Bellevue, Washington
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Bellevue is a rapidly-growing city located in King County, Washington, USA, across Lake Washington from Seattle. In 2003 the Census Bureau estimated the city had a total population of 112,344, making it the fifth largest city in the state and the largest on the Eastside.
Downtown Bellevue is undergoing rapid change, sparked by Lincoln Square, which opened in 2005, and a recently-completed overhaul of the former Qwest building into a new City Hall. Over the next few years, the area will undergo further improvement, with several additional high-rises and other projects for office, residential, and retail space.
Along Bellevue Way, where Bellevue Square mall is located, many luxury cars are known to be seen by locals in Western Washington, as Bellevue is the showcase hub of wealth in the northwest.
Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Bellevue is the 15th wealthiest of 522 areas in the state of Washington.
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History and Growth
Bellevue was founded in 1869 by William Meydenbauer and was officially incorporated on March 21, 1953. Prior to the opening of the Lake Washington Floating Bridge in 1940, Bellevue was a rural area with little development. Once the bridge opened, access from Seattle improved, and the area gradually grew into a bedroom community.
Following the 1963 opening of a second bridge across the lake, the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, the city began to grow more rapidly. It has since become one of the largest cities in the state, with several high-rise structures in its core and a burgeoning business community.
Reflective of Bellevue's growth over the years is Bellevue Square, now one of the largest shopping centers in the region. Opened in 1946, Bellevue Square underwent a significant expansion in the 1980s. More recently, an expansion to Bellevue Square along Bellevue Way called "The Lodge" and the new One Lincoln Tower directly across Bellevue Way from the Square promise to solidify downtown Bellevue as the primary Eastside shopping and dining destination.
After a regional downturn in the early 2000s stopped construction in its tracks, Bellevue is again growing. The first phase of Ashwood Commons, a mostly-residential hi-rise, recently completed construction. A second tower (for offices) will soon go up at Lincoln Square; a new mixed-use development with a Safeway flagship store and luxury apartments (Avalon Meydenbauer) and a two-tower luxury condominum project (Bellevue Towers) have already broken ground. Another development similar to Lincoln Square is planned for the site of the current Safeway; a "superblock" development called Washington Square will cover nine city blocks and eventually include no fewer than six 22-story towers.
Other projects in Bellevue's future include Meydenbauer Place, the Bravern, a new Performing Arts center, a twin of the City Center office tower, three more residential towers, and, at long last, the resumption of construction at the abandoned Tech Tower site by a new developer. Developers have reported that they do not expect to have any difficulty finding tenants for all this new space.
Geography
Image:Bellevue park skyline.jpg Bellevue is located at 47°35'51" North, 122°9'33" West (47.597554, -122.159245)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 87.8 km² (33.9 mi²). 79.6 km² (30.8 mi²) of it is land and 8.2 km² (3.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 9.29% water.
The city's name is derived from a French term for "beautiful view". Under favorable conditions, scenic views of the Olympic Mountains and Cascade Mountains can be viewed from hilltops (and strategically-positioned high-rise buildings) within the incorporated city.
The city lies between Lake Washington to the west and the smaller Lake Sammamish to the east. It is bisected by Interstate 405 running north-south, and the southern portion is crossed from west to east by Interstate 90.
South of I-90 the city’s Eastgate neighborhood continues up Cougar Mountain. To the west of Cougar Mountain, Bellevue includes Coal Creek and Factoria, an unincorporated neighborhood.
Bellevue is bordered by the cities of Kirkland to the northwest and Redmond to the northeast along the Overlake neighborhood. Across the short East Channel Bridge, I-90 connects Bellevue to Mercer Island to the southwest. Issaquah is to the east, down I-90 at the south end of Lake Sammamish. The city is also bordered to the west by the extremely wealthy suburbs of Medina, Hunts Point and Yarrow Point.
Transportation
Template:Expand Bellevue is a major hub for both the local transit authority, King County Metro, and Sound Transit, the regional transit system. The Bellevue Transit Center, which serves both Metro and Sound buses, is located in the heart of the downtown business district and is connected to Interstate 405 by NE 6th St. and a direct-access Texas T HOV ramp. Local buses run into Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah, Renton, and the University District; regional buses go to Bothell, Lynnwood, Everett, Seattle, Renton, Kent, Auburn and Federal Way.
If things go as planned, a new light rail system will run from Seattle through Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Kirkland before ending in Redmond.
Government and politics
Bellevue has a non-partisan council-manager form of government, with seven council members elected at large for staggered four-year terms. The city council selects a mayor from among its members, who serves as council chair but has no veto power. As of 2006, the mayor is Grant Degginger and the city manager is Steve Sarkozy.
