List Of Neighborhoods In Seattle
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The city of Seattle, Washington, contains many
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
s and
neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
s. The city's former mayor
Greg Nickels Gregory J. Nickels (born August 7, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 51st mayor of Seattle, Washington. He took office on January 1, 2002 and was reelected to a second term in 2005. In August 2009, Nickels finished third in the p ...
has described it as "a city of neighborhoods". Early European settlers established widely scattered settlements on the surrounding hills, which grew into neighborhoods and autonomous towns.
Conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...
s tended to grow from such towns or from unincorporated areas around trolley stops during the 19th and early 20th centuries; the city has consequently suffered from transportation and street-naming problems.


Definition of Seattle neighborhoods

Seattle was established during an
economic boom An economic expansion is an increase in the level of economic activity, and of the goods and services available. It is a period of economic growth as measured by a rise in real GDP. The explanation of fluctuations in aggregate economic activit ...
fueled by the timber industry; its early years were characterized by hasty expansion and development, under which residential areas were loosely defined by widely scattered
plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...
s. This arrangement was further solidified by the establishment of locally initiated community clubs, public libraries, public schools, and public parks, which created a sense of community and civic participation. At the beginning of the 20th century, Seattle's community clubs became influential in the organization of public improvements. These had a significant effect upon the character of their neighborhoods and allowed them to remain distinct from the surrounding areas. Some community clubs used covenants to restrict the ethnicity of residents. Establishing public library branches can define districts as well as neighborhoods. Public libraries are among the most heavily used buildings. Seattle elected its city council at large from 1910 to 2014, and community clubs lobby councilors for the interests of local residents – such as for a library branch. The community organizations build a voting constituency, and in so doing define a neighborhood. In the absence of ward politics, this and
campaign finance Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political a ...
legislation are seen as more open alternatives. The Greenwood-Phinney Commercial Club was particularly active in organizing toward the Greenwood branch that opened in 1928. The Lake City Branch Library opened in 1935 as a few shelves of books in part of a room in Lake City School, shared with the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
(WPA), sponsored by the Pacific Improvement Club community group. The library moved into a new building in 1955. Elementary public schools effectively defined many neighborhoods, which are often synonymous with the name of the elementary school when the neighborhood and school were established. Many of the neighborhoods contain a few smaller neighborhoods. Mann and Minor neighborhoods in the Central District, were built around their schools. The University Heights school (1903) in the north of the University District was named for the neighborhood, as was the Latona School (1906) in Wallingford. Parks similarly define some neighborhoods. Madrona Beach and Cowen and Ravenna Parks were privately established to encourage residential development upon otherwise unusable land. The plan for
Olmsted Olmsted may refer to: People * Olmsted (name) Places * Olmsted Air Force Base, inactive since 1969 * Olmsted, Illinois * Olmsted County, Minnesota * Olmsted Falls, Ohio * Olmsted Point, a viewing area in Yosemite National Park * Olmsted Town ...
Parks fulfilled its goal and significantly influenced the character of neighborhoods around parks and playgrounds. East Phinney and West Meridian neighborhoods are sometimes called Woodland Park, as well as South Green Lake or North Wallingford for Meridian.


Covenants and racial restrictions

Housing covenants became common in the 1920s and were validated by the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in 1926. Minorities were effectively limited to the International District and parts of some neighborhoods in south-east Seattle for Asian- and Native Americans; or the Central District for people of African ancestry, clearly defining those neighborhoods. Ballard – Sunset Hill, Beacon Hill, Broadmoor, Green Lake, Laurelhurst, Magnolia, Queen Anne, South Lake City, and other Seattle neighborhoods and blocks had racially or ethnically restrictive housing covenants, such as the following sample:
No person or persons of ny of several minoritiesblood, lineage, or extraction shall be permitted to occupy a portion of said property ... except a domestic servant or servants who may actually and in good faith be employed by white occupants.
Further restrictions on conveyance (rental, lease, sale, transfer) were often included, effectively defining most of the neighborhoods in Seattle during the first decades after establishment. The Supreme Court ruled in 1948 that racial restrictions would no longer be enforced. The Seattle Open Housing Ordinance became effective in 1968. Although unenforceable, legal complications prevent the covenants from being expunged from property title documents.


