Phinney Ridge is a
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...
in north central
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...
, United States. It is named after the ridge which runs north and south, separating
Ballard from
Green Lake, from approximately N. 45th to N. 70th 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 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 (dimens ...
owner and
real estate 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 or zoological garden.
The term was first used in 17th-century France, referring to ...
, and the western half of the park became what is now the
Woodland Park Zoo.
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 Association, 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''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...
packs are known to inhabit the area feeding off the large population of released
domestic rabbit
The domestic rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus'') is the domestication, domesticated form of the European rabbit, a member of the lagomorph order. A male rabbit is known as a ''buck,'' a female as a ''doe,'' and a young rabbit as a ''k ...
s 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