Burien, Washington

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Burien, Washington
settlement_type = City
nickname =
motto =

imagesize =
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mapsize = 250px
map_caption = Location of Burien, Washington


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =

subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Washington
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = King

government_footnotes =
government_type = Council-manager form
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Joan McGilton (Ceremonial)
leader_title1 = City Council
leader_name1 = Seven at large members (four year terms): Joan McGilton, Rose Clark, Sue Blazak, Kathy Keene, Lucy Krakowiac, Sally Nelson, Gordon Shaw
leader_title2 = City Manager
leader_name2 = Mike Martin
established_title =
established_date =
unit_pref = Imperial
area_footnotes =
area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 34.3
area_land_km2 = 19.3
area_water_km2 = 15.0
area_total_sq_mi = 13.2
area_land_sq_mi = 7.4
area_water_sq_mi = 5.8

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 31881
population_density_km2 = 1655.2
population_density_sq_mi = 4287.0

timezone = Pacific (PST)
utc_offset = -8
timezone_DST = PDT
utc_offset_DST = -7
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 115
elevation_ft = 377
latd = 47 |latm = 28 |lats = 6 |latNS = N
longd = 122 |longm = 20 |longs = 44 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP codes
postal_code = 98100-98199
area_code = 206
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 53-08850GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 1534570GR|3
website =
footnotes =

Burien is a city located in King County, Washington, just south of Seattle. The population was 31,881 in the 2000 census.

History

European settlement in the Burien area dates to 1870, when Mike Kelly walked up a hill from the Seattle, South Seattle area. When he emerged from the trees he said, "This is truly a sunny dale." Still today, the Burien area is called Sunnydale. He claimed a convert|160|acre|km2|1|sing=on plot of land and built a house and a farm.

Ten years later, Gottlieb Von Boorian, a German immigrant, arrived in Sunnydale. At this point, the community was only trails and small houses. There were no roads or non-residential buildings. Von Boorian built a cabin on the southeast corner of Lake Burien and also was said to have formed the community into a town bearing his name. "(It has been misspelled over the years.)" A real estate office was built and soon more people began pouring in to Burien.

In the early 1900s, people of Seattle came by the Mosquito Fleet to Three Tree Point, just west of town to sunbathe and swim.

In 1915, the Burien railroad was completed. It ran on what is today Ambaum Boulevard from Burien to White Center to Seattle. A small passenger train ran the tracks and was affectionately named by the residents, The Toonerville Trolley. However in the summer, squished caterpillars made the track slippery, and in the winter, the tracks iced over. Soon the Toonerville Trolley was more of a nuisance than anything and it was removed.

Burien was an unincorporated portion of King County prior to February 28, 1993, when it incorporated as a city. There had been previous attempts to incorporate the greater Burien area, but those efforts failed. In late 1980's and early 1990's, citizens felt they needed a more responsive government to help address the looming threat of the Port of Seattle's runway expansion to the west (known as the "Third Runway").

Citizens also felt that multi-family apartments and dwellings had proliferated out of control in the unincorporated parts of King County, and they had no local voice in government (other than the King County Council) to curb the building of apartment complexes.

Late in 2004, the City was assessing the possibility of annexing North Highline (which includes White Center and Boulevard Park), "one of the largest unincorporated areas of King County," which would double the size of Burien. Many citizens have spoken against the annexation and have created picket signs and petitions to protest against it.

In May 2008, the Burien City Council proposed an annexation of the southern portion of North Highline, comprising 14,000 residents. Voters in this area are expected to decide whether or not to join Burien in February 2009.

Current Burien

Burien's downtown area is currently undergoing several renovations which will be completed in 2009. These renovations include an entire rebuild of a stretch of 1st Avenue South from 160th St to 148th st. In addition, a new towncenter is under construction that will include a new Burien Library, convert|70000|sqft|m2|-3 of retail space, and more than 400 condominiums with a plaza/park area in the middle and a parking garage below.

The city is served by the Highline Times (est.1945), a community weekly newspaper owned by Robinson Newspapers. It is a subscriber based publication with limited free distribution.

chools

Burien is served by the Highline School District and is home to Highline High School and Sylvester Middle School in addition to several elementary schools.

It is also the home of many Catholic schools, including John F. Kennedy Memorial High School and St. Francis of Assisi.

Geography

Burien is located at coor dms|47|28|6|N|122|20|44|W|city (47.468221, -122.345491)GR|1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.2 square miles (34.2 km²), of which, 7.4 square miles (19.3 km²) of it is land and 5.8 square miles (15.0 km²) of it (43.80%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 31,881 people, 13,399 households, and 8,066 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,287.0 people per square mile (1,654.5/km²). There were 13,898 housing units at an average density of 1,868.9/sq mi (721.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 75.74% White, 5.14% African American, 1.29% Native American, 7.00% Asian, 1.16% Pacific Islander, 5.40% from other races, and 4.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.66% of the population.

There were 13,399 households out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.5% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,577, and the median income for a family was $53,814. Males had a median income of $39,248 versus $29,694 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,737. About 6.9% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.1% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

In the 2004 US presidential election, Burien cast 63.07% of its vote for Democrat John Kerry [http://www.uselectionatlas.org/] .

References

External links

* [http://www.b-townblog.com The B-Town Blog - Local Blog]
* [http://www.highlinetimes.com Highline Times - Local newspaper website]
* [http://www.burienwa.gov Burien's city government website]
* [http://www.burienparks.net Burien Parks & Recreation Department]
* [http://www.thelefebvreteam.com Burien Real Estate]