Bellevue, Washington

Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States. It is across Lake Washington from Seattle and is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area.

The city is named after the French words belle vue, which mean "beautiful view." Bellevue is famous for being home to many big technology companies. Some well-known companies based there are PACCAR Inc, T-Mobile US, Valve, and Amazon, which was started there by Jeff Bezos.

Downtown Bellevue is the second-largest city center in Washington state. It has many businesses, workers, and people living there. The area is growing fast with new tall buildings going up. Bellevue is also a great place to live and start a business.

History

The Duwamish people had a small village called Satskal near where downtown Bellevue is today. European settlers arrived in 1869, but people didn’t start living there until 1879. By 1882, a small group of loggers had settled there. In the early 1900s, Bellevue became a favorite weekend place for people from Seattle.

Before the Lake Washington Floating Bridge opened in 1940, Bellevue was mostly farmland. After the bridge was built, the city began to grow. Bellevue officially became a city in 1953. With new bridges opening in the 1960s, the city grew fast. Today, Bellevue is a large city with many tall buildings and busy areas. Bellevue Square, a big shopping center, opened in 1946 and has grown a lot since the 1980s.

The city has big plans for the future, like the Bel-Red Corridor Project, which will change 900 acres of land. The Spring District is a new neighborhood with homes and shops. The 2 Line of Link light rail started running in April 2024, and it will reach Seattle in March 2026.

Geography

Bellevue is between Lake Washington to the west and Lake Sammamish to the east. The city is drained by the Kelsey Creek watershed, which starts near Larsen Lake and Phantom Lake. Major roads like Interstate 405 and Interstate 90 run through the city.

The city covers an area of 37.505 square miles, with land and a small amount of water. Bellevue’s name comes from a French word meaning "beautiful view." On clear days, you can see the Olympic Mountains and Cascade Mountains.

Bellevue is surrounded by several neighborhoods and cities, including Kirkland to the north, Redmond to the northeast, Mercer Island to the southwest, and Issaquah to the east.

Cityscape

See also: List of tallest buildings in Bellevue, Washington

Neighborhoods within Bellevue include Bridle Trails, Cougar Mountain/Lakemont, Crossroads, Downtown, Eastgate/Factoria, Lake Hills, Newport, Northeast Bellevue, Northwest Bellevue, Somerset, West Bellevue, West Lake Sammamish, Wilburton/BelRed, and Woodridge.

Climate

Bellevue has a mild oceanic climate. It often rains from October to May. July is the warmest month, and January is the coldest. Bellevue gets about 32 inches of rain each year. Some recent years have seen more rain than usual.

Economy

See also: List of companies based in Bellevue, Washington

Bellevue is an important place for jobs in the Seattle area, especially for technology and software companies. Many big companies have offices here, including PACCAR Inc, T-Mobile US, Eddie Bauer, SAP Concur, and Symetra. Large technology companies like eBay, Meta, ByteDance, Oracle, Salesforce, Google, and Microsoft also have offices in Bellevue.

In recent years, Amazon and Facebook have opened big engineering centers in Bellevue, adding thousands of jobs. Google opened a major engineering office downtown in 2018. Many new tall office buildings are being built or planned, especially in Downtown Bellevue, to meet the growing need for space.

Demographics

In 2018, many people in Bellevue were born in other countries because big technology companies have offices there. About 23% of people in Bellevue work in engineering or science. About half of the people there come from different racial or ethnic backgrounds.

In 2018, families in Bellevue made an average of $113,698. In 2020, Bellevue was named one of the best small cities in the United States for people who stay active, with 86 percent saying they exercise regularly.

2020 census

In the 2020 census, Bellevue had 151,854 people. The average age was 37.2 years. About 20.8% of people were younger than 18, and 14.1% were 65 or older. For every 100 girls and women, there were 102 boys and men.

There were 60,953 homes in Bellevue. About 31.2% of these homes had children under 18. Most homes, 53.2%, were where a husband and wife lived together. Some homes had only a man living alone (20.0%), and some had only a woman living alone (21.6%). About 26.6% of homes had just one person, and 8.0% of these were people who were 65 or older.

