Not many land uses are as unwelcome near an urban residential neighborhood as a dump. Calling it a solid waste transfer station implies a certain seriousness of purpose, even respectability, but there’s no getting away from the fact that this is where garbage trucks dump their loads, self-haulers line up to chuck old mattresses and yard waste, and semis growl in to shuttle the stuff away.

Chances of getting locals to accept a new waste transfer facility in their backyard? Slim to none. Unless, that is, the neighborhood grew up on the edge of an industrial zone where a transfer station already existed, as did Seattle’s Wallingford and Fremont sections—two neighborhoods that overlook active Lake Union and its ship canal, with Seattle’s skyline beyond, and abut the North Transfer Station (NTS). For Wallingford-Fremont, a new transfer station is an improvement.