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Columbia City is a neighborhood in the Rainier Valley area of southeast Seattle, Washington. In recent years, it has become a relatively trendy neighborhood in Seattle;〔http://www.seattlemag.com/0p85h16/columbia-city/〕 some residents have seen this as gentrification.〔http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-12-03/news/another-step-for-gentrification-in-columbia-city〕 It is best known for being a historic district, being one of the few parts of Seattle with genuine ethnic and income diversity (some claim that its zip code, 98118, is one of the most diverse in America 〔http://columbiacity.komonews.com/content/census-bureau-98118-most-diverse-zip-code-us〕 and for being an extremely walkable (with a 98% "WalkScore"〔http://www.walkscore.com/get-score.php?street=edmunds+and+rainier+seattle&go=Go〕) and transit-oriented "urban village." Its main thoroughfares are Rainier Avenue S. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. (until 1984 known as Empire Way S.) (north- and southbound) and S. Alaska Street (east- and westbound). Efforts are underway to extend bike lanes into the neighborhood and slow traffic to safer speeds on Rainier Avenue. Work has already begun on a series of sidewalk improvements.〔http://columbiacity.komonews.com/content/major-improvements-coming-neighborhood-sidewalks〕 The community is served by the Columbia City Link Light Rail station (approximately 18 minutes from downtown Seattle), and several Metro bus lines, including the 7,8,9, and 50. ==History== The area was once dense conifer forest, inhabited by the local Salish peoples, until the arrival of the Rainier Valley Electric Railway from Downtown in 1891. A lumber mill was built soon after, and in 1891 settlement began in earnest in "Columbia," named for the Columbia River, which was considered a symbol the Northwest power and bounty, or for Christopher Columbus, or for Columbia the personification of West-looking America, as in the song "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean" ((listen) ) which was popular at the time of the city's founding. Three streets in the neighborhood bear names of other famous explorers (a Columbia Street already existed Downtown): Ferdinand Street after Magellan, Hudson Street after Henry Hudson, and Americus Street after Amerigo Vespucci.〔Cassandra Tate, (Seattle Neighborhoods: Columbia City -- Thumbnail History ), HistoryLink, June 2, 2001. Accessed 24 December 2007.〕 Columbia incorporated as "Columbia City" in January 1893. Annexation to the City of Seattle came May 3, 1907〔Cassandra Tate, (City of Seattle annexes Columbia City on May 3, 1907 ), HistoryLink, May 30, 2001. Accessed 24 December 2007.〕 following a petition by citizens to the City Council to hold a special election on the matter.〔http://www.seattle.gov/CityArchives/Exhibits/annexation/panel3.htm〕 Although opposition to annexation had initially been strong due to citizens' desire for local control, the March 5 vote was overwhelming: 109-3 in favor of annexation to Seattle.〔 In 1905, the newly renamed Seattle, Renton and Southern Railway extended south to Renton. In 1912 the streetcar line went bankrupt and was reorganized as the Seattle and Rainier Valley Railway. Its last run was just after midnight on January 1, 1937.〔 Meanwhile, Columbia City's ambitions to become a seaport were thwarted with the completion of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in 1917, which lowered Lake Washington by nine feet and caused Wetmore Slough to dry up. The former slough was used as a dump from 1941 to 1963, and is now Genesee Park.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Columbia City, Seattle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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