Economy Fairwood, King County, Washington

1 economy

1.1 employment
1.2 business
1.3 fairwood library

economy
employment

residents employed @ higher rate rest of county , median income $85,000 (versus $69,000 king county). more half of workers in fairwood area work in south king county less 30-minute commute. significant number of fairwood workers in professional, management , sales jobs (70%).

business

commercial uses clustered @ main crossroads of petrovitsky road , 140th way se. commercial area supported albertsons , safeway on either side of petrovitsky, , large series of local retail , office establishments. area adjacent library has developed businesses (retail, personal , professional services), located in major shopping centers anchored chain grocery stores. closures, vacancies , new business have created changing landscape in commercial districts. there 2 large shopping centers in fairwood, located on 140th: fairwood square located north of petrovitsky , fairwood center south of petrovitsky. fairwood plaza, strip mall located further east of fairwood square north of petrovitsky. smaller strip mall, cascade center contains bowling alley , few chain stores, had featured hooters closed down.

fairwood library

− in 1964, cascade-spring glen community club requested king county library system (kcls) start library in club-owned building @ 11635 se 170th place. lease signed in november , vista library born. furnshed establishment grant washington state library , collection supplied kcls. kcls purchased vista library building in 1967 , cascade-spring glen community club donated $10,000 remodeling costs. remodeling began in february 1969 , completed in april. vista library reopened remodeled 1,440-square-foot facility on may 19, 1969, complete new landscaping donated carriage lane garden club. result of lid lift approval in march 1980, planning construction of new fairwood library , 3 other kcls buildings began. residents of fairwood had been excited prospect of new library organized committee , helped distribute 10,000 copies of flyer urging residents vote “yes” on library proposition. after lid lift passed, mithun architects chosen design new fairwood library on 140th avenue se, across entrance fairwood golf course. fairwood/vista library friends generated enormous amount of community support new building, including special book fair local authors , other special events. new 15,000-square-foot library, capacity of 90,000 items, opened door on january 21, 1986. later year, on october 4, 1986, oil painting of mount rainier byron birdsall entitled “sentinel” installed in honor of harold o. sternberg, kcls’ construction coordinator instrumental in development of fairwood library. in 1987, fairwood library won american institute of architects (aia)/american library association (ala) award of excellence design.

the library renovated in 2013/2014, increasing floor area 1/3.