Queen Anne

Magnolia is a peninsula sitting on cliffs looking at the Olympic Mountains. It is a highly desirable neighborhood close to the heart of the city and a quick 10 minute drive to down town.

Magnolia is reachable by three bridges and retains its small-town feeling. Magnolia shares the peninsula with the 500-acre Discovery Park, containing a small Army garrison and an Indian Cultural Center on the park grounds. The town square is a small hub of restaurants, bars, and stores known as The Village.

In its suburb-like environment, parking is ample, doors are left unlocked, and quality of lawns is always a topic of conversation (and competition). The neighborhood is also home to a few Seattle Mariners and was once home to the daughter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And yet the neighborhood has not developed the exclusive feel of Broadmoor or Mercer Island, welcoming to newcomers and comfortable to old-timers.

Queen Anne is the largest of Seattle’s hills (though not its highest point) and the most varied. The hill is so large it forms two fairly distinct neighborhoods Lower Queen Anne and-you guessed it-Upper Queen Anne. Upper Queen Anne is largely residential and upscale, though its northern slope includes Seattle Pacific University and some of the naturally associated cheaper houses and apartments associated with college proximity. It also has a small shopping district and some great cafes.

In order to distinguish from its neighbor up the hill, Lower Queen Anne has taken on the hipper “Uptown,” though the name hasn’t really stuck among other Seattleites. Lower Queen Anne is a much more bustling neighborhood and encompasses the Seattle Center-the former fairgrounds from the 1962 World’s Fair now converted into a permanent set of attractions-including a small amusement park, a sports and concert arena, a children’s theatre, the Seattle Opera, and two major museums (Pacific Science Center and the EMP). More than just home to tourist attractions, though, Lower Queen Anne has a well-run movie theatre, a larger shopping district, some small high-tech and printing companies, and some of the best dining options in town.

What unites these two disparate neighborhoods besides a hill? Well, despite its lofty (altitude and price) status, Upper Queen Anne, being sandwiched between Fremont and Uptown could hardly be a bastion of stuffiness. A cultural bond tends to unite the more successful middle-aged top of the hill with the younger folks at the foot. You don’t necessarily change your attitudes when you grow up–you just get a better view.