The South End is a group of
neighborhoods in southeastern
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
Washington. The definition is a bit fluid, but has traditionally included the area south of the
Central District, and east of
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
:
Rainier Valley,
Columbia City,
Rainier Beach,
Seward Park,
Mount Baker, and
Beacon Hill. Sometimes its definition is extended to
Skyway and Bryn Mawr in unincorporated
King County, though these are not technically in the city. Other definitions have included northern parts of
Renton and
Tukwila, though most
Seattleites, especially those from the South End, would consider this usage incorrect. Often the term "South End" is used colloquially to include neighboring portions of South King County, by people living in those areas, due to that area's location in reference to Seattle proper.
The South End has traditionally been a diverse neighborhood with a mix of Caucasian, African American, Latino and Asian communities. It is currently going through a period of redevelopment and
gentrification
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
, and was a target of former
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels's action agenda and
Sound Transit's
Link light rail
Link light rail is a light rail system with some rapid transit characteristics that serves the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit pro ...
. There is a high school sports rivalry between the South End's high schools
Rainier Beach and
Franklin and the Central District's
Garfield
''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...
. Today the neighborhood has a population of 84,180 and is 34% Asian, 27% White or Caucasian, 23% Black or African-American, 8% Hispanic and 5% other races or of mixed race.
Notes
External links
* Elizabeth Rhodes
Sitting pretty in Seattle's South End ''Seattle Times'', Tuesday, March 7, 2000. Article about real estate in the South End
* Vanessa Ho, Mike Lewis, and Phuong Cat Le
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', March 4, 2006.
{{coord, 47, 32, 28, N, 122, 16, 48, W, format=dms, display=title, type:city_region:US-WA
Neighborhoods in Seattle