Seattle Neighborhoods: Central Area — Thumbnail History (historylink.org) The Central Area of Seattle lies midway between the Central Business District and Lake Washington and is the city’s oldest surviving residential area. Sometimes known as the Central District, or affectionately by African Americans as the CD or the Colored District, it is bounded by East Madison on the north, Jackson Street on the south, 12th Avenue on the west and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way on the east.