Seattle Condo Blog and Community Information

Where EXACTLY is “The Center of the Universe?”  In Fremont—a district that sits on the bank of the ship canal just north of downtown Seattle.  Back in 1994, Fremont artists created a quirky way to express the uniqueness of their neighborhood to city planners.  Eventually they convinced the King County Council to designate the neighborhood as the center of the universe and to declare that “…the Artistic Republic of Fremont …is a Mecca for those of independent minds and spirits…”

The neighborhood boasts many public works of art.  TA seven-ton bronze Lenin statue that was rescued from Czechoslovakia, towers more than 20 feet over the corner of 36^th and Fremont Way.   Beneath the Aurora Bridge sits a giant cement troll holding a full-size Volkswagen Beetle.  Probably the most community-participatory work is the life-size sculpture known as “Waiting for the Interurban” —five adults, an infant and a human-faced dog, waiting for a trolley-bus.  For years Fremont residents have enjoyed dressing the figures according to the season or the celebration.

Even the Fremont Bridge carries the neighborhood’s whimsical personality with its cheerful orange and blue paint and its glowing neon Rapunzel, whose hair cascades in golden waves from the Bridge master’s tower. 

Fremont offers gallery walks once a month, quirky outdoor cinema on summer weekend nights and the Fremont Public Market every Sunday.  Thousands of people flock annually to the Fremont Fair (with hundreds of crafts and food vendors) the Summer Solstice Parade (with colorful floats and imaginative costumes), Oktoberfest, and Trolloween, (a community wide Halloween carnival).

Fremont is undergoing a transition as Adobe Software and several other high tech firms move their offices near the ship canal. But with its sculptural curiosities, lively bistros, artist studios, boutiques, coffee shops and counter culture roots, Fremont will continue to be one of Seattle’s favorite communities.