Location: Central Seattle
Address: Queen Anne Ave. N. and Roy St.
Acreage: 0.28
No, I did not add a personal opinion to the title of this post. The park’s quirky name is actually Counterbalance Park: An Urban Oasis. In 2008 the city opened this park on what used to be the site of a gas station.
The first half of the name comes from its use even before the gas station as a stop for the counterbalance trolley, which used to whisk people up and down Queen Anne Hill in the late 1800s/early 1900s. How cool would it be to have that today?
As for the second half of the name… well, I’m not sure how that slightly silly title got attached, but it is a very nice urban park. You won’t find grass or a lot of densely planted trees and bushes. Visit this park to take a break from the bustle of lower Queen Anne and take a seat on one of the many benches or cool yellow chairs.
I passed this park one evening last year and was surprised to find it lit up with a rainbow of neon lights. Quite a nice sight.
#284 (Visited 5/25/11)