Quick Answer: Silver Lake is a family-friendly neighborhood in southeast Everett anchored by a glacier-formed lake with three connected parks, a loop trail, and seasonal outdoor events. With about 22,000 residents, a strong neighborhood association, and the laid-back feeling of a lakeside community inside a mid-size city, Silver Lake is one of Everett’s most livable spots.

Living in Silver Lake: Everett’s Neighborhood With an Actual Lake in the Middle of It

There’s something a little unusual about Silver Lake that takes a moment to fully register when you first move to Everett: it’s a neighborhood named after a lake that actually exists, right in the middle of it. That sounds obvious, but in a region full of neighborhoods named after features that were paved over decades ago, Silver Lake delivers. The water is real, the parks around it are real, and the sense of community that’s built up around both is very much real.

Located in the southeastern part of the city, Silver Lake is one of Everett’s larger neighborhoods with roughly 22,000 residents. It doesn’t have the boutique-y trendiness of some Everett spots closer to downtown, and it doesn’t try to. What it has is a quiet, family-friendly character built around a genuine natural amenity — and a community that takes that seriously.

The Lake That Started It All

Silver Lake itself is a glacial lake, formed over 10,000 years ago when the glaciers that shaped this whole region retreated north. The lake once supported silver salmon populations — which is how it got its name. Those salmon runs are long gone, but the lake remains the physical and social heart of the neighborhood.

Three parks ring the water and connect via the Silver Lake Loop trail, a walking and biking path that makes a full circuit around the lake:

• Thornton A. Sullivan Park — on the west shore, this is the social hub of the lake. It has picnic shelters, a sandy beach, and a seasonal swimming area. On Friday nights in July and August, it hosts “Cinema Under the Stars,” a free outdoor movie series that draws families from across the area.
• Hauge Homestead Park — on the southeast shore, with car-top boat launch access for kayakers, canoeists, and small watercraft.
• Green Lantern Park — on the northeast side, popular with anglers who know the good fishing spots along this stretch of the bank.

In summer, the lake comes alive with canoe races and miniature hydroplane races that launch from Sullivan Park — the kind of local tradition that sounds charmingly old-fashioned until you’re standing on the bank watching it happen and realize this is just what Everett neighborhoods do when they have a lake.

What the Neighborhood Is Actually Like

Silver Lake is the kind of neighborhood that tops the “dog friendly,” “family friendly,” and “peaceful” lists on community platforms like Nextdoor — and means it. The streets surrounding the lake are mostly residential, with the kind of mix of mid-century homes and more recent construction that defines much of Everett’s southeast side. The vibe skews quiet and outdoorsy.

The neighborhood is well-served for daily needs. Pinehurst-Beverly Park neighbors to the south, and the broader corridor along 19th Avenue SE and Airport Road keeps grocery stores, pharmacies, and the usual suburban commercial mix within a short drive.

What Silver Lake is most consistently praised for: the trail. The Silver Lake Loop gives residents a car-free path around an actual lake within walking distance of most homes in the neighborhood. In a city where most “nature access” means driving to a state park, having a loop trail out the front door is a genuine quality-of-life feature that residents don’t take for granted.

The Neighborhood Association

Silver Lake has an active neighborhood group — the Silver Lake Neighborhood Group — which maintains a presence online and holds regular meetings for residents who want to stay connected to what’s happening in the area. The group has done historical documentation work, including video presentations featuring research into the neighborhood’s past, going back to when land titles were first issued in the 1890s.

The neighborhood is also engaged with environmental stewardship of the lake itself. Snohomish County provides a lake health report card for Silver Lake, and the community participates in protection initiatives to keep water quality high. When a lake is the center of your neighborhood’s identity, you tend to care about what goes into it.

If you want to get involved, the Silver Lake Neighborhood Group is easy to find via the City of Everett’s Office of Neighborhoods, or through their Facebook and social media presence.

Getting There and Getting Around

Silver Lake sits in the southeastern quadrant of Everett, roughly bounded by Highway 99 to the west and Interstate 5 to the east, which makes it genuinely accessible for commuters heading both directions. The Everett Station area and downtown are about a 15-minute drive north. South Everett’s commercial corridor is close, and the Alderwood Mall area in Lynnwood is reachable without much highway pain.

For families with school-age kids, Silver Lake is served by Everett Public Schools, which is currently in the process of planning its next three-year strategic direction — meaning there’s an active window for community involvement in how the district serves neighborhoods like this one. Watch for announcements at everettsd.org.

What Makes Silver Lake Worth Knowing About

Everett has 21 neighborhoods, and each one has something that makes it worth knowing. Silver Lake’s thing is this: it’s the neighborhood where nature isn’t a weekend trip — it’s Tuesday evening. It’s the family on the loop trail after dinner. It’s the fishing at Green Lantern Park on a Saturday morning. It’s Cinema Under the Stars on a warm July night when the water is still and the whole neighborhood shows up with blankets and lawn chairs.

