King County Metro Route 75 travels inbound from Northgate station to the University District, primarily on NE 125th Street and Sand Point Way NE. Outbound trips travel in the reverse direction. In August 2025, Route 75 had 3,393 average weekday boardings.
In the plots shown below, the inbound trip is cut off as Route 75 is through run with Route 45. Inbound trips switch to Route 45 after Sand Point Way NE & 40th Ave NE. Likewise, outbound trips start with some passengers already onboard as these passengers boarded an inbound Route 45 trip.
Average Ridership Per Trip
The plots below show the average weekday ridership by stop in each direction, color-coded by time of day. For a more detailed breakdown of how the plots are set up, please refer to the How to Read the Plots section of the article discussing Route 70.
Route 75 connects a few key destinations including Northgate, Lake City, Magnuson Park, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and UW. Ridership at stops between these destinations is quite low. Some observations:
- Route 75’s northern terminus at Northgate station is busy all day. Each inbound trip picks up over 10 passengers in the afternoon and around 5 passengers at other times of the day. Each outbound trip drops off over 10 passengers in the morning and over 5 passengers in the mid-day and afternoon. Northgate station is also adjacent to the Northgate Station mall, Kraken Community Iceplex, and various medical offices. A pedestrian bridge over I-5 provides a direct connection to North Seattle College. In addition to the Link 1 Line, passengers can transfer to Metro routes 40, 61, 303, 322, 345, and 348.
- The stops at 5th Ave NE & 112th St (inbound)/112th St, Northgate Way (outbound) are located near Northgate’s commercial core. The fairly even boarding and alighting counts in both directions suggest these stops are used by both people from elsewhere on Route 75 to get to Northgate and by people using the route as a last mile connection to Link, such as those at the adjacent Northgate North shopping center
- Several apartment buildings and a grocery store are near the higher ridership stop NE 125th St & 15th Ave NE. Inbound busses traveling towards Lake City and UW usually pick up more passengers here while Northgate-bound busses drop off more passengers than they pick up. Route 348 also stops near this intersection.
- Lake City is one of the primary destinations served by Route 75. Centered at NE 125th St & Lake City Way NE, the stops serving Lake City usually have more passengers boarding outbound trips to Northgate and alighting trips towards Magnuson Park. This pattern shows how Route 75 is used to connect Lake City with Northgate (both the commercial area and Link). Passengers can transfer in Lake City to Metro routes 61, 65, 322, 372 and Sound Transit Route 522.
- Matthews Beach only generates minimal peak direction ridership at the Route 75 stops on Sand Point Way NE.
- Ridership picks up in Sand Point, near Magnuson Park. The stops at NE 70th St and NE 74th St have consistent ridership all day. At the southwest corner of Magnuson Park, the stop at NE 65th St follows a commuter ridership pattern. Inbound trips primarily pick up passengers in the morning and mid-day while outbound trip drop off more passengers in the afternoon. This stop is near several low-rise apartment complexes. The ridership patterns for Route 62 and Route 79 suggest some passengers transfer between the three routes at this stop.
- Seattle Children’s Hospital is located near Route 75’s stop at Sand Point Way NE and NE 50th St. Trips in both directions primarily drop off passengers in the morning and pick up passengers in the afternoon. Routes 31, 32, and 65 also stop near the hospital.
- The stops on the University of Washington campus and in the University District generate lots of mid-day and afternoon ridership. Route 75 busses continue to Loyal Heights as Route 45. In the University District, passengers can transfer to Metro routes 31, 32, 43, 44, 49, 65, 67, 70, 255, 271, 372 and Sound Transit routes 542, 556, 586.
Daily Totals per Stop
The daily totals further highlight the key destinations on the route and the role that Route 75 plays in connecting Lake City with the 1 Line at Northgate station.
Looking Ahead
In 2026, Sound Transit is planning to open Pinehurst station near I-5 and N 130th St. To better serve nearby neighborhoods Metro will restructure a few routes. Route 75 will not be changed, but the new Route 77 will travel between Lake City and Pinehurst station, offering a faster connection to Link.
Many stops on Sandpoint really suffer from a lack of sidewalks, safe bus stops, and safe crossings. I’ve seen a bus driver do an incredible life saving maneuver just north of the Burke overpass at Matthew’s beach, blocking both lanes with his bus, as a car attempts a pass while kids are crossing to go up 95th.
