Pike Place Market lands on top-10 U.S. neighborhood list

A national organization of urban planners has put Pike Place Market on its 2007 list of "10 great neighborhoods" in America.

The American Planning Association cited Pike Place as having "a history as rich and colorful as the produce it sells," calling it "Seattle's most compact, walkable and diverse neighborhood."

In addition to its farmers market, the neighborhood features a mix of upscale condominiums, seven low-income apartment houses, a health clinic, a food bank, a senior center and a child-care center.

"This neighborhood is the other side of Pike Place, the side that most of the millions of visitors to the Market each year don't realize exists," association Executive Director Paul Farmer said. "More importantly, the neighborhood shows just how convenient and interesting urban living is."

Other West Coast neighborhoods on the list are First Addition, Lake Oswego, Ore.; Hillcrest, San Diego; and North Beach, San Francisco.

Rounding out the list are Old West Austin, Austin, Texas; Park Slope, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Elmwood Village, Buffalo, N.Y.; Chatham Village, Pittsburgh; West Urbana, Urbana, Ill.; and Eastern Market, Washington, D.C.

More information is online at www.planning.org/greatplaces.