Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in King County, Washington, the United States, located on the east shore of Lake Washington, across from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan region and is known as an edge city, a suburb, a boom burb, or a satellite city. The name of the city comes from the French phrase "beautiful view". Several of the world's largest technology companies are headquartered in Bellevue. Downton Bellevue is Washington State's second-largest city center. Bellevue topped CNNMoney's list of the greatest places to live and start a business in 2008, and it was voted the fourth best place to live in America again in 2010. Bellevue was named the second-best location to live in the United States by ‘USA Today’ in 2014.
Bellevue enjoys a warm oceanic climate from October to May, along with frequent rain showers. The popular annual Bellevue Arts and Craft Fairs, originally Pacific Northwest Art and Crafts Fair, has been held in this region of Washington since 1947 on the final weekend in July. Thousands of people flock to the Downtown Park for the biennial Bellevue Sculpture Exhibition, which features up to 46 three-dimensional pieces by artists from all around the country. On the fourth weekend in June, Bellevue hosts a Strawberry Festival at Crossroads Park. The event started in 1925 and lasted until 1942 when many of Bellevue's strawberry farmers were detained as part of the Japanese Internment. The festival was revived in 1987 as a one-night event, then in 2003, it was expanded again to a multi-day event.
The Bellevue Arts Museum is one of Bellevue's most interesting attractions. It was opened in 1975 and was later relocated to Bellevue Square in 1983. Steven Holl built the museum's current building in 2001. It is the country's premier center for fine craft and design. The Meydenbauer Hall is a convention center in the downtown area that hosts corporate conventions and charity events. Meydenbauer also has a 410-seat theatre where operas, ballets, and symphonic events are performed. Since the 1980s, the local administration has intended to construct a performing arts facility, informally dubbed the Tateuchi Center (after benefactor Ina Tateuchi). At a location in Downtown Bellevue, it would comprise a 2,000-seat performance hall, offices, and creative areas.
Bellevue was home to the Bellevue Blackhawks of the American Basketball Association. Despite being rated 13th in the league, the Blackhawks made it to the title game in front of 15,000 fans in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2005. Since 2006, the team has remained dormant.
The Bellevue Parks and Community Services Department engages more than 5,500 Bellevue citizens in volunteer activities each year. Since the 1970s, the city has worked hard to ensure that commercial expansion does not deplete the city's natural land and water resources.