It’s a neighborhood that has figured out what it wants to be and is quietly, steadily being it. That’s rarer than it sounds.

For more information on Silver Lake’s neighborhood group, visit silverlakewa.org. For parks information, visit everettwa.gov/parks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Answer: Everett launched a new format for neighborhood engagement in February 2026, replacing individual association visits from city officials with annual districtwide meetings that bring all neighborhood groups in a council district together at once. The first meeting drew about 60 residents to the Cascade Boys and Girls Club in District 2, with Mayor Cassie Franklin, Police Chief Robert Goetz, and Council Member Paula Rhyne attending.

Everett Is Changing How It Talks to Neighborhoods — Here’s What That Means for You

Something shifted in how Everett connects with its residents this past February, and if you’re involved in any of the city’s neighborhood associations — or you’ve been meaning to get involved — it’s worth understanding what changed and why it matters.

For years, city officials made the rounds by visiting individual neighborhood associations, showing up at separate meetings across all 19 groups scattered through Everett’s five council districts. It was well-intentioned, but it meant the same officials repeating the same updates dozens of times while different neighborhood groups often didn’t know what was happening two blocks away. The city piloted a new approach this year, and if it takes hold, it could genuinely change how engaged Everett residents feel in their own neighborhoods.

What the New Format Looks Like

On February 24, 2026, the city held its first districtwide neighborhood meeting at the Cascade Boys and Girls Club in District 2. Instead of sending officials out to individual neighborhood associations one at a time, the new model convenes all neighborhood groups within a single council district together in one room, once a year.

About 60 residents turned out for that first meeting — not a massive crowd, but a meaningful one for a pilot format. Attending alongside neighbors from across District 2 were Mayor Cassie Franklin, District 2 City Council Member Paula Rhyne, and Police Chief Robert Goetz.

The idea is simple: equitable engagement. Every neighborhood in a district hears the same information at the same time, from the same officials. Nobody gets the mayor’s visit and nobody gets left with just a staffer. The individual neighborhood associations still hold their regular meetings independently — this annual districtwide gathering is an addition, not a replacement.

What They Actually Talked About

The February meeting covered a lot of ground — these weren’t soft, feel-good topics. Officials addressed immigration enforcement response, housing policy, youth safety, traffic safety, economic development, and the city’s drones-as-first-responders program.

Council Member Rhyne went into specifics about a significant challenge ahead: Everett is facing an anticipated $14 million general fund shortfall heading into 2027. Rhyne outlined potential paths to close that gap, including regionalizing library and fire services or implementing a targeted property tax levy increase for parks or public safety.

Mayor Franklin added that if additional funding does materialize, the city intends to maintain and expand services — extending library hours was one specific example she mentioned.

These are real conversations about real tradeoffs, held in a room with the people most affected by them. That’s exactly the kind of civic engagement Everett neighborhoods have asked for.

Why This Change Matters for Neighborhood Life

Everett has 19 active neighborhood associations spanning five council districts. They range in size and energy — some run robust programs, others are smaller groups that meet a few times a year. The challenge has always been making sure every neighborhood feels like it has a real channel to city leadership, not just the ones with the loudest voices or the most organized association leadership.

The districtwide format addresses that in a couple of ways. First, it puts neighbors from different associations in the same room, which tends to surface shared concerns that individual groups might not realize are city-wide. Second, it makes city officials directly accountable to a broader cross-section of residents at once, rather than managing separate narratives with each group.

Council Member Rhyne also mentioned preliminary work toward annexing southern Everett areas — a process that, if it happens, would likely span several years. That’s exactly the kind of long-horizon planning news that neighbors need to hear early, not after decisions are already made.

What About Your Neighborhood Association?

Your neighborhood association isn’t going anywhere. This new districtwide meeting is meant to complement, not replace, the regular work of neighborhood groups. If anything, it gives associations a better reason to stay active and connected — because now there’s an annual districtwide event where their voices contribute to a larger district-level conversation.

Everett’s 19 neighborhood associations are:

Bayside, Boulevard Bluffs, Cascade View, Delta, Evergreen, Glacier View, Harborview-Seahurst-Glenhaven, Holly, Lowell, Northwest, Pinehurst-Beverly Park, Port Gardner, Riverside, Silver Lake, South Forest Park, Twin Creeks, Valley View-Sylvan Crest-Larimer Ridge, View Ridge-Madison, and Westmont.

If you’re not sure which association covers your block, the City’s Office of Neighborhoods keeps an updated map and contact list. You can reach them at (425) 257-7112 or nwebber@everettwa.gov, or visit everettwa.gov/neighborhoods.

The Bigger Vision: One Everett

Mayor Franklin has been using the phrase “One Everett” to describe her administration’s approach to the city. The districtwide neighborhood meeting format fits squarely into that framing — the idea that city leadership should be equally accessible across all neighborhoods, not just the ones that are easiest to reach or most organized.

