Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located 15 miles (24 km) east of Seattle.

The city has a large technology industry in addition to being a bedroom community for Seattle, which lies across Lake Washington on State Route 520.

With an annual bike race on city streets and the state's only velodrome, Redmond is also known as the "Bicycle Capital of the Northwest".

The logging industry expanded significantly in 1889 when the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway built a station in the center of town.

Prohibition forced saloons to close, cutting off a large portion of the city's tax base.

The completion of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge across Lake Washington in 1963 allowed Redmond to flourish as a suburb of Seattle.

Many technology companies made the city their home, and the increasing population demanded more retail shops.

[10] Redmond underwent a commercial boom during the 1990s, primarily due to Nintendo of America and Microsoft establishing their respective headquarters within the city in 1984 and 1986 respectively, culminating in 1997 with the opening of Redmond Town Center, a major regional shopping center on the site of a long-defunct golf course.

[11] In recent years the city has seen rising traffic congestion as a result of its rapid expansion, particularly in areas of urban sprawl.

Light rail service connecting Downtown Redmond to Seattle via Sound Transit's 2 Line is scheduled to begin on May 10, 2025.

[17] The Overlake neighborhood, which also encompasses part of Bellevue, lies southwest of downtown and includes the Microsoft headquarters campus and other office complexes as well as residential areas.

Snowfall is uncommon, with the most common cold air being in a form of a high pressure system, driving out the rains from the area.

[20][failed verification] Redmond has a Mediterranean climate type (Csb), with a fairly dry summer peak.

[27] As of 2012, Microsoft has over 47,000[28] full-time employees, 45,000 contractors, and more than 8 million sq ft (740 thousand m2) of office space in the Seattle area Eastside region, primarily in Redmond, with additional offices in Bellevue and Issaquah (90,000 employees worldwide).

[citation needed] As of 2023[update], approximately 89 percent of employees for Redmond companies commute from outside the city.

[42] It began as a race around Lake Sammamish called the Redmond Bicycle Derby in 1939, and since then has become a multi-day event including a bicycle criterium, a parade, entertainment stages, a beer garden, local food offerings, a carnival, a drone light show, and other activities.

It features a special guest each year, a tree-lighting conducted by the mayor on city hall campus, a luminary walk on the Sammamish Trail and Redmond Central Connector with musical and light stations along the way to Redmond Town Center where there are many special attractions such as a carousel, skating rink and food sampling.

This market is held on Saturdays from May through October on approximately 8,000 square feet of land near the Redmond Town Center.

The City of Redmond has approved an ordinance that the current market site be preserved for its community and historic significance.

It features a climbing rock, a model airplane flying field, a 48-acre off-leash dog park, an outdoor theater, sports fields such as baseball and soccer, a playground, tennis courts, a community garden, cricket pitch, and the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome, which hosts the FSA Star Crossed – Redmond cyclo-cross competition in September.

[55] The city offers over 59 miles (95 km) of public trails for hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding.

[56] Sixty Acres Park is known for its soccer in the spring through fall and RC electric airplanes and gliders in the winter time.

[59] Redmond has a non-partisan mayor–council form of government, with the mayor and seven council members elected at-large for staggered four-year terms.

The city council authorized a ballot measure in March 2003 that would have changed Redmond to a council-manager government.

[67] DigiPen Institute of Technology, a for-profit university that focuses on video game development, moved from Vancouver to Redmond in 1998.

[68] A local community college, the Lake Washington Institute of Technology, built its Redmond campus near Marymoor Park in 2005.