Case studies  
West Point/Discovery Park Visitor’s Center parking lot (Figure 3)  

Figure 1. Discovery Park Visitor's Center Parking Lot

   As part of Seattle's West Point Treatment Plant design, a vegetation and habitat study was carried out. Within this study Puget Sound models were used to develop vegetation community zones for habitat restoration and enhancement within the site. In addition, a variety of topics related to the plant communities were investigated, such as density, distribution and mixed-age plantings, invasive plants, seasonal design considerations, soils, wildlife habitat associations, and implementation and management. This study provides a good resource for those interested in looking at local plant associations within the urban context. Although the project site is quite large, and therefore does not fit the definition of broken urban setting, an example of applying the vegetation community zones to smaller areas may be seen in the Visitor's Center parking area.
 
   
SEA Streets (or Street Edge Alternatives; Figure 4)  
SEA Streets is a demonstration project that showcases the protection of creek ecosystems through alternative residential street design. At 11700 2nd Avenue NW, Seattle Public Utilities installed a naturalistic drainage system utilizing landscaping and swales instead of the traditional curb and gutter system. This project uses continuous beds containing trees, shrubs and understory vegetation. The design uses the landscape instead of traditional engineered stormwater methods to absorb more rainwater and slowly release it into nearby Pipers Creek, minimizing oil and sediment from street runoff. Not only is it extremely

Figure 4. SEA Street mixed planting bed - newly installed

 
functional for stormwater management, the intensity of planting provides high aesthetic value. SEA Streets is a great example of the sustainable and aesthetic benefits to utilizing plant communities in continuous beds (www.ci.seattle.wa.us/util/urbancreeks/pipers.htm).