FEDERAL WAY, WASHINGTON

'Federal Way' is a city in King County, Washington, United States. Federal Way is considered a bedroom community by some people that is located between Seattle and Tacoma. Its western boundary is Puget Sound. It is bordered by Des Moines on the north, Kent, Auburn, unincorporated King County, and Milton on the east and Tacoma and Fife on the south. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 83,259. The population estimates for 2005 are 85,800 making it Washington’s 7th largest city.

Contents

History

Commerce and attractions

Growth

Geography

Demographics

Noteworthy citizens

In the news

Sister cities

Notes/references

External links

History

Originally a logging settlement, the area was first called "Federal Way" in 1929, when Federal Way School District #210 was created. The name derived from U.S. Highway 99 (now Washington State Route 99 or Pacific Highway South), completed that decade, which ran through the area on its way from Everett and Seattle to Tacoma and Olympia. Federal Way High School was built, and about 20 years later, the name was adopted by the local Chamber of Commerce. The city incorporated on February 28, 1990.

Commerce and attractions

Federal Way is home to Weyerhaeuser, the largest private owner of softwood timberland in the world. Weyerhaeuser has opened much of its land to the public, including two fine botanical gardens: the Rhododendron Species Foundation and Botanical Garden, and the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection. Federal Way is also home to the US office headquarters of World Vision.
Other attractions in the city include the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, which features an Olympic size swimming pool and had been used for the Goodwill Games in 1990, and Celebration Park, with generous sports fields and wooded trails. The city has also developed many lake front and neighborhood parks and playgrounds.
Wild Waves Theme Park, the largest amusement park in the region, was known as Wild Waves and Enchanted Village until its purchase. It is located on the south side of the city and is the Seattle area's only permanent amusement park. Six Flags purchased Wild Waves in December 2000. However after low sales, Six Flags sold the park in April of 2007 to Parc Management LLC of Jacksonville, Fl for $31.75 million.
Federal Way is locally identified by its 1990s semi-urban development, characterized by landscaped off-street multi-structure apartment complexes and shopping centers. The Commons at Federal Way (previously Sea Tac Mall), the city's largest and only indoor shopping center, is located on S 320th St. and Pacific Hwy South (Hwy 99) near the city's main Interstate 5 exit.
Federal Way is also home to a competitive Laser Quest team. This team is made up of 9 players, and travels to two major tournaments annually. They are preparing to travel to Atlanta in September for the North America Challenge. They are one of the top Laser Quest teams in the nation.
Major city and state parks:

★ Steel Lake Park - located on S 312th St just east of Pacific Hwy S; large lakefront area with picnic areas, playground, and boat launch.

★ Celebration Park - on 11th Ave S just south of S 324th St; with sports fields and wooded trails, and Independence Day fireworks.

★ Dash Point State Park - on SW Dast Point Rd at the west end of town; the city's only developed waterfront park, with hiking trails and campground.

★ Five Mile Lake - on Military Rd S and S 364th St in the unincorporated area on the east side of town.

★ West Hylebos Wetlands Park - at S 348th St and 4th Ave S, hiking trails through wetlands.

★ The BPA Trail extending from the entrance to Celebration Park west to approximately 18th Ave SW, then south to the Pierce County border. The trail is paved and lies under the Bonneville Power Administration transmission lines.

Growth

As part of the Washington State Growth Management Act of 1990 (GMA), Federal Way, along with other Puget Sound suburban cities have identified Potential Annexation Area’s (PAA’s) as areas of unincorporated King County that they feel could best be serviced by them. Federal Way has indicated interest in Auburn Hills (east of the city to the Auburn city limits), Lakeland (south and east of the city to the King/Pierce County border and east to the Auburn city limits), and Star Lake (north and east of the city to the Kent city limits). In 2004, the city annexed the Northlake, East Redondo, and Parkway neighborhoods into the city, adding over 2,700 people and nearly 1 square mile (2.57 km²) of area. Other possible annexation areas include the Jovita and Camelot neighborhoods.
In February 2007, the city announced formal plans to annex the majority of unincorporated land on its east border as one PAA named East Federal Way, comprising the Star Lake, Camelot, Lakeland, and Jovita neighborhoodsPAA Community Level Subareas mapFederal Way Proposed Annexation Area map, and a strip of road connecting them. On August 21, 2007, residents of the proposed East Federal Way annexation area rejected annexation to Federal Way by a 66% to 34% margin with many to acknowledge that it would mean more taxes and higher density in the long run.

Geography

Federal Way is located at (47.312960, -122.339173).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 54.8 km² (21.1 mi²). 54.5 km² (21.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.61%) is water.