There were 64,688 places to live, but 5.8% of them were empty. All of Bellevue’s residents lived in urban areas.

2010 census

In the 2010 census, Bellevue had 122,363 people. The average age was 38.5 years. About 21.2% of people were younger than 18, 7.6% were between 18 and 24, 30.8% were between 25 and 44, 26.5% were between 45 and 64, and 13.9% were 65 or older.

The people living there were 50.1% male and 49.9% female. Many people in Bellevue were from different backgrounds. There were 50,355 homes. About 30% of these homes had children under 18. Many homes, 52.9%, were where a husband and wife lived together.

The population density was 3,827.7 people per square mile (1,477.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 62.6% White, 2.2% African American, 0.4% Native American, 27.6% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 3.1% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 7.0% of the population. There were 50,355 households, of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples living together. The average household size was 2.41.

Arts and culture

Bellevue has many special events each year. The Bellevue Arts and Crafts Fair happens every July. Every two years, the Bellevue Sculpture Exhibition brings artists to Downtown Park. The Strawberry Festival happens each June.

Bellevue has many places for art lovers. The Bellevue Arts Museum opened in 1975 and moved several times. The Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art once showed many dolls. Meydenbauer Center hosts events and performances. Plans are underway to build a new performing arts center called the Tateuchi Center.

Bellevue is known for its Chinese restaurants. T&T Supermarket, a store focusing on Chinese goods, opened in Factoria in 2024.

The city cares for its parks and green spaces. Bellevue Botanical Garden and many parks are popular spots. The Seattle Redhawks baseball team has played at Bannerwood Park since 2010.

Government and politics

Bellevue has a council-manager style of government. There are seven council members chosen by everyone in the city to serve four years. They pick one of their own to be mayor, who helps lead meetings but does not make special decisions. A city manager is chosen by the council to handle the city's daily work.

The city often supports Democratic ideas, like nearby Seattle and King County. In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, most Bellevue voters chose Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.

Education

Main article: Bellevue School District

Most of Bellevue is part of the Bellevue School District. There are four main public high schools: Bellevue High School, Interlake High School, Newport High School, and Sammamish High School. Two special schools, International School and Big Picture School, are also there.

Some parts of Bellevue belong to other school districts, like Lake Washington School District, Renton School District, and Issaquah School District.

For college, Bellevue has Bellevue College, which is part of the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system.

The city also has special schools for gifted students, such as Open Window School, and other schools like the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle and several Montessori schools. There is a Waldorf education school called Three Cedars School and Bellevue Christian School. The Seattle Japanese School holds weekend classes for Japanese students in Bellevue.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Bellevue is located on Interstate 405, a major road that helps cars move north and south east of Seattle. This road connects to other roads like Interstate 90 and State Route 520. The streets in downtown Bellevue are wide but not very easy for walking or biking. The city plans to make improvements for walkers and cyclists.

Bellevue has many buses run by King County Metro and Sound Transit. The Bellevue Transit Center is in the downtown area and links to many neighborhoods and cities. A new electric shuttle service started in August 2023, and it is free for everyone.

The 2 Line of Sound Transit's Link light rail runs from Lynnwood to Redmond, stopping in Seattle, Mercer Island, and Bellevue. It started operating in 2024. Bellevue used to have a railroad line and an airfield, but they are no longer in use today. Plans are underway to turn part of the old railroad into a walking and biking trail.

Notable people

Bellevue has been home to many well-known people. Some of them are Josh Atencio, a soccer player, and William S. Ayer, the former president and CEO of Alaska Airlines. Others include Budda Baker, a football player for the Arizona Cardinals, and Sue Bird, a former basketball player for the Seattle Storm.

Many athletes come from Bellevue, such as Matthew Boyd, a Major League Baseball pitcher, and Michael Brantley, an outfielder for the Houston Astros. The city has also been home to actors like Peter Horton and Timothy Omundson, as well as business leaders like Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Gabe Newell, owner of Valve.

Sister cities

Bellevue has several sister cities around the world. These include:

• Hualien, Taiwan
• Yao, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
• Kladno, Czech Republic
• Liepāja, Latvia