The townhouse we are in the process of buying is apparently in Mt. Baker and not Columbia City. At least if one goes by “standard” neighborhood maps. It definitely is a lot closer to Mt. Baker than Columbia City. It was advertised as being in latter.
I think Mt. Baker is normally thought of as the area a bit farther north and much closer to Lake Washington. That area is very residential and has these really nice boulevards and is more well-to-do. Whereas the townhouse is much closer to Rainier Ave, the main artery, and as such is more mixed urban business and residential and not nearly as nice… hence it is feasible for developers to buy parcels, tear down whatever was on them (or just clean up the junky lots), and build, say, new “affordable” townhouses. I suppose the area’s flavor is more Columbia City rather than Mt. Baker.
It’s interesting how the name of a neighborhood can affect ones perception and/or affect reality. Capitol Hill and the Central District are separated by Madison Avenue, a major road, but still only 3 or 4 lanes, but in that small distance the flavor of the neighborhoods change.
Our apartment building did not want to associate itself with the Central District and calls itself “the Summit at Madison Park” which is pretty silly since Madison Park is all the way down by Lake Washington; there aren’t really fooling anyone.