About RNA

The Ridgecrest Neighborhood Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable and educational organization. Our mission is to inform and educate the public on matters relating to the community, and promote projects that benefit and enhance the quality of life in the Ridgecrest neighborhood.

The neighborhood of Ridgecrest is just north of Seattle and just east of I-5. Its north border is NE 175th Street and its east border is 15th Avenue NE.

Board Meetings

Our monthly board meetings are open to the public. They are held on the second Tuesdays of the month from 7-9pm

What We Do

Like all good associations, the RNA has a purpose. Ours is to serve Ridgecrest in three ways.

1. By informing and educating the public on matters relating to the community.

2. Promoting projects that benefit and enhance the quality of life in the Ridgecrest Neighborhood.

3. Providing representation for the interaction with Council of Neighborhoods and the City of Shoreline.

We host forums and meetings as needed to provide information such as:

• Candidate forums

• Capital improvement projects

• Traffic, transportation, and safety issues

• We plan and coordinate events

• Track issues of interest in the neighborhood

• Maintain the quality of life in the neighborhood

The Board and Election of Officers

The Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer (known as the Executive Board) are elected by the membership at the general membership meeting each May. Any resident of legal voting age is accorded one vote per person, with the exception of  group or family homes, which will be accorded one vote per business or organization.

Ridgecrest History

One of the first European settler homes constructed in Ridgecrest is a log cabin built in 1933 from trees logged from the property near NE 155th and 5th Avenue NE, where it still stands occupied.

The first major housing development in the Ridgecrest went in right after World War II ended, as they did all over the Seattle area at the time. Returning soldiers could purchase any one of the 100 houses that were built in 100 days between 5th and 10th Avenue NE and NE 155th Street and NE 165th Street. So many families with school age children moved to the neighborhood that the newly completed Ridgecrest Elementary School in the middle of the neighborhood had to run double shifts. A small commercial area went in at the intersection of NE 165th Street and 5th Avenue NE, and it included a grocery store, hardware store, movie theater, gas station and auto shop, department store, hair salons, and convenience store and more. The businesses changed over the years, especially after I-5 cut off the commercial area from the neighborhoods to the west.

By 2023, Sound Transit light rail stations will be completed at the SW corner of Ridgecrest and about ten blocks north of Ridgecrest. A large section of Ridgecrest has been rezoned to allow for denser and diverse housing and more commercial development. Via the “145th Street” light rail station, it will take 11 minutes to get from Ridgecrest to UW, 18 minutes to downtown Seattle, and 51 minutes to the Sea-Tac Airport.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Ridgecrest had a strong neighborhood organization which owned its own park, tennis courts and community club building. Today’s Ridgecrest Neighborhood Association is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the mission to continue efforts to make Ridgecrest a great place to live through public events and civic involvement.