shot of island 10.
Islands 11, 12 and 13
Ravenna Boulevard comes back from this self-abasement changed: it's wider, enough for two rows of trees for the rest of its length, and more orderly, with paved paths at each island's ends. Lots of walkers and joggers were using these islands at the time, so photography took me a while. Island 11 runs from Brooklyn Ave to 12th Ave on the north, 11th Ave on the south. Island 12 runs from those to Roosevelt Way, and 13 from Roosevelt to 9th Ave on the north, 60th St on the south; I thought island 13 wider on the west, and my map actually shows that. One shot each in that order.
Islands 14, 15 and 16: Approaching I-5
At 9th Ave / 60th St, Ravenna Boulevard, which had been going maybe west-northwest, turns northward, so it's going at least straight northwest. Island 14 goes from those streets to 62nd St on the north, 8th Ave on the south, and an exit from I-5 on the west. Island 15 goes from that mess to 63rd St, but is just a triangle. And island 16 goes from 63rd to the edge of I-5 above. 14 and 16 have two rows of trees; 15 hasn't room. One shot each, in numerical order.
Islands 17 and 18: I-5 and after
Island 17 runs from directly under the eastern edge of I-5 past the western edge to 6th Ave. Island 18 is just a triangle between 6th Ave and 65th St. Island 17 is gravel where it has to be, but squeezes two rows of trees in wherever there's sunlight. Two shots of it, then one of island 18.
Islands 19 and 20
These are two long blocks. Island 19 runs from 65th St to 68th St on the north; island 20 from there to 70th St on the north, Woodlawn Ave on the south. Island 19 passes the John Marshall Building, where several homeless schools are currently squatting; I hope they don't get swept. Island 19 has a rather obscured marker on it reading "Green Lake". One shot of that, one regular shot of 19, then one of 20.
Islands 21 and 22
These are two triangles at the entrance to Green Lake Park. To describe their positions accurately I have to introduce you, dear Diary, to a complexity of Seattle addresses I've heretofore ignored. Most Seattle streets have directions in their names. For streets called Street, which normally go east-west, and for other generally east-west streets, these directions precede the name: NE 65th St, NE Ravenna Boulevard. For streets called Avenue, and other generally north-south streets, the direction comes after the classifier: 12th Ave NE, Roosevelt Way NE. Since almost every street I've heretofore mentioned to you, dear Diary, has been NE, I've just left the direction out. (The main non-NE streets mentioned so far are in the page titled "Water Fountains: Things We've Lost, part II".) I'll also leave directions out in the next two pages, in which almost all the streets mentioned will have the direction N. But these two triangles are at the NE-N boundary, so have to get the full street names.
So island 21, on the north, runs from NE 70th St to the intersection of NE 71st St and East Green Lake Drive N. And island 22, on the south, goes from Woodlawn Ave NE to East Green Lake Way N.
These each do what they can to have double rows of trees. At first glimpse of the results, I thought they were one interestingly planted island, but no; still, from some angles they have the effect of one.
Two shots, but I'm not sure which is which.
So that's Ravenna Boulevard. I saw a number of presumably occupied tents along it; this complicated some of the photography. I hope they can postpone the fun and excitement of sweeps awhile, like the schools.
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