The density isn’t really there either, but the infrastructure sucks. I spent too many dark, wet, scary mornings with small kids on that shoulder.
Yeah, it is a weird area. It is clearly built for the military and they didn’t care much about sidewalks. This explains why the road is so wide despite not having that much traffic. Even the typical suburban expansion of roads (wider and wider) usually comes with sidewalks but this was built differently.
As the area has grown, sidewalks in the area should be a higher priority for the city. I would also add bus lanes from Sand Point to the U-Village (and beyond) as possible.
It was a state highway from the base to the Ship Canal, and probably to 520.
The “backwards C” route alignment with the ends as Link stations is what I find particularly unique about this route. As a result, it gets two surges during its run and the lowest demand is in the middle rather than at one end.
If you take it southbound from Lake City in the weekday midafternoon or the shoulder around the PM peak, you see people getting on up to 35th, and then no on/offs to the Magnuson Park area. Then 1-4 on/offs at each of 77th, 74th, 70th, and 65th. Then a lull until 50th, but not as absolute as the northern lull. Then some on/offs again. At 36th you start getting a large number of on’s through U-Village and the UW campus to the Ave. So it’s used for going through the northern and southern Sand Point Way curve, and it’s especially used to get up the hill from U-Village to campus and the Ave. It goes from some seats occupied to standing room only in that area.
In the 1970s we would have had a nice, weird gadgetbahn incline or something from U Village to the U District, but this is the 21st century, and such whimsy is forbidden us :(
“…weird gadgetbahn incline…”
According to Wikipedia, a gadgetbahn is “… a neologism that refers to a public transport concept or implementation that is touted by its developers and supporters as futuristic or innovative, but in practice is less feasible or reliable…”
Inclines are not gadgetbahns. They’ve been around for well over a century. Seattle used to have several public inclines, and currently there are several private ones in King County (like one I’ve seen at a mansion in Medina). They are still used widely around the world — and even treated as part of the subway system in Istanbul and Haifa.
The private ones are all over Puget Sound. People with big houses on the top of the bluffs want beach and dock access so they build those.
One of the companies that makes them is in Seattle. I ran across the nameplate on one a few years ago as it was close to a public path.
I’ve ridden one when lucky enough to invited out to the Nordstrom compound out near Hood Canal. One of the family was having health problems and could no longer get to the beach, so they put one in.
Several Medina houses have gondolas. You can see them from the Argosy Lake Washington boat tour. My mom likes going out on the water so much she bought annual Argosy passes (“Captain’s Club”) for several years and dragged me along on some of them.
You can see from the boat how the Hunts Point houses have flat back yards to the shore, while the Medina back yards have steep hills to the shore. So some of the owners have gondolas.
Another thing the tour guide said was how she’s gotten to know some of the owners. There’s a difference between those who bought their lot in the 1950s to 1990s; they’re more ordinary middle-class and sociable and are often out working on their gardens. The ones after that are much wealthier and less sociable, and you never see them in their yards. So they pay five figures per year for landscaping, and I have no idea how much a gondola costs, but then they never seem to use them.
Yeah, it doesn’t work end to end. No one would take it from Northgate to the U-District. There are also various places where there are alternatives. The 372 or 65 from Lake City to the UW for example. Likewise it is faster to take the 61 from Lake City to Northgate. It works well from Pinehurst to the UW mainly because the 348 turns and goes to Northgate as well. It is surprisingly quick to “round the horn” to get to the UW from 125th. I’m sure savvy riders in Lake City just take the first bus that arrives. They can use the same bus stop for the 65 or 75 while taking the 372 would require some planning (and confidence in the system) if it isn’t the closest bus stop.
Seeing the Lynnwood Link stations listed as “future” surprised me at first on the upcoming system map. Then I realized that the map was from exactly just two years ago. It already feels like it’s been there quite awhile.
I’m not very familiar with Pinehurst and Lake City, but I can’t help feeling like the Lake City – Pinehurst – Northgate tail of the 75 will be redundant after the restructure. The 77 will provide E/W service through Pinehurst, and Lake City will have direct access to all 3 nearby Link stations via the 61, 77, 72 (and 65?).
