Bellevue is the place to be inspired by culture, entertainment, and nature. Learn, relax, shop, eat, cook, read, play or marvel at our natural environment. Whatever your mood, there is a place for you in Bellevue.
From the sparkling waters of Meydenbauer Bay Park you can walk or bike east, through Downtown, across the Grand Connection to the Wilburton West center for business and entertainment. Along the way you enjoy nature, culture, street entertainment, a world fusion of food and people from all over the planet.
For many of us, Bellevue is home. For the rest of the region and the world, Bellevue is a destination unto itself.
The arts are celebrated. Bellevue’s Performing Arts Center is a success, attracting the best in onstage entertainment. Cultural arts organizations throughout the city are supported by private philanthropy and a cultural arts fund. Arts and cultural opportunities stimulate our creative class workers and residents, whether they are members of the audience or performers. The cultural arts attract Fortune 500 companies to our community, whether it is to locate their headquarters or visit for a convention.
The past is honored. Residents experience a sense of place through an understanding of our history.
Our community buildings, libraries, community centers, City Hall and museums provide places where neighbors gather, connect with each other, and support our civic and business institutions.
Bellevue College, the Global Innovation Exchange (GIX), and our other institutes of higher learning are connected physically and digitally from Eastgate to Bel-Red, Downtown, and the University of Washington in Seattle. We’ve leveraged our commitment to higher education into some of the most successful new companies of the future.
From the constant beat of an urban center, you can quickly escape into nature in our parks, streams, trails and lakes. You can kayak the slough, hike the lake-to-lake trail, and have the opportunity to enjoy the latest thrill sport.
Three-Year (2018-20) Priorities
14. Create a civic center plan integrating City Hall, the metro property, convention center expansion and the transit center.
15. Continue to advance the Grand Connection as the city’s signature gathering place. Establish the preferred crossing of I-405 and begin design discussions with the state Department of Transportation; build public support by completing city projects in the early implementation plan; educate key public and private funders on the unique opportunities available; and integrate the vision of the Grand Connection into the Wilburton plan.
16. Work with the county and Sound Transit to ensure that the Eastside Rail Corridor is completed from Renton to the Wilburton Trestle and from Kirkland to the East Link maintenance yard; complete the interim connection through the Spring District; and begin to establish community connection points to the corridor.