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Redmond, Washington
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Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 45,256 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 48,739 in 2006. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft (for which "Redmond" has become a metonym) and Nintendo of America. With an annual bike race on city streets and the state's only velodrome, Redmond is also known as "the bicycle capital of the Northwest". Despite this, the city is suburban in character, with its main form of transportation being the automobile.
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Encyclopedia
Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 45,256 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 48,739 in 2006. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft (for which "Redmond" has become a metonym) and Nintendo of America. With an annual bike race on city streets and the state's only velodrome, Redmond is also known as "the bicycle capital of the Northwest". Despite this, the city is suburban in character, with its main form of transportation being the automobile. Redmond has a historic downtown with many personally owned businesses which is connected to the modern downtown Redmond.
Due to its large population of highly paid tech workers, especially those of Microsoft, Redmond is known for its affluence. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Redmond ranks 20th of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked.
History
Native Americans had settled in the Redmond area 3,000 years ago, and the first European settlers arrived in the 1870s. Luke McRedmond filed a Homestead Act claim for land next to the Sammamish Slough on September 9, 1870, and the following year Warren Perrigo took up land adjacent to him. The rivers and streams had so many salmon that the settlement was initially named Salmonberg. More settlers came, and with the establishment of the first post office in 1881, the name of the community was changed to Melrose. The new name was taken from the Perrigos' successful inn, Melrose House, which upset McRedmond. After becoming postmaster, he successfully petitioned to have the name changed to Redmond in 1883.
The abundant forests and fish of Redmond provided jobs for loggers and fishermen and with those jobs came demand for goods and services, bringing in merchants. The logging industry expanded significantly with the building of a railroad through town. The first plat for Redmond was filed on May 11, 1891, encompassing much of the area now known as downtown. After reaching the necessary population of 300, Redmond was incorporated on December 31, 1912.
Redmond faced an economic downturn in the 1920s. Prohibition forced saloons to close, cutting off a large portion of the city's tax base. The forests were dwindling after heavy logging, causing lumber mills to shut down. Fortunately, the deforested land was suitable for farming. Agriculture became Redmond's primary business, keeping residents fed during the Great Depression. When the U.S. entered World War II, shipyard jobs and other wartime work came to Redmond.
After the war, Redmond's growth began in earnest. The city grew over thirty times larger in area through annexations between 1951 and 1967. The completion of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge across Lake Washington in 1963 allowed Redmond to flourish as a suburb of Seattle. In 1978, the U.S. Census Bureau proclaimed Redmond the fastest growing city in the state. Many technology companies made the city their home, and the increasing population demanded more retail shops. Redmond underwent a commercial boom during the 1990s, culminating in 1997 with the opening of Redmond Town Center, a major regional shopping center on the site of a long-defunct golf course. In recent years the city has been experiencing growing pains as a result of its strong growth, mostly in the areas of urban sprawl and traffic congestion. During rush hour it can take upwards of 2 hours to travel from the beginning of SR520 at Avondale Rd. to Downtown Seattle a mere 18 miles (29 km) away. These problems are being mitigated by the expansion of SR520 and the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, as well as eventual light rail service from Seattle to Redmond during the second phase of Sound Transit.
Geography
Redmond is bordered by Kirkland to the west, Bellevue to the southwest, and Sammamish to the southeast. Unincorporated King County lies to the north and east. The city is situated on the north end of Lake Sammamish, with the Sammamish River running through its center.
Redmond is located at (47.669414, -122.123875?).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.6 square miles (42.9 kmē), of which, 15.9 square miles (41.2 kmē) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.7 kmē) of it (4.05%) is water.
Government and politics
Redmond has a non-partisan mayor-council form of government, with the mayor and seven council members elected at large for staggered four-year terms. The last mayor, Rosemarie Ives, had been in office since 1992. The city council and Mayor Ives clashed over the years and, though the parties involved deny any connection, the city council authorized a ballot measure in 2003 that would have changed Redmond to a council-manager government. However, it was rejected by the electorate, receiving less than 30% of the vote.
Current
John Marchione started his first term as mayor on January 1, 2008. Mr. Marchione was the Director of Finance and Human Resources for Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, WA. He has a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Washington and he previously served on Redmond's city council for a full 4-year term. Mayor Marchione and his wife Debbie live with their two children on Redmond's Education Hill.
Marchione is Redmond's 10th mayor.
Current City Council Members
(Numbers are position numbers)
- Hank Myers (first full term - served temporarily in 2007 in the open seat filled by Hank Margeson's election) of the Viewpoint neighborhood.
- John P. "Pat" Vaché (third non-consecutive term, Vice President of the Council) of Education Hill
- Dayle "Hank" Margeson (first full term - served out the end of John Resha's term) of Education Hill.
- Kimberly Allen (first term) of Education Hill
- Richard Cole (sixth consecutive term) of Education Hill
- Nancy McCormick (sixth consecutive term, President of the Council) of Viewpoint neighborhood
- David Carson (first term) of the Viewpoint neighborhood
Current Planning Commission Members
Redmond Planning Commission
- Vibhas Chandorkar of Viewpoint
- Franz Gregory of Viewpoint
- Tom Hinman of Overlake
- Charlie McCarthy (Chair) of Viewpoint
- Korby Parnell of Downtown Redmond
- Susan Petitpas of Education Hill
- Suzanne Querry (Vice Chair) of East Redmond
2007 election
The 2007 Redmond mayoral election was held on November 6, 2007 when Redmond, Washington, United States elected John Marchione as the mayor of Redmond starting in January 2008. The incumbent mayor, Rosemarie Ives opted not to run for re-election after four terms. The two candidates, John Marchione and Jim Robinson advanced to general election. John Marchione defeated Jim Robinson 5769 (58%) to 4165 (42%) in the general election.
