CROSSROADS, BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON

'Crossroads' is a neighborhood of Bellevue, Washington, which shares its name with the 40-acre Crossroads Mall. It is located to the east of Overlake, north of Lake Hills, west of Lake Sammamish, and south of Redmond.
The area is minutes away from the main Microsoft Campus, and offers a wide variety of goods and services. Crossroads has a strong minority presence, and is noted for being culturally diverse. The neighborhood is at the eastern edge of commercially developed Bellevue. The area used to be a low rent district, as the furthest practical drive away from Seattle before the boom of Bellevue in the late 1970s. It has since improved substantially, and the crime rate has equalized, matching neighboring communities, which is low. Development and re-zoning in the area has steadily increased property values and rents in this area, making it a desirable area for offices, retail buildings, and multifamily housing.
The Crossorads Mall is known for its inclusion of such activities as free live music, public art and cultural events, a weekly farmers' market, and for such unusual features as tables for chess-players and a giant chessboard with human-scale pieces. It is a neighborhood mall with an eclectic flavor. It boasts the largest and most diverse food court of any mall in the Greater Seattle Area, with an emphasis on cultural diversity rather than popular fast food. The food choices available include Mexican, Japanese, Russian, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Italian, Vietnamese, traditional American, and of course, Starbucks. Blockbuster Video provides movies for the home. Crossroads Theatre provides big-screen pictures. The Sports Authority handles athletics. Half-Price Books and Barnes and Noble covers reading. Circuit City and Gamespot provide electronic entertainment. Top Foods and QFC provide grocery shopping. Uncle's Games provides one of the few dedicated board and card game stores in Bellevue, with an emphasis on puzzles, children's games, family games, traditional games, role playing games, and strategy games. There are also a variety of other shops and neighborhood services available.
The new Crossroads Community Center was opened in 2006 along with a skate park in Crossroads Park. This is one of the three major parks in the Bellevue City limits, the others being the Bellevue Botanical Gardens to the southwest, and Downtown Park to the west. Crossroads Park is characterized by a natural feel with winding paths and an abundance of trees, with an open field in the southeast. Dogs are free to walk here on leash and doggy-doo bags are provided at small stations. There are two separate playground areas, along with tennis courts and a horseshoe pit. This park has abundant parking and is very well maintained.
The Crossroads Community Golf Course is a short 9-hole par 3 course in the northeast of the park, and is a pleasant place to practice your swing, but is a small course.

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External links

External links

★ Crossroads Mall official site