Denny Regrade

Denny Regrade is an urban neighborhood north of downtown Seattle stretching from Stewart Street to Mercer Street, mixing residential towers with shops and dining venues. The area features a level topography and mostly buildings from the late twentieth century.

City engineers completed a major project in the early 1900s to level the steep Denny Hill and reshape the street grid. This transformation enabled modern development that began with an artistic phase in the 1970s.

The neighborhood is named after James Denny, an early settler, and became a gathering place for artists and creative people after the hillside work was completed. Today, restaurants, galleries, and residential spaces define how people move through and use the area.

The neighborhood is easily walkable and sits near streetcar and bus lines connecting to downtown. Most routes are flat and level, making it easy to explore with children or older people.

The project to remove Denny Hill used an innovative method called hydraulic mining, where high-pressure water jets washed the soil away and swept it directly into the water. This was one of the largest earthmoving operations in American urban planning history.