Portage Bay

Seattle's Capitol Hill district, about 2.73 miles from downtown, in King County.

Researched and written by Ryan Rose · Updated October 29, 2026

Roanoke Park sits inside Portage Bay, and it was the first place name in the records that made me want to read further. I found a median build year of 1924, older than 95% of Seattle neighborhoods, alongside sidewalk coverage of 85% (estimated), higher than 85% of them. Average home size is 2,005 sq ft, larger than 80% of the city's neighborhoods. The records show 13 transit stops within a quarter mile, fewer than all 82 other compared neighborhoods.

Illustration of a residential street of detached single-family houses, built mostly in the 1920s.
Illustration
Downtown Portage Bay 2 mi N ↑
I marked Portage Bay on a map of Seattle drawn from the neighborhood boundaries the city publishes. Downtown is marked for reference.

At a glance

Area
101 acres
Homes
758
Median year built
1924 Older than 95% of Seattle neighborhoods
Average home size
2,005 sq ft Larger than 80% of Seattle neighborhoods
Average lot size
5,724 sq ft
Streets steeper than 8%
19.3% of street length Hillier than 70% of Seattle neighborhoods Elevation 17–172 ft
In FEMA's 100-year flood zone
None
Within 500 ft of a freeway
47.0% of residential lots
New homes permitted
5 Fewer than 95% of Seattle neighborhoods Since January 2023

Share of residential lots: 80.2% single-family, 7.5% townhouse, 1.5% condominium, 5.4% duplex to fourplex, 3.1% apartment

I compared each figure with the 82 other Seattle neighborhoods I have researched that have at least 100 residential parcels.

Getting around on foot

Intersections per sq mile
190 More than 65% of Seattle neighborhoods
Average block length
349 ft Shorter than 70% of Seattle neighborhoods
Sidewalk coverage
85% (my estimate) Higher than 85% of Seattle neighborhoods
Transit stops within ¼ mile
13 Fewer than every other Seattle neighborhood
Everyday categories within ½ mile
8

I compared each figure with the 82 other Seattle neighborhoods I have researched that have at least 100 residential parcels.

Parks and recreation

Roanoke Park

Schools in and near this neighborhood

  • Tops K-8 School PK–8 Seattle School District No. 1
  • BERTSCHI SCHOOL
  • John Stanford International School K–5 Seattle School District No. 1

Food, drink and daily errands

Restaurants
2
Cafes
1
Bars and pubs
0
Grocery
0
Pharmacies
0

Restaurants and coffee I found nearby

  • Joe'z Bayside Market and Cafe Coffee Shop · Inside the neighborhood
  • Le Fournil Cafe · Inside the neighborhood
  • Johnny Mo’s Pizza · Inside the neighborhood
  • Sushi Kappo Tamura Japanese · 0.1 mi away
  • Copper Tree Coffee House Cafe · 0.1 mi away Patio
  • Pagliacci Pizza Pizza · 0.1 mi away
  • Gyro House Gyros · 0.1 mi away
  • Fram Coffee · 0.1 mi away Patio
  • D’ La Santa Mexican · 0.1 mi away
  • Little Water Cantina Mexican · 0.1 mi away Patio

I pulled these from OpenStreetMap: the nearest named restaurants and cafes, starting inside the neighborhood and measured from its edge. Places marked Patio have outdoor seating, from my research for Outdoor Seating Near Me, my other site; the photos come from that research too.

Housing context

Median home value
$1,395,800
Median gross rent
$2,027
Owner-occupied
45.5%
Renter-occupied
54.5%

I pulled these from the census tract that covers this neighborhood, so they describe the tract, not the neighborhood itself. I report housing and housing cost only.

Bordering neighborhoods