Northgate
The Northgate district in Seattle, WA is an informal group of neighborhoods in Northeast Seattle. The commonly included neighborhoods within Northgate include Maple Leaf, Haller Lake, Pinehurst and Licton Springs.
Northgate gets its name from the large Northgate shopping mall – the first of its kind to be arranged around a lengthwise mall corridor where stores face each other across the corridor. The mall was also the first to have a movie theater, completed in 1951, with seating for 1,500 people. This theater has since been shut down and a large Cineplex was completed in 2009.
Several national and local chain restaurants exist in the area including Panera Bread, Five Guys Burgers, Red Robin, The Ram, and Stanford’s.
The area has experienced a great deal of growth in the last ten years. The Thornton Place Community is a large housing development that includes condominiums, apartments, the Cineplex, and more retail and dining options. One of the featured restaurants in this development is the Watershed Pub & Kitchen, famous for a wide variety of craft brews and tasty options, including inventive fare and comfort food.
Aside from the retail and entertainment options, the Northgate Community Center is a great resource for residents. The building is beautiful and sustainable, energy efficient, and features a large multipurpose room for meetings and events. Seattle Public Library opened the Northgate branch in 2008 within the community center and park complex.
Residents of the Northgate district enjoy a walk score of 80, meaning most errands can be accomplished on foot. The large North Seattle Park and Ride lot is located here, and provides commuters with an ideal location near the Interstate 5 on ramps. As Sound Transit expands the Link Light Rail system, the Northgate Extension is scheduled for completion in 2021.