The position of mayor is largely ceremonial in Bellevue because the city manager runs the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor runs council meetings, helps choose the issues that get on the council's meeting agendas and serves as the city's most visible spokesperson.
Education
Bellevue is home to City University and Bellevue Community College.
The city hosts the Bellevue School District, with four main public high schools: Bellevue High School, Newport High School, Interlake High School, and Sammamish High School. All four were included in Newsweek's listing of the Best High Schools in America in 2005, with the first three ranked in the top 50. Bellevue also has two alternative high schools, International School (which also made the list) and Robinswood High School.
At the elementary level, Bellevue is home to the Eastside's only Waldorf Education, at Three Cedars School.
Economy
With its immediate proximity to Redmond, home of Microsoft, and direct highway access to Seattle via Interstate 90 and Washington State Route 520, Bellevue is now home to the headquarters of many small and large businesses. Many of these are technology companies, most started in the 1990s. The city has numerous thriving commercial districts. It also immediately borders the tiny but extremely affluent Lake Washington “Gold Coast” district (Medina, Hunts Point, Clyde Hill, and Yarrow Point), whose residents include Bill Gates and control a large portion of the local wealth.
Companies include:
- Coinstar, Inc. [1] - Owner and operator of coin-exchanging kiosks found in supermarkets.
- Expedia, Inc. [2] – One of the world’s leading online travel companies.
- Paccar Inc [3] – a multinational technology company that manufactures heavy duty Class 8 trucks sold around the world under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, and Foden nameplates.
- Drugstore.com [4] - a leading online drugstore and information site for health, beauty, wellness, personal care, and pharmacy products.
- Brio Realty [5] – a national real estate company that utilizes the internet to deliver better home buying experiences for its customers.
- 180 Solutions, Inc. [6] "Permission based" marketing software.
- InfoSpace [7] - a growing Internet private-label search engine and online directory that survived the dot.com bust of the 1990s. It’s reemerging in the mid 2000’s with a mobile entertainment offering.
- T-Mobile [8] – operates an all-digital, national wireless phone network, and a Wi-Fi network with over 6,000 public locations. Employs Catherine Zeta-Jones as its international spokesperson.
- Valve Corporation [9] – a video game developer made famous by its first product, Half-Life.
- Eddie Bauer - will have its new headquarters at a tower to be built at Lincoln Square by 2007.
- ArenaNet - PC game developer famous for Guild Wars; many ArenaNet employees used to work for Blizzard Entertainment.
- ShareBuilder [10]- an online broker allowing people to automatically and regularly invest in stocks and ETFs, even in small amounts.
- WizKids [11] - Non-electronic game developer producing everything from collectible miniatures games to board games.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 112,344 people, 45,836 households, and 29,060 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,411.4/km² (3,563.6/mi²). There were 48,396 housing units at an average density of 607.7/km² (1,574.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 74.33% White, 1.99% African American, 0.32% Native American, 17.39% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 2.54% from other races, and 3.19% from two or more races. 5.32% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 45,836 households out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $62,338, and the median income for a family was $76,868. Males had a median income of $56,456 versus $37,124 for females. The per capita income for the city was $36,905. 5.7% of the population and 3.8% of families were below the poverty line. 5.7% of those under the age of 18 and 6.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Culture
Bellevue is the site of the popular annual Bellevue Arts & Crafts Fair, held since 1947 at the end of July.
The Bellevue Arts Museum first opened in 1975, then moved to Bellevue Square in 1983. In 2001 the museum moved into its own building, designed by Steven Holl. The museum subsequently ran into financial difficulties and was forced to close to the public in 2003. After a lengthy fundraising campaign, a remodel, and a new mission to become a national centre for the fine art of craft and design, the museum re-opened on June 18, 2005 with an exhibition of teapots.
The Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art contains one of the largest doll collections in the world—more than a thousand dolls—displayed on two floors of a Victorian-style building.
The biennial Bellevue Sculpture Exhibition draws thousands of visitors to the Downtown Park to view up to 46 three-dimensional artworks from artists around the country.
Bellevue has the largest Asian-American population in Washington state (20%). It also has one of the largest foreign-born populations in the state (25%), including sizable Eastern European and rapidly growing Mexican populations. More than sixty languages are spoken in its school district.
Bellevue is home to the American Basketball Association team, the Bellevue Blackhawks. The Blackhawks in 2005, despite being ranked 13th in the league, made it to the championship game in front of 15,000 fans in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Famous residents
- Cuong Vu (Jazz trumpeter, b. 1969)
- Ichiro Suzuki (Baseball Player)
- Steven Ballmer (American businessman Microsoft CEO)
- Paula Rosput Reynolds (American businesswoman Safeco CEO)
- William S. Ayer (Puget Sound CEO)
Points of interest
External links
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