Lake Burien School Park: A gathering place where neighbors live out loud

At first glance, Lake Burien School Memorial Park, appears to be a just what you see: a open green space with a grassy field surrounded by a gravel walking track, tennis courts, and a children’s play area. But if you watch and listen closely you notice people’s lives intersecting in a community gathering place. People go about their daily activities like taking the kids to play on the swings or walking the dog. At the same time, they find themselves connecting with people they meet in this shared outdoor living space.

Lake Burien School Park is a 4.6 acre neighborhood park nestled in the City of Burien, a southwestern suburb of Seattle. Despite the park’s name there is no lake or school in sight. Lake Burien does exist two blocks south but it is very much a “private” lake without public access. The school in the park’s name is a nod to its history when the site once held an early elementary school which opened in 1914.

This park is just the right size public park, with just the right features that make it a perfect example of a neighborhood park. It brings neighbors together and its open concept design offers space for playing games, meeting people and engaging in healthy living outdoor activities. This is not a destination park with grand features like a beach or a ball field but rather it is place for people living nearby to use regularly.

On a Saturday morning a young couple wearing shorts and baseball caps enters the park with their golden lab on a leash. The gravel path crunches under their footsteps. A toddler nearby spots the dog, exclaims “Doggie!” and points excitedly. The couple and the toddler’s father smile at each other. Over in the play area, on the bright blue slide, a girl in pigtails calls to her mom, “Watch me! Watch me!” A dad sits underneath the mammoth Maple while his son climbs in the crook of the tree. Teenagers sit in a circle in a corner of the field talking and laughing. Lives intersect and people connect.

Lake Burien School Park’s design successfully demonstrates maximizing features for public use. The flat walking track is about 0.25 miles long making it easy for seniors and parents with strollers to navigate. The field in the center of the walking path is big enough for youth soccer practices and makes it possible for parents to walk and talk while watching their kids play. Park regulars, Kiyomi Osterberg and her daughter Mariko, said “usually we walk the dogs, go on the play toys, and meet neighbors and their dogs.”

One of the beneficial design features of Lake Burien Park is that from any place you stand in the park, you can see the entire park and who and what is going on throughout the space. This has three benefits. First, it is easy for a park visitor to see who else is there and if they know anyone. Secondly, it makes it a very safe park because children are never out of their parents’ sight. Lastly, there are no places for negative activity to rustle up in dark wooded areas. Neighbors feel safe using the park or living across the street because everything is out in the open.

The City of Burien Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department organizes community events such as the outdoor concert series and movies in the park. These events, held on Thursday and Friday evenings in July and August, are like big block parties with live music and big screen entertainment. “It’s like a big backyard,” says Michael Lafreniere, Director for the City Parks Department. “Everyone brings their sleeping bags and lawn chairs…it’s a very causal, neighborhood feel to the event.” While musicians entertain, young children jump around, Frisbees fly, friends and neighbors wave to each other and catch up on each other’s busy lives.

Not only has the park provided for community members, people have also contributed to the park’ through improvement activities. Local Eagle and Explorer scouts and volunteers completed the three seating areas around the track. “Similarly, in terms of that community interest in the park,” said Lafreniere, “it’s been a place where people have wanted to participate through memorial donations like a donated tree in memorial of a friend or family member.” In response, the Parks department designated an area alongside the tennis courts for a row of memorial trees. Now future park visitors will benefit from past community members’ lives. Community connections will live on.

This small local park is more that it seems at first glance. It is a place for people to get outside, a place to connect with each other (families, neighbors, and friends) and a place to share smiles and laughter. Lake Burien School Park is a reminder that experiencing community can be as close as your neighborhood park.

Links to related information regarding Lake Burien School Park:

Arial view of park courtesy of Wikimapia

City of Burien Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services web site on Lake Burien School Park