Seattle neighborhoods

Seattle Areas & Neighborhoods

19 neighborhoods and suburbs, from inside the Loop to the Bay. Pick one on the map, or browse by region below.

All areas

Ballard

Ballard is known for its working waterfront and Scandinavian seafaring heritage, explored at the National Nordic Museum. Visitors watch boats pass between fresh and salt water at the Ballard Locks, stroll the 7-acre Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden, and walk the beach and forest trails at Golden Gardens Park.

Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill is a South Seattle community with standout restaurants and parks. Jefferson Park has golf, a spraypark, lawn bowling and Olympic Mountain views, the neighboring Beacon Food Forest is a volunteer-built ecosystem that grows fresh produce, and Dr. Jose Rizal Park looks out on the downtown skyline.

Belltown

Belltown is a downtown-adjacent neighborhood of restaurants, bars and art galleries. Olympic Sculpture Park is a free outdoor museum with views of Puget Sound, and The Crocodile, the epicenter of grunge in the early 1990s, still hosts shows. Queen City has been everything from a saloon to a bakery since 1910.

Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill's Volunteer Park began in 1876, when the City of Seattle bought 40 acres for $2,000, and the Olmsted Brothers prepared its formal plans between 1904 and 1909. The park is home to the Volunteer Park Conservatory and the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

Central District

The Central District is where Jimi Hendrix grew up, and Jimi Hendrix Park, a tribute to the neighborhood kid who became one of the most influential guitarists of all time, sits next to the Northwest African American Museum.

Chinatown-International District

The Chinatown-International District tells the story of Seattle's Asian communities at the Wing Luke Museum. Panama Hotel and Tea House pours more than 40 teas beside a preserved bathhouse, Hing Hay Park has a grand pavilion designed in Taipei, and Uwajimaya is the neighborhood's signature Asian supermarket.

Columbia City

Columbia City and the Rainier Valley are an ultra-diverse area with East African restaurants and from-scratch brioche doughnuts at The Flour Box. Elsewhere in the area, Seward Park has old-growth forest, a swimming beach and eagles' nests, and Kubota Garden is a Japanese-style garden of Pacific Northwest plants.

Downtown

Downtown Seattle is a destination for the performing arts, with musicals at The 5th Avenue Theatre and the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall. Pike Place Market's produce and fish stalls sit at its edge, and Beecher's Handmade Cheese serves its creamy macaroni and cheese to go.

Fremont

Fremont is known for quirky public art, starting with the Fremont Troll, which grips an old Volkswagen Beetle under the Aurora Bridge. The Burke-Gilman Trail, a 20-mile walking and biking path between Ballard and Kenmore, is reached from the Lake Washington Ship Canal, and the Fremont Sunday Market, one of the city's longest-running year-round markets, gathers more than 150 vendors.

Georgetown

Georgetown is an art-filled neighborhood of friendly restaurants, bars and green spaces. Oxbow Park is known for its giant cowboy hat and boots sculpture, and the Connections Museum Seattle, open only on Sundays, shows antique phones and switchboards.

Green Lake

Green Lake Park's 2.8-mile multiuse trail, shoreline and playing fields pulse with activity, and Seattle Public Theater stages plays in a converted bathhouse. Next door, Woodland Park is home to Woodland Park Zoo, with more than 800 animals, and a free 2.5-acre Rose Garden.

Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square is Seattle's oldest neighborhood. Underground tours explore the original street level hidden after the Great Fire of 1889, and Smith Tower, once the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi River, has a 35th-floor open-air deck. Waterfall Garden Park sits on the site of the first UPS headquarters.

Queen Anne

Queen Anne, just north of downtown, takes in Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle, the Museum of Pop Culture, Chihuly Garden and Glass and Climate Pledge Arena. Up steep Queen Anne Hill, Kerry Park has postcard-perfect city views, and Byen Bakeri bakes Scandinavian breads and Danishes.

SoDo

SoDo is the epicenter of Seattle's sports world, home to T-Mobile Park, where the Seattle Mariners play and public tours go behind the scenes, with Lumen Field just to the north. Concerts play at Showbox SoDo, and Jack's BBQ imports its mesquite from Texas for its smokers.

South Lake Union

South Lake Union is home to tech companies like Amazon and Google and research hubs including Fred Hutch Cancer Center, with a maritime and industrial core explored at the Museum of History & Industry. The Center for Wooden Boats rents sail and paddle boats on Lake Union, and REI's flagship store has a climbing wall.

University District

The University District grows up around the University of Washington, with the Henry Art Gallery and the Burke Museum of Indigenous art and natural history. The university's Waterfront Activities Center rents canoes and kayaks, and tree-shaded Ravenna Park lies just north of campus.

Wallingford

Wallingford sits north of the Lake Washington Ship Canal beside Fremont. Gas Works Park mixes industrial relics with grassy slopes where visitors watch floatplanes glide across Lake Union, and the neighborhood's Pacific Northwest Shop stocks goods made in Washington and neighboring regions.

Waterfront

Seattle's waterfront faces Elliott Bay. The Seattle Great Wheel extends nearly 40 feet beyond its pier out over the bay, the Seattle Aquarium and its Ocean Pavilion show sharks, sea otters and stingrays, and Zig Zag Cafe is a classic of the Seattle cocktail bar scene.

West Seattle

West Seattle is a hilly district with beach life at Alki Beach, reached from downtown by water taxi. Lincoln Park spans 135 acres with a waterfront beach path and an Olympic-size saltwater pool, and Schmitz Preserve Park protects urban old-growth forest. California Avenue in the Alaska Junction is lined with shops.