The city of Seattle, Washington, contains many districts and neighborhoods. The city's former mayor Greg Nickels has described it as "a city of neighborhoods".There is a book about Seattle by Arthur J O'Donnell, In the City of Neighborhoods, iUniverse, Inc., 2004), . Early European settlers established widely scattered settlements on the surrounding hills, which grew into neighborhoods and autonomous towns. Conurbations tended to grow from such towns or from unincorporated areas around trolley stops during the 19th and early 20th centuries; the city has consequently suffered from transportation and street-naming problems.Phelps, p. 34; Chapter 16, "Street Names and House Numbering", pp. 225–235; Chapter 15, "Annexation", pp. 216–224, map "to 1921", p. 217; map "to 1975", p. 224, map key table pp.222-3.

Definition of Seattle neighborhoods

Seattle was established during an economic boom fueled by the timber industry; its early years were characterized by hasty expansion and development, under which residential areas were loosely defined by widely scattered plats.. This arrangement was further solidified by the establishment of locally initiated community clubs, public libraries, public schools, and public parks, which created a sense of community and civic participation. At the beginning of the 20th century, Seattle's community clubs became influential in the organization of public improvements. These had a significant effect upon the character of their neighborhoods and allowed them to remain distinct from the surrounding areas.Cf. Some community clubs used covenants to restrict the ethnicity of residents.

Establishing public library branches can define districts as well as neighborhoods. Public libraries are among the most heavily used buildings. Seattle elected its city council at large from 1910 to 2014, and community clubs lobby councilors for the interests of local residents – such as for a library branch. The community organizations build a voting constituency, and in so doing define a neighborhood. In the absence of ward politics, this and campaign finance legislation are seen as more open alternatives. The Greenwood-Phinney Commercial Club was particularly active in organizing toward the Greenwood branch that opened in 1928. The Lake City Branch Library opened in 1935 as a few shelves of books in part of a room in Lake City School, shared with the Works Progress Administration (WPA), sponsored by the Pacific Improvement Club community group. The library moved into a new building in 1955.

Elementary public schools effectively defined many neighborhoods, which are often synonymous with the name of the elementary school when the neighborhood and school were established. Many of the neighborhoods contain a few smaller neighborhoods. Mann and Minor neighborhoods in the Central District, were built around their schools. The University Heights school (1903) in the north of the University District was named for the neighborhood, as was the Latona School (1906) in Wallingford.

Parks similarly define some neighborhoods. Madrona Beach and Cowen and Ravenna Parks were privately established to encourage residential development upon otherwise unusable land.Wilma (20 August 2001, Essay 3502) The plan for Olmsted Parks fulfilled its goal and significantly influenced the character of neighborhoods around parks and playgrounds. East Phinney and West Meridian neighborhoods are sometimes called Woodland Park, as well as South Green Lake or North Wallingford for Meridian.

Covenants and racial restrictions Housing covenants became common in the 1920s and were validated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1926 case Corrigan v. Buckley. Minorities were effectively limited to the International District and parts of some neighborhoods in south-east Seattle for Asian- and Native Americans; or the Central District for people of African ancestry, clearly defining those neighborhoods.Hatt, Schmid, Nobbe, & Mitchell Ballard – Sunset Hill, Beacon Hill, Broadmoor, Green Lake, Laurelhurst, Magnolia, Queen Anne, South Lake City, and other Seattle neighborhoods and blocks had racially or ethnically restrictive housing covenants, such as the following sample:

No person or persons of [any of several minorities] blood, lineage, or extraction shall be permitted to occupy a portion of said property ... except a domestic servant or servants who may actually and in good faith be employed by white occupants.

Further restrictions on conveyance (rental, lease, sale, transfer) were often included, effectively defining most of the neighborhoods in Seattle during the first decades after establishment.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1948 that racial restrictions would no longer be enforced. The Seattle Open Housing Ordinance became effective in 1968. Although unenforceable, legal complications prevent the covenants from being expunged from property title documents.

Wards and Little City Halls Seattle initially adopted a ward system; however, in 1910, this system was replaced by non-partisan, at-large representation. Variations on ward systems were proposed and rejected in 1914, 1926, 1974, 1995, and 2003 and convictions for campaign-related money laundering followed the 1995 campaign. Critics claimed that district-style elections of the city council would result in Tammany Hall-style politics. In 1973, inspired by Boston's model, Mayor Wes Uhlman's administration implemented a system of Little City Halls, where Community Service Centers (CSCs) assumed responsibility for coordinating municipal services. Uhlman's political opponents called the CSCs a thinly disguised ward system designed to promote Uhlman's reelection. CSCs became a setting for political arguments between the city council and the mayor; controversies over accountability, cronyism, and ward politics occurred in 1974, 1976, and 1988. In 1991 the CSCs were renamed Neighborhood Service Centers (NSCs) and were placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Neighborhoods. More recently, their number has been reduced. As of 2011, there are NSCs located in Ballard, Lake City, the University District, the Central District, West Seattle, Southeast Seattle, and Delridge.Neighborhood Service Centers , City of Seattle. Retrieved April 17, 2011.

