The majestic trees of Seattle's neighborhoods take center stage in this illustrated and informative walking guide. Want to discover which neighborhood has the highest concentration of cherry street trees when cherry blossoms are at their peak? Eager to stroll down the only street lined with western red cedars? Curious how monkey puzzle trees made their way to the city? Using data visualization as a starting point, the author takes readers on a tour of existing street trees throughout Seattle's neighborhoods and iconic parks through charming illustrations and maps. In the process, she educates readers on the history of the trees and the city, and offers up sketches of trees, leaves, and leaflets to identify trees throughout 33 different neighborhoods. The most notable of each species are highlighted, so urban adventurers can fully appreciate their surroundings or design their own walking routes to experience these natural wonders in their favorite areas of the city. The book is organized alphabetically by neighborhood and each area: Showcases a species of tree Includes a history of the tree and neighborhood Offers maps and callouts for spotting the best street specimens In an increasingly digital world, the book invites readers to slow down and embrace an analog approach to tree-spotting during their urban meanderings.

Seattle's waterfront has served as a central hub for people, transportation, and commerce since time immemorial. A low natural shoreline provided the Duwamish-Suquamish people with excellent canoe access to permanent villages and seasonal fishing camps. High bluffs served as a sacred place for tribal members' final journey to the spirit world. When the first settlers arrived in the 1850s, Seattle's shoreline began to change drastically. Emerald hills covered with dense forests were logged for timber to make way for the new city. As time passed, Seattle constructed a log seawall, wooden sidewalks, wharfs, buildings, streets, railroad trestles, and eventually, a massive concrete viaduct over the original aquatic lands, changing the natural environment to a built environment. Today, Seattle's shoreline continues to change as the city demolishes the viaduct, rebuilds the seawall, and creates an inviting new waterfront that all will enjoy for generations to come.

In the 1950s, the city of Seattle began a transformation from an insular, provincial outpost to a vibrant and cosmopolitan cultural center. As veteran Seattle journalist R. M. Campbell illustrates in Stirring Up Seattle: Allied Arts in the Civic Landscape, this transformation was catalyzed in part by the efforts of a group of civic arts boosters originally known as “The Beer and Culture Society.” This “merry band” of lawyers, architects, writers, designers, and university professors, eventually known as Allied Arts of Seattle, lobbied for public funding for the arts, helped avert the demolition of Pike Place Market, and were involved in a wide range of crusades and campaigns in support of historic preservation, cultural institutions, and urban livability.