Ballard Commons Park — Attraction in Seattle

Went to free Movies In The Park last Thursday with my adult kids and saw Iron Giant. It's a far cry from the last outdoor movie I watched (in 1979) which consisted of a film projector and a sheet on the side of a college dorm!

We brought lawn chairs and blankets, had great front-row seats (and were sure not to block anyone else 's view), and watched the free classic movie on a 72" (if not bigger) LED screen. We took advantage of the free popcorn, enjoyed the trivia questions, and had a magnificent experience along with 50 -75 others.

There was an occasional hiccup in playing the movie, but no big problems. I mean, come on, the dvd is 30 years old. There were some inconsiderate neighbors who felt obligated to blare music for a bit, but the docents got it handled fairly quickly. And being by the speakers it was a little loud at first, but adjustments were made. I drove from Bellevue and got there at 6:55 and snagged a parking spot in front of QFC.

I love the idea of expanding the use of neighborhood parks to embrace family outings on a summer evening. And pets were welcome and well-behaved. Next Thursday it's Mars Attacks! We'll be...

Great park but incredibly unsafe and unenjoyable right now. Ballard Commons is currently serving as a homeless encampment and, for those willing to brave it, an otherwise nice skateboard park. I visited a few days ago to find lots of tents and items owned by tge current residents, as well as an almost-fight that involved a pipe and a large knife, as well as a mentally-unstable large man. Fortunately, said man's friends talked him out of trying to stab the person he picked a fight with. No security anywhere.

Things are fairly clean and orderly but this not a park you can count on for a respite, sanctuary from the urban buzz or any real rejuvenating recreating.

Rather, Ballard Commons park is now a symbol of how the city has failed Ballard and the rest of town with it's tragically piecemeal, patchwork approach to dealing with homelessness and housing affordability.

Without going far into it, humanity is doomed if we don't realize that the 1st step to dealing with homelessness is to leverage the incredible wealth we have, to put all of these folks back into actual housing. Bonus: we all get to use our...

No longer a park. There are 50-60 tents in the park right now with heaps of trash, garbage, bike chop shops, needles, etc. The once green grass is now dead and yellow. The spray park can no longer relieve the heat of hot summer days; the parks dept shut it off bc of safety concerns due to the bums camping there. At night there are lots of rats. Tents, tarps, RVs, and generators proliferate. I don’t feel safe walking by this park at any time of day. The city has not deemed this an encampment officially so it’s a lawless mess without services. St Luke’s soup kitchen ensures the homeless are not going anywhere. Many decline services/shelter anyway. There are people who have lived in cars there for 2+ years. Last month someone OD’d in the honey bucket. It’s a shame the dense Ballard core has lost its...