Curbed Seattle: Pioneer Square just gained two new public basketball hoops

This piece was published in Curbed Seattle on June 19, 2017.

The Downtown Seattle area is about to have double the public basketball hoops: Two new hoops in Pioneer Square’s Occidental Park bring the total to four.

To help make use of the new hoops, Seattle Storm point guard Jewell Loyd and forward Breanna Stewart are running a workshop on basketball fundamentals this Saturday, June 24. It’s geared toward kids—but a “kids of all ages” note on the Facebook event implies adults are welcome, too.

In a statement, Stewart said she was “constantly playing outdoors” as a kid. “It’s where I learned the fundamentals of the game.”

 Courtesy of Downtown Seattle Association

Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) statistics show more than 3,200 kids living in downtown—which, to be fair, is a pretty wide scope. DSA’s downtown extends south through the International District and SODO, east through parts of Capitol Hill and First Hill to Broadway, and north through Uptown and South Lake Union.

Still, that’s an even a wider area to only be served by four public basketball hoops, although Bobby Morris playfield in Cal Anderson Park just east of DSA’s service area is perhaps closer for Capitol and First Hill bball enthusiasts.

DSA, which just entered year two of a five-year agreement with the city to manage Occidental Park and Westlake Park, installed the Occidental Park hoops last week. The park also features fitness classes, ping pong and foosball tables, and a reading area.

Pioneer Square not your ideal location for a pickup game? The two other hoops in the larger Downtown area are just north of Downtown proper in the South Lake Union Discovery Center.

• Storming the Square with Seattle Storm [DSA]