Downtown Livability

In 2017, the City Council adopted land use code amendments that completed the Downtown Livability initiative.

In 1981, Bellevue adopted its first downtown land use code. In the time since, downtown has evolved and grown into a truly live-work urban center, with more than 14,000 residents living and 60,000 employees working downtown.

The land use code, which guides the development of features like parking, public plazas and building size and scale, had not kept pace with the types of amenities and features that these new residents and workers need. Downtown Livability represented a significant revamp of the land use code.

Goals

The Downtown Livability Initiative produced major land use code updates that support the vision for downtown as a vibrant, mixed-use center:

• enhancing the pedestrian environment;
• improving the area as a residential setting; and
• enhancing the identity and character of downtown "urban villages."