Lake City and Cedar Park East of Lake City Way

Today is Little Christmas (aka the feast of the Epiphany) and I decided to walk the area around the Fred Meyer store in Lake City so that I could end my walk buying potatoes to make boxty (Irish potato pancakes, a treat I associate with Little Christmas).

I walked all the streets from NE 125th to 135th Street between Lake City Way and 39th Avenue NE.

The #41 bus stops right by Fred Meyer and goes downtown and through the bus tunnel.

I walked north on 35th NE to Erikson Place (which I had missed on a prior walk) and observed the progress being made on the Victoria Park building. Next, I walked south on Lake City Way, passing a school bus parking lot, a Toyota dealership which is expanding, Fred Meyer, Lake City Center (with QFC - closed since this walk, a post office, Ace Hardware, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Hair Masters, Radio Shack, etc.), Value Village, Aurora Rents, T Mobile and many other stores on my way to Bartells on the corner of 125th and Lake City Way. I needed birthday cards and found a great selection. Just outside Romeo's Pizza, I noticed some public art in the median strip.

This is really not one neighborhood; the eastern portion is residential and very different from the western business portion. 39th Avenue NE has some grand homes on larger lots with views of Lake Washington. The area between Lake City Way and 35th Avenue NE is largely commercial with many multiple family dwellings.

The area includes the old Cedar Park Elementary school and a lovely Play Area. In the 1980's, the school was closed and leased to artists as living/working space.

I passed three churches on my 5.6 mile walk: The Seattle Mennonite Church (in the old Lake City movie theater), Judson Baptist Church and The 13th Church of Christ Scientist.

It was a drizzly day but this walk had lots to look at, lots of history, lots of development and lots of variety.

Lake City has been designated an urban village and more multiple family complexes are currently under construction.

• Victoria Park is a Senior Apartment Community currently under construction at the intersection of Lake City Way, 137th Street and Erikson Place NE.
• McDermott Place provides 75 permanent affordable units for homeless individuals, with 38 of the units designated specifically for veterans. The ground floor of McDermott Place houses North Helpline, a new Lake City Foodbank, and a free medical clinic staffed by RotaCare volunteers.
• Lake City Village will have 86 units of affordable housing when it is completed later this year.