Last week, I had an Uptown vs. Lower Queen Anne conversation with another Seattle native. Our conclusion–what is this Uptown crap? And how many more neighborhoods does Seattle need? We’re already sectioned off into more than 60 neighborhoods, officially listed in Wikipedia. [#] Then there are the unofficial neighborhoods:

Frelard (the area shared by Fremont and Ballard)

Freford or Wallmont (the area shared by Fremont and Wallingford)

So, am I now living in Queentown or UpAnne?!

After searching the World Wide Web for a reason behind the Uptown phenomenon, I weeded through the business listings–Uptown Coffee, Uptown Theater, Uptown Chinese, Uptown Barber–and finally found The Uptown Alliance. According to their official Web site, the neighborhood plan for Queen Anne redesignated “lower Queen Anne” as “Uptown,” in 1998. Uptown is unofficially parts of The Seattle Center and the shopping and dining district to the north and west of the Center. [#] But, Peso’s and Ozzie’s–two popular bars in the area–list their location as Queen Anne. So, are half the businesses located in Uptown and the other half in Queen Anne? And at what point am I crossing over into Queen Anne from Uptown or visa versa when walking around the neighborhood?

I live in Queen Anne. This is what I tell people when they ask, and I’m not trying to section myself off into a six-block radius. I go to upper Queen Anne for Noah’s Bagels, Elliot Bay Pizza Co, etc. and I go to lower Queen Anne for Peso’s, 10 Mercer, The Melting Pot, etc.

Seattle has enough neighborhoods, and “Uptown” seems to be just another marketing term to create buzz and perhaps sell a few more condos. Furthermore, when I asked a fellow Queen Anne local about his opinion on this matter, he said he recently came across “Midtown” when condo shopping. Apparently, Midtown is supposed to be the area on Western and Elliot that is north of Belltown. WTF?

So, Metblog readers, what is your opinion on these new neighborhoods cropping up? Uptown? Midtown? Do you consider these legitimate neighborhoods of Seattle?