Crossroads Subarea Plan
GOAL:
To promote positive aspects of Crossroads and to explore the possibilities of diversity within the community and with the entire population of Bellevue.
Discussion: Crossroads is a “city within a city” with unique problems and assets. The diversity of the community and the mix of uses distinguish Crossroads as a neighborhood. These components present special challenges and opportunities to the areaís full development.
OVERVIEW
Crossroads is part of what originally was known as the Highland Community. The earliest settlers logged large tracts of timber on land purchased from the government. The first recorded settler in Crossroads built a seven-room house in 1873 on what is now the Unigard site. As the land was logged and cleared for small farms, agriculture became the predominant use in the 1920s. Farming and logging remained the predominant land uses until the influx of people to the Eastside during the 1950s and 1960s marked the end of the rural agricultural settlement pattern.
In the 1960s Sherwood Forest and other areas of Crossroads were annexed into the City of Bellevue. From then and throughout the 1970s, rapid growth dramatically changed the character of the Crossroads area.
During those years population density increased at a rate of twice that of the city as a whole. Most of the increase is attributed to the development of multifamily dwellings and offices.
The original Crossroads Subarea Plan was written in 1978. A focus on human service policies resulted in the construction of the Crossroads Center, a multipurpose community facility located behind the Crossroads Shopping Center. In fact, the ability to confront human service issues and to include policy direction precipitated the subsequent establishment of the cityís Human Service Commission.
Crossroads is an area of 1,016 acres bounded by Bellevue-Redmond Road on the north, 148th Avenue NE on the west, Main Street on the south, and 164th Avenue NE on the east. It contains a mix of residential, office, and retail uses. Strong single family neighborhoods, an abundance of multifamily complexes, Crossroads Shopping Center, and office complexes mix together compatibly. Crossroads residents and merchants refer to their part of town as a “city within a city”.