Demographics

Federal Way (city), Washington
from US census bureau website
People QuickFacts Federal Way Washington
:Population, 2003 estimate 81,711
:Population, percent change, April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2003 -1.9%
:Population, 2000 83,259 5,894,121
:Population, percent change, 1990 to 2000 X 21.1%
:Persons under 5 years old, percent, 2000 7.8%
:Persons under 18 years old, percent, 2000 28.2%
:Persons 65 years old and over, percent, 2000 7.6%
:Female persons, percent, 2000 50.8%
:White persons, percent, 2000 (a) 68.8%
:Black or African American persons, percent, 2000 (a) 7.9%
:American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2000 (a) 0.9%
:Asian persons, percent, 2000 (a) 12.3%
:Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2000 (a) 1.0%
:Persons reporting some other race, percent, 2000 (a) 3.7%
:Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2000 5.3%
:Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2000 7.5%
:Living in same house in 1995 and 2000, pct age 5+, 2000 42.4%
:Foreign born persons, percent, 2000 17.5%
:Language other than English spoken at home, pct age 5+, 2000 21.4%
:High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2000 89.3%
:Bachelor's degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2000 26.2%
:Housing units, 2000 32,581
:Homeownership rate, 2000 56.0%
:Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2000 $171,700
:Households, 2000 31,437
:Persons per household, 2000 2.63
:Median household income, 1999 $49,278
:Per capita money income, 1999 $22,451
:Persons below poverty, percent, 1999 9.3%
:Business QuickFacts Federal Way Washington
:Wholesale trade sales, 1997 ($1000) 529,840
:Retail sales, 1997 ($1000) 840,643
:Retail sales per capita, 1997 $11,399
:Accommodation and food services sales, 1997 ($1000) 95,556
:Total number of firms, 1997 5,629
:Minority-owned firms, percent of total, 1997 23.4%
:Women-owned firms, percent of total, 1997 37.0%
:Geography QuickFacts Federal Way Washington
:Land area, 2000 (square miles) 21
:Persons per square mile, 2000 3,959
:FIPS Code 23515
The median income for a household in the city was $49,278, and the median income for a family was $55,833. Males had a median income of $41,504 versus $30,448 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,451. About 6.9% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Noteworthy citizens

★ Michael Dickerson, former NBA player

★ Donny Marshall, former NBA player

★ Corey Dillon, American football player

★ Sanjaya Malakar, American Idol Top 7 American Idol Contestant.

★ Apolo Anton Ohno, Olympic speed skater

★ Wade Webber, former MLS soccer player

★ Bryan Pittman, Football player for the Houston Texans in the NFL

★ James Sun, president of Zoodango, Donald Trump's show The Apprentice participant^[3]

★ Scott Krippayne, co-writer of "This Is My Now" from the American Idol Season 6 Songwriter Contest

★ Kyle Secor, Actor, , Commander in Chief, Crossing Jordan

★ Matt Young, lead singer of the band Amber Pacific

In the news

Federal Way made national headlines on January 9, 2007, when its School Board voted to temporarily block the showing of Al Gore's global warming film, ''An Inconvenient Truth'', in its schools, without also providing an "opposing view." The board came to this decision after a parent complained about the film.^[4] After two weeks of being derided in the national and local press, the moratorium was repealed at the subsequent meeting on January 23. ^[5]

Sister cities

Federal Way has the following sister cities, according to [1]:

★ Donghae, South Korea

★ Hachinohe, Japan

Notes/references

1. Does not include area gained from annexations of county land since 2000.
2. http://cityoffederalway.com/Page.aspx?page=1101
3. A phone call away from Donald Trump Margo Horner
4. ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', Federal Way schools restrict Gore film, Jan 11, 2007
5. ''Seattle Times'', Federal Way School Board lifts brief moratorium on Gore film, Jan 24, 2007

External links

★
★ Nearby hiking trails on Hikipedia

★ City of Federal Way

★ Celebrate Federal Way

★ Federal Way Chamber of Commerce

★ The Historical Society of Federal Way

★ Six Flags Wild Waves and Enchanted Village

★ Weyerhaeuser Rhododendron and Bonsai Gardens

★ Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center

★ Dash Point State Park

★ Friends of the Hylebos Wetlands

★ Federal Way Current Annexations

★ Radio stations received in Federal Way

★ Federal Way History

★ Local newspapers:

★
★ Federal Way Mirror

★
★ Federal Way News

★
★ Seattle Post Intelligencer's Page for their articles regarding Federal Way

★
★ SPI's Article about Banning of ''An Inconvenient Truth''