2. Vision Statement

The following vision statement is intended to describe the desired state of the neighborhood 20 years in the future.

Located along the eastern shores of Lake Washington the Lakeview Neighborhood has a special waterfront town charm. Lakeview residents value the visual and physical connection to Lake Washington. Wide, expansive views of the lake and the Olympic Mountains have been sustained because of careful selection and placement of trees and vegetation, to avoid view obstruction of the lake from public streets and properties to the east. Over time the neighborhood has maintained its unique waterfront neighborhood character.

The neighborhood is a mix of single-family and multifamily residential areas, offices, neighborhood oriented businesses and two commercial centers – Carillon Point and the Yarrow Bay Business District. Adequate parking is available on streets for easy access to neighborhood oriented businesses in the center of the neighborhood.

Figure L-1: Lakeview Land Use

Infill development on the Houghton and Yarrow Bay slopes continues while maintaining the visual character of the hillsides and retaining trees to the maximum extent. Overall, the neighborhood has resisted development pressure to allow a large amount of density increases.

The Yarrow Bay Business District is a vibrant pedestrian urban village with a mix of commercial uses, housing, hotels, and services for businesses, residents, transit users and freeway travelers. The Business District has evolved over time to incorporate pedestrian oriented improvements such as landscaped green spaces and plazas for people to gather, public art, and improved street design with decorative pedestrian lighting.

The South Kirkland Park and Ride lot has transformed from a surface parking lot and transit center to a transit oriented development with additional parking stalls to serve transit riders, a mix of housing for a range of incomes, commercial services, improved vehicular and pedestrian access to the site and is a well designed architectural gateway to the City.

The street network in Lakeview is well established. A master plan for Lake Washington Boulevard has resulted in creating a streetscape design that includes wide sidewalks, landscaping, pedestrian decorative lighting, benches, and art. Improvements to both Lake Washington Boulevard and Lakeview Drive have increased pedestrian and bicycle safety and reduced traffic congestion.

Pedestrian and bicycle trails provide increased connections between the Yarrow Bay wetlands, Lake Washington Boulevard, Watershed Park, Carillon Woods Park and the future Cross Kirkland Corridor along the old BNSF railroad right-of-way.

Lakeview’s parks are clean, well maintained, and enjoyable for residents and visitors. Our waterfront parks are a model for how shoreline areas can provide a soft, natural shoreline to improve habitat with the planting of native vegetation. Access to a majority of the water’s edge has been maintained for residents to enjoy our lake.

Our streams and wetlands are protected through management of development, maintaining existing vegetation and restoration projects. At the Yarrow Bay wetlands, people may observe the scenic beauty of the wetlands and wildlife habitat from viewpoints.