Members and guests joined David B. Williams, freelance writer and former NSWA president, on Aug. 4 for a walking tour based on his most recent book, Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle’s Topography (University of Washington Press). This was the second tour Williams gave for NSWA this summer.

More so than most cities, Seattle has shaped itself to suit its needs. Seattle has removed hills, filled tide flats, and created a completely new downtown shoreline. On this 1.5-mile-long, one way walk we explored the last vestiges of the former downtown bluffs, traced the island where Seattle was founded, and examined how the subterranean fill still affects the modern landscape.