Local improvement districts A local improvement district (LID) is a method by which a group of property owners can share the cost of transportation infrastructure improvements. This involves improving the street, building sidewalks and installing stormwater management systems. Without Seattle's LID assessment system, the city would be unable to maintain its rapid growth in population and territory.Phelps, pp. 82–84 LIDs have helped define neighborhoods by localizing decisions about issues like sidewalks, vegetation and other features of the public space, permitting neighborhoods to remain distinct from their neighbors.

Informal districts

No official neighborhood boundaries have existed in Seattle since 1910. Districts and neighborhoods are thus informal;Maria Christensen, Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in Seattle: Including Bellevue, Redmond, Everett, and Tacoma, Newcomer's Handbooks, First Books, 2007, . p. 17. "Unlike many other major cities, Seattle neighborhoods do not have official borders." their boundaries may overlap and multiple names may exist for a single district. Boundaries and names can be disputed or change over time. In 2002 a Department of Neighborhoods spokeswoman said, "I've seen my area go from the 'CD' to 'Madrona' to 'Greater Madison Valley' and now 'Madrona Park.' " Some neighborhoods, such as northwest Seattle, do not have widely recognized names for their greater districts.

Throughout Seattle one can find signs indicating the boundaries of neighborhoods; the locations of these signs have been specified by the city's many community councils. However, the boundaries suggested by these signs routinely overlap and differ from delineations on maps. For example, signs indicate that Lake City Way NE is the southeastern boundary of the Maple Leaf neighborhood,Maple Leaf: Neighborhood is another one of Seattle's best-kept secrets while the city clerk's archival map places that district's southern boundary at 85th Street.

Another example of boundary ambiguity is "Frelard," which local residents call the area shared by Fremont and Ballard between 3rd and 8th Avenues NW. Signs facing opposite directions on NW Leary Way reveal the overlap.

Further difficulty in defining neighborhoods can result from residents' identification with neighborhoods different from those marked on signs and maps. After an acrimonious development dispute in 1966, a group of concerned Wallingford citizens enlisted the University of Washington Community Development Bureau to survey their neighborhood; the survey revealed that more residents of southwest Wallingford considered themselves citizens of Fremont than of Wallingford.

Transportation Minor arterial roads are generally located along the boundaries of neighborhoods, with streets and highways built according to the street classification system.American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards for urban areas having more than 50,000 people These effectively help define neighborhoods.(1) (2) High-Resolution Version , PDF format, 16.1 MBMedium-Resolution Version , PDF format, 1.45 MB 12 January 2004.Low-Resolution Version , PDF format, 825 KB 12 January 2004."Planned Arterials Map Legend Definitions" , PDF format. 12 January 2004. The high resolution version is good for printing, 11 x 17. The low and medium resolution versions are good for quicker online viewing. (Source: "Street Classification Maps, Note on Accessing These PDF Files". )

Development in accordance with the street classification system maintains the quality of life of city neighborhoods and improves efficiency of the road system. The classification system discourages rat running through local neighborhood streets.

Transportation hubs, such as business zones and transit stations, such as Park and Ride facilities, provide focal points for districts of neighborhoods the same way trolley stops defined neighborhoods before cars.

Designated Historic Districts The Department of Neighborhoods designates a number of Historic Districts, which have a similar status to Seattle Landmarks. these are:

Ballard Avenue Landmark District Columbia City Landmark District Fort Lawton Landmark District Harvard-Belmont Landmark District International Special Review District Pike Place Market Historical District Pioneer Square Preservation District Sand Point Naval Air Station Landmark District Source of list:

List of districts and neighborhoods Despite complications in Seattle's system of neighborhoods and districts, the names and boundaries in the following list are generally accepted and widely used.Other well-documented interpretations of names and boundaries of Seattle's neighborhoods can be found in the following: "Seattle Neighborhoods" from the HistoryLink Encyclopedia of Washington State History (particularly their "Thumbnail Histories", many of which reference records of neighborhood organizations and public library branches). Myra Phelps, A Narrative History (a history of Seattle through Engineering Department records and notes). The "Neighbors" project of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (1996-2000), currently updated as the "Webtowns" section of the online Post-Intelligencer. Neighborhood articles in the archives of the Post-Intelligencer, The Times, and local district newspapers. (Post-Intelligencer archives before 1986 are not available online. The Seattle Times archives before 1990 are not available online.)