Waldo Woods Saved

"My Valley" by ExpressionOfJoy from our Flickr pool.

The fate of Waldo Woods, which has been up in the air for three years, was indicative of the challenges Seattle faced at the height of the real estate boom. A small man-made forest of more than one hundred trees, Waldo Woods was on a plot of land that was once a hospital, in the Maple Leaf neighborhood. For years, Camp Fire has owned the lot, but three years ago they began considering selling it to Prescott Development, who wanted to build town homes on the site. Years of conflict between the city, the developers, and Maple Leaf residents ensued over the fate of the trees, but it was the economy that eventually saved the woods. As the Times reports, Prescott ultimately backed out and a Jewish school, the Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder, has purchased the site and intends to preserve the woods.