Bellevue is the fifth largest city in Washington, with a population of more than 122,000. It is the high-tech and retail center of the Eastside, with a skyline of gleaming high-rises.

While business booms downtown, much of Bellevue retains a small-town feel, with thriving, woodsy neighborhoods and a vast network of green spaces and recreational facilities that keep people calling the place “a city in a park.”

The city spans more than 31 square miles between Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish, and is a short drive from the Cascade Mountains. People can kayak within sight of downtown in the Mercer Slough Nature Park, a 320-acre wetland preserve.

Sales at local shopping complexes are always an attraction as is the Bellevue Botanical Garden.