Northgate, Seattle - Misplaced Pages

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Northgate is an informal district of neighborhoods in north urban Seattle, Washington, named for and surrounding Northgate Mall, the first covered mall in the United States. Its east-west principal arterials are NE Northgate Way and 130th Street, and its north-south principal arterials are Roosevelt Way NE and Aurora Avenue N (SR 99). Minor arterials are College Way-Meridian Avenue N, 1st, 5th, and 15th avenues NE. Interstate 5 runs through the district. Besides the eponymous mall, the most characteristic distinctions of the area are North Seattle Community College (NSCC), the south fork of the Thornton Creek watershed, and the Sheihk Idriss Mosque.

Sub-Neighborhoods

Northgate neighborhoods are (north to south):

map

Mosque

The Sheihk Idriss Mosque in Pinehurst has architecture unique in Seattle. An octagonal dome and a symbolic minaret, both sheathed in copper and capped with crescent moons, red brick walls banded with buff brick and tall glass-block windows topped with concrete lintels in the shape of Moorish arches distinguish the first mosque in Seattle (1981) and the first mosque west of the Mississippi River to be built in a Middle Eastern design.

Mall

The Northgate Mall, opened in 1950, is the first regional shopping center called a mall, though there are 3 other shopping centers in the United States which predate it. At the time of its opening, it was located outside of the Seattle city limits, though this is no longer the case. It is located in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Northgate.

Surrounding Northgate Mall are many strip malls and the "Northgate North" shopping center which features a Best Buy and a 2 level Target.

Development

The Northgate area has been subject to a large amount of residential and commercial development in the last few years, and many huge projects are underway. The height limits in the area have been increased to 85' to allow for further population growth.

In 2006, a new park, library, and community center opened in the Northgate neighborhood across 5th Ave NE from Northgate Mall. These are part of the city's plan to accelerate development in Northgate.

While there is much commerce in the area, hotel development has been limited with only the Hotel Nexus, previously a Ramada Inn, being the only upscale hotel in the area. The many motels on Aurora Avenue is further northwest than the Northgate neighborhood.

Prehistory

What is now Northgate has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 B.C.E.—10,000 years ago). The Dkh’Duw’Absh, People of the Inside and Xacuabš, People of the Large Lake, Lushootseed (Skagit-Nisqually) Coast Salish native people had used the Liq'tid Springs area as a spiritual health spa. They harvested cranberries from the Slo’q `qed (SLOQ-qed, bald head), an 85 acre (34 ha) marsh and bog at what is now the NSCC car park, Interstate 5 interchange, and Northgate Mall. Large open areas for game habitat and foraging (anthropogenic grasslands) were maintained in what are now these neighborhoods by selective burning every few years. Today the Native American descendents are represented by the Duwamish Tribe.

Notes and references

^ Wilma, David (2001-08-02, corrected 2005-02-16, updated on 2005-05-07). ""Northgate Shopping Mall opens on April 21, 1950."". HistoryLink.org Essay 3186. Retrieved 2007-05-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
Wilma referenced Walt Crowley with Paul Dorpat (Photography Editor), National Trust Guide: Seattle (New York: John Wiley & Son, Inc., 1998), 209;
HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, "Northgate Beginnings" (by Jim Douglas), http://www.historylink.org/ (accessed August 2001);
L. B. Fussell, "Section To Be Known As 'Northgate'", The Seattle Times, February 22, 1948;
"Features Of Northgate Shopping Area Outlined", Ibid., February 1, 1950; "Polar Bear Cubs And $35,000 Car Vie At Northgate", Ibid., May 23, 1950;
"Plenty of Parking Space At Northgate", Ibid., May 7, 1950;
"Carter To Carve Totem Pole For Northgate", Ibid., February 26, 1952;
"Northgate Stores Fete Completion Of 5-acre (20,000 m) Area", Ibid., February 15, 1952;
"Car Show Planned On Northgate Mall", Ibid., April 30, 1953;
"25 New Stores Opening At Northgate", Ibid., August 17, 1965;
"Did You Know?" Ibid., March 18, 1965;
"Northgate's Vast Parking Areas Can Accommodate Up To 50,000 Cars A Day", Ibid., March 21, 1968;
"Eighteen Stores Pioneered Merchandising History At Northgate", Ibid., April 9, 1975;
"Northgate An Instant Success", Ibid., April 9, 1975;
"Northgate Center Will Celebrate 30th Anniversary Next Month", Ibid., March 13, 1980;
"Simoninfo", Simon Properties Website (www.simon.com);
Steve Schoenherr (University of San Diego), "Evolution of the Shopping Center", Steve Schoenherr Home Page accessed on November 4, 2004 (http://home.sandiego.edu/~ses/).
""Street Classification Maps"". Seattle Department of Transportation. 2005. Retrieved 2006-04-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
High-Resolution Version, PDF format, 16.1 MB
Medium-Resolution Version, PDF format, 1.45 MB 12 January 2004.
Low-Resolution Version, PDF format, 825 KB 12 January 2004.
"Planned Arterials Map Legend Definitions", PDF format. 12 January 2004.
The high resolution version is good for printing, 11 x 17. The low and medium resolution versions are good for quicker online vewing.
(1) ""Northgate"". Seattle City Clerk's Neighborhood Map Atlas. Seattle Parks and Recreation. Retrieved 2006-04-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
(2) ""About the Seattle City Clerk's On-line Information Services"". Information Services. Seattle City Clerk's Office. Revised 2006-04-30. Retrieved 2006-05-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
See heading, "Note about limitations of these data".
(3) Shenk, Pollack, Dornfeld, Frantilla, & Neman.
Sources for this atlas and the neighborhood names used in it include a 1980 neighborhood map produced by the Department of Community Development (relocated to the Department of Neighborhoods and other agencies), Seattle Public Library indexes, a 1984-1986 Neighborhood Profiles feature series in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, numerous parks, land use and transportation planning studies, and records in the Seattle Municipal Archives .
dated 13 June 2002; "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002.]
Long, Priscilla (2001-09-15). ""Sheihk Idriss Mosque founded in Seattle's Northgate neighborhood in 1981."". HistoryLink.org Essay 3570. Retrieved 2006-04-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
Long referenced David Buerge and Junius Rochester, Roots and Branches (Seattle: Church Council of Greater Seattle, 1988), 221;
David Schraer, "Northgate's Mosque: A Monument on the Strip", Arcade (Seattle), Vol. 2, No. 2 (June-July 1981), p. 2;
John Wolcott, "Muslims in the Northwest", The Progress, Vol. 89, No. 3 (January 16, 1986).
Wilma, David (2001-07-20). ""Seattle Neighborhoods: Maple Leaf -- Thumbnail History"". HistoryLink.org Essay 3454. Retrieved 2007-05-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
Wilma referenced Mimi Sheridan and Carol Tobin, Licton Springs History, (Seattle: Licton Springs Community Council, 2001), 8;
Don Sherwood, "Sacajawea P.F.", in "Interpretive Essays of the Histories of Seattle's Parks and Playfields", handwritten bound manuscript dated 1977, Seattle Room, Seattle Public Library.
""The Future of Northgate"". Retrieved 2007-10-23. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
This is a page on Seattle Mayor Nickels' website about Northgate development.