Redmond is a suburb of Seattle on the eastern shore of Lake Sammamish, best known as the global headquarters of Microsoft. Nintendo of America is also based here, as is the DigiPen Institute of Technology, one of the world's first and most respected game-development universities. Despite its corporate identity, Redmond has a pleasant core around Redmond Town Center and Marymoor Park — a 640-acre county park on the lake that hosts outdoor concerts, a velodrome, and the largest dog off-leash area in the Puget Sound region.
The Sammamish River Trail runs through town and connects to a broader trail network that extends across the Eastside. The dining scene around the Town Center is surprisingly varied for a suburb. The Microsoft campus is a short drive south. Redmond is easily reached from Seattle by light rail on the 2 Line, which opened in 2024 and terminates at the Downtown Redmond Station adjacent to the Town Center.