Moving to Seattle: Queen Anne Neighborhood
If you’ve been a YouTube subscriber of ours for a while then you know that every year we do and annual perspective mover series. Just to recap our perspective mover series, it is where we do neighborhood episodes from the perspective of someone who maybe looking for a new place to live within or around Seattle or Western Washington.
For this blog (and YouTube episode) we are checking out one of the most historic neighborhoods within the city of Seattle that also includes some popular Seattle attractions: Queen Anne.
Queen Anne’s Location and Breakdown
On the original land of the Duwamish peoples, Northwest of Seattle’s downtown, sits a neighborhood that contains quite a bit of the city’s history, local attractions, and best views. That neighborhood is known as Queen Anne.
The reason Queen Anne can contain so much is because it covers a large area. In fact, Queen Anne is so large it is divided up into sub-neighborhoods known as North Queen Anne, West Queen Anne, East Queen Anne, and Uptown aka lower Queen Anne.
Lower Queen Anne which is now referred to as Uptown; is where you will find famous attractions like MOPOP, the Seattle center, PacSci, and of course the famous Space Needle. Upper Queen Anne is a lot different than its lower part. Following Queen Anne Ave N up the hill, you will reach more residential homes. Some pretty impressive ones too the further up the hill you go. Further north sits the Seattle Pacific University Campus.
But what could be considered Queen Anne’s most prized gem is located in the section tucked between the Upper and Lower; West Queen Anne. Because it sits on the Western Slope facing the Interbay, this part of the neighborhood features the stunning views of Magnolia, Elliott Bay, and the beautiful Olympic Mountains. Most agree that it’s the best views in the city.
History of Queen Anne
Queen Anne is not only one of the largest and highest points in the city, it is also one of the oldest. So it would be no surprise that the neighborhood hosts an interesting history.
The neighborhood was originally named Eden Hill, a name inspired from the area’s natural beauty, and of course hills; ha! The neighborhoods formation began 1853 with David Denny staking a claim to what would become Lower Queen Anne. As the city continued to grow, the wealthy residents would begin to build their homes on the northern part of the neighborhood, higher on the hill. This would contribute to the neighborhood’s name change to Queen Anne in 1885. Inspired by the new popular style of houses that dominated the area.
The neighborhood would also host some important historic advancements in television. The first TV broadcast in the Pacific Northwest actually originated from the neighborhood in 1948. And the neighborhood’s television contribution continued into modern times with the scenes of Seattle featured in Grey’s Anatomy being primarily stock footage shot from Kerry Park. And it’s even been featured in some movies; like 10 Things I Hate About You.
But the historic event that had the greatest impact on Queen Anne has to be the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. See, it was because of the world’s fair that some of the neighborhoods most popular attractions were built. The most famous of all, the Space Needle.
Queen Anne Today
Today, the neighborhood has continued to come a long way. We suppose one could say for both the good and the bad. You may be asking, what could ever come along way and be considered bad? The cost of everything. Like all of Seattle, Queen Anne has experienced an increase in cost of living, but even with that it is one of the more expensive neighborhoods in the city.
On the bright side, the neighborhood features a wide array of home types. From large mansion sized homes to different types of apartment complexes. Plus residents have options for plenty of things to do. From the local attractions when family and friends come to visit, to the tons of restaurants, bars, and shops to choose from.
For those with school aged house members who may be considering a move to the neighborhood, while the neighborhood doesn’t have a high school, it does have some highly rated elementary schools. Public high school students attend Franklin High.
In regards to the demographic make up of the residents in the neighborhood, we will cover that in Comfortability for Black People section. But so far you can see that on it’s surface, the neighborhood as the opportunity to be attractive to a variety of different potential movers.
But before we could give any appropriate grades, you know we had to first check it out for ourselves.
Drive Grade
We want to let you know that we are going to base drive grade on how accessible the neighborhoods are to things such as entertainment and major highways, how easy it is to get around the neighborhood, and finally the neighborhood’s proximity to any schools in the area.
Again, we will mention that Queen Anne isn’t short of options for entertainment and things to do. The problem is accessing those options. Getting through certain parts of the neighborhood can seem somewhat impossible sometimes.
