Northwest Market St, Ballard

NW Market St. splits off of NW 55th St. and travels through a couple of residential blocks before commercializing. Like most Seattle streets, it has trees planted along its borders, but that doesn't really do much to make this area lush and green. Living here made me feel like I was in a concrete jungle, and it's typically dusty and dirty. As you cross 15th Ave. NW into "downtown" Ballard, there are some cute and quaint shops, and Swedish Medical Center close by, but parking is horrendous and traffic makes it hardly worth the time. Several construction projects have been attempted to make the area a more hospitable place to visit, but it falls a bit flat. Aside from the hospital (which also has lousy parking) the only thing the area's really got going for it are a couple of great nightclubs. Originally a Polish neighborhood, it's lost quite a bit of it's cultural charm, but still retains a bit of the community living it's always been known for.