Seattle, Washington, with some 563,000 people, is the largest
city in the state and the 24th largest in the nation. From
trendy Belltown to Scandinavian-influenced Ballard to the
diverse Chinatown-International Dist-rict, its neighborhoods
offer a fascinating range of architecture, cuisine, and
lifestyles that reflect the diversity of the city. Seattle
neighborhoods are set off by major topographical features. Steep
hills, valleys, bays, rivers, lakes, and peninsulas all combine
to create local identities which unite and divide; the physical
barriers help reinforce the mental images of neighborhood. Those
neighborhoods are rooted, however, in Seattle's 150-year
history. Modern Seattle was founded in November 1851, when 24
settlers from Illinois and New York led by Arthur Denny gathered
in the rain at Alki Point in present-day West Seattle. The small
community called itself "New York" for the home state of one of
the pioneers. The name was later changed, first to "Alki"
(meaning "by and by" in the Chinook trad