Lake Union

If Seattle had a volcano, its dome would most certainly be South Lake Union, an up-and-coming urban wedge between Lake Union and downtown, bounded by Aurora Avenue and Highway 99 to the west and I-5 to the east. Its grand old igneous cousin, Eastlake, fingers unceremoniously north along the east side of the lake toward the venerated University District.

Without a snip of irony, many Seattleites call South Lake Union “Vulcanville” after Paul Allen’s influential development company Vulcan, Inc., which by 2008 will have constructed no less than six dwellings intended to “Rethink Urban”– the company’s commercial imperative and catchy slogan. It has planned these, among other commercial spaces, to support an influx of biotechnology firms.

Meanwhile Eastlake, replete with its coveted houseboats along east Lake Union – the filming location of the Tom Hanks comedy “Sleepless in Seattle” — rests idly by. It has been doing so since the early 1900s, watching the trendy hubbub southwest of its quietude.

High prices have driven some families out of the area even though a smattering of private schools (Spruce Street School, Morningside Academy and New Discovery School) and one K-8 school are nearby. South Lake Union is the home of über-hipster-neobubble-heads who thrive on  apartment and condo living.  Many of these dwellings come with built-in businesses, such as the Whole Foods Market tucked beneath Vulcan’s ambitious 2200 Westlake Avenue, or Café Venus and Mars Bar (stop in for a brew after taming the rock-climbing wall at the nearby REI flagship store).

While perhaps quieter than its spastic Lake Union neighbor, Eastlake offers some old-fashioned staples to city living. Serafina and Pomodoro Ristorante are notable for continuously popular Italian fare, while Louisa’s Café & Bakery honors your latté-and-muffin regimen without an ounce of caprice. (Louisa’s is a favorite of writers looking for tasty distractions.) Le Fournil, farther up toward the University Bridge, serves authentic French pastries and bistro-style sandwiches. But let’s say you find yourself working 9-to-5 at one of many biotech or other research centers in South Lake Union, and you brought your own lunch. No problem: Take it to South Lake Union Park, soon to be remade by the city into the ultimate sweet spot of civic frivolity.

South Lake Union and Eastlake are almost frighteningly close to Interstate 5 and Aurora/Highway 99, both about 10 minutes away by car or bus. Downtown by car is roughly the same in time from either location, perhaps a little longer from Eastlake Avenue East near the University Bridge. Buses 70 through 73 serve Eastlake and South Lake Union with equanimity and will have you downtown in roughly 10 minutes. That being said, the city’s streetcar from South Lake Union to downtown terminals will make many of those buses redundant.