Phinney Ridge is a
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, ...
in north central
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
, United States. It is named after the ridge which runs north and south, separating
Ballard from
Green Lake, from approximately N. 45th to N. 75th Street.
The ridge, in turn, is named after
Guy C. Phinney,
lumber mill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
owner and
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
developer, whose estate was bought by the city and turned into
Woodland Park in 1899. Phinney's estate had included a private
menagerie
A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern Zoo, zoological garden.
The term was first used in 17th-century France, in reference to ...
, and the western half of the park became what is now the
Woodland Park Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo is a wildlife conservation organization and zoological garden located in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the recipient of over 65 awards across multiple categories, and had served appro ...
.
Routes
The rough boundaries of Phinney Ridge are Aurora Avenue N. (
State Route 99) to the east, beyond which lies
Green Lake and the eastern half of
Woodland Park; N. 75th Street to the north, beyond which lies
Greenwood; 8th Avenue N.W. to the west, beyond which lies
Ballard, and N. 50th and Market Streets to the south, beyond which lies Fremont and Wallingford. Phinney Ridge's main thoroughfare, which runs atop the ridge south of N. 67th Street, is Phinney Avenue N. North of N. 67th Street, the arterial swings a block to the west and becomes Greenwood Avenue N. The route is lined with many small businesses and shops, as well as the Phinney Neighborhood Center, located at the corner of Phinney and 67th. It has occupied the former John B. Allen Elementary School building, which was built in 1904, since 1981, when the school closed.
Wildlife
Wildlife in the area, especially adjacent to Woodland Park, has always been a subject of discussion; at least two medium-sized (8-15 individuals)
Coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
packs are known to inhabit the area feeding off the large population of released
domestic rabbits
A domestic or domesticated rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus'')—more commonly known as a pet rabbit, bunny, bun, or bunny rabbit—is a subspecies of European rabbit, a member of the lagomorph family. A male rabbit is known as a '' ...
that also called the park home until February 2006.
References
External links
Seattle City Clerk's Neighborhood Map Atlas — Phinney RidgePhinney Neighborhood AssociationPhinney Ridge HistoryPhinney Ridge News
{{Seattle neighborhoods