BELLevue, WA.

Bellevue, Washington is often ranked among the best places to live in the US, particularly for families and young professionals. It's known for its excellent public schools, safe neighborhoods, and a strong job market, especially in the tech sector.

Bellevue was originally known for its blueberry crops. A cluster of factories developed in Factoria, at the turn of the twentieth century, southeast of Bellevue, hence the name. It was a rural outpost known for its blueberries, crabapples, and accessible only by ferry across Lake Washington.

It then evolved as a bedroom community for Seattlites, and really took off as a suburb after the construction of the I -90 pontoon bridge across Lake Washington, and again with the “new” floating bridge 520 freeway connecter in the early sixties. It was very small in the sixties, with only one or two traffic lights, and a small cluster of shops, a Fredericks & Nelson Department store, restaurant (“the Crab Apple”) and a cinema (the Bel-Vue) around an outdoor mall. There was also a swimming pool (covered by a huge tent) and the centerpiece, the magnificent John Danz Cinema with its balcony and widescreen, built 1961. And there were also some non descript shops.

There were no buildings taller than three stories until the greenish Pacific gas and electric building went up in 1970.

The final and largest growth spurt took place in the 80 and 90s, and that's when all the present buildings or mini skyscrapers were built. In the early to mid eighties, a lot of folks from California came up here and bought up property on the cheap. That transformed the real estate and made Bellevue a highly desirable bedroom community.

Bellevue has gone from a virtually homogenous population to one that today is truly multi-cultural and multi ethnic. You can now get Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, and European cuisine or whatever suits your taste. (Try Crossroads Mall). The schools are top notch and highly rated, so you're getting a good public education.