Seattle’s rebuilt Overlook Walk now connects Pike Place Market directly to the waterfront. OFM’s April 1, 2026 estimate puts the city at 823,400 residents, up from 737,015 in the 2020 Census. For a buyer that means a rebuilt waterfront, big natural parks inside the city limits, and light rail linking Seattle with the Eastside, Lynnwood and Federal Way.
Market to waterfront
Pike Place Market was founded in 1907. The Market describes itself as home to hundreds of farmers, crafters, small businesses and residents. Since October 4, 2024, Overlook Walk has connected the Market to the waterfront. The mayor’s office describes 360-degree views from the walk, taking in Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier, with plenty of seating to stop and take them in. The city built it where the Alaskan Way Viaduct once stood, bridging a drop of nearly 100 vertical feet down to the Park Promenade on Elliott Bay.
North along the water, Pier 62 reopened as a rebuilt public park on September 20, 2020, the first finished piece of the city’s waterfront program. Today it hosts concerts, fitness classes and community gatherings, according to Friends of Waterfront Park.
Room to roam
Discovery Park covers 560 acres on Magnolia Bluff, most of the former Fort Lawton site, Seattle Parks and Recreation says. The department describes a bluff overlooking Puget Sound with views of both the Cascade and the Olympic mountain ranges, along with two miles of protected tidal beach, meadows, sea cliffs, forest and streams.
Seattle Center has its own history. The city hosted the Century 21 Exposition in 1962, HistoryLink notes, and the fair left behind the Space Needle, the Monorail and Seattle Center.
Where Seattle began
HistoryLink describes the area as the original home of the Duwamish and other tribes. It dates the city’s modern history to November 13, 1851, when a party of settlers came ashore from the schooner Exact at today’s Alki Beach.
Getting around
As of October 2026, two Link light rail lines run through Seattle. Sound Transit’s 1 Line runs between Lynnwood and Federal Way. Since March 28, 2026, the 2 Line has crossed Lake Washington on a floating bridge, connecting Seattle with Bellevue and Downtown Redmond. Sound Transit says the Link system now spans 63 miles and 50 stations. Sound Transit reported combined 1 and 2 Line service of about every four to five minutes on the shared segment when the cross-lake connection opened (March 2026).
Living here
Seattle gives you a 1907 market with a park walk down to the bay, a 560-acre park on Magnolia Bluff, and light rail north, south and across the lake. If you’re weighing a Seattle neighborhood against the Eastside in Bellevue or Kirkland, or planning to sell in Seattle, Chase Hedin, Managing Broker, can help you compare. Start a conversation · What’s my home worth?