2009-03-08

Louisa Boren Park view

Louisa Boren Park is a small, scenic over look on Seattle's Capitol Hill. It's across the street from Lake View Cemetery. You can find the map here.

I took these pictures last month, on Presidents Day.


2009-02-16 Louisa Boren Park (3)


The view from the park looks to the North East, out over the Arboretum, SR520 Floating Bridge, and Lake Washington.

Turning slightly clockwise, you get a view of the Bellevue skyline.

2009-02-16 Louisa Boren Park Bellevue (1)


You can see nearly the whole length of the SR520 bridge.

2009-02-16 Louisa Boren Park (20)


The humps on the right and left are the Eastern HiRise and the Western HiRise, respectively.

2009-02-16 Louisa Boren Park SR520 (2)

2009-02-16 Louisa Boren Park SR520


The roadway that dips between them isn't above the water. It floats on the surface of the lake. The section in the middle is actually a draw span. The DOT opens it up when winds exceed 45 MPH. The highway can be shut down for hours at a time.

2009-02-16 Louisa Boren Park SR520 (3)


This bridge is considered obsolete, and replacing it will be one of the Seattle area's next major infrastructure projects. Given the way Seattle government and projects work, I expect we'll be driving on the new bridge sometime around 2063.

There are plenty of great views from the park so if you have the opportunity, stop by and spend a few minutes taking in the beauty of the Seattle area from this neat little vista.

2009-02-16 Louisa Boren Park (12)


You can see more of my Boren Park pictures here.

10 comments:

roentare said...

Beautiful cityscape images in deed!

Rob said...

great pics, the views look awesome.

storybeader said...

beautiful views! Thanks for the pics!

beth said...

Maybe the bridge work will get stimulus money from all of us!

Reflections Magazine editor said...

The second photo is truly magnificent. If you do not look carefully, you will miss the beautiful mountains in the background...interesting juxtaposition.

Anonymous said...

I love the Pacific Northwest, though I have visited Seattle only once. It was a beautiful trip and met friends on Snohomish (I think that's what it was called). Ate in a beautiful restaurant and the top and the scenery was breathtaking. Love your site!

Anonymous said...

Hi!
What a stunning view, what camera are you using?

Cromely said...

@roentarre, @Rob, @storybeader: Thanks. I appreciate that.

@beth: I think there is some federal money for the project. The stimulus will help. However, money is only one of things we'll be fighting about over the next few years. We still have to fight out the number of lanes, the mix of transit vs cars, buses vs rail vs bikes, tolls, the salmon, the impact on the middle class neighborhood on one end, the impact on the wealthy neighborhood at the other, and of course the Salmon. The way we do things in Seattle is too listen to everyone. Then listen to everyone again. Then make a decision. then reconsider that decision. Then listen to everyone again. Then sue. Then, when they finally choose a type of envelope to use for committee mailings, they can can start on the bridge.

I don't think we're quite shovel ready.

@The Fearless Blog: Thanks. The Seattle area is all about juxtaposing nature with modern infrastructure. You know it's a good day when you can see the mountains. The mountains looked great that day. The picture also demonstrates how using a long lens (I was zoomed out to 300mm for that shots, I think) will compress perspective and appear to shorten the distance between the background and the center on an image.

@Judy: We have some great vistas out here. You'll have to make another trip.

@lunaticg: I'm using a Pentax K10D. For this batch of photos I used two lenses: a Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 and the kit lens, an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

Anonymous said...

It is fun to see pics of my old stomping ground!

Anonymous said...

The view is great!

Cheers,
S