- Phinney Ridge is a neighborhood in north central Seattle, Washington, United States. It is named after the ridge which runs north and south, separating Ballard from Green Lake, from approximately N. 45th to N. 80th Street. The ridge, in turn, is named after Guy C. Phinney, lumber mill owner and real estate developer, whose estate was bought by the city and turned into Woodland Park in 1899. Phinney’s estate had included a private menagerie, and the western half of the park became what is now the Woodland Park Zoo.