Delridge, Seattle, Washington

Delridge is a neighborhood in West Seattle, Washington that stretches along Delridge Way, an arterial that follows the eastern slope of the valley of Longfellow Creek, from near its source just within the southern city limits north to the West Seattle Bridge over the Duwamish River.

The Delridge neighborhood is a mostly residential and open space district that lies generally between the eastern ridge on which South Seattle Community College sits and the western ridge that peaks in the High Point district. The Delridge Neighborhood Plan Area [cite web
last =
first =
date =1999
year =
month =
url =http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/npi/maps/Delridge.pdf
title ="Delridge Neighborhood Plan Area"
work =Neighborhood Plans, Department of Neighborhoods
publisher =Strategic Planning Office, City of Seattle
accessdate =2008-03-08] includes most of the area within the valley itself. Some other nearby neighborhoods also have Neighborhood Plan Areas. [cite web
last =
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date =
year =
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url =http://www2.cityofseattle.net/neighborhoods/planning/southwest.asp
title ="Southwest Neighborhood Planning Map"
work =Neighborhood Plan Implementation, Department of Neighborhoods
publisher =City of Seattle
accessdate =2008-03-08]

The City of Seattle also uses the term Delridge more loosely to describe an informal collection of neighborhoods near the Delridge valley. This area is not precisely defined, but often is considered to be bounded by the Duwamish River to the north and east, unincorporated White Center to the south, and West Seattle to the west along 35th Avenue SW. That area includes (north to south, east to west) the Pigeon Point, Youngstown, Riverview, Delridge, High Point, Highland Park, Westwood, and Roxhill neighborhoods, and some industrial areas near the river.

Pigeon Point is the northern end of the bluff above the Duwamish, east of the old Youngstown neighborhood that surrounds the steel mill, in what real estate listings often now call North Delridge. South Delridge has also replaced Westwood on some maps, but neither of the new half-Delridge terms have entered common speech among longtime area residents.

Boeing Hill is the steep forested slope up which Highland Park Way courses. Like other nearby areas outside Delridge's own Longfellow Creek valley, this large greenbelt on the Duwamish's west bank is sometimes included in "Delridge Neighborhoods" in recent City maps and documents, [cite web
last =
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date =
year =
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url =http://web1.seattle.gov/seastats/doServices.aspx
title ="My Neighborhood"
work =My Neighborhood Map
publisher =City of Seattle
accessdate =2008-03-08] as are the industrial area north of Spokane Street, Harbor Island, and the northern part of the heavy-industrial zone east of West Marginal Way along the lower Duwamish Waterway serving the Industrial District.

Delridge area neighborhoods

* Cottage Grove
* Delridge
* High Point (west of Delridge)
* Highland Park (east of Delridge)
* Pigeon Point (eastern "North Delridge")
* Riverview (South Seattle Community College, east of Delridge)
* Roxhill (southwestern Westwood)
* Snake Hill
* Westwood (includes "South Delridge")
* Youngstown (western "North Delridge")

Cottage Grove

Cottage Grove is an area originally platted by Puget Mill Company between 1918 and 1923. It is generally bounded on the North by Southwest Genesee Street, on the West by West Seattle Golf Course, on the South by Southwest Juneau Street and on the East by 21st Avenue Southwest. It is the area immediately South and adjacent to Youngstown. It is sometimes referred to as Youngstown. For example, the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center is actually in Cottage Grove.

High Point

High Point is so named because it is the highest point of land in Seattle, 520 feet (158 m) above sea level. It is most well known for the recently demolished World War II temporary worker housing project of the same name that for five decades [cite web
last =Wilma
first =David
date =2002-08-26
year =
month =
url =http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3965
title ="High Point Branch, The Seattle Public Library"
work =HistoryLink: the Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
publisher =HistoryLink.org
accessdate =2008-03-08] (1952-2002) served as low income housing, in particular for many refugees and immigrants when they first arrived in Seattle.

Highland Park

Highland Park is traditionally a working-class neighborhood, due to its proximity to Boeing Field and other employers in the Industrial District. As with White Center immediately to the south, it now features wide demographic and ethnic diversity.