Wards and Little City Halls

Seattle initially adopted a ward system; however, in 1910, this system was replaced by non-partisan, at-large representation. Variations on ward systems were proposed and rejected in 1914, 1926, 1974, 1995, and 2003 and convictions for campaign-related
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
followed the 1995 campaign. Critics claimed that district-style elections of the city council would result in
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
-style politics. In 1973, inspired by Boston's model, Mayor
Wes Uhlman Wesley Carl Uhlman (born March 23, 1935) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 47th mayor of Seattle, Washington. Early life and education Uhlman was born in Cashmere, Washington. He attended Aberdeen High School, Seattle Pacif ...
's administration implemented a system of ''Little City Halls'', where Community Service Centers (CSCs) assumed responsibility for coordinating municipal services. Uhlman's political opponents called the CSCs a thinly disguised ward system designed to promote Uhlman's reelection. CSCs became a setting for political arguments between the city council and the mayor; controversies over accountability, cronyism, and ward politics occurred in 1974, 1976, and 1988. In 1991 the CSCs were renamed Neighborhood Service Centers (NSCs) and were placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Neighborhoods. More recently, their number has been reduced. As of 2011, there are NSCs located in Ballard, Lake City, the University District, the Central District, West Seattle, Southeast Seattle, and Delridge.


Local improvement districts

A
local improvement district Business improvement districts (BIDs), also known as local improvement districts (LIDs), are special districts within a city that are overseen by a nonprofit entity. In the United States, BIDs are typically funded by an additional tax assessment, w ...
(LID) is a method by which a group of property owners can share the cost of transportation infrastructure improvements. This involves improving the street, building sidewalks and installing stormwater management systems. Without Seattle's LID assessment system, the city would be unable to maintain its rapid growth in population and territory. LIDs have helped define neighborhoods by localizing decisions about issues like sidewalks, vegetation and other features of the public space, permitting neighborhoods to remain distinct from their neighbors.


Informal districts

No official neighborhood boundaries have existed in Seattle since 1910. Districts and neighborhoods are thus informal; their boundaries may overlap and multiple names may exist for a single district. Boundaries and names can be disputed or change over time. In 2002 a Department of Neighborhoods spokeswoman said, "I've seen my area go from the 'CD' to 'Madrona' to 'Greater Madison Valley' and now 'Madrona Park.' " Some neighborhoods, such as northwest Seattle, do not have widely recognized names for their greater districts. Throughout Seattle one can find signs indicating the boundaries of neighborhoods; the locations of these signs have been specified by the city's many community councils. However, the boundaries suggested by these signs routinely overlap and differ from delineations on maps. For example, signs indicate that Lake City Way NE is the southeastern boundary of the
Maple Leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along th ...
neighborhood, while the city clerk's archival map places that district's southern boundary at 85th Street. Another example of boundary ambiguity is "Frelard," which local residents call the area shared by Fremont and Ballard between 3rd and 8th Avenues NW. Signs facing opposite directions on NW Leary Way reveal the overlap. Further difficulty in defining neighborhoods can result from residents' identification with neighborhoods different from those marked on signs and maps. After an acrimonious development dispute in 1966, a group of concerned Wallingford citizens enlisted the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
Community Development Bureau to survey their neighborhood; the survey revealed that more residents of southwest Wallingford considered themselves citizens of Fremont than of Wallingford.


Transportation

Minor arterial roads are generally located along the boundaries of neighborhoods, with streets and highways built according to the street classification system. These effectively help define neighborhoods. Development in accordance with the street classification system maintains the quality of life of city neighborhoods and improves efficiency of the road system. The classification system discourages
rat running Rat running (also known as rodent running, cut-through driving, or dive-bombing) is the practice by motorists of using residential side streets or any unintended short cut such as a parking lot, delivery service lane or cemetery road instead o ...
through local neighborhood streets. Transportation hubs, such as business zones and transit stations, such as
Park and Ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...
facilities, provide focal points for districts of neighborhoods the same way trolley stops defined neighborhoods before cars.


