The Ave

University Way Northeast, colloquially The Ave (no period; pronounced ), is a major street and commercial district in the University District of Seattle, Washington, located near the University of Washington (UW) campus. Once "a department store eight blocks long," The Ave has gradually turned into what now resembles an eight-block-long global food court. The story of The Ave reflects the dynamics of many urban neighborhoods and the social and economic problems of countless American cities, though it is also a crossroads of diverse subcultures. It is patronized by many of the nearly 96,900 students, faculty, and staff of the UW and by a population of homeless or transient individuals, most of whom are youth.

University Way NE is a collector (tertiary) arterial, running  from just below NE Pacific Street in the south to NE Ravenna Boulevard and Cowen Park in the north, where it turns into Cowen Place NE. The street had been known as "The Ave" since the early 20th century and while it was no longer officially an avenue, the nickname stuck.

History

Originally platted as Columbus Avenue, the street was renamed 14th Avenue after the neighborhood was annexed by the city in 1891.  Locals came to feel that a numbered street name was inappropriate because of the thoroughfare's importance, so in 1919 the University Commercial Club held a contest that decided the new name of the street: "University Way." The street once carried streetcars operated by the Seattle Municipal Street Railway that ceased in 1941. Trolleybuses of the Seattle trolleybus system operated along University Way from 1940 to 1970.

Vitality 

Late in the 20th century the Ave declined significantly, due in significant part to the more competitive planning, capital investment, and popularity of University Village and Northgate Mall. From 2002 to 2004, the city and the neighborhood made some steps countering this trend by repaving the Ave and adding benches, bus bulbs, and period lighting. The Ave remains at the heart of campus life for university students, and is filled with busy restaurants (mostly inexpensive), new and used book and record stores, clothing stores, and movie theatres, most densely between NE 41st and NE 50th Streets.  Among these are the Varsity Theatre (1940) and University Book Store (1924).

The Ave is glorified by the Seattle hip hop group Blue Scholars in their song "The Ave" on their self-titled album. "Fuck class, get your education on the Ave" is a repeated lyric, as they portray the Ave as the last true cultural melting pot of Seattle. The business communities "improvements" of 2002 are lamented ("whatever happened to the avenue before the summer of 2002"), as they feel the unique street society of students/poets/druggies was thrown away for a conformist corporate business façade.  Blue Scholars also reference several businesses on The Ave, including University Book Store and the used record store 'Second Time Around,' now Al's Music, Video, and Games.

Architecture 

Ye College Inn, a Tudor Revival building at the northeast corner of NE 40th Street near the south end of The Ave, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was built in 1909 and added to the National Register in 1982.

The University Heights School building on the upper Ave opened in 1902. Originally there were several other buildings on the block (the west side of The Ave between NE 50th and NE 52nd Streets), but with successive expansions, the school became the only building on its block. It was briefly known as the Morse School in 1903; from 1974, Alternative Elementary School #2 used two-thirds of the building. Its exterior was declared a city landmark in 1977. It was closed as a school building in 1989, with the alternative school moving to the Decatur School. Since 1990 it has housed the University Heights Center.

The Department of Neighborhoods' inventory of historically important sites, which is not exhaustive (for example, it omits the University Heights School) lists 37 properties on University Way. Most of these are either apartment buildings or retail establishments, but the list also includes current and former theaters and the University District post office.

See also 
 Last Exit on Brooklyn
 Telegraph Avenue, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, California
 University Avenue, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
 University District, University of Washington, Seattle
 Washington Square, New York University, New York

Notes

Bibliography 

 
   Right Turn is "a student-run publication at the University of Washington that gives voice to conservative and libertarian views on campus." - 
 Deutsch, Joan, Local News Editor.  (206)464-2214.  Quote from The Seattle Times Style Rules, in-house publication. The Seattle Times since 1896 [Masthead, editorial page].  May cf. Karen Cater, News Editor, same phone.
   Dorpat referenced Seattle: Now and Then Vols. 1, 2, and 3. Seattle: Tartu Publications, 1984, 1988; Walt Crowley and Paul Dorpat, "The Ave: Streetcars to Street Fairs", typescript dated 1995 in possession of Walt Crowley and Paul Dorpat, Seattle, Washington; Walt Crowley,  Rites of Passage. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995; Cal McCune, From Romance to Riot: A Seattle Memoir. Seattle: Cal McCune, 1996; Roy Nielsen, UniverCity: The City Within City: The Story of the University District Seattle: University Lions Foundation, ca. 1986; Clark Humphrey, Loser: the Real Seattle Music Story. Portland, OR: Feral House, 1995.
 Kelton, Alana, News Editor.  (206)448-8154.   Quote from Seattle Post-Intelligencer In-House Style Guide intranet reference tool. Seattle P-I since 1863 [Masthead, editorial page].
 
 
   Alumni magazine.
 Samson, Karl. "Big Time Brewery and Alehouse". Retrieved November 15, 2005, April 21, 2006.  Links to "Seattle's Original Brewpub".  Selection from Samson, Karl. Frommer's Seattle 2006 [Title incremented annually each January].  [City]: Wiley, 2006. 
   High-Resolution Version, PDF format, 16.1 MB  Medium-Resolution Version, PDF format, 1.45 MB  January 12, 2004.  Low-Resolution Version, PDF format, 825 KB  January 12, 2004.  "Planned Arterials Map Legend Definitions", PDF format.  January 12, 2004. The high resolution version is good for printing, 11 x 17. The low and medium resolution versions are good for quicker online viewing. [Source: "Street Classification Maps, Note on Accessing These PDF Files"]

Further reading 

Jon Marmor, "The Fall (and Rise?) of the 'Ave.'", "Once Seattle's Second Main Street, the Ave. Has Fallen on Hard Times. Can the UW and Local Community Save What's Left?", Columns (University of Washington alumni magazine), December 1995.  Analysis.

Streets in Seattle
Shopping districts and streets in the United States
University District, Seattle