Seattle’s SODO neighborhood wants to be greener. Business leaders understand the myriad benefits for their community, from reduced heat islands and flooding, to increased productivity and calmer streets, these strategic leaders understand that inviting nature into industrial lands offers profound returns on investment. Yet, the area is some of the poores when it comes to existing urban canopy with less than 10% of the land covered in tree canopy.

MxM was invited to help the SODO Business Improvement Area chart a course for the neighborhood’s greener future. Through a series of task force workshops and public meetings, we developed a plan that anchors SODO’s nature-facing future around five distinct opportunites: adding new street trees, retrofitting overpasses to manage stormwater, repusposing leftover spaces, transforming S Industrial Way, and incentivizing private greening.