Wallingford: Best Seattle Neighborhoods 2013
Home to a kicked-back community spirit.
By Melody Datz April 3, 2013
From Lake Union to NW 60th Street, sturdy old houses with large, friendly evergreens stand guard against grey skies. Yards and parking strips are dotted with carefully tended gardens, where kale stalks and rose bushes live in lush harmony. While the primary business district lining N 45th Street between Stone Way N and Interstate 5 is nearly always packed with traffic, Wallingford’s primary directive is the opposite of chaotic: Stay warm and chill out.
Don’t miss: Sushi, enviable cocktails and evening jazz at Seamonster Lounge. Wallingford Center draws fair-trade stylistas, aficionados of wee toy trains and lovers of fine cupcakes. And the pizza at Irwin’s Neighborhood Bakery & Cafe is always temptingly accessible, with the café cozied halfway between the Burke-Gilman Trail and 45th.
Go-to for out-of-town guests: Take a stroll through the grounds of the Good Shepherd Center, an Italianate-style former Catholic home and school for young women in the heart of the ’hood. Now home to nonprofit organizations, dwelling/work spaces for artists, a farmers’ market, playground and eclectic music venue Chapel Performance Space, it’s the epitome of the Wallingford existence—richly cultured, quietly urban and simply awesome.
Famous for: Runaway chickens, musical superstar Dave Matthews laden with groceries.
Melody Datz writes for the Wallyhood blog and has lived in Wallingford for three years.
Follow Us
Better Together: This Take on Co-Housing Emphasizes Quality and Community
The Seattle project presents an out-of-the-box model, where investors are also residents, and the design focuses on longevity and tenant retention—not profit.
Growing up in rural Detroit, Chad Dale spent many after-school and weekend hours playing with neighborhood kids in an open lot near his house. It’s an experience he always hoped his children would have someday, but by the time he became a father in Seattle, land was at a premium: either already developed or prohibitively…
A Different Kind of Mattress Store
Photos courtesy of Bedrooms and More. If you’re looking for the best mattress shopping experience in Seattle, the right choice often comes down to materials, transparency, and expert guidance – not just price or brand names. Bedrooms & More specializes in natural and organic two-sided mattresses and offers a no-pressure showroom environment where customers can…
Craft Value: The Founder of Henrybuilt Reflects on What He’s Learned in 25 Years of Business
In 2001, after 15 years of working in publishing—where I was a founding team member of two venture-funded technology companies—I decided to start a different kind of company: one that made physical products. This company, Henrybuilt, would combine product innovation and craft under one roof and sell directly to the end user—the homeowner—so that we…
Joint Effort
Rooted in the Northwest craft tradition, Mory Homes offers thoughtful furniture and storage solutions with an architectural point of view.
After more than a decade as the executive director of local lighting company Graypants, one of the cofounders, Jonathan Junker, decided to return to his architectural roots. In 2019, he was raising a family on Bainbridge Island when he opened his namesake studio. At first, Junker enjoyed the holistic approach to residential design; a few…