The City of Seattle has a couple of initiatives that seem a lot more sensible than their proposed ban on beach bonfires. (#)

The first is the Tree Fund, which provides anywhere from 10-40 trees to neighborhood groups to improve residential streets and build community. It’s part of Seattle’s Neighborhood Matching Funds program, which is worth checking out if you have a large or small neighborhood improvement project that’s been sitting on the back burner.

As a foot-commuter, I’m also interested in Seattle’s Pedestrian Master Plan, which aims to make Seattle the most walkable city in the country. Until September 15th, they’re collecting surveys on the walkability of various Seattle neighborhoods, including questions about what areas you don’t walk in, and why. It’s a pretty short survey, and hopefully will result in something getting done (personally, I’d like to have a couple sidewalks repaired post-tree-root-cracking). I don’t know if it’ll make Seattle the most walkable city in the country… but it’s certainly more walkable than most major metros I’ve been to.