The only unique feature of the 75 in this area is a one seat ride from central Pinehurst to Northgate, and service along 5th North of Northgate. Unless that part of 5th significantly densifies, it seems like the 75’s tail should be truncated post-restructure. But then again, I’m not very familiar with this area, so somebody elucidate me pls.
I think that segment of 5th was popular enough a part of the old 41 as to warrant rerouting the 75 there when Link opened as opposed to its old route along Lake City Way and Northgate Way? But it’s possible it was just the combination of 5th and 125th I’m thinking of. But I’d like to think 5th has enough ridership on the 75 as it stands to keep it a separate route from both the 77 and 61…
Some of the Lynnwood Link restructuring certainly seems off — with some segments getting heavy duplication yet other kinds of short trips (like Lake City to NW Hospital) requiring transfers. Then there’s the issue that every crosstown route doesn’t have a collocated stop with RR-E so that transfers often require crossing busy stroads.
That said, it will be interesting to see if many Route 75 riders switch to Route 77 when Pinehurst Station opens, and if others quit riding Route 75 altogether and will just walk to the station.
Then there’s the issue that every crosstown route doesn’t have a collocated stop with RR-E so that transfers often require crossing busy stroads.
I think that would be hard to pull off. Consider Northgate Way and Aurora. All the stops are after the intersection. I think this is done to speed up the bus. But it means that no matter which way you are making the transfer, you will have to cross a busy street. Imagine they change it so that the stops along Northgate Way are before the intersection. Riders taking the 40 east and then the E-Line south would be able to make the transfer without walking across the street. Same goes for someone heading west then north. But what about someone heading west then south (or east then north). Now they have to cross *both* streets!
Thus even if you manage to do this from a traffic standpoint (and a bus performance standpoint) it will only work for half the transfers. For “normal” intersections I think it is a zero-sum game. In contrast there are times when it definitely makes sense to favor one type of transfer. For example the RapidRide G goes northeast from downtown. The 48 intersects it. It is highly likely someone will get off the G Line (heading northeast) and get on the 48 heading north. It is highly unlikely they will get off the G Line and then head south. It makes sense to design the bus stops in the area for the most common transfer in situations like that.
“I think that would be hard to pull off. Consider Northgate Way and Aurora. All the stops are after the intersection.”
I can see its difficulty to change at Northgate Way.
There are five more corners north of there where the same transfer stroad crossing issue exists. Those stroad intersections further north seem much wider than Northgate Way.
Still, this post is about Route 75 and this route does not reach Aurora currently. If a change in routing was made, it could however reach Aurora. For example, the route could parallel the planned Route 77 to Aurora, turn south on Aurora and then turn west to terminate at Northwest Hospital — providing for colocated stops on Aurora for some trips as well as offering direct routing between Lake City and its closest hospital (less than two miles apart). It would also add some riders to Pinehurst Station, which I’m expecting to attract low ridership.
There are five more corners north of there where the same transfer stroad crossing issue exists.
And they all have the same basic issues. Unless you want to put bus stops on both sides of the street (which seems excessive) riders are going to have to cross the street to transfer.
There are doglegs but you can’t have every bus dogleg. For example I would have the 333 run dogleg between the station and Shoreline College (like the old 330). So this means going north to 155th from the station, then west to Aurora, north on Aurora to 160th and then west to the college. I think it makes sense there and is justified. But I don’t see the 40 doing that nor the 77. In both cases it is much better to just keep going straight. Same stop transfers are great but they shouldn’t be a high priority.
By the way, serving Northwest Hospital is always challenging. I’ve gone through at least a dozen combinations and none are satisfying. It is so close yet so far. As the crow flies it is less than a mile from Northgate Station. Yet to get there the bus loops around using 92nd. Then there is the fact that the hospital is surrounded by so little. Meridian is mostly low density. The hospital itself doesn’t pick up that many riders. But the biggest problem is that it is in the middle of nowhere — it is not “on the way”.
If it were up to me, I’d cancel the 345 and let the hospital run a shuttle van to Link with its own money, if it wants it badly enough. The savings can be used to run other routes more frequently.