Whether this pilot format becomes permanent depends on how well it works. If turnout grows and the conversations it generates prove more productive than the old model, it seems likely to continue and expand. If you care about how your neighborhood connects to city government, showing up to the next one in your district is the most direct way to have a say in whether this experiment succeeds.

How to Stay Informed

Watch for announcements about upcoming districtwide meetings at everettwa.gov and through your neighborhood association. The city also offers email and text notifications for neighborhood-specific updates — you can subscribe on the city’s website. Your neighborhood association is often the fastest way to hear about these events, which is one more reason to stay connected to yours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Answer: Everett is investing $940,000 to renovate the 19-year-old playground at Garfield Park in the Riverside neighborhood. Construction is scheduled for late spring or early fall 2026, with new slides, climbers, a zip track, expanded swings, shade structures, and fully accessible play surfaces replacing the existing equipment.

Garfield Park Is Getting a Major Makeover: What Riverside Neighbors Need to Know

If you’ve watched kids clamber over the aging wooden structure at Garfield Park and thought, “that thing’s been there forever” — you’re not wrong. The playground at 2300 Walnut Street in Everett’s Riverside neighborhood has been serving families for nearly two decades, and the City of Everett has decided it’s time for a serious upgrade. A $940,000 renovation is now officially planned for 2026, and the new setup is going to be genuinely exciting for families in north Everett.

This isn’t a patch job. It’s a full rethink of one of Riverside’s most beloved community spaces.

What’s Actually Being Built

The renovation will completely replace the existing playground equipment while staying within the park’s current footprint. Here’s what’s coming:

• Multiple slides and climbing structures designed for different ages and abilities
• A dedicated play area for ages 2–5, so the littlest ones have space designed just for them
• A cable-free zip track ride — the kind of feature that instantly becomes every kid’s favorite thing in the park
• Expanded swings, including accessible options
• Integrated shade structures, because Everett summers do get warm and shaded play areas make a real difference for families spending hours outside
• New play turf surfacing replacing the old wood fiber, for better safety and cleaner footing year-round

Inclusive play features are woven throughout the entire design — not tucked into one corner as an afterthought. Cory Rettenmeier, Everett’s recreation and golf manager, emphasized the city’s focus on “improved safety, accessibility and cleanliness” as the core goals driving the new design.

When Will Construction Happen?

The city is targeting late spring 2026 for construction to begin, though the actual start date depends on permitting timelines and how long it takes for the custom playground equipment to be fabricated and delivered. If permitting stretches longer than expected, the city has said it will keep the current playground open through summer so families aren’t without the space during the busiest season — then begin construction once local schools are back in session in the fall.

Either way, the goal is to have the new playground complete and open before the end of 2026.

The Community Had a Say

The design wasn’t created in a vacuum. The City worked with the Riverside Neighborhood Association and gathered input through community surveys before finalizing the plans. That process shaped the emphasis on inclusivity and age-specific play zones — things Riverside families said they wanted.

This is the kind of civic engagement that makes a difference. When neighbors show up for their neighborhood association and respond to surveys, the parks department takes note. The new Garfield Park playground reflects what this particular community asked for.

A Little History on Garfield Park

Garfield Park has deep roots in the Riverside neighborhood. It was established in 1931 when the Riverside Chamber of Commerce purchased the land and donated it to the city of Everett — a genuinely community-driven founding that set the tone for what the park has always been. The park underwent major renovations in the 1970s and again in the early 2000s. This 2026 project marks its third significant transformation in nearly a century.

The park itself offers more than just the playground — there’s open green space, picnic areas, and the kind of neighborhood-scale gathering place that doesn’t get enough credit until it’s gone. The playground renovation is the centerpiece of this round of improvements, but Garfield Park as a whole remains one of north Everett’s most consistent community anchors.

The Bigger Picture: Everett Investing in Its Parks

This project is part of a broader commitment by the City of Everett to upgrade its parks infrastructure. Garfield Park’s $940,000 renovation sits alongside other planned improvements across the city’s parks system for 2026. For families in Riverside, it’s a tangible sign that the neighborhood is getting real investment — not just in roads and utilities, but in the green spaces where everyday life actually happens.

Everett’s Parks & Facilities Department can be reached at 425-257-8300 or recreation@everettwa.gov if you have questions about the project timeline or want to stay updated on construction progress.

What to Expect as a Neighbor

Once construction begins, the playground area will be closed for the duration of the project. The city has been thoughtful about minimizing disruption — that’s the reason for the potential late spring or fall start, whichever avoids peak summer use. For families in Riverside who rely on Garfield Park as part of their daily routine, it’s worth knowing that the closure, when it comes, will be temporary and the result will be worth the wait.

Keep an eye on everettwa.gov/parks and the city’s official news feed for construction updates as permits move forward.

Frequently Asked Questions