Starting the Dream

In Friday's Post-Intelligencer, the editorial board gave strong support to the Cascade Agenda. Invoking the old proverb that a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, the editorial uses the Olmsted plan for Seattle's parks as a demonstration that a large vision can be "substantially fulfilled" with dedication and agreed upon steps toward implementation.

While right to praise both the Cascade Agenda and the Olmsted Plan, the P-I does not record that neither of these documents call out explicit ways to provide for open space within the urban areas as we look into the next century. How will open, natural areas be valued outside of the city if there are limited opportunities to touch nature and be affected by it? What if, as part of our daily urban experience, we touched, felt and interacted with the natural world?