Seattle’s Gasworks Park was famously reclaimed from its original role as a coal gasification plant the helped to illuminated much of 19th century Seattle. Sitting at the North End of Lake Union its commanding views of the city from the top of the hill that forms one of the parks main features attract all sorts of park goers and is a popular spot for kite fliers. On a recent winter day a group of stilt walkers trained by ascending the hill’s winding path, practicing for their participation in next summer’s Caribbean Seafood Festival, one of many civic events that celebrate Seattle’s growing cultural diversity.
Ballard, the last independent municipality inside Seattle to be annexed by the growing city, was settled by Scandinavian immigrants who established Seattle’s fishing and construction industries. Ballard long had the reputation as being unsophisticated and a bit rough around the edges. But now Ballard is perhaps the hippest part of burgeoning Seattle, with fishermens bars on c. 19th century Ballard Ave rapidly being replaced by hip shops and upscale restaurants and the local housing prices averaging $800K rising. Every Sunday purveyors of regional organic foods, artisans and busking singers and poets set up for the very popular Ballard Sunday Market, a destination for locals as the Pike Place Market has been overrun by tourists.
