- Lake City is a northeastern Seattle neighborhood located between Interstate 5 and Lake Washington, and stretching from NE 85th Street to the Seattle City line at NE 145th Street. The automobile defined Lake City. Instead of small communities growing up around trolley stops such as in the Rainier Valley, Lake City grew in a line. Businesses popped up along the roadside, with no particular point becoming the center. The community did not lack focus, however, and it proved itself capable of responding to its needs, whether it was to build a library, buy an ambulance, create a business district, or protect the environment.