The North side of Seattle is the area that stretches from the University district and above. These areas are primarily residential but in the true style of Seattle, insofar as you'll never have to walk very far to find a cafe, a park, or something to eat. For those that seek balance between suburban comforts and urban convenience, this is a good place to call home.
The area built around Lake Union can be referred to as Central Seattle. These are the original residential neighborhoods of Seattle and even though the houses are older and a little moldy, the views and location are cultural fabric of these areas is amazing!
Downtown is the true core of this metropolis. The areas by the water have always been a mainstay of tourism due to the Pikes Place market and the piers, and many of the regional businesses have long held offices in downtown. In recent decades this area has also become an entertainment and shopping destination.
The most notable suburban destinations of Seattle are in the East bay, centered around the sibling city of Bellevue. This area is the home of Microsoft and thus there have been many new / higher end homes built in this region. You'll need to hop in your car to grab a cup of coffee or lunch, but there's plenty of room to stretch out and a feeling of integrated nature for those that seek tranquility.
The South side of Seattle has generally been regarded as the industrial corridor of the city and thus the neighborhoods of South Seattle mainly cator to the working class residents who work in the factories or for the port. This area however has unparalleled views and beauty that make the area an attractive place to call home.
Alki may have the sheen, shine and beachfront property to make it seem brand new, however, it is actually Seattle’s oldest neighborhood. Located in West Seattle, Alki is where the Denny party, Seattle’s original white settlers spent their...
Bainbridge Island is an island suburb and city of its own just across the water from downtown Seattle. The ferry commute, which is done daily by many of the residents, is 35 minutes from the city. However, Bainbridge is its own city, on its own...
Ballard is an uber-hot, uber-neighborhood in the northwest corner of Seattle. Currently it is a much sought after piece of real estate for restaurants, shops, condo complexes and all else that comes with being desired for development. This is,...
Beacon Hill is an extensive ridge running from just southeast of downtown far into the southern neighborhoods of Seattle. Thus, it contains many mini-neighborhoods within it, such as North, Mid and South Beacon Hill, as well as Holly Park, though...
Bellevue is Seattle’s eastside sister. For all the humbleness of Seattle, Bellevue sits across the water in all its shiny, ostentatious glory. While Bellevue was first settled only a year after Seattle was, by William Meydenbauer, it was not...
Belltown is a sub-neighborhood, sometimes considered to be a part of downtown, located north of the central business district. Nestled between the skyscrapers of downtown and the sky-scraping monuments of Seattle Center, Belltown holds its own as...
Capitol Hill is a neighborhood that wears many hats, known as much for the sexual orientation of its residents as it is for the vibrancy of its nightlife. Despite the descriptive name, the hill has nothing to do with being the capitol of anything;...
Cascade is a neighborhood with a lot of history, but which is quickly fading further into the past as it is absorbed by nearby South Lake Union. Cascade’s borders have been shrinking for years as other neighborhoods expanded into its space. The...
Columbia City is a small section of the Rainier Valley that includes a group of businesses on Rainier Avenue, running from Alaska for about five blocks south. The area has been either a victim of or blessed by, depending on who is speaking, rapid...
Downtown Seattle is a bustling central business district, chock full of skyscraper office buildings, a variety of stores and the occasional historic or tourist sight. It faces the waterfront strip of Elliott Bay, with the main industrial port to...
Eastlake is among the rapidly changing neighborhoods in Seattle. It is located on the east side of Lake Union, as the name implies. To the north is the Lake Washington Ship Canal, crossed by the University Bridge to the University District, and to...
Federal Way is a diverse waterfront neighborhood about half an hour south of Seattle. Its western shoreline faces Puget Sound, while Kent, Auburn and various unincorporated parts of King County are to the east. Tacoma is to the south, Des Moines...
Seattle’s First Hill is named for being the first hill from downtown, headed east. It is also known by its nickname, Pill Hill, so called for the high concentration of hospitals in the neighborhood. First Hill is one of the few neighborhoods in...
Fremont is Seattle’s quirkiest neighborhood. Or, at least it was and still tries to maintain that image as best it can. What was once a haven for free thinkers, artists and those that just didn’t fit in elsewhere has become the opposite—a...
Georgetown is a fun, funky little neighborhood, nestled into a cozy corner of Seattle. Bordered to the north by railroad tracks, to the west by the Duwamish River—after which is West Seattle, to the east by Interstate 5—beyond which is Beacon...
