Federal Way, Washington has a present population of about 89,500 inhabitants. On the city's west border is the Puget Sound, whereas the city of Tacoma is south, Des Moines town in the north, and unincorporated King County, Milton and Kent in the east. The city is around 37 km south of Seattle.
Federal Way was incorporated as a city in the year 1990. The area was originally a logging community. It was called "Federal Way" after Federal Highway U.S. 99, which was built through the area in order to connect Everett and Seattle with Tacoma. The city's Chamber of Commerce assumed the name in the early 1950s.
The biggest softwood timber company within the world, Weyerhaeuser, is located within the city of Federal Way. Weyerhaeuser has dedicated a significant amount of land to public use. Some of the land is presently botanical gardens: the Rhododendron Species Foundation and Botanical Garden, and the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection. The United States head offices of World Vision are located in the city of Federal Way.
The city boasts lots of parks and playgrounds, whereas one of the most essential recreational landmarks is the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. It played host to the 1990 Goodwill Games. Celebration Park is one more important recreation facility, featuring trails and sports fields.
The city of Federal Way is the home of Wild Waves Theme Park, the largest amusement park in the area. The theme park is on the south side of the city and consists of an Enchanted Village. The park was acquired in the year 2007 by Parc Management LLC of Jacksonville, Florida, for more than 30 million dollars.
Federal Way has a lot of semi-urban development features, landscaped off-street shopping centers and multi-structure apartment complexes. Federal Way has only one indoor shopping center, Commons at Federal Way, situated on S 320th St. and Pacific Hwy South near the city's main Interstate 5 exit. A recent multi-use development is United Properties' "Symphony" project. This major downtown redevelopment project has four 15-22 story towers including a large park, 900 housing units and 5,600 m2 of retail and office space. The development is built on the property of the former AMC Theatres cinema and is convenient to the transit center of the city.