Where is 4-Corners?

Yahoo maps satellite view of 4-Corners business district

By Diane Hettrick

Because of Shoreline's history as "unincorporated King county," little business districts dot the city. After much debate in the years after Shoreline incorporated, it was decided to designate and zone the center of the city at 175th and Aurora as Shoreline Town Center, but to allow the small business districts to remain.

The City, upon incorporation, wanted to continue to foster the strong citizen participation which guided incorporation, and created formal neighborhood boundaries and names. Shoreline has 14 neighborhoods (information here).

Some of those neighborhood boundaries divided the small business districts. The most awkward division came at the shopping centers on Richmond Beach Road between 8th NW and roughly 3rd NW. Sometimes called the QFC Center for the largest tenant, it is often referred to as Richmond Beach.

However, the businesses are not in Richmond Beach. West of 8th NW, Richmond Beach road splits, with one branch going into Innis Arden and the other into the Richmond Beach neighborhood.

The shopping area is in Hillwood (north of Richmond Beach Road) and Richmond Highlands (south of Richmond Beach Road). 

When the citizen committee from four neighborhoods was formed to create the Brew Fest event, they ran into the problem of explaining who they were. They solved the problem by creating the name 4-Corners to equally honor all the involved neighborhoods.

The four neighborhoods meet at the 5-way intersection at 8th NW, Richmond Beach Rd, and Innis Arden Rd: Hillwood, Richmond Highlands, Richmond Beach, and Innis Arden.

It's a name which has been embraced by area businesses, as it creates a recognizable identity without promoting a particular business. The name refers to a business area, not a specific neighborhood.