Community Survey Winner: Fairmount Park Playfield! 

In September, I sent out a community survey seeking input on which District 1 softball/baseball field should have its infield converted from dirt to turf while keeping the grass outfield. Thank you to everyone who participated! Fairmount Park Playfield was the clear favorite, and I’m excited to share that we successfully funded this project in the budget! This decision reflects the community’s voice on an important investment. I’m proud that we were able to “crowdsource” this decision and deliver for communities! 

Below are the survey results followed by some additional details about how it all came together! 

After taking office earlier this year, my team and I began hearing concerns about the lack of turfed athletic fields in city parks, particularly regarding accessibility, player safety, and gender parity and Title IX Compliance. Notably, girls’ softball fields in Seattle are often grass, while boys’ baseball fields are turfed. Additionally, residents voiced the need for more turfed playfields citywide. Given that District 1 has the second-highest population of youth under 18, addressing this issue was a priority. 

To determine the best candidate for turf conversion, we launched an extensive consultation process with five local youth recreational softball/baseball leagues: Southwest Little League, West Seattle Little League, West Seattle Baseball, Rainier Little League, and Seattle Central Little League. Each league provided their preferred projects, which we consolidated into a list of eight District 1 finalists: Bar-S, EC Hughes, Fairmount Park, Hiawatha, Highland Park, Lincoln Park South, Riverview, and Walt Hundley Playfields. 

We then conducted a public survey, where 443 community members voted for one of the eight candidate projects. Fairmount Park Playfield emerged as the clear favorite, reflecting widespread community support. Thank you for helping shape this important project! 

The voting results data for each of the eight candidate projects are as follows: 

1. Fairmount Park Playfield: 137 votes, earning 31% of the total vote.  

2. Riverview Playfield: 107 votes, earning 24.2% of the total vote. 

3. Lincoln Park South Playfield: 46 votes, earning 10.4% of the total vote.  

4. Hiawatha Playfield: 45 votes, earning 10.2% of the total vote. 

5. EC Hughes Playfield: 38 votes, earning 8.6% of the total vote. 

6. Highland Park Playfield: 27 votes, earning 6.1% of the total vote. 

7. Bar-S Playfield: 24 votes, earning 5.4% of the total vote. 

8. Walt Hundley Playfield: 19 votes, earning 4.3% of the total vote. 

Many thanks again to all who responded to the survey and shared your feedback with me via email, phone, office hours, etc.! Together, we were able to employ a data-backed and community-guided approach to select this fantastic turf conversion project to fund in the 2025 Budget!