A view of Bellevue from a secret beach on Lake Washington. JESSICA STEIN
Seattle has 149 secret beaches. They sit at the end of public roads and dirt paths and seemingly private driveways. Nearby, razor wire and security cameras guard expensive private properties that have tennis courts, groomed gardens, guesthouses, and long docks. These beaches are tiny crevices of public space, little known and offering the average citizen a chance to quietly take in the view of a multimillionaire without the fear of being evicted.
They exist (and are being improved) thanks to a 1996 city-council resolution that goes something like this: Wherever a public street dead-ends at water in Seattle, the space between that dead end and the water is public property. Your property!