Near Highland Park is Westcrest Park, which has an off-leash dog area.

Pigeon Point

The Pigeon Point neighborhood is located on a high bluff directly south of the West Seattle Bridge at the south end of Elliott Bay. Boundaries include Spokane Street SW on the north, Delridge Avenue SW on the west, West Marginal Way and the Duwamish Waterway on the east, and Puget Park/Oregon Avenue on the south. Pigeon Point is home to the new Cooper Elementary School.

Riverview

South Seattle Community College (1970) is in Riverview; the college is notable for innovative horticulture and the South Seattle Community College Arboretum. The Seattle Chinese Garden borders the Arboretum. The gardens are on the bluff overlooking the Duwamish River. [cite web
last =
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date =2005-09-12
year =
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url =http://dept.sccd.ctc.edu/arboretum/1homepage.html
title ="South Seattle Community College Arboretum"
work =
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accessdate =2006-08-21]

Roxhill

Longfellow Creek flows through Roxhill Park.

Snake Hill

Snake Hill is generally bounded on the North by Southwest Brandon Street (Camp Long and West Seattle Golf Course), on the West by 31st Avenue Southwest, on the South by Southwest Juneau Street (High Point)and on the East by 29th Avenue Southwest (Longfellow Creek).

Westwood (South Delridge)

The partially restored wetland source [cite web
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url =http://www.seattle.gov/util/About_SPU/Drainage_&_Sewer_System/Projects/Creek_Restoration/
title ="Creek Restoration"
work =Seattle Public Utilities Drainage and Sewer System Projects
publisher =Seattle Public Utilities, City of Seattle
accessdate =2008-03-08] of Longfellow Creek is in Westwood.

A "big box" plaza called Westwood Village has expanded in recent years. Stores include Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Staples and Marshall's.

Many new town homes are being developed in this neighborhood.

Youngstown (North Delridge)

The Youngstown neighborhood is the dell through which Longfellow Creek flows to the mudflats of the Duwamish River estuary. The neighborhood was rough and rowdy in the early years of White settlement, built in the 1900s for the immigrant steelworkers at nearby Seattle Steel [cite web
last =Wilma
first =David
date =2001-04-08
year =
month =
url =http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3175
title ="Seattle Steel Co. begins manufacturing steel products on May 4, 1905."
work =HistoryLink: the Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
publisher =HistoryLink.org
accessdate =2008-03-08 ] (long thereafter Bethlehem Steel, now Nucor Steel). The Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (1999) opened in 2006, developed by the city-sponsored nonprofit Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association in the old Frank B. Cooper School (Youngstown School, 1917, renamed 1939) on Delridge Way. The school is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [(1) cite web
last =
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url =http://youngstownarts.org/
title ="Youngstown Cultural Arts Center"
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accessdate =2006-08-21
(2) cite web
last =
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url =http://youngstownarts.org/about/history
title ="History"
work =About > History
publisher =Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
accessdate =2006-08-21]

See also

* Daylighting (streams) # Creeks in Seattle
* Seattle neighborhoods # Informal districts

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.delridgehistory.org/ Delridge History]
* [http://www.dnda.org/ Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association]
* [http://www.seattle.gov/Arts/PublicArt/permanent.asp?item=10&view=2&cat=6 Dragonfly Pavilion and Garden]
* [http://www.duwamishcleanup.org/ Duwamish River Cleanup]
* [http://www.duwamishtribe.org/ Duwamish Tribe]
* [http://swtfriends.wlonk.com/ Friends of Southwest Branch Library]
* [http://www.highlandpk.net/ Highland Park Action Committee]
* [http://www.hpic1919.org/ Highland Park Improvement Club]
* [http://longfellowcreek.org/ Longfellow Creek]
* [http://www.pigeonpointneighborhood.homestead.com/ Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council]
* [http://www.pugetsound.org/events/duwamishalive/ People for Puget Sound: Duwamish Alive!]
* [http://www.hpic1919.org/riverview/ Riverview Neighborhood Council]
* [http://www.rtrip.org/ Riverview Trail Improvement Project]
* [http://westseattleblog.com/ West Seattle Blog]
* [http://www.westwood-neighborhood.org/ Westwood Neighborhood Council]