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The West Seattle Junction may be the only intersection in Seattle where pedestrians can walk all ways across the street when they get the signal. If these things are any indication of the hipness of a neighborhood, one can deduce that the Junction must be one of the coolest places to live in Seattle, right?
People certainly agreed with that sentiment in the early 1900s. When two streetcar lines were finally constructed in 1907 along Alaska Street and California Avenue, their intersection—the Junction—was developed faster than any neighborhood in Seattle’s history. Times got tough during the great depression in the 1930s, but soon rebounded with the advent of the automobile. This was when the All Way Walk signal made its debut—too many cars were competing with too many pedestrians. And although there were a few more blips in the neighborhood’s success here and there, it’s safe to say that today, West Seattle is established and here to stay.