An earlier 75 concept in Metro Connects from 2016 to the early 2020s had the post-Pinehurst 75 continuing west on 125th-130th to Greenwood. That would have been the most sensible way to serve Pinehurst station, but for some reason Metro got cold feet at the last minute and wouldn’t do it. Probably because of pushback from withdrawing service on 5th. The east side of 5th is lined with apartments there, while the west side is right against I-5 so it has nothing. So the issue is coverage on 5th between 110th and 130th. Because of that the 75 north of Children’s couldn’t be an L-shaped grid route. But I hope eventually it will be.
> The east side of 5th is lined with apartments there, while the west side is right against I-5 so it has nothing
I’m not seeing that on gmaps satellite. I only see apartments south of 115th, a reasonable walk from the 61/67 at Northgate Way. Are you thinking of Roosevelt?
Yeah, along 5th between 115th and 123th there is nothing but single-family homes. North of 123rd you start getting other things (a school, church, day care center). Along Roosevelt there are some apartments (and other things). Part of the issue though is that you can’t always walk between Roosevelt and 15th. From Finn Apartments to 15th NE (for the 348) it requires going up and around. It is a shorter walk to 5th NE. I think service on 5th is based on coverage as well as inertia. For some there would be a long walk to Roosevelt if there wasn’t a bus along 5th.
But until recently no one considered sending the Lake City buses to Bitter Lake. That changes the dynamic. If you are closer to Northgate Way you head south. If you are closer to the 130th/Roosevelt/125th corridor you just head north. You have to be pretty unlucky to have a long walk to the bus. The folks at the Latvian Community Center would be out of luck. There are a handful of other people that would be in the same boat but not that many.
An earlier 75 concept in Metro Connects from 2016 to the early 2020s had the post-Pinehurst 75 continuing west on 125th-130th to Greenwood. That would have been the most sensible way to serve Pinehurst station, but for some reason Metro got cold feet at the last minute and wouldn’t do it.
The first proposal for a Lynnwood Link restructure sent the 65 to Bitter Lake. The 75 was truncated at Lake City if I remember right. But then folks on the existing 65 (north of 125th) pushed back. So the planners punted and kept the 65 more or less like it is. At the same time, the planner forgot that ST was eliminating serving on much of Lake City Way. So rather than deal with someone who would complain about moving the 75 they kept it alone. They instead combined the new service for Lake City Way with a new route to Bitter Lake.
I thought I saw apartments there on 5th. I’ve ridden that segment a few times looking at the apartments and wondering whether it would be OK to withdraw bus service on 5th or it would put the apartments too much in the lurch.
There are apartments south of 115th. But north of there it is houses.
They may have wiped out some apartments when building Link. I seem to remember some issues with construction and it is possible the housing was apartments. A lot of the houses are large and built cheaply and may look like an apartment as well.
I agree. I have a proposal for changing the 75 in the hopper. I urged Micheal to write this up as an intro. I’m sure we’ll talk about it in more detail then.
The only unique feature of the 75 in this area is a one seat ride from central Pinehurst to Northgate, and service along 5th North of Northgate.
Pinehurst to Northgate is not unique to the 75. The 348 also provides this functionality. So the only part that is really unique is service on 5th between 125th and Northgate Way.
I think it is worth noting that there are places where the 75 has unique stops and functionality and how this influences ridership.
At either ends of the route it overlaps other routes doing the exact same thing. Around Northgate it shares trips with the 61, 67 and 348. Around U-Village it shares trips with the 65 and is later joined by the 372 at the edge of campus.
If you think of a bus heading towards the UW, the first unique stop for the 75 is at 112th & 5th. This explains the relatively high ridership there. It isn’t that this stop is fundamentally stronger than the ones to the south, it just has no competition. It is basically the edge of density but has only one bus serving it (the 75). This lack of competition continues as it heads north on 5th and then turns towards Lake City.
At 125th & 15th it does not share a stop but it does share functionality with the 348. If you are headed to Northgate you can take either bus. This helps explain why the ridership towards Lake City isn’t particularly high. At 125th & Roosevelt more people are headed to Northgate than Lake City. At 125th & 15th it is reversed.
Then there is unique coverage and functionality again until it gets to Lake City. In Lake City it is complicated. Riders can take the 61 to get to Northgate. They can take the 372 to get to the UW. East of Lake City Way there are three stops where buses share the same stops and much of the same functionality. Along 125th between Lake City Way and 35th riders can take take the 65 or 75 to get to the UW, U-Village or Children’s Hospital. This is ideal from a rider standpoint but it means that ridership is bound to be shared between the two buses.