Designated Historic Districts

The Department of Neighborhoods designates a number of Historic Districts, which have a similar status to Seattle Landmarks. these are: * Ballard Avenue Landmark District * Columbia City Landmark District * Fort Lawton Landmark District * Harvard-Belmont Landmark District * International Special Review District * Pike Place Market Historical District * Pioneer Square Preservation District * Sand Point Naval Air Station Landmark District Source of list:


List of districts and neighborhoods

Despite complications in Seattle's system of neighborhoods and districts, the names and boundaries in the following list are generally accepted and widely used.Other well-documented interpretations of names and boundaries of Seattle's neighborhoods can be found in the following:
"Seattle Neighborhoods"
from the
HistoryLink HistoryLink is an online encyclopedia of Washington state history. The site has more than 8,100 entries and attracts 5,000 daily visitors. It has 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images. The non-profit historical organization History Ink prod ...
''Encyclopedia of Washington State History'' (particularly their "Thumbnail Histories", many of which reference records of neighborhood organizations and public library branches). * Myra Phelps, ''A Narrative History'' (a history of Seattle through Engineering Department records and notes). * Th
"Neighbors"
project of the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (1996-2000), currently updated as th
"Webtowns"
section of the online ''Post-Intelligencer''. * Neighborhood articles in the archives of the ''Post-Intelligencer'

''The Times'', and local district newspapers. (''Post-Intelligencer'' archives before 1986 are not available online. ''The Seattle Times'' archives before 1990 are not available online.)
"Street Classification Maps"
from the Seattle Department of Transportation. The Transportation Department has built and designated secondary arterials (officially called minor arterials) predominantly along neighborhood boundaries.
They are based on the

', which in turn is based on a variety of sources, including a 1980 neighborhood map produced by the now-defunct Department of Community Development,
Seattle Public Library The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is the public library system serving the city of Seattle, Washington. Efforts to start a Seattle library had commenced as early as 1868, with the system eventually being established by the city in 1890. The sys ...
indexes, a 1984-1986 "Neighborhood Profiles" feature series in the ''
Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...
'', numerous park, land use and transportation planning studies, as well as records in the Seattle Municipal Archives. The following table is largely based on maps from the Seattle City Clerk's Neighborhood Atlas, but also includes designations from other sources.


Annexations

Seattle annexed eight municipalities between 1905 and 1910, nearly doubling the area size of the city. Annexations by law were begun by the annexee and had to be approved by the Seattle City Council. The appeal of the inexpensive and accessible electric power and water system services of the public utilities were the primary motivations for the annexation movements. Ballard was its own incorporated town for 17 years, annexed as its own
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
. West Seattle incorporated in 1902, then annexed Spring Hill, Riverside, Alki Point, and Youngstown districts. It was the largest of the incorporated towns to be annexed. Southeast Seattle merged the towns of Hillman City and York with other Rainier Valley neighborhoods, then incorporated for the only reason of being annexed. Similarly, the town of South Seattle consisted of mostly industrial Duwamish Valley neighborhoods (except Georgetown); one enclave adjacent to Georgetown omitted at this time was annexed 1921; some land near the river in this area remains part of unincorporated King County. In 1910 Georgetown was the last of this sequence of small incorporated cities and towns to be annexed to Seattle before the 1954 annexation of Lake City. The following previously incorporated cities and towns were annexed by Seattle. This list is in order of annexation. Other areas annexed to Seattle, were unincorporated before annexation. Examples of the latter include the northern part of Queen Anne Hill, the University District, and the northern area of the city that were once part of then-unincorporated
Shoreline A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...
. * Town of South Seattle, incorporated 1905, annexed 20 October 1905. * City of Columbia ( Columbia City), incorporated 1892, annexed 3 May 1907 * Town of
Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
, incorporated 1906, annexed 15 January 1907 * Southeast Seattle—Hillman City, York, and other Rainier Valley neighborhoods except Columbia City—incorporated July 1906, annexed 7 January 1907 * Town of
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
, incorporated 1902, annexed 3 May 1907. * City of Ballard, incorporated January 1890, annexed 29 May 1907 * City of
West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an i ...
, incorporated April 1902, annexed 24 July 1907 * City of Georgetown, incorporated 1904, annexed 4 April 1910 * Lake City, incorporated township 1949, annexed January 1954


