This is pretty