Hello and welcome, and thank you for following along with me on this Talk Tour. Today you have the opportunity to explore the vast and beautiful Magnuson Park, known for its public health catastrophe involving a coverup of Radium contamination… as well as being the second largest park in the entire City of Seattle. This tour will examine some key features of Magnuson Park through the lens of public participation, acknowledging the contributions of Magnuson’s local community that have shaped the park into what it is today. Pause for a moment to think about a park in your own community. Are there ways to improve this park for you? How about for others? Most importantly, who should be in charge of these decisions? According to Xiaohu Wang for Public Performance & Management Review, cities with positive public participation in decision making are, on average, 18% more likely to produce decisions that the public are satisfied with (Wang 2001). And according to Kimberly L. Triplett for the Race, Gender & Class Journal, public participation is monumentally important in helping to alleviate issues of race, gender, and class (Triplett 2015). You’re probably aware of the reason for this: locals know what’s best for their communities, because they live there. While these two journals describe public participation in the realm of city planning, public participation can occur in many different forms. For the purposes of this tour, public participation is defined as any form of public involvement meant to improve a public area. There are four stops total along this journey. This exploration begins at Magnuson’s historic Hangar 30, a symbol of this land’s history as a Naval Base during World War II. The tour will also feature the Magnuson Community Center and Community Garden, and will conclude at the ‘Airport’ Children’s Playground, symbolizing Magnuson’s development from a restricted Naval Base to an open and inclusive public attraction. Throughout this tour, each stop will provide insight into the many different and unique ways that the Magnuson community contributed to the improvement of this park in ways that met the needs of the people around them.