After that there is a long stretch where it provides unique functionality. It really isn’t until you get to Children’s Hospital (and rejoin the 65) that it shares trips with other routes again.
If you’re in the U-District or U Village, the 75 is your last choice to get to Lake City because it detours so much. The 372 and 65 are more direct. The 65 has been full-time frequent since 2016, while the other two go up and down over time. So that’s why there would be fewer Lake City riders on it — unless you’re coming from Sand Point Way, at which point it’s the only choice. The 65 is up and down over a big hill from Sand Point Way.
To get to Northgate or Link from Lake City you have the 75, 65, and 522. The 75 is probably the slowest.
If you’re in the U-District or U Village, the 75 is your last choice to get to Lake City because it detours so much.
Not really. The 75 is longer but the average speed is much faster. Based on what Google says, the 75 is actually faster than the 65 or 372 (for every time I plugged in) if you are starting inside the campus or somewhere to the east (U-Village, etc.). It is counter-intuitive but if you are trying to get to campus the 75 is great — even from NE 125th & 15th NE (part of Pinehurst).
Getting to the U-District is different. 522 + Link is fastest from Lake City. The 348 + Link is fastest from Pinehurst.
The reason the 75 is so fast is because of traffic, traffic lights and stops. Think of a bus from Sand Point to Lake City. There isn’t much traffic because there isn’t much to the west of Sand Point Way. There are no traffic lights or stop signs (for the bus) between 74th NE and NE 34th (essentially Sand Point to Lake City). There are plenty of bus stops but not a lot of riders. This means that the average bus runs quite fast through there. It means late-night travel feels like an express. It isn’t until Lake City that the bus actually travels at typical bus speeds.
To be fair, the bus has to get all the way out to Sand Point. This can be slow. But the 65 isn’t a straight shot either. It goes out to 40th and then comes back to 35th (passing by a four-way-stop in the process). But mainly there are traffic lights at 55th, 65th, 75th, 85th, 95th, 110th, 115th before you get to 125th. Throw in several beg-button lights and it is easy to see why this is slower. Oh, and of course you have more riders making stops. This is as it should be. The 65 is a more cost effective bus. It is a lot more urban. Basically the 75 is the express version that just so happens to serve Sand Point.
Both driving and via bus, Sand Point Way is almost always faster for the reasons Ross mentions. 35th is a slog particularly around 75th (peak hours it can take several light cycles to get through the intersection); even at 6.30am when I’m normally going through there it’s a little slow at 75th. Heaven help you if you’re trying to get through when Eckstein lets out. There’s no way for the bus to get around any of this since 35th was reconfigured – generally that was a good thing but it did put the 65 into general traffic through Wedgwood, where there had been 2 lanes each direction during peak. The 75 literally only has to slow between Children’s and Lake City when it’s making a stop – there’s even a queue jump at the one place the traffic backs up in the afternoon (the main entrance to Sand Point).
It’s correct that from Lake City to Link *today* the 75 is much slower than the alternatives, which is one of the reasons it shouldn’t meander down to Northgate station any longer but should serve Pinehurst (and not everyone lives in central Lake City). Of course the 522 will no longer be serving NE Seattle at all, unfortunately.
This is exactly right.
The extra mile or so it has to travel is more than offset by the lack of lights. The 75 is great because it follows the water for much of it’s journey, so no need for lights and basically only stops for passengers. It’s wicked fast and the only transit life-line for all those neighborhoods, some of which go very, very deep from any arterial or transit.
I actually used to get off on the east side of campus and walk to The Ave where I worked, because the speed meandering through UW was painful after the speed-run down Sandpoint.
Yeah, and this is another argument for sending the 75 to Bitter Lake (I now have that post up — https://seattletransitblog.com/2025/10/14/better-bus-service-to-pinehurst-station/). Sending the 75 to Bitter Lake works very well for trips to those areas because it is so fast. If you are trying to get from Bitter Lake to Children’s Hospital or U-Village you can just stay on the bus. It will get you there quickly. Even for a trip inside the UW Campus (e. g. the HUB) it works really well. An extended 75 thus has a lot of very good one-seat rides. The two-seat rides that involve Link would complement it nicely.
