Sammamish, Washington

Infobox Settlement
official_name = City of Sammamish, Washington
settlement_type = City


imagesize =
image_caption =
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mapsize = 250x200px
map_caption = Location of Sammamish in Washington.


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_name1 = Washington
subdivision_name2 = King
government_type =
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Mark Cross
incorporation_date = August 31, 1999
established_date =
area_magnitude = 1 E8
area_total_km2 = 47.4
area_land_km2 = 46.7
area_water_km2 = 0.6
area_total_sq_mi = 18.3
area_land_sq_mi = 18.1
area_water_sq_mi = 0.3
elevation_m = 18
elevation_ft = 59
latd = 47 |latm = 36 |lats = 32 |latNS = N
longd = 122 |longm = 2 |longs = 32 |longEW = W
population_as_of = 2000
population_total = 34104
population_density_km2 = 729.5
timezone = Pacific
utc_offset = −8
timezone_DST = Pacific
utc_offset_DST = −7
latitude = 47°36′32″ N
longitude = 122°2′32″ W
postal_code_type = ZIP codes
postal_code = 98074-98075
area_code = 425
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 53-61115GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 1508071GR|3
footnotes =
website = [http://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/ http://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/]
other =

Sammamish is an Eastside suburb of Seattle, in King County, Washington, United States. It was incorporated in 1999. The population was 34,104 at the 2000 census.

History

The Sammamish Plateau was part of unincorporated King County for most of its history. A vote in 1991 to join neighboring Issaquah failed, as did a vote on incorporation the following year. A renewed movement to become a city, born of frustration with development policies set by the county government, met with voter approval in 1998. Sammamish was officially incorporated on August 31, 1999.

Geography

Neighboring cities include Redmond to the north and Issaquah to the south.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.3 square miles (47.4 km²), of which, 18.0 square miles (46.7 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (1.37%) is water.

Situated on the shores and hilly terrain east of Lake Sammamish, the city features a landscape of trees, mountains, and lakes. Other than Lake Sammamish, Beaver Lake and Pine Lake are the two biggest lakes in Sammamish.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 34,104 people, 11,131 households, and 9,650 families residing in the city. In 2007, the population is expected to pass 40,000. [Citation | last = Parker | first = John | title = How big is Sammamish now? Get ready for the 40,000 mark | newspaper = Sammamish Review | pages = 1 | year = 2007 | date = March 7 | url = http://www.sammamishreview.com/ ]

The population density was 1,888.9 people per square mile (729.5/km²). There were 11,599 housing units at an average density of 642.4/sq mi (248.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.82% White, 0.85% African American, 0.29% Native American, 7.89% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.60% from other races, and 2.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.50% of the population.

There were 11,131 households out of which 53.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.5% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 13.3% were non-families. 9.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.29.

In the city the population was spread out with 33.4% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 4.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 101.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $101,592, and the median income for a family was $104,356. Males had a median income of $76,688 versus $47,164 for females. The per capita income for the city was $42,971. About 1.6% of families and 2.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Sammamish ranks 11th of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked.

Recreation

Lake Sammamish and Issaquah's Lake Sammamish State Park offer water recreation. Sammamish is a very green city, with views of the woods virtually everywhere. There are many hiking trails and scenic woods to enjoy around the housing developments. There are five major city parks: Beaver Lake Park, Pine Lake Park, NE Sammamish Park, East Sammamish Park, and Ebright Creek Park. Parks being planned in the recently-incorporated city include Soaring Eagle Park and the Sammamish Commons. The East Lake Sammamish Trail, opened in April 2006, connects to a regional trail system. A skatepark is located across from Skyline High School.

The first phase of Sammamish Commons, a city center project comprising City Hall, recreation facilities, and a police station was opened in late 2006. Eventually, the King County Library System plans to relocate the current Sammamish Library to the site; in addition, the city government and YMCA have recently been in talks to construct a community center on the site.Fact|date=August 2007

Sammamish is home to two private golf clubs: the Plateau Club, and Sahalee Country Club, which hosted the 1998 PGA Championship and the 2002 World Golf Championship-NEC Invitational.

