Downtown Bellevue

Compared to Seattle, Bellevue does not have an economically diverse urban area. As a result, this downtown park is not so much a refuge from the pressures of the big city. Instead, it is a 19-acre oasis of greenery in what is already a nice neighborhood. The park contains a beautiful waterfall, a lovely meadow and a whole range of carefully tended plants and flowers that will delight the senses.

Downtown Bellevue features well known restaurants such as P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill, The Cheesecake Factory and Maggiano's as well as many local favorites like Daniel's Broiler, and Sea Star Restaurant and Raw Bar and McCormick and Schmicks.

Bellevue also boasts an extensive and well-maintained park system that rivals any in the Northwest. For example, a major feature of downtown is the appropriately named Downtown Bellevue Park, a large (20 acres) and elegant green space dominated by a half-mile long circular promenade that is a popular place for jogging, walking and socializing. A parallel canal ends in a waterfall and a large pond that reflects the evergreens and skyscrapers in the distance.

Parks, trails and other protected areas account for 14 percent of the city's total area. This figure does not include the more than 50 miles of free-running streams in the city, some of which are used by salmon for their migrations to and from the Pacific Ocean. For this reason Bellevue is sometimes referred to as a city within a park.

All of this is helping Bellevue to become a city with a livable downtown (which is still unusual in much of the U.S.). In fact, the number of downtown residents has been expanding in recent years and it is even becoming somewhat of a retirement destination because of its unique combination of convenience (including the ability to walk to a wide and growing array of shopping, restaurants and cultural facilities), safety, good climate and excellent medical facilities.

Downtown also contains the Meydenbauer Center a full-service convention center and theater on the eastern edge of downtown. Right in the center of downtown is the new and distinctive Bellevue Arts Museum, which, despite some initial teething problems, promises to become a major regional cultural resource. The downtown core also contains several movie theaters and art galleries.

Bellevue also has its own symphony orchestra and an opera company. Moreover, it is home to the annual summer Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Festival, one of the largest outdoor events of its type and one which attracts participants and visitors from many other states and Canada. Bellevue's cultural life will be further boosted by a major center for the performing arts, construction of which is expected to begin in the near future.

Bellevue also boasts outstanding shopping facilities that cater to every taste and income level. For example, downtown is home to Bellevue Square, which is consistently rated as one of the finest shopping centers in the U.S. and one of the top visitor destinations in the Pacific Northwest.