This being the case in like the area of Uptown makes sense, being it’s where the tourists attractions are. And while it becomes less of a problem in the further north, it is still a tight squeeze in certain places. And parking is just as scarce (but free). Depending on where you’re coming from, even driving to get to the neighborhood can be a daunting task. Yes, Queen Anne has a lot to offer, but driving in and around it is not where it’s at, plus parking can get expensive around the tourist areas.
Based on our perspective mover scale, we give Queen Anne a 2 outta 5 for Drive Grade.
Level of Fun
Our level of fun grade will be based simply on the overall vibe of the neighborhood, as well as the quality and quantity of options within for food, entertainment, and leisure. Since you probably already know about those popular attractions, we will focus on breaking down spots in the neighborhood you’d be more than likely to frequent if you were living there.
Great Choice for Coffee
For the first place we wanted to pick a place that would be a major key for anyone living in Seattle - a coffee shop. And the coffee shop we chose was Queen Anne Coffee. We chose particular shop based solely on the name…because it made sense. The shop is located on the at 1811 Queen Anne Ave. N. And was pretty easy to find. Plus, parking was free. On the inside, the shop reflected a place whose reviews said offer delicious treats and great coffee. Right away we knew we made the right choice.
Our decision was only more validated after tasting the coffee. We can most definitely recommend it as a great choice for a coffee shop for any potential Queen Anne resident. It’s also pretty dope that it’s LQBTQ and woman-owned.
Cool Neighborhood Hangout
The coffee was a great start, but we needed a place to grab a bite to eat. And not only that… a good cocktail. For that we headed to 706 Taylor Ave N, Citizen Cafe and Bar. A spot that looked like we could grab a nice lunch and have fun at the same time. Citizen isn’t very big on the inside, but on the outside it offers quite a bit. Everything from fire pits to a whole other bar.
Unfortunately the day and time of our visit all of this was closed. On Wednesday and Thursday 4pm to close and Friday through Sunday 8am to close, the area turns into one of the best beer gardens in Seattle during its Campfire event. The food was pretty good and so were the drinks. We could definitely see this being a really cool place to hangout for a potential resident.
The Prize Gem of Queen Anne
For the last spot we couldn’t help ourselves we had to hit up a famous location in Queen Anne, but still a place actual residents can still appreciate. We are talking about Kerry Park. To be honest, on the surface Kerry Park is pretty simple. There is a playground and basketball court located in the small park below. But little as it may be, what it offers is worth a 1000 options, and that is one of the best views in the city. Yes this view can never get old. While we took in the view we thought about our experience in Queen Anne, and what we could rate it for fun thinking as a potential future resident.
Queen Anne’s Fun Verdict
After thinking it over, we are giving it a high score. Who are we kidding! In this neighborhood you can never be bored. I mean you can ride down the street and hit up MoPop, the Space Needle, the ballet!
That’s why it’s no surprise that for Queen Anne we give a 5 outta 5 for Level of Fun.
Comfortability for Black People
Racial Demographics
We wanted start off by first diving into the numbers, specifically the demographics of the neighborhood.
The numbers break down like this in regards to diversity, these numbers do include the neighboring Magnolia. 61.6% are White (Non-Hispanic) Asian (Non-Hispanic) is the largest minority group at 20.4%, and only 4.1% of Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) residents. In regardsto the demographic makeup in other areas that may be of interest, 90% of households don’t have kids, and what’s interesting is that the median age of residents is 34.
Our Experience
These numbers may or may not mean much to every potential resident. But what was important to us was how we felt during our time in the neighborhood. We can honestly say that we felt comfortable during our visit throughout the whole neighborhood. Everything including the friendly conversation in the retail store, the welcoming experience buying coffee from the local neighborhood namesake coffee shop, and enjoying the delicious brunch at the hippest neighborhood hangout spot.
And as you’ve already guessed, our experience at Kerry park taking in the views was extremely comfortable. So, perhaps the current lack of Black residents isn’t a big deal. With the city’s tourist attractions just down the street, you wouldn’t have to go far to see a variety of different people all the time.
Overall we enjoyed our time spent in Queen Anne. And if you’re interested in a neighborhood that offers plenty of options for things to do, this is a great choice. And although it currently doesn’t have a lot of Black residents today, and interested in improving that… then we can definitely recommend Queen Anne for your consideration.
We give Queen Anne a 5 outta 5 for Comfortability for Black People.
