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We headed down to the Kids’ Parade for a Better Waterfront today, and it was a blast. It was raining out, but we dressed appropriately, and brought the rainshield for Mason. He wasn’t too thrilled about being pushed around in a bubble, but the music and other kids seemed to make up for it. Orkestar Zirconium broke out the brass, and it was awesome.

We started out at Victor Steinbrueck park, walked down to the waterfront, back up the stairs (elevators for the strollered) and then through the market. Originally we were supposed to head over to the new Sculpture Park (which I would have liked to see), but it was pretty cool watching the band play on up three flights of stairs. As we walked along, it became really obvious to me that the people crying for a rebuild haven’t spent a lot of time at the waterfront. Even as a carless Seattleite with a bad photography habit, I haven’t spent a lot of time at the market looking around, Taking the time to walk from Pike Place to the water is just a shocker. The Viaduct, even on a rainy Sunday is loud, ugly, and a blight on an otherwise touristy area. If you stand at the park, you’re instantly aware of it, If you walk down the hillclimb, you have to walk under it, and if you walk down to the piers, you’re surrounded by parking lots and freeway. Granted, there were Tourists wandering around at the Market and the piers, but I can only imagine what it would be like if the area didn’t have a freeway running through the middle of it.

I’ve heard people talk about a working waterfront. Tear down the Viaduct, and we might just get one.