Publication Notes

The Seattle City Council officially renamed the neighborhood just south of Queen Anne, at the bottom of Queen Anne Hill to "Uptown" rather than the name "Lower Queen Anne." Reporter Jessica Keller wrote: "That was just one of the swift changes that have taken place after the Seattle City Council, April 12, unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes Uptown as the correct name for the neighborhood. The resolution directs city departments to refer to the neighborhood as Uptown, as opposed to 'Lower Queen Anne,' in all documents, websites and its electronic communications and asks the City Clerk's office to notify online mapping and location service of the correct name and boundaries, which encompass west of Aurora Avenue North, north of Denny Way, east of Elliott Avenue West and south of Roy Street. The legislation was sponsored by District 7 Councilmember Andrew Lewis, who lived in Uptown, and promoted by the Uptown Alliance committee, which has advocated for the neighborhood and its interests at the city level since 1999. Despite the confusion regarding the name of the neighborhood, the City of Seattle has used the name Uptown since the 1990s, when it named the area one of six urban centers designated for concetrated urban growth. Uptown Alliance President Rick Hooper said the committee launched its effort to have Uptown declared the official name in the city last fall. With the completion of Climate Pledge Arena on the horizon and more visitors expected to the neighborhood, not to mention a number of transportation projects planned and more residential and commercial development expected, Hooper said it made sense to pursue a formal name change now, not only to establish consistency, but to educated people about the change. 'I think that Uptown is the correct name,' Hooper said. 'I consider it different than Queen Anne.' In many ways, the two neighborhoods differ greatly, Hooper said. Because its an urban center, Uptown is densely zoned for many more apartment complexes than up the hill, which is primarily zoned single-family residential. Beyond just Seattle Center and Climate Pledge Arena, a lot more growth is planned for Uptown, whereas development is a lot slower to take shape on the hill."