Sunset Buffer Zone (South 144th Street and Des Moines Memorial Drive. North of the runway of Sea Tac Airport). A former neighborhood that contained housing and a junior high school until the mid 1970s.

The importance of a land buffer, is to allow for particulates to collect in a safe environment near airport approaches and to keep away from the jet fuel.

For the first 11 years, my Granparents house was a second home. It was located 50 ft. East of the Sunnydale Tavern (located in Burien) on S 145th Streer (located about 3/4 mile from the north approach to the third runway at Sea Tac Airport).

The property was taken over by the Port of Seattle in 1975 to be left as a green space.

It is hard to belive that this was once a neighborhood with houses and a Junior High School (Sunset). These were built before the jet age when Sea Tac Airport was smaller supporting propellor driven aircraft.

The Boeing 707 (built in 1958) would take to the air changing the way air flight would happen as fewer propellor based planes would appear in the flight path by the late 1960s.

The noise and vibration would be too much as many times classroom lectures would pause for the air travel.

Information about the Highline School District's choices to continue to build schools (in the flight path) will be covered in another podcast in the series.