In contrast the current routing fails as you get close to Northgate. Once you are at Northgate you might as well take Link and then get on one of the buses through campus. Likewise, sending the 77 to Bitter Lake is failed routing. It really doesn’t make sense to ride the bus from Bitter Lake to Roosevelt — you are better off just taking Link from Pinehurst. What is true of Roosevelt goes double for the U-District.
But if you send the 75 to Bitter Lake then folks in Bitter Lake (and anywhere along the corridor) have the best of both worlds. They have a fast one-seat ride to Sand Point, U-Village and the middle of campus. They have a fast two-seat ride to Roosevelt, the U-District (and all the other Link destinations).
Slightly off topic – Lake City has so much bus service (7 routes), why does it seem to be stagnating? Seems like much wasted potential.
It is growing but there are also some vacant lots. I’m not sure why. While I think zoning is important we should also look at other regulations that could be slowing down construction. I think the city should work with builders to figure out how to speed things up.
Along Lake City itself a lot of the inertia comes from the Pierre family. Every so often there are rumors that they will sell a lot of the land but they don’t.
Is it stagnating? There seems to be quite a bit of activity there. Within two blocks of Lake City Way/125th, active projects (activity in the last year) include:
– Apartments: 120 units, 130 units, 210 units, 405 units, 159 units, 100 units
– Town homes: 44 units
https://web.seattle.gov/SDCI/ShapingSeattle/buildings?filter=DR
Maybe you mean why is it still poor? Why isn’t it gentrifying?
Maybe one problem is it didn’t get a train, and it’s fast buses have gotten slow or require a transfer to get downtown.
Maybe one problem is it didn’t get a train, and it’s fast buses have gotten slow or require a transfer to get downtown.
It is the opposite. I’ve heard curmudgeons complain about the neighborhood and they say things like “the only good thing we have is good bus service”. That isn’t entirely true of course. They have added some nice parks recently. The library is nice. Eventually they will rebuild the community center (the curmudgeons have a point there — it was second-rate and now it’s closed). I can understand why people feel like the city has treated Lake City poorly. They feel like a dumping ground (for low-income housing and treatment centers) but I expect things to improve over time. It’s really not bad now. It’s just that people see a bunch of homeless in a prominent spot and think the neighborhood sucks.
The opposite? The 522 was 20 minutes to 4th and Pine. Now it’s 45 with a lucky transfer. That is a serious degradation in service, and definitely part of our calculation to sell our house there.
“Maybe you mean why is it still poor? Why isn’t it gentrifying?”
Lake City isn’t poor; it’s just lower-income than much of Seattle. A lot of the area north of Northgate is, in Broadview and Aurora and Lake City and parts in between. Because it’s furthest from the prestigious neighborhoods (central core, 45th corridor, western West Seattle, Lake and Sound shorelines. Lake City is comparable to eastern West Seattle (35th, Delridge, 16th) and southern Rainier Valley. It’s taking longer for gentrification and growth to trickle in. But a bunch of large apartment buildings have been built, higher quality than what was there before. Lake City is where people go who want slightly lower rents and don’t mind being a far from other things and bit isolated on the transit network. But we’re trying to shrink that isolation with Pinehurst station and better local bus frequency.
By Northgate I mean the village. The single-family area north of it around Meridian is also called Northgate, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Although there is a lower-income area in the residential area somewhere: it’s on the county’s equity-emphasis maps. I don’t know how $800K houses could be lower-income or how a lower-income area could be within it, but that’s what the equity maps claim. Broadway, Aurora, that inexplicable area, and Lake City — they’re all equity-emphasis. The politicians occasionally remember that, although often they think of only south of downtown.
Yeah, I know. Homeowners aren’t poor. Though there are a lot of heavily subsidized housing projects there, with a decent number of people below the poverty line. Though looking at the latest census data, far fewer than when I lived there a decade ago.
The business district isn’t really fancy, but I like it that way. When I went up there a few months ago, I was excited to see a lot of old businesses with character still going strong, post-covid.
”
“Homeowners aren’t poor. Though there are a lot of heavily subsidized housing projects there,”
And a lot of market-rate apartments now.
“When I went up there a few months ago, I was excited to see a lot of old businesses with character still going strong, post-covid.”
You see old businesses with character? I see depressing suburbanesque parking lots, especially north of Fred Meyer. The only business with character I can think of is the Elliott Bay Brewery. What others are there?
