These Seattle Neighborhoods Are Pretend

Tangletown/Meridian 

It’s split between Wallingford and Greenlake and can’t even decide on its own name, which refers either to its mess of streets, or to one (Meridian) that skews through it.    

Cascade 

You know, it’s beside South Lake Union? On the east? No, not Eastlake. With the Espresso Vivace. No, not Capitol Hill. With the REI… OK, it’s just South Lake Union. 

Lawtonwood 

You get turned around in Discovery Park and find yourself in a hidden community, ensconced in trees, where 17 last names hang on little wood slats: Welcome to Lawtonwood. Now, unless you have a few million for a house, forget about Lawtonwood.  

Uptown

We know what you’re talking about, and the coffee shop and SIFF theater and city use the name (look at you, Seattle, so urbane). But c’mon. We know our uptown girl is really Lower Queen Anne. 

Genesee 

One of the many subneighborhoods in West Seattle. It fits like a horseshoe over Alaska Junction—or, depending on the map, contains Alaska Junction. To further confuse, Genesee Park and Playfield is almost five miles east, in Seward Park. 

Published in the The Ultimate Neighborhood Guide issue of Seattle Met.