As we seek to regenerate postindustrial waterfronts for public use, public involvement in the design decision-making process must be defined. These projects are inherently complex, with large infrastructure components, high cost, and technical constraints. This work explores different models of public participation using case studies from the Copenhagen Harborfront and the Stockholm Waterfront to compare to the current Seattle Waterfront Design Process. The case study comparison demonstrates that more effort is needed to establish the role of local knowledge in decision-making. Drawing connections between the practice of user generated design and research on public participation models, I propose an alternative approach that might help us develop more responsible and responsive strategies for designing with the local community. I argue for the method of collaborative consumption−a sedimentation of user-generated design to shape public places−and I test this method on Pier 48.