The Green Lake area of Seattle is less its own neighborhood and more a grouping of neighborhoods that share the common bond of a border along Seattle’s treasured Green Lake. This north-central Seattle collection of mini-neighborhoods includes...
Greenwood is a diverse neighborhood that straddles the northern edges of Ballard and Green Lake, extending north to the edge of Seattle, its boundary with Shoreline. Like so many parts of Seattle, Greenwood started out as its own city, but later...
The International District, or the I.D., as locals call it, is Seattle’s answer to the issue of what was originally Chinatown becoming a much more diverse area of town. The area known as the I.D. has a mix of stores, services and restaurants run...
Kirkland is a lakefront community on the northeast side of Lake Washington. A suburb of Seattle, Kirkland is actually one of the ten largest cities in Washington State and serves to be a suburb of both Redmond and Bellevue in addition to...
Laurelhurst is a residential neighborhood just east of the University of Washington. Located on a peninsula sticking into Lake Washington, it has been a part of the city since 1910, maintaining a reputation as a well-to-do neighborhood chosen by...
At the northern edge of the Greater Seattle area sits Lynnwood, acting as a gatekeeper to the wider world. Lynwood’s original center as the northern boundary for greater Seattle—beyond which are Everett and its environs--was on Highway 99....
Madison Park is a scenic neighborhood that is almost more seaside village than urban neighborhood. It can be found at the end of Madison, the first street to run from Puget Sound to Lake Washington. The area began as a vacation destination for...
Named for the species of tree that line the local park, Madrona is a scenic hilltop neighborhood just to the east of the Central District. Madrona comes to an abrupt end on its eastern side at the shores of Lake Washington. To its north is the...
Magnolia is as close as a place can be to being a suburb while still being within city limits. Isolated from the rest of the city by geography, it is also isolated by choice, as residents like to be a part of their own small community. It is...
Mercer island is the largest island in Lake Washington and the most populated island in a lake in all of the United States. The island is off the western shore of Bellevue, separated by a thin channel of water. It is east of Seattle—it was at...
Mt. Baker is a strange enclave of enormous mansions and large single-family homes mingled in a small neighborhood. The nicest of the homes are atop a hill, with a view of the mountain for which the area is named—on a clear day. The neighborhood...
Northgate is both a mall and the neighborhood that surrounds it on the northern edge of Seattle. The neighborhood is actually a collection of smaller areas, which are scattered about the area around the mall. These include Maple Leaf, Pinehurst,...
Seattle’s original downtown was located in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. It was not, however, the first white settlement in the area. The original settlers moved their homes from Alki, across Elliott Bay in what is now West Seattle, to the...
Queen Anne is the tallest of the named hills in the Seattle area, and its convenient location to downtown also makes it one of the most significant. Named for the style of architecture of many of its buildings, the neighborhood is one of the...
The Rainier Valley contains the single most diverse zip code in the United States. This distinction comes from it having been a welcoming neighborhood to all people, including immigrants and mixed race couples throughout its history. Rainier...
Just northeast of Bellevue is Redmond, formerly the rural baby brother, which, with the arrival of Microsoft’s main campus in 1986, became a grown up, a full on city-suburb. It may also be the home of Nintendo of America and call itself ‘the...
Renton, whose hilarious slogan is “ahead of the curves,” in reference to the traffic-ridden ‘s-curves’ is a southern suburb of Seattle and Bellevue. It surrounds the southern tip of Lake Washington, with Bellevue and Tukwila to its north...
South Lake Union is a neighborhood nearly as old as the city, but which has been pinched, pulled and prodded into being one of the newest in terms of buildings and business. South Lake Union can be considered an extension or subset of downtown,...
Seattle’s University District is the area directly surrounding the University of Washington, Seattle’s biggest institute of higher education. The neighborhood that encompasses the school is a strange and diverse mix of people from all...
Wallingford is an upper middle class residential neighborhood that is best defined as the happy medium between the neighborhoods that surround it. To the east is the craziness of the University District, the budget restaurants and college bars. To...
West Seattle is a huge strip of land, a large hunk of the western coastline along the southern end of Seattle. It encompasses a variety of different mini-neighborhoods, including Admiral Junction, Morgan Junction, Alaska Junction, Delridge,...