I see depressing suburbanesque parking lots, especially north of Fred Meyer.
North of Fred Meyer it was always suburbanesque parking lots. It has gotten better. There is Hellbent (another brewery) as well as several restaurants further north (I recommend Man’oushe Express). But I think a lot of the old places are further south. The Beer Authority is still around (despite the loss of its owner — RIP Burc). So is Kilimanjaro Market. A lot of the places to the south have switched hands but I think Toyoda Sushi is still there. So is Kaffeeklatsch (but that is newer). Likewise the places further south like the Fish Store are still there. I’m pretty sure even the Back Door Pub is still there.
In general I would say Lake City is a two-steps forward, one-step back kind of neighborhood. It is nice that some of the more desolate areas are filling in without losing all the places with character.
The 522 was 20 minutes to 4th and Pine. Now it’s 45 with a lucky transfer. That is a serious degradation in service, and definitely part of our calculation to sell our house there.
Fair enough but I would say that Lake City has much better transit than much of the city, including areas that are growing really fast. Given its location (further south) I don’t think Greenwood is any better — it can be argued it is worse. But it is growing like crazy. Phinney Ridge has really poor transit despite being a lot more popular. It would grow like crazy if they allowed it.
I also think think the ability to connect to Link is huge. When the Pinehurst Station goes in it will be even better. It will be a short bus ride, a short walk up to catch Link, a short wait* and then the train gets you to various places fairly quickly. Maybe not quite as fast to get downtown but that is true for just about all the areas that used to have express service (including parts of Northgate). But the ability to go other places (like the U-District, Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, etc.) makes up for the slight delay.
*By the time Pinehurst Station opens the trains will be running every five minutes to downtown midday.
“North of Fred Meyer it was always suburbanesque parking lots.”
The one at the northwest corner of 125th & Lake City Way bothers me too, although at least it’s behind the shops instead of in front. So does the one west of Fred Meyer where Grocery Outlet, Ace Hardware, and the small teriyaki restaurant (which is quite good) are. Those and the car dealerships with their large front lots, oh and the gym around 120th. Those are what make Lake City depressingly suburbanesque for me. I wish all that would be redeveloped.
“The 522 was 20 minutes to 4th and Pine. Now it’s 45 with a lucky transfer.”
Westlake to Northgate is 15 minutes, so Pinehurst will probably be 16. That gives 34 minutes for a 77 transfer to beat the current Link+61 or Link+75. It can’t possibly take more than 5-7 minutes to get from Pinehurst station to Lake City Way. The current 75 takes 12 minutes from Northgate station to Lake City Way, and that’s twice the distance. So I’m guessing your trip with a 77 transfer will average around 25-30 minutes. And southbound it will be faster since Link will come within 4-5 minutes.
The Beer Authority is still around (despite the loss of its owner — RIP Burc).
Say it ain’t so! I feel like I just saw him last year…. Maybe it was 2 years though.
Yeah, there are still some nice little hidden spots (Ross mentions some) – Seatango Argentinian bakery is outstanding for Argentinian empanadas, alfajores and other noms (and run by the nicest couple), Senait Ethiopian on 125th is really good as well; the Thai food truck permanently located at the gas station across from Freddie’s (RIP) is definitely worth a stop (and again, super nice people own it). Toyoda Sushi is happily still there – one of the city’s first good sushi joints. Ross mentioned Man’oushe Express; just north of 145th is a good Indian place and a northern Thai restaurant that sadly replaced my favorite Brazilian place but is quite good and has an interesting menu. Kaffeeklatsch is great and becoming the next Macrina – their baked goods are outstanding and you see their little delivery van all over now. And, although I’ve not been since high school, I was very happy to see that the Breakfast Club is still there. :-)
As mentioned, however, Lake City will never reach its full potential while so many car lots still line the road (and that includes the bus barn near 135th). Whatever carrot/stick the city can use to upgrade those areas – even to more “urban” lots like Mini tried to do – will improve things. Having great bus service to a nearby rail station can only help even more. It may not be possible or easy to live right at a station, but if you’re 5-6 minutes away, that’s the next best thing.
@Delta,
Because, with rare exceptions, bus routes don’t generate TOD.
Lake City is proof of that. Decades of substantial bus service and very minimal development, despite what should be considered a good “in city” location.
