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First things first: Capitol Hill is not the official capital of
anything. Legend has it that city planners hoped the state capital
would move there from Olympia, but a more likely story is that
turn-of-the-century developers wanted a fancy name for their real
estate projects. Instead, the neighborhood (the only hill in town that
can be referred to simply as “The Hill”) has become the capital of the
city’s culture.
While Capitol Hill is often thought of as Seattle’s gay
neighborhood, it has always had a broader cultural identity (unlike The
Castro in San Francisco), serving as the heart of the early 90s grunge
movement, home to the city’s most vibrant nightlife, and center of
Seattle’s famous coffee culture. From cult movies at midnight at The Egyptian to salsa dancing at the Century Ballroom
to carousing at any one of a hundred bars, Capitol Hill has something
for everyone. The Hill is also home to an ascendant performance arts
movement, as seen in the Northwest Film Forum, the Northwest Actors Studio, and dozens of independent recording studios.
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