South Lake Union

Seattle's Cascade district, about 1.1 miles from downtown, in King County.

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

I counted 134 transit stops within a quarter mile of South Lake Union, and that is the figure I kept returning to in my notes. Apartments make up 84.4% of the housing mix, and the records show 42 restaurants and 30 cafes inside the neighborhood. Denny Park and Cascade Playground are among its parks. Sidewalk coverage is an estimated 76.1%, with blocks averaging 335 ft.

Illustration of mid-rise apartment and condominium buildings above ground-floor storefronts, built mostly in the 1980s.
Illustration
South Lake Union 2 mi N ↑
I marked South Lake Union on a map of Seattle, WA drawn from the neighborhood boundaries the city publishes. Downtown is marked for reference.

At a glance

Area
367 acres
Homes
11,002
Median year built
1981
Average home size
1,365 sq ft
Average lot size
20,754 sq ft
Streets steeper than 8%
4.5% of street length Elevation 20–149 ft
In FEMA's 100-year flood zone
None
Within 500 ft of a freeway
17.1% of residential lots
New homes permitted
763 Since January 2023

Share of residential lots: 9.1% condominium, 2.6% duplex to fourplex, 84.4% apartment

Getting around on foot

Intersections per sq mile
220
Average block length
335 ft
Sidewalk coverage
76.1% (my estimate)
Transit stops within ¼ mile
134
Everyday categories within ½ mile
8

Parks and recreation

Cascade Playground, Denny Park, Fairview Walkway, Lake Union Park, Summit Place

Schools in and near this neighborhood

  • FUSION ACADEMY SEATTLE
  • SPRUCE ST SCHOOL
  • SEATTLE AMISTAD SCHOOL
  • The Center School 9–12 Seattle School District No. 1
  • THE DOWNTOWN SCHOOL, A LAKESIDE SCHOOL
  • Tops K-8 School PK–8 Seattle School District No. 1
  • BERTSCHI SCHOOL
  • THE NORTHWEST SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
  • Lowell Elementary School PK–5 Seattle School District No. 1

Food, drink and daily errands

Restaurants
42
Cafes
30
Bars and pubs
9
Grocery
3
Pharmacies
2

Restaurants and coffee I found nearby

  • Petra Bistro Mediterranean · Inside the neighborhood
  • Kathmandu MoMocha Nepalese · Inside the neighborhood
  • Sprout Cafe · Inside the neighborhood
  • Ba Bar Green Asian · Inside the neighborhood
  • Ba Bar Vietnamese · Inside the neighborhood
  • 203ºF Coffee Company Coffee · Inside the neighborhood
  • Cherry Street Coffee House Coffee · Inside the neighborhood
  • Lassi and Spice Cafe · Inside the neighborhood
  • Meat Moot Turkish · Inside the neighborhood
  • Mikan Bento Sushi · Inside the neighborhood

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
$721,400
Median gross rent
$2,866
Owner-occupied
2.9%
Renter-occupied
97.1%

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