Wrong again. Lake City is growing. Greenwood is growing. Queen Anne, Belltown — they are all growing (or have grown). In Rainier Valley, Rainier Avenue (which has bus service) has more growth than MLK (which has Link). Aurora has grown over the years. It is not nearly as simply as you suggest.
Growth is complicated but at a minimum you need to allow it. In much of the city they simply don’t allow growth. Most of Magnolia for example, does not allow growth. If they did it would grow like crazy. That’s because it is close to the rest of the city and it has really nice parks. Transit is just one factor (whether that is buses or trains).
“Rainier Avenue (which has bus service) has more growth than MLK (which has Link).”
I can say as a SE Seattle resident that Link has drives more recent growth than merely being on Rainier has. The densification of Rainier is mostly north of Walden (Judkins Park and Mt Baker Link station walksheds) with some in Columbia City (walking distance to Link as well). There must be a dozen major new residential buildings near Othello Station. That is all much more attributable to Link’s existence.
That’s not to say that there are not several new buildings elsewhere on Rainier, but the quantity pales in comparison to what Link appears to have spurred.
As jd mentioned, there is growth. I think casual observers don’t see it because a lot of it is happening outside Lake City Way. While it sucks that Fred Meyer is moving out, it is worth pointing out why they are moving out: the property is worth a lot. Obviously whoever buys it will want to build something on it.
But as you can see by reading the link jd provided, this can take a while. At the same time, a lot of the people in Lake City are down and out. Thus casual observers see folks on the street and empty lots that are slowly going through the development process and they think the place is run down. It really isn’t. There have been some very nice additions to Lake City such as a really nice park (https://maps.app.goo.gl/pqJ3CMLp5iQJzYWu5) and plenty of new buildings. This is a good read: https://www.theurbanist.org/2021/05/17/lake-city-on-the-rise-with-hundreds-of-apartments/. Or, if you prefer maps, there is this one: https://www.seattleinprogress.com/
¿Why is Route 75 not proposed to serve NE 130th St/Pinehurst Station as well?
Metro can build bus stops about a block or less before the bus turns south to Northgate or East to Lake City and have better and more frequent bus connections.
Most likely because Metro felt that there was a need for coverage along 5th Ave. between 130th and Northgate Way, and that the 75 was the most operationally convenient option to achieve that coverage.
Because 5th Ave is one way NB both north of 130th St Station and for a portion south of the station too.
So the only way the 75 could service the station would be to only serve it NB from Northgate. It’s impossible for the 75 to stop at the station and then depart SB on 5th.
Additionally, there is no bus loop at 130th St Station, so even a NB 75 can’t directly service the station. The bus would have to turn right onto 130th and drop the passengers off on the wrong side of the street.
Location and design both matter, and 130th St Station fails on both counts.
It is awkward but the bus could do it. It would basically “detour” to the station. From Lake City the bus would just keep going and take a right into the station. Then it would go through the loop next to the station and head back to 130th. The bus would then have to turn left onto Roosevelt (instead of going straight onto 5th). As you can see in the slide, that section of Fifth is one-way (as Lazarus mentioned). The bus would then head east on Roosevelt until it intersects 125th. Then the bus would turn right (using the new roundabout) and head towards Northgate (using the existing path). Going the other way would be easier. The bus could just keep going straight on Fifth until it reached the station, turn around and then head east on Roosevelt until it becomes 125th.
Thus it could be done but it would resemble other “detours” (like how the RapidRide F connects to TIBS or the 348 serves Shoreline North*). These sorts of detours are both time consuming and irritating for through-riders. It is also unnecessary for normal routing. The F Line detours to the station to avoid making riders walk across the big parking to the Link platforms. Pinehurst Station is much closer to the main street. With sensible routing a bus doesn’t need to detour at all. It just stops next to the station and keeps on going. The 75 is just really weird routing for the area — that is the problem.
*A lot of buses “detour” to the 148th station but since many of them just inexplicably end there it doesn’t seem like a detour. For example consider the 65. It would be better if it kept going to Shoreline Community College. If it took over that section of the 333 then it would need to detour to serve the station. Stations like Roosevelt and Pinehurst are better because you don’t need to detour (for just about any route). The 75 just manages to run through the area in the worst possible way (in terms of Link connections).