Green Lake, Seattle, Washington

Green Lake
Seattle Neighborhood
Green Lake Branch of the Seattle Public Library
Map of Green Lake's location in Seattle
Country	United States
State	Washington
City	Seattle
City Council	District 6
Neighborhood Council	Northwest District
Police District	North Precinct, J3
Legislative District	43rd, 46th
First Settled	1869
Founded by	Erhart Seifried
Named for	Green Lake
Area
• Total	2.32 sq mi (6.0 km2)
Population
• Total	17,516
• Density	7,600/sq mi (2,900/km2)
ZIP code	98103, 98115

Green Lake is a neighborhood in north central Seattle, Washington. Its centerpiece is the lake and park after which it is named.

Its generally accepted boundaries are Interstate 5 to the east, beyond which lie Roosevelt and Maple Leaf; N 85th Street to the north, beyond which lies the neighborhood North College Park/Licton Springs; Aurora Avenue N (State Route 99) to the west, beyond which lies Phinney Ridge, and N 50th Street and Woodland Park to the south, beyond which lies Wallingford.

Its main thoroughfares are the circumferential road around the lake, known at different points as East Green Lake Way N, East Green Lake Drive N, West Green Lake Drive N, Aurora Avenue N, and West Green Lake Way N; N 65th, N 71st, and N 80th Streets (east- and westbound); Wallingford Avenue N and 1st, 5th, Latona, and Woodlawn Avenues NE (generally north- and southbound but following the contours of the shoreline at some points); Green Lake Drive N and NE Ravenna Boulevard (northwest- and southeast-bound); and Winona Avenue N (northeast- and southwest-bound).

David Phillips surveyed the Green Lake area in September 1855 for the United States Surveyor General. The first settler was Erhart Seifried with a 132-acre (0.53 km²) homestead on the northeast shore of the lake in 1869. In 1891 a trolley line was extended from Fremont along the eastern shore and around the northern end of Green Lake. Also in 1891, Green Lake was annexed to Seattle.

There is an extensive variety of housing types in Green Lake. Since 1995, the neighborhood has undergone significant redevelopment. Many houses have been completely remodeled and enlarged, often with the addition of another floor. This is a consequence of Green Lake's easy access to Downtown via both Interstate 5 and Aurora Avenue N.