Greenwood, Seattle
Coordinates: 47°41′26″N 122°21′19″W / 47.690612°N 122.355300°W
Greenwood is a neighborhood in north central Seattle, Washington, USA.
The neighborhood's primary north/south arterial is Greenwood Avenue North. The primary east/west arterial is North 85th Street, which carries traffic east to Interstate 5 and west to Golden Gardens Park. The intersection of these arterials is the busiest in the neighborhood and also its commercial center, with numerous bars, restaurants, coffee houses, and specialty stores along both arterials, especially on Greenwood Avenue between North 85th Street and North 87th Street.
As with other Seattle neighborhoods Greenwood has no exact boundaries. The generally accepted boundaries are Aurora Avenue N. (State Route 99) to the east, beyond which lies Licton Springs; N. 105th Street/Holman Road to the north, beyond which lie Broadview and Bitter Lake; 8th Avenue N.W. to the west, beyond which lies Crown Hill, and N. 80th Street to the south, beyond which lies Phinney Ridge. The division between Greenwood and Phinney Ridge is even more nebulous; the two neighborhoods plan events jointly and share a Chamber of Commerce.
The neighborhood hosts the "Greenwood Classic Car Show" which began in 1993 and is traditionally held on the last Saturday in June. Another event is the "Greenwood Seafair Parade", held on the last Wednesday in July. Both events draw thousands of visitors to the neighborhood annually.
Contents |
[edit] Schools and Public Services
Greenwood is served by the North Cluster of the Seattle School District. Primary schools in Greenwood include Greenwood Elementary and Bagley Elementary with several others in nearby neighborhoods. No high school is located within the North Cluster but Nathan Hale, Roosevelt, Ballard, and Ingraham are all nearby. Schools that sit in the neighborhood are Greenwood Elementary School and St. John Catholic School.
The neighborhood has had its own branch of the Seattle Public Library since 1928. The current Greenwood branch building was completed in 2005. Recreation areas maintained by the City of Seattle include Sandel Park and Greenwood Park. Greenwood has its own post office, which shares zip code 98103 with the larger Wallingford branch.
[edit] Geological issues
Greenwood has some areas where streets and sidewalks have been damaged due to irregular settlement of the soil. Such effects are most apparent in the blocks immediately northwest of Greenwood and 85th. The heart of Greenwood lies atop a peat deposit, also known as a bog.[1] The area was molded into a bowl shape after the last glacial retreat, that was in turn, filled with runoff of dead plants that created the peat bog.[2]
Once the groundwater recedes, peat compresses, causing building settlement that cannot be undone.[2] Due to the issues surrounding new developments that have created an impervious surface, and have diverted rainwater to city sewers, on August 22, 2008 the city has added peat bogs to the list of Environmentally Critical Areas.[3] This is intended to encourage building techniques that would stabilize the ground water area and reduce building settlement in the neighborhood.
[edit] History
Originally named Woodland, the neighborhood became Greenwood in 1907. Greenwood Avenue carried city streetcar and Seattle-Everett interurban passenger railroad traffic during the first half of the twentieth century.
The section of the neighborhood north of 85th Street was annexed to the city of Seattle in 1954. Many residents of the area voted for annexation believing that the city would build sidewalks in their neighborhood. However, it remains highly doubtful that city officials ever actually made such a promise. More than 50 years later many residential streets north of 85th Street are still without sidewalks.
[edit] 2009 Arson Investigation
In 2009, Greenwood experienced several dramatic arson fires. On August 13, fire was set a private home on Northwest 84th Street, seriously injuring a man and causing $170,000 damage.[4]
The largest fire, on October 23, burned one building to the ground near the intersection of North 85th Street and Greenwood Avenue North. Four businesses were destroyed: the Green Bean Coffee house; Phở Tic Tac; Szechuan Bistro; and C.C. Teriyaki. The October 23rd fire also did significant damage to neighboring buildings such as the historic Taproot Theatre Company.[5] A $10,000 reward was offered.[6]
Two more fires occurred on November 5. The Rosewood Guitar store at 84th and Greenwood sustained major smoke and water damage.[7] Three fires occurred on November 9. The most severe of these caused $20,000 worth of damage to the Olive You restaurant on Greenwood Avenue North.[8]
On November 13, 2009, Seattle police arrested a 46-year-old homeless man who frequented the neighborhood. The suspect had an arson record and had been spotted at the scene of three previous fires.[9] The suspect initially pled innocent to 12 charges, but in May 2010 he changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.[10]
[edit] Noteable People
[edit] Notes
- ^ Abstract of Kathy Goetz Troost and Aaron P. Wisher, "Delineating buried peat bogs in Seattle, Washington, using a borehole database", presented at 2007 Geological Society of America Denver Annual Meeting (28–31 October 2007).
- ^ a b Sanjay Bhatt, Greenwood project finds its footing, Seattle Times, 2008-02-12.
- ^ Environmentally Critical Areas Update, Department of Planning and Development (DPD), last updated 2009-04-21. Accessed 2009-04-28
- ^ KOMO News, Greenwood fire was arson, KOMO News.com. Accessed March 25, 2010.
- ^ Scott Sunde, Three-alarm fire in Greenwood, SeattlePI.com, October 23, 2009. Accessed online 2009-11-09.
- ^ Scott Sunde, $10,000 reward in Greenwood arson, SeattlePI.com, November 4, 2009. Accessed online 2009-11-09.
- ^ Scott Sunde, Update: Two Greenwood fires Thursday were arson, SeattlePI.com, November 5, 2009. Accessed online 2009-11-09.
- ^ Susan Gilmore. Three more fired ignite in Greenwood Seattle Times, November 9, 2009. Accessed on March 25, 2010.
- ^ Times staff writers, Homeless man, 46, arrested in Greenwood arsons Seattle Times, November 13, 2009. Accessed March 25, 2010.
- ^ Phinneywood-Kevin Swalwell. Phinneywood Blog Accessed April, 22, 2011.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Greenwood, Seattle, Washington |
