Newport Crossing - Newcastle, WA Area Guide

Newport Crossing lies in Newcastle, named after Newcastle upon Tyne in England. Originally a coal mining town founded in the 1870s after coal was discovered in 1863, Newcastle produced 75 to 100 tons of coal daily by 1872. The Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, the first in King County, was built from Seattle to Newcastle in the late 19th century. Coal mining ended in 1963. Unincorporated within King County until Sept. 30, 1994, the city acts now as a suburban community, including the popular neighborhood of Newport Crossing. Local activities include the Golf Club at Newcastle, a new Family YMCA, Lake Boren Park, a well-developed trail system and nearby Cougar Mountain.

Couger Mountain and Coal Creek Park provide residents with a golden opportunity to visit their neighborhood's coal mining past. The Baima House is the last remaining mining house of the Pacific Coast Coal Company.

There annual Christmas Ship Festival upon Puget Sound attracts locals and visitors every December, with holiday season entertainment benefiting the Seattle Times’ Fund for the Needy. Community Events at Lake Boren include Concerts in the Park Series, 4th of July and Newcastle Days.

Within the town of Newcastle, Newport Crossing lies close to a variety of national restaurants with incredible reviews for menus and customer service alike. Yea’s Wok and Tapatio Mexican Grill prove to be two very popular nearby locations, just down the street from Newport Crossing. Yea’s Wok remains well known for its General Tso’s Chicken, with other reviews claiming the various menu items to be perfectly cooked. Tapatio’s Mexican Grill, a family owned diner, remains popular for fresh, homemade chips and salsa in addition to an amazingly family friendly atmosphere and staff.

With Newport Crossing as a neighborhood within the suburban community of Newcastle, there is not a long list of boisterous bars and clubs for the local nightlife, but a short trip into Seattle provides the dance club of Bollywood Dreams Entertainment if an active night out of dancing is on your schedule. There exist plenty of locations close to Newport Crossing available for happy hour and casual socialization, such as The Wooly Toad at the Golf Club at Newcastle, including a friendly atmosphere with fireplace and pool table to add to the drinks. There is also the Calcutta Grill at the golf club, which provides a few specialty drinks after golf or before dinner.

Most common in Newport Crossing and Newcastle is a single drive to work between 20 and 30 minutes within the Seattle area. Just 2 miles from Interstate 405, there exists easy access to any worker’s commute. In addition to easy biking and walking around Newport Crossing, discover easy access to King County Metro with bus lines all around the Seattle area, as well as other options, including a water taxi and rail system. With many commute options available for individual and regular riders, monthly passes and discounts for students and daily express route riders remain available.

There are numerous transportation options around Greater Seattle for limousines and shuttles to the airport, and a few taxi services as well, available for a late night ride home when necessary. Seattle Limousine & Towncar proves available 24/7 as well as Brookwood Limousine & Towncar, with both services in receipt of five-star ratings from customers. Though not as well-recognized locally, Uber transportation remains available all over the Seattle area, offering a downloadable phone application of use in scheduling last-minute rides.

Close to Newport Crossing, you can find quite a few local Newcastle parks open to the public for fun outdoor activity and recreation. May Creek, a park along the southern edge of Newcastle, proves popular as one of the few large, undeveloped, wooded parks left in the city and remains known for its beauty and open space for the community.

Lake Boren Park, an active local area, features walking paths, children’s play areas, picnic shelters, a fishing dock, two tennis courts, a basketball court, and a sand volleyball court. Picnic shelters can be reserved for your personal events, with your choice of location by the playground or the tennis and basketball courts.

Just north of Lake Boren Park, the Historic Coal Miner’s Cemetery, a historical monument, opens on major holidays for local recognition.

An average one-bedroom Newport Crossing apartment rental rate comes in at $1,217, with various other rental options within the neighborhood and around Newcastle. The Newcastle cost of living ranks 48 percent higher than the Washington average, with the higher property value and cost as greatest contribution to that difference.

Gas typically sells at about 9 percent above national average.

For those wishing to commute into downtown Seattle and other surrounding suburban areas, the various King County Metro Services offer an average fare of $2.50, with discounts and passes available for various individuals across different routes. After work, look for local diners and pubs on the way back to Newport Crossing, which average about $4 for a domestic draft beer, with other happy hour specialties available all week long.

With the large QFC grocery and pharmacy available near Newport Crossing in Newcastle, there are also many other quality markets and boutiques for unique shopping journeys.

The Newcastle Fruit & Produce Co. sells both fresh market produce and nursery plants for your home garden. With several other specialty shops listed around the Seattle area, the family friendly Newcastle Jewelers remain known for looking out especially for the needs of customers. Travel a little further to Bellevue to the Wardrobe Genie for unique clothing for the whole family, as well as plenty of other shops around the Greater Seattle area for specialty men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and accessories alike.