Seattle - geography.

« Queen Anne Hill, north of downtown, was long isolated by its steep ascent but emerged as a fashionable residential area at the close of the 19th century.

North of QueenAnne Hill and across the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Ballard was originally settled by Scandinavian immigrants.

Annexed to Seattle in 1907, Ballard today is a residentialneighborhood with a strong Nordic heritage. To the east from Ballard along the north side of the Ship Canal, the neighborhoods of Fremont, Wallingford, and the University District stretch to the University ofWashington.

The Green Lake neighborhood, just north of Fremont, includes Woodland Park Zoo and Green Lake, a popular city park with picnic grounds and playfields.North Seattle’s many residential neighborhoods such as Greenwood, Maple Leaf, Wedgwood, and Lake City run north to 145th Street, the city’s northern boundary. Heading south from the University of Washington, the lakefront neighborhoods of Madison Park, Madrona, Leschi, Mount Baker, and Seward Park look east to the city ofBellevue and Mercer Island, a residential island in Lake Washington.

West and inland, Capitol Hill, the Central District, and Beacon Hill run north-south, parallel todowntown.

Capitol Hill boasts some of the most beautiful older neighborhoods in the city; Volunteer Park, which is home to the Seattle Asian Art Museum and the VolunteerPark Conservatory, sits atop Capitol Hill. The Central District is the historic heart of the African American community in Seattle; the area also encompasses the heritage of Jackson Street’s vibrant jazz culture.During the 1940s the Seattle jazz scene fostered the careers of musicians such as Quincy Jones and Ernestine Anderson and trained musicians who worked with famous jazzartists Lionel Hampton and Count Basie. The local term Eastside refers to Seattle’s suburbs in King County, covering the towns and unincorporated area east of Lake Washington to the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

The area includes the suburban cities of Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, and Issaquah.

The Eastside has become home to dozens of high-technologyindustries including Microsoft Corporation, ATL Ultrasound, Nintendo of America, divisions of The Boeing Company, and many other firms.

In the 1960s commuters headedto Seattle jobs from homes on the Eastside.

Today, the “reverse commute” from Seattle homes to jobs on the Eastside is just as heavy, and both streams of traffic cross thesame bridges over Lake Washington at the same times. III POPULATION Seattle has experienced steady population growth since the early 1980s.

In 2000 the population of Seattle was 563,374, up from the 1990 census figure of 516,259.

In2006, it was estimated at 582,454.

In 2006 the population of the Seattle metropolitan area was 3,263,497; the population of the Puget Sound urban region centered onSeattle was 3,554,760. The city’s population has often increased or declined according to economic conditions.

In the 1970s Greater Seattle depended heavily on the aerospace industry, and whenthe industry suffered an economic downturn, the city’s population shrank.

Between 1970 and 1980 Seattle’s population fell from 531,000 to 494,000, a decline of 7 percent,as the local economy slowed and city dwellers migrated to the suburbs.

But as Seattle’s economy rebounded and diversified, its population staged a comeback, increasing 5percent between 1980 and 1990, and another 9 percent between 1990 and 2000. Seattle is characterized by a diverse and dynamic population.

The 2000 census indicated that Seattle’s population was 70.1 percent white, 13.1 percent Asian, 8.4 percentblack, 1 percent Native American, and 0.5 percent Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.

People of mixed heritage or not reporting race were 6.8 percent of inhabitants.Hispanics, who may be of any race, made up 5.3 percent of the population. In the 1970s the population of Asian Americans in the Seattle area soared, as immigrants and refugees from Southeast Asia flocked to the city.

Between 1990 and 1996 thepopulation of people of Asian and Pacific Island descent in King County—which includes Seattle—increased 48 percent.

During the same period, the population of AfricanAmericans increased 19 percent, and that of Native Americans increased 16 percent.

Those who identify themselves as Hispanic increased 32 percent.

It is no coincidencethat cosmopolitan Seattle has the second largest sister city program in the United States.

Seattle today has 20 sister cities that emphasize its international nature—from thefirst sister city of Kobe, Japan, to Mombasa, Kenya, and Gdynia, Poland. IV EDUCATION AND CULTURE Hammering ManAmerican artist Jonathan Borofsky is noted for his figurative work, including this gigantic steel figure called Hammering Man outsidethe Seattle Art Museum in Washington state.

The motorized arm carrying the hammer rises and falls.

Borofsky has made severalversions of this sculpture.Morton Beebe-S.F./Corbis Seattle is the educational and cultural center of the surrounding area and provides many fine institutions and opportunities.

In the city, the University of Washington, SeattleUniversity, Seattle Pacific University, and the Seattle Community Colleges provide higher education to students.

In the Greater Seattle area, educational institutions includethe University of Washington branch campuses in Tacoma and Bothell, Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, and numerous communitycollege systems.

The 23 branches of the Seattle Public Library and the 44 branches of the King County Library System encourage lifelong learning as residents choose fromwide-ranging collections and participate in classes and programs.. »