Downtown Bellevue is the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 of Bellevue

Bellevue, Washington

Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...

, Washington. It comprises 400 acres bounded by I-405

Interstate 405 (Washington)

Interstate 405 in Washington is a stretch of freeway that bypasses Seattle east of Lake Washington. The northern terminus is in Lynnwood and the southern terminus is in Tukwila...

 to the east, NE 12th Street to the north, 100th Ave NE to the west, and Main Street to the south. As of 2008, it is currently the second largest city center in Washington with over 45,000 employees and 6,500 residents.

Transportation

Downtown Bellevue is the main Eastside hub for both the local transit authority, King County Metro, and Sound Transit

Sound Transit

Sound Transit has been the popular name of Washington state's Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority since September 19, 1999. It was formed in 1996 by the Snohomish, King, and Pierce County Councils...

, the regional transit system. The Bellevue Transit Center, which serves both Metro and Sound Transit buses, is located in the heart of Downtown Bellevue and is connected to Interstate 405 by NE 6th St. with direct-access Texas-T HOV ramps. The Bellevue Transit Center will also be a stop along the East Link Light Rail Line which will open in 2021. Local buses run through Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah, Renton, and the University District; regional buses go to Bothell, Lynnwood, Everett, Seattle, Renton, Kent, Auburn and Federal Way, among other cities.

Bellevue Way is the main North-South arterial through downtown. NE 8th St. and NE 4th St. are the main East-West arterials through Downtown. As of June 2010, the 10th St. overpass is done, creating a third bridge over the freeway. They are currently working on the SR 520 Braided, which will ease the connections between downtown and I-405 and SR520.

Shopping

Anchored by The Bellevue Collection and The Shops at the Bravern, downtown Bellevue is a regional shopping destination. The Bellevue Collection is a trio of mixed-use complexes of shops, offices, hotels, and condos. Bellevue Square

Bellevue Square

Bellevue Square is a shopping center in Bellevue, eight miles east of Seattle. The mall has 180 retail stores, including anchors JCPenney, Macy's, and Nordstrom, specialty stores like LEGO, Tiffany and Co. the Apple Store, Armani Exchange and Williams-Sonoma, Lacoste, and restaurants like P.F....

, Lincoln Square

Lincoln Square (Bellevue)

Lincoln Square is a mixed-use complex located in Bellevue, Washington, completed in November 2005, and owned by prominent local developer Kemper Freeman Jr, who took over construction of the project in 2003 after several delays. Lincoln Square consists of retail and restaurant space, a 148-room...

, and Bellevue Place feature over 200 shops and restaurants, three department stores, and a 16-screen cinema.

Opened in 2009, the Bravern is a high-end complex of shops, apartments, and offices located on the eastern edge of downtown adjacent to I-405. It features the only Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...

 in the Northwest.

Parks

Downtown Park and Rose Garden is a 20 acre park located in southwest downtown Bellevue. It features a half-mile promenade flanked by shade trees along with a stepped canal, rose gardens, grassy fields, and a playground for children. Major holidays and activities are celebrated here, including the annual Symetra Family 4th of July, Summer Movie Nights, and the Group Health Ice Arena.

Economy

Downtown Bellevue is the headquarters for Paccar

PACCAR

PACCAR Inc is the third largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks in the world , and has substantial manufacture in light and medium vehicles through its various subsidiaries.-History:...

, Expedia

Expedia

Expedia is an Internet-based travel website based in the US with localised sites for 21 countries...

, Eddie Bauer

Eddie Bauer

Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. is a holding company that operates the Eddie Bauer clothing store chain, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, United States. EBH was formed after Eddie Bauer's former parent company, Spiegel, Inc., went bankrupt in 2003...

, Drugstore.com

Drugstore.com

Drugstore.com is an Internet retailer in health and beauty care products headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. Its web operations were launched on February 24, 1999....

, Infospace

InfoSpace

Infospace provides metasearch and private-label Internet search services for consumers and businesses.InfoSpace's flagship metasearch site is Dogpile; its other consumer brands are WebCrawler, Nation, DoGreatGood and MetaCrawler.-History:...

, Symetra Financial

Symetra

Symetra Financial is a United States - based family of companies providing retirement plans, employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through independent distributors nationwide....

 and Puget Sound Energy

Puget Sound Energy

Puget Sound Energy is Washington state's oldest local energy utility providing electrical power and natural gas in the Puget Sound region of the northwest United States...

. Although headquartered in the nearby suburb of Redmond

Redmond, Washington

Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 54,144 at the 2010 census,up from 45,256 in 2000....

, Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 is downtown Bellevue's largest employer with over 5,000 workers.

Buildings

Main article: List of Tallest Buildings in Bellevue