Culture

Large-scale gay residential settlement of Capitol Hill began in the early 1960s. Accordingly, this district is home to a sizable number of gay and lesbian couples making Capitol Hill Seattle's "gayborhood".^[10]
Capitol Hill has a reputation as a bastion of musical culture in Seattle and is the neighborhood most closely associated with the grunge scene from the early 1990s, although most of the best-known music venues of that era were actually located slightly outside the neighborhood. The music scene has transformed since those days and now a variety of genres (electronica, rock, punk, folk, salsa, hip hop and trance) are represented.

A club from a much earlier era: a sign over the rear door of the Harvard Exit Theatre recognizes the Woman's Century Club, founded in 1891; the club constructed the building in 1925 to serve as its clubhouse, and still meets there regularly.

The neighborhood figures prominently in nightlife and entertainment, with many bars hosting live music and with numerous fringe theatres. Most of the Hill's major thoroughfares are dotted with coffeehouses, taverns and bars, and residences cover the gamut from modest motel-like studio apartment buildings to some of the city's most historic mansions, with the two types sometimes shoulder-to-shoulder.
Capitol Hill is also home to two of the city's best-known movie theaters, both of which are part of the Landmark Theatres chain. Both theaters are architectural conversions of private meeting halls: the Harvard Exit (now closed permanently) in the former home of the Woman's Century Club (converted in the early 1970s) and the Egyptian Theatre, in a former Masonic lodge (converted in the mid-1980s). There is also Seattle's only cinematheque, the Northwest Film Forum, which in addition to screening films, teaches classes on filmmaking and produces film alongside Seattle's burgeoning filmmaking community. The Broadway Performance Hall, located on the campus of Seattle Central College (SCC), also hosts a variety of lectures, performances, and films. These theaters respectively host showings for the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) and the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival every year.
The Capitol Hill Arts District, a collaborative project between the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the Capitol Hill Housing Foundation, and the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. It is the first arts district in Seattle and contains over 40 arts organizations, including galleries, retail stores, studios, performance venues, and more.^[11]

Coffeehouses

Main article: Coffee in Seattle

Stacks of coffee beans ready for roasting at Caffé Vita

Besides the large Seattle-based chains—Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee (now owned by Starbucks), and Tully's Coffee—Capitol Hill has been home to some of the city's most prominent locally owned coffeehouses. The neighborhood is considered a test market for coffee houses by Starbucks Corporation.