For 15 years, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways has been at the heart of Seattle’s safe streets movement — neighbors organizing neighbors to make it safer and easier to walk, bike, roll, and gather on our streets. Our original name captured an early chapter of that story. It no longer reflects the scale or scope of who we are. We are excited to become Seattle Streets Alliance to more accurately reflect the nature of our grassroots organization’s mission.
Seattle is a city full of bright possibilities — and in recent years, voters have made clear they want a transportation system that reflects that. In 2024, Seattleites overwhelmingly approved the Keep Seattle Moving Transportation Levy, with more than 250,000 votes (67%) in favor! The renewal of Seattle’s transportation levy marked a historic level of investment in building a safe, sustainable, and accessible transportation system for everyone.
That mandate felt far-fetched 15 years ago when Seattle Neighborhood Greenways (SNG) was founded on the simple idea that people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds should be able to walk, bike, and roll to where they need to go. Our earliest campaign was to bring our namesake street design, “neighborhood greenways” — traffic-calmed residential streets designed for walking and biking — to Seattle.
That early work succeeded. Neighborhood greenways are now an official city program, with 55+ miles having been built in neighborhoods across the city. But our mission didn’t stop there.
In the years that followed, we heard from community members across the city that we needed to focus on all types of projects to make neighborhoods great places to walk, bike, roll, and live. From those conversations, our focus expanded beyond “greenways,” into a holistic vision of a safe and accessible city with crosswalks, sidewalks, protected bike lanes, pedestrian plazas, and safer streets that create a world where kids can safely walk and bike to schools and parks, elders and people with disabilities can get around to their daily needs, and where people have safe, comfortable, and convenient options for getting to where they need to go.
Over the past 15 years, SNG has helped deliver real, on-the-ground change across the city:
- Improving safety by winning safer speed limits citywide, giving pedestrians a head start at crosswalks as the default policy, and holding the city accountable for transforming our most dangerous streets.
- Making more walkable communities by securing record investments in sidewalks and crosswalks through two transportation levies — including the largest sidewalk expansion in Seattle’s history, starting in 2024.
- Creating a bikeable downtown by envisioning and successfully advocating for protected bike lanes that encompass the city center and connect to surrounding neighborhoods.
- Partnering with community leaders in South Seattle to bring safe streets for walking and biking to historically underserved communities, like the Beacon Ave safety project on Beacon Hill, the Georgetown to South Park Trail, and the MLK Jr Way S safety project connecting the Central District and the Rainier Valley.
- Laying the groundwork for future projects, the new People Streets program at the Seattle Department of Transportation is tasked with transforming our streets into community places for people, like pedestrianizing Pike Place Market.
That’s why, in our 15th year, we are proud to step into a new chapter as Seattle Streets Alliance.
As a city-wide nonprofit with full-time staff supporting an alliance of neighborhood groups, this rebrand reflects who we are now and where we are going.
“Streets” signals that our mission is not limited to one type of improvement, but encompasses all the aspects that make for great streets — accessible sidewalks, protected bike lanes, pedestrian plazas, and more.
“Alliance” captures our grassroots model: a collaborative community of neighborhood groups, partners, and advocates working together for systemic change.
This is more than a new name or logo. It’s a clearer expression of our belief that mobility — the ability to get to where you need to go safely, comfortably, and conveniently — is a fundamental human right. It affirms our values to create a city with equitable access to safe, sustainable streets for all.
Seattle Streets Alliance has always been a people-powered movement, and there has never been a more exciting time to get involved! If you care about creating more walkable neighborhoods, closing the gaps in our bike routes, and making safer streets for everyone, join us or stay in the loop by visiting streetsalliance.org
