Low-impact development's pleasing mimicry of natural landscapes is dramatically evident in a pilot effort of Seattle, Washington's SEA Streets Project. The city planners and landscape architects behind this project have transformed a residential street in North Seattle -- once a rod-straight segment of the sort of urban street grid found all over America -- into a narrower, meandering, and decidedly more attractive shrub- and tree-lined drive. Not only does the redesigned street sponge up rainwater with its rain gardens and swales, it slows traffic, encourages walking with a pedestrian-friendly design, and seems poised to increase property values along the street.

This pilot project has demonstrated to city officials and North Seattle's residents that bringing the ideas of low-impact development to street-improvement projects is simple, economical, and highly desirable. Wherever urbanization is degrading lakes, rivers, and coastal waters, low-impact development is an important part of the toolkit to curb urban runoff pollution that cities and towns can use.

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Photos: Seattle Public Utilities