Great Neighborhoods

Bellevue's Plan for Great Neighborhoods

Strong community connections strengthen neighborhoods and directly raise the quality of life. Bellevue's City Council affirms this with the city's Great Neighborhoods program.

City Council initiated Comprehensive Plan amendments for preparation of the Northwest Bellevue and Northeast Bellevue Great Neighborhoods plans in August 2018. Forced to suspend the program in March 2019 due to staffing shortages, the program will re-engage these communities in 2020. Plan amendments for preparation of the Crossroads and Newport Hills neighborhoods will follow after the first-round Northwest Bellevue and Northeast Bellevue plan amendments are completed. The work program timeline for all of these plan amendment Great Neighborhoods will be adjusted accordingly.

What are Great Neighborhoods?

Bellevue has always planned for neighborhoods through neighborhood area (subarea) plans. Subarea--really, neighborhood--plans have been an important tool for addressing the changing conditions and needs of specific parts of the city. A neighborhood plan provides policies to support resiliency and the neighborhood capacity to respond to local needs. It frames how neighbors care for one another, and provides a baseline to develop and sustain a strong sense of community. The plan provides policies that identify changing conditions in neighborhoods and provides support for local community responses to meet changing needs.

Distinct neighborhood character enhances the quality of life for the entire city. Because neighborhoods have unique attributes of place, environment, mobility, and social community, the neighborhood plan provides policies and actions that encourage neighborhoods to preserve and develop distinct neighborhood character, engage locally on enhancement projects, and improve communication with the city.