Arts

The Sammamish Symphony Orchestra is a community orchestra founded on the Sammamish Plateau in 1994. It includes players from the town and surrounding players, and performs five concerts a year.Fact|date=January 2008

Politics

Sammamish uses a council-city manager form of government.

In the 2000 Presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 51.80% percent of the vote here, defeating Democrat Al Gore, who received 44.99%. In the 2000 Washington Senatorial Election, Republican Slade Gorton received 55.93% to Democrat Maria Cantwell's 42.57%.Fact|date=March 2007

In the 2004 Presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 49.97% percent of the vote, defeating Democrat John Kerry, who received 49.07%. In the 2004 Washington Senatorial Election, Democrat Patty Murray received 50.51% of the vote to Republican George Nethercutt's 48.05%.Fact|date=March 2007

In the 2006 Washington Senatorial Election, Democrat Maria Cantwell received 53.91% of the vote compared to Republican Mike McGavick's 44.29%.Fact|date=March 2007

Community service

[http://www.sammamishcitizencorps.org/ Sammamish Citizens Corps] offers several interlinked community volunteer programs and events, including an active Community Emergency Response Team. The city encourages citizen involvement, emergency preparedness, strong neighborhood watch organizations, and volunteerism. The Sammamish Youth Board is another local community service organization that is run primarily through local youth from the surrounding high schools. Its mission is to unite youth, adults and government to form a relationship that promotes equality and mutual respect, as well as to create integral activities that lead to a stronger community. In the past it has helped with events such as the Battle of the Bands, Spring Eggstravagnaza, and drive in movies. [http://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/Group.aspx?ID=6]

City services

Despite its size, the City of Sammamish does not have its own U.S. Post Office. [ [http://cobrand.switchboard.com/bin/cgidir.dll?MEM=1355&PR=139&ST=2&CSF=LocatorPostOffice&cid=1222&SD=100&A=&T=sammamish&S=WA&Z=98074&Search.x=30&Search.y=6 USPS.Find a Business/Standard Search - United States Postal Service ] ]

The city relies on Eastside Fire and Rescue to provide fire services. [ [http://www.eastsidefire-rescue.org/ Eastside Fire ] ]

The city uses King County Sheriff's office employees, dedicated to serve the city by contract, having 22 sworn officers in 2005. The city relies on the King County Jail and does not have its own detention center. [ [http://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/files/document/2527.pdf City of Sammamish Police-Service Efforts and Accomplishments: 2004 ] ]

Schools

The city is part of two school districts: Lake Washington School District (LWSD for short) serves northern Sammamish and Issaquah School District (ISD for short) serves southern Sammamish. There are two high schools, Eastlake High School of the LWSD and Skyline High School of ISD exist within the city limits, as well as three middle/junior high schools such as Inglewood Junior High, and nearly a dozen elementary schools such as Margaret Mead, Samantha Smith, and Elizabeth Blackwell. Also, the Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus opened at the start of the 2006-2007 school year in ISD, making it the second Freshman Campus in the state of Washington. Fact|date=March 2007

Eastside Catholic High School moved to its newly-constructed Sammamish campus in September 2008, with the addition of grade 6-8.Fact|date=March 2007

Public transit

With service provided both by Sound Transit and King County Metro, some areas of Sammamish are served by three bus routes that provide access to other Eastside cities and Seattle.

# Route 216 - Seattle commuter service on weekdays via Redmond
# Route 269 - Commuter service to Redmond and Issaquah on weekdays
# Route 927 - Local transportation service with DART (Dial-A-Ride Transit) access to/from Issaquah

Also, five Seattle-to-Issaquah Route 554 buses per evening during the week continue on to South Sammamish P&R (normally it ends at Issaquah Highlands P&R).

Notable residents

# Raul Ibanez, Seattle Mariners star
# Dino Rossi, Washington gubernatorial candidate
# Heim Burstein, Famous biochemist

References

External links

* [http://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/ City of Sammamish Website]
* [http://www.shopsammamish.com/ Sammamish Community Website]
* [http://www.mysammamish.com/ MySammamish.com]
* [http://www.sammamishweather.com/ Sammamish Weather]