Seattle weighs pickleball trims as boom cools

• That slowdown may feel especially notable in Washington state, where pickleball was invented on Bainbridge Island and later became the official state sport.

Zoom in: Three years ago, Seattle had the most pickleball courts per 100,000 residents among large U.S. cities.

• But this spring, Seattle Parks and Recreation proposed the removal of dozens of shared-use pickleball courts, even as new facilities are planned by the parks department and private developers.
• At Magnuson Park, a proposal to build up to 35 courts near wetlands was scaled down this spring to eight courts elsewhere in the park, according to Seattle Parks spokesperson Christina Hirsch.

The big picture: The national cooldown leaves more room for investment in other sports and amenities, which are seeing higher or equal spending growth across the country for the first time in years, per the Trust for Public Land.

• Garden spending is up 8%, disc golf is up 4% and outdoor fitness zones are up 3%.

By the numbers: Parks in the country's biggest cities still have 3,765 pickleball courts, up nearly 900% from 2017, TPL says.

• That includes courts striped for both tennis and pickleball.

Will Klein, TPL's director of parks research, tells Axios: "Cities are still adding courts, but not at the breakneck pace we saw over the last two years and since 2017."