NORTH NEIGHBORHOODS - 1

 Lynnwood

 Edmonds

 Bothell

 Mountlake Terrace

LYNNWOOD

Lynnwood is the economic heart of South Snohomish County. A bustling commercial center, Lynnwood thinks big. Its Lynnwood City Center project is an ambitious 20-year plan to create a dynamic place to live, work and play by blending residential, retail and businesses with open space in a pedestrian-friendly, transit-supportive environment. The project's 400-acre, mixed-use site is the result of a public/private partnership that will blend a total of 1.5 million square feet of retail space, 6 million square feet of office and commercial space, and 4.8 million square feet of residential areas with open public spaces that will encourage commerce, neighborliness and transit use.

Parts of the City Center plan include the $100 million expansion of Alderwood Mall, a regional shopping mall, a $32 million convention center and a $64 million transit center. The long-awaited Lynnwood Convention Center is scheduled for completion in 2005. This state-of-the-art conference facility will offer more than 60,000 square feet of exhibition, conference and meeting space, serving businesses and events throughout Western Washington.

Nearby, a dramatically expanded and upgraded Alderwood Mall. The mall is expanding from 1,050,000 square feet to 1,386,000 square feet, with additional shops, restaurants and movie theaters.

The Lynnwood Transit Center, a joint project of Sound Transit, Metro Transit, Community Transit, and state federal and city partnerships, is located in the southeastern corner of the City Center, offering 1,200 parking spaces, HOV ramps to I-5 and improved local street circulation. This new transit hub of South Snohomish County is scheduled to be completed in 2004.

Of course no one who drives past Lynnwood on I-5 can help but notice the continuing construction at the I-5 and 196th St. SW interchange. A proposed pedestrian bridge is scheduled for 2004, and additional traffic improvements are currently under consideration.

Lynnwood is a business and recreational destination, offering 1,200 hotel rooms for business and leisure travelers, more than 300 acres of parks and open space, tennis courts, ice and roller-skating arenas, and movie theaters. The city's historic Interurban Trail provides almost four paved miles for biking, walking and jogging, connecting to additional trails in Everett and Mountlake Terrace. Scriber Lake Park, a 20-acre bird sanctuary, is located in the heart of Lynnwood's commercial district.

The Lynnwood Recreation Center is open daily and offers a complete aquatics program, racquetball courts, a weight room and recreation programs for all ages. Lynwood and Meadowdale athletic complexes are host to more than 325 adult softball teams during the season. They also feature lighted baseball and soccer fields, a track, and sand volleyball courts. Lynnwood's 18-hole municipal golf course and pro shop are open to the public all year.

EDMONDS

Known as one of the most picturesque towns in Washington State, Edmonds offers breathtaking views of the Olympic Mountains rising above Puget Sound. Walk the Edmonds waterfront, visit its parks and dine at any of its mouth-watering restaurants.

Edmonds, which began in 1890 as a red cedar shingle mill town, has grown into a sophisticated city of 40,000 people, known for its art galleries, shopping and business district, antique and book stores and festivals. The city's proximity to Highway 99 and Interstate 5 makes it easy to find but hard to leave.

The Edmonds Arts Festival, a Pacific Northwest tradition for more than 40 years, is held each Father's Day weekend. In addition to adult and junior juried art exhibits and awards, this festival brings artists and art lovers together for 200 juried booths, entertainment, children's activities and food. Proceeds support the Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation Museum, community programs and arts scholarships.

Other community events include the Edmonds Jazz Connection, a daylong celebration of jazz on Memorial Day weekend, and the Edmonds Rotary Waterfront Festival held the last weekend of May or first weekend in June.

Edmonds is widely noted for its beautiful hanging flower baskets and street corner gardens. Edmonds In Bloom, a floral extravaganza that spotlights the best gardens in the area, is celebrated from June through August. Residents and businesses compete for various honors. Tours of private gardens are offered each July. The city's celebrated Taste of Edmonds draws as many as 100,000 visitors each August, all eager to experience its food, arts and crafts.

Just south of the Edmonds ferry terminal, the award-winning park Brackett's Landing South offers the Edmonds Underwater Park, which attracts 40,000 scuba divers annually. The 27 acres were established as a marine preserve and sanctuary in 1970. A sunken dry dock and tug are habitats for a variety of sea life. Showers, public restrooms and a nearby divers' shop that offers equipment rentals makes Brackett's Landing a popular destination.

Easily accessed by Sound Transit's new Sounder North rail service, Edmonds offers opportunities to work, play or browse, whether for a day or a lifetime.

BOTHELL

Gateway to the research and technology communities that make up Snohomish County's Technology Corridor, Bothell is a popular business and residential community. Residents have easy access to Everett, Bellevue or Seattle and enjoy walking, jogging, skating and biking along the Sammamish River Trail and the Burke-Gilman Trail.

The University of Washington-Bothell, shares a campus with Cascadia Community College near I-405 and downtown Bothell. UW-Bothell and Cascadia together accommodate 2,000 full-time students, plus faculty and staff, offering North Puget Sound students world-class educational opportunities.

The City of Bothell was incorporated in King County in 1909. It remained a small town until the early 1980s, when pastoral farmlands began to give way to business parks and residential developments. In 1992 the city annexed 5.9 square miles of land in Snohomish County, doubling the city's size and population, and establishing its reputation as the location for some of the state's most creative technology communities.

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE

Farmers and ranchers settled in the area that would later be called Mountlake Terrace to raise chickens, minks and chinchillas, a squirrel-like mammal native to South America. The area was named "Alderwood Manor" -- for its timber -- but was platted into ranches for farmers to raise their livestock after the area was cleared.

After World War II, veterans began moving into Mountlake Terrace with their families. The town was incorporated as Mountlake Terrace in 1954. Nearly 50 percent of the 20,400 residents are married, and 60 percent of all households are owner-occupied dwellings.

The city has more than 120 acres of parks with playground equipment and fields for soccer, basketball and baseball and arenas for other sports. That includes trout and bass fishing and boating at Lake Ballinger. The city's Recreation Pavilion has an exercise room, dance area, spa, rooms for artistic ventures, racquetball courts, a multipurpose room, and swimming pool.

Other recreational activities can be found at the 60-acre Terrace Creek Park, the seven-acre Ballinger Playfield and the 18-acre Evergreen Playfield Complex. The city also has a 1.5-mile-long Inter-Urban Trail that slinks along its northwest edge toward Lynnwood.

Mountake Terrace, located just above the Snohomish-King county line, is home to such annual events as the Tour de Terrace Parade and its Pavilion Saturday Markets.

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