History of Participatory Budgeting in Seattle

Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process that was first developed in Brazil in 1989 and is now practiced in over 3,000 cities around the world, including Chicago, Boston, New York, and San Francisco. Participatory budgeting focuses on engaging people who have not historically been involved in government or budget processes and lets community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget.

The initiative began in Seattle in July 2015 with the launch of a citywide youth participatory budgeting process called Youth Voice, Youth Choice.

In 2017, the program was opened up to involve all Seattle residents. $2 million of the City's budget was set aside for Your Voice, Your Choice: Parks and Streets, which wrapped in what was previously known as our Neighborhood Park and Street Fund.