- Council seats (at large, but candidates must declare for a particular position)
- Celine McKeon - position one (withdrawn)
- Hank Myers - position one - 98.34%
- Brian Conlin - position three - 33.05%
- Hank Margeson - position three - 66.71%
- Michallea Schuelke - position five - 32.79%
- Richard Cole (incumbent) - position five - 66.93%
- Brian Seitz - position seven - 48.60%
- David Carson - position seven - 51.22%
Education
Redmond is part of the Lake Washington School District, which also encompasses Kirkland and parts of Sammamish and Woodinville. The public schools in Redmond include nine elementary schools, three junior high schools, and Redmond High School. Three private schools offer secondary education: the Overlake School (secular), the Bear Creek School (Christian - primary and secondary), and the Conservatory High School (for performing arts students).
The English Hill neighborhood in North Redmond (unincorporated King County) is served by the Northshore School District and Sunrise Elementary.
DigiPen Institute of Technology (the top college for students in the field of video game development and production animation) and the secondary campus of Lake Washington Technical College are also located in Redmond.
The city is home to Redmond Regional Library, the second-largest library in the King County Library System.
Economy
A number of companies in the high-tech industry are based in Redmond. The largest employer in the city by far is Microsoft Corporation, which moved its headquarters to Redmond in 1986. Currently Microsoft has over 30,000 full-time workers and more than 8 million square feet (750,000 square meters) of office space in the Seattle area Eastside region, primarily in Redmond and Issaquah. Further signs of growth include:
- In January 2006, Microsoft announced the purchase of Safeco's Redmond campus. (Formerly one of Redmond's major employers, Safeco began consolidating its offices in Seattle's University District in 2005.)
- In February 2006, Microsoft announced that it intends to expand its Redmond campus by another at a cost of $1 billion and has said that this will create space for between 7,000 and 15,000 new employees over the next three years.
This is very optimistic news for Redmond and the Eastside, which will gain many new residents as a direct result. This also shows that while the general technology industry slows, Redmond's economy, alongside that of Puget Sound, continues to expand rapidly.
Other companies with headquarters in Redmond include Nintendo of America, Concur, Data I/O Corporation,BrickArms and Eddie Bauer.
Unlike Bellevue and other neighboring cities, the City of Redmond does not have a Business & Occupation tax on income. However, to help offset the costs of road improvements for businesses, a business license fee of $55 per employee was approved in 1996. As of 2007, the fee is $85 per employee.
Parks and recreation
According to the city's website, Redmond has 23 developed public parks, totaling over a thousand acres (4 kmē). Many of these are neighborhood parks with picnic tables and sports fields or courts. The largest park within the city is not owned by the city -- it is King County's 560 acre (2.3 kmē) Marymoor Park, one of the most popular in King County. It features a climbing rock, a model airplane flying field, a large off-leash dog park, an outdoor theater, and a velodrome.
The city also offers of developed trails for hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding. The Sammamish River Trail connects to the Burke-Gilman Trail in Bothell and can be followed all the way to Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.
In 2004, Redmond North Little League won the Northwest region and participated in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, PA. With Redmond North claiming the Northwest, it is the third team from Washington to claim the Northwest since its inception in 2001. Previous Washington champions were Bainbridge Island (2001), Richland (2003).
Culture
Redmond Derby Days is an annual community festival held every July. It began as a race around Lake Sammamish called the Redmond Bicycle Derby in 1939, and since then has become a multi-day event including a bicycle criterium, parade, carnival, and entertainment stages.
Performing arts in Redmond include the Eastside Symphony, the Second Story Repertory theater company, and the Washington Academy of Performing Arts. Redmond has an extensive collection of high quality outdoor sculptures throughout its streets and parks, a good number of which are part of a rotating sculpture exhibition.
The Old Redmond Firehouse is a center for local teens. It has become a hub in the thriving Eastside independent music scene. Local bands perform here with concert style speakers.
The Concerts at Marymoor is an annual summer series of concerts held at the amphitheater in Marymoor Park. The venue has been host to artists as diverse as Norah Jones, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Rob Thomas. The series is fast becoming one of the most popular in Western Washington.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 45,256 people, 19,102 households, and 11,346 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,848.8 people per square mile (1,099.7/kmē). There were 20,248 housing units at an average density of 1,274.6/sq mi (492.0/kmē). The racial makeup of the city was 79.26% White, 1.52% African American, 0.45% Native American, 13.02% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 2.46% from other races, and 3.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.61% of the population.
There were 19,102 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.6% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 37.9% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $66,735, and the median income for a family was $78,430 (these figures had risen to $82,349 and $94,863 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $58,112 versus $37,200 for females. The per capita income for the city was $36,233. About 3.3% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.
Real estate
In 2004 nearly 1,800 properties sold in the City of Redmond, and the following year home values went up nearly 18%.
Redmond is home to the largest church in the state, Overlake Christian Church. The so-called megachurch moved to the city in 1997 after outgrowing its Kirkland location. Logistical problems with traffic on Willows Road have arisen due to the number of attendees.
Notable residents
External links
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