Seattle : Around Town – Downtown (part 1)

by

What strikes many visitors to downtown Seattle is how
easy it is to see the sights, since key attractions lie within walking
distance of one another. Bookended by Belltown to the north and Pioneer
Square to the south, downtown can be seen on foot or by city bus at no
cost – since all of it lies in the Ride Free Zone. Alternatively, for a
small fare, the waterfront streetcar stops at several key points between
the Market and the International District. In addition to being a
business district full of skyscrapers, downtown offers a wide range of
options – such as gourmet restaurants, attractive shopping centers, and a
perfect place to begin exploring the city.

Denny Regrade

Named after one of the
city’s founders, Arthur A. Denny, Denny Hill would have certainly become
one of Seattle’s most upscale neighborhoods, with magnificent city,
mountain, and water views. However, in 1905, engineers began its
outright removal by extracting the mud with water jets and conveyor
belts, eventually dumping the debris into Elliott Bay. Today, the
unnaturally flat, 50-square-block area includes most of what’s now
called Belltown, and is occupied largely by warehouses, labor union
halls, motels, and car lots.






Rachel, the Market pig

Many seafood vendors at Pike Place Market package fish for long-distance travel.


Head inside the Koolhaas Library for a visual treat as spectacular as the glass and steel exterior shell.


Be sure to leave the bus while still in the Ride Free Zone; if you stay on beyond the boundary, you’ll have to pay upon exiting.


NOTE



Sights

  1. Pike Place Market

    Anyone
    descending on Pike Place Market to stroll by innumerable stalls of
    seafood, fresh produce, crafts, and flower bouquets can feel the rapid
    pulse of a scene that’s all about hard work and hustle. The Market is
    famous for its salmon-throwing fishmongers and street musicians who
    entertain tourists daily. 




    Fish-flinging fishmongers



    Pike Place Market

  2. Seattle Art Museum

    Designed
    by Venturi Scott Brown and Associates, the imposing sandstone and
    limestone edifice houses an enviable permanent collection of about
    23,000 pieces. The African collection inspires with traditional
    sculpture, masks, textiles, basketry, and decorative arts. The John
    Hauberg Collection, one of the most prized examples of Northwest Coastal
    Native American art, comprises nearly 200 artifacts from British
    Columbia, Alaska, Washington, and Oregon. The museum is undergoing
    extensive refurbishment until spring 2007. The construction of a new
    Olympic Sculpture Park in downtown Seattle is also underway. 

  3. Harbor Steps

    If
    you happen to be near the Seattle Art Museum on First Avenue and need
    to get down to the waterfront, try the Harbor Steps. A street’s abrupt
    end has been turned into a wide-open stairway landscaped with water
    sculpture and planters. The steps are spacious and an ideal urban
    meeting place, located below a nouveau luxury apartment complex in the
    heart of an ever-changing downtown Seattle. Countless restaurant and
    nightlife options abound in the vicinity.

  4. Washington State Convention Center/ Freeway Park

    Straddling
    Interstate 5 in a miraculous feat of engineering, the Washington State
    Convention Center is located within easy walking distance of the city’s
    best shops, hotels, and restaurants. Marvel at the center’s 90-ft (27-m)
    wide glass canopy bridge that frames views to Elliott Bay and to the
    historic Pike-Pine neighborhood. Adjoining is Freeway Park, where
    blossoms delight visitors in spring and waterfalls mask the sounds of
    traffic flowing on all sides.

    Washington State Convention Center

    Freeway Park


  5. Columbia Tower

    The
    sleek, three-tiered black skyscraper that dominates Seattle’s skyline
    might have been even taller, but for an order to reduce the ultimate
    height from the Federal Aviation Administration. To break a record for
    most floors in any one building, the builder kept the original 76
    stories but reduced the ceiling heights to compensate. The 1985 building
    has an observation deck on the 73rd floor that offers panoramic views
    of Elliott Bay and Mount Rainier. 




    The tall, black Columbia Tower

  6. Pioneer Square

    Find
    art galleries, intricate Victorian architecture, bookstores, and cafés
    in a constantly changing National Historic District. Pioneer Square’s
    20-block neighborhood became Seattle’s commercial center during the boom
    years of logging, fishing, railroads, and Klondike Gold Rush economies.
    An exclusive 90-minute underground tour  offers a lively look at the 19th-century storefronts that were
    periodically flooded by tides from Elliott Bay until street levels were
    raised. Key sights include the Smith Tower, Elliott Bay Book Co. and
    Café, and an art walk on the first Thursday night of each month.




    Totem poles, Pioneer Square



    Elliott Bay Book Company

  7. Koolhaas Library

    Completed
    in 2004, the new downtown library is a work of art. Nearly 8,000
    patrons per day benefit from more than 1.45 million books and reference
    materials, Internet access, spacious areas for children, and over 400
    public computers. The art collection alone is worth $1 million. 

  8. Monorail

    In
    2005, Monorail services were suspended due to a collision between
    trains. By mid 2007 you’ll be able to hop aboard once again to
    experience the future of mass transit from the perspective of engineers
    who built the elevated rail as an attraction for the 1962 World’s Fair.
    The Monorail travels speedily and nonstop for 1.2 miles (2 km) between Seattle Center and Westlake Center.




    Monorail at Seattle Center Station

  9. Belltown

    Pedestrians
    are welcomed with an explosion of shops, clubs, cafés, luxury condos,
    and fine restaurants. This upscale neighborhood was named in the 1970s
    after a pioneer, William M. Bell. In those days, Belltown attracted
    sailors on shore leave, artists seeking inexpensive loft spaces, and
    ragtag urban dwellers. But it was the dot.com boom of the 1990s that
    changed everything by engendering a commercial revival for the
    neighborhood. Remnants of old Belltown include a few well preserved
    façades.

  10. Ride Free Zone

    The
    downtown sightseeing area between Belltown and Pioneer Square falls
    within the city’s Ride Free Zone where fares are gratis. Hop on a street
    level bus within the Zone and don’t forget to check in with the driver.
    All stations in the Down­town Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT)
    are within the Ride Free Zone but during tunnel closure buses along 3rd
    Avenue are free between 6–9am and 3–6pm, and the Ride Free Zone is
    extended to include the stops at 9th Avenue and Howell Street.