Future

Because of the cost of providing city services, low-density residential neighborhoods represent a net revenue loss for municipalities.Phelps, pp. 216-224 Because vehicle-license revenue is no longer used to subsidize unincorporated areas, these neighborhoods have become increasingly orphaned. In April 2004, the City Council voted to defer a decision on Mayor Nickels' proposal to designate the West Hill and North Highline neighborhoods, part of unincorporated King County, as potential annexation areas (PAAs) for at least a year. Because of the
tax revolt Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax, or to government policy, or as opposition to taxation in itself. Tax resistance is a form of direct action and, if in violation of the tax ...
that took place in Washington in the late 1990s and early 21st century, the county's budget has been reduced and the county has said it is unlikely to be able to maintain adequate levels of funding for urban services in unincorporated areas. The nearby city of Burien, however, has issued a 2004 draft report for its own annexation of all or part of North Highline. North Highline, which adjoins SeaTac, Burien, and Tukwila in addition to Seattle, consists of the Boulevard Park neighborhood and part of
White Center White Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It lies between West Seattle and Burien. The population was 16,631 at the 2020 census. White Center is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Rat City" ...
. West Hill, which abuts Tukwila and Renton as well as Seattle, consists of Bryn Mawr-Skyway, Lakeridge, and Earlington. Its 2010 population is 15,645. On December 11, 2006, the Seattle City Council agreed to designate North Highline a "potential annexation area".


See also

*
Street layout of Seattle The street layout of Seattle is based on a series of disjointed rectangular street grids. Most of Seattle and King County use a single street grid, oriented on true north. Near the center of the city, various land claims were platted in the 19th ...
about transportation and street naming * 110th Cascades SEA Street regarding a structure helping define a neighborhood


Notes and references


Bibliography

*
See heading, "Note about limitations of these data". *
Maps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg dated 13 June; "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002. *
Maps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg dated 13 June; "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002. *
Full city map, not titled.
Maps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg dated 13 June; "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002. * * *
Hierarchical list of neighborhoods by districts, largely in geographical order from north to south. * * * * *
Maps "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg 17 June 2002, maps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg 13 June. *
Sources for this atlas and the neighborhood names used in it include a 1980 neighborhood map produced by the Department of Community Development (relocated to th
Department of Neighborhoods
and other agencies),
Seattle Public Library The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is the public library system serving the city of Seattle, Washington. Efforts to start a Seattle library had commenced as early as 1868, with the system eventually being established by the city in 1890. The sys ...
indexes
Special Collections
Seattle Collection in the Seattle Room), a 1984-1986 Neighborhood Profiles feature series in the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', numerous parks, land use and transportation planning studies, and records in th
Seattle Municipal Archives

aps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg dated 13 June 2002; "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002.br />"Th
Neighbors
project was published weekly in the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' from 1996 to 2000. The page remained available for archival purposes for some years after being superseded by the P-I'
Webtowns
section. * *


Further reading



''Seattle City Clerk's Office Neighborhood Map Atlas.'' Detailed city map, otherwise not titled.
Click on a number or name for the more detailed north, central, or south city map or a map of a selected neighborhood. *
Provides a language for indexing and retrieving legislation and other records in the City Clerk's Office. For more details on how to use the thesaurus, read th


Neighborhoods GIS source data file
(
Shapefile The shapefile format is a geospatial vector data format for geographic information system (GIS) software. It is developed and regulated by Esri as a mostly open specification for data interoperability among Esri and other GIS software product ...
format) {{DEFAULTSORT:Neighborhoods In Seattle
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
Seattle Neighborhoods Seattle-related lists