Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a with a population of 122,363 at the 2010 census.
Prior to the economic downturn of 2008, downtown Bellevue was undergoing rapid change, with many high rise projects under construction. It is currently the second largest city center in Washington state with over 35,000 employees and 5,000 residents. Based on per capita income, Bellevue is the 6th wealthiest of 522 communities in the state of Washington. In 2008, Bellevue was named number 1 in CNNMoney’s list of the best places to live and launch a business. More recently, Bellevue was ranked as the 4th best place to live in America. The name “Bellevue” is French for “beautiful view”.