Belle-vue

Before we welcome our wonderful wedding guests in California, a few words of our area.

One of the candidates running in the current election to the city council defined Bellevue as a “beautiful, diverse world- class community.'' Approximately 130, 000 people live here, of about a third of which have  Asian roots .  I also often encounter Russians. Bellevue is the fifth largest metropolitan area of the Washington state. Interestingly, when Bellevue’s status changed to a city in 1953, its community numbered of about six thousand people.  

We live in a Bellevue high rise conveniently located in an elegant, yet cozy downtown area. Our complex is populated primarily by a multinational community of students and white collar workers, which is really not surprising, given the proximity of several colleges and Microsoft’s main campus. 

One can visit hair and beauty stylists here, or stop off at a tasty French Bakery for a snack. On Halloween, we gave out candy and nut to the beautifully dressed children of our neighbors.

As for Bellevue’s history, homestead  settlers are the  pioneers of this King County city who, as across all America received raw land as a part of agreement. Our compensation for moving to Bellevue was six free public transport tickets.

Skyscrapers in the center, surrounded by both small and impressive size family houses make Bellevue today unrecognizable from the old photographs that I found in the chronicles. Ironically, skirmishes with the Indians led Seattle residents to explore unknown territories and helped its development.

Beautiful views of the Cascade mountains (in a way they remind me of the Polish famous peak Giewont), low crime rates and good level of the health and school education, still attract new settlers. All these advantages contributed to Bellevue’s high ranking  in the survey conducted by Livability.com among smaller towns in the United States.

It is difficult to compare Bellevue to any European cities I know. In a way, probably because of the cultural mix of its people, it reminds me of the suburbs of London and Copenhagen. People are very polite, helpful and are willing to listen to stories about Europe.

In our free time we go to the cinema, bowling or go shopping at Lincoln Square  mall, which to me seems like the center of Bellevue. Other attractions include the Bellevue Arts Museum , and to my delight, many sushi restaurants . Golf courses (stay tuned for a post on golf), and Japanese botanical garden are also city’s urban advantages.  In the Downtown, I have also seen a church named intriguingly Mars Hill , as well as the assembly of numerous denominations of the Christianity.

I learned that Bellevue got its name from its first post office, which was so named for its beautiful view. Bellevue has changed over the years, but it remains charming, and true to its name, reminding its present residents of, I hope, their beautiful opportunities.

                                           

H.xx