University District, Seattle, Washington
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The University District is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because the main campus of the University of Washington is located there. It is bounded on the west by Interstate 5, beyond which is Wallingford; on the east by the Burke-Gilman Trail and Ravenna Avenue N.E., beyond which is University Village; on the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal, across which are Eastlake and Montlake; and on the north by N.E. Ravenna Boulevard, beyond which are Roosevelt and Ravenna. Its main commercial street, University Way N.E., is known locally as "The Ave."
The U-District was first surveyed in 1855, and its first white settlers arrived 12 years later. In 1890, that part of the neighborhood due west of the present UW campus was laid out as the Brooklyn addition. One year later much of the land north of the Ship Canal, including Brooklyn, was annexed to Seattle, and the first university building appeared in 1895.
The name Brooklyn began to fade soon thereafter. Electric trolley tracks had been laid up Columbus Avenue (later 14th Avenue) in 1892, and the neighborhood soon began to be called University Station after the stop at the corner of what is now N.E. 42nd Street. The name is not lost, however, for Brooklyn Avenue N.E. runs parallel to University Way, one block west.
As a result of a contest held by the University Commercial Club in 1919, 14th Avenue (by then already known as "The Avenue" or "The Ave.") was renamed University Way, and the neighborhood was renamed the University District. The neighborhood's main thoroughfares are Roosevelt and University Ways and 11th, Brooklyn, 15th, and 20th Avenues N.E. (north- and southbound), and N.E. Pacific, 45th, and 50th Streets (east- and westbound).
The neighborhood's primary landmark, other than the UW campus, and its tallest building, is the headquarters building of Safeco Corporation, located at the corner of Brooklyn Avenue N.E. and N.E. 45th Street.
In recent years, the neighborhood has suffered commercial decline, due at least in part to the popularity of the University Village Shopping Center on the opposite side of campus. From 2002 to 2004, the city attempted to counter this by giving the Ave. a facelift, including the addition of benches and bus bulbs. The addition of benches represented the reversal of a decades-long neighborhood trend away from providing free places to sit.