Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Joining the walking, running, skating, cycling mass of humanity powering around
Watching the wackily attired audience (and the film) at the
Fremont Almost Free
Explore: Fremont & Green Lake
Set your watch back five minutes, turn your brain setting to 'ironic' and cross the Fre-
mont Bridge into the self-proclaimed 'People's Republic of Fremont.'
Weirder than Ballard and more self-deprecating than Capitol Hill, Fremont's essen-
tial business is its public sculpture. Most of its outlandish statues and monuments lie
clustered around a few square blocks on the southern edge of the neighborhood close to
the bridge, making viewing easy. Here you'll also find the bulk of the cheap eating
places and Fremont's only hotel.
Fremont's a great neighborhood for getting a taste for local life, especially in sum-
mer, when festivals and regular outdoor movies send the locals positively delirious.
With good bus connections and a bike-friendly intra-urban trail, it can easily be incor-
porated with visits to the adjacent neighborhoods of Ballard and Wallingford.
Just north of Fremont lies Green Lake, a small natural lake that's the hub of a large
park complex and a pleasant low-key neighborhood punctuated by detached craftsman-
style houses. The lake is packed with crowds in summer, but it's even better in fall,
when the leaves are changing, or on a rare rain-free day in winter. Any time of the year,
it's a great spot for a walk or a run, or just to sit back on a bench and watch the rowers
on the water.
Below Green Lake, Woodland Park Zoo is a must-see. And don't neglect to head fur-
ther up to Phinney Ridge, the hilltop neighborhood north of the zoo along Phinney Ave
N, for some good pubs and restaurants.
Local Life
ยป
Outdoor Movies
The best time to meet Fremonters in their element is on summer
evenings in the parking-lot-turned-movie-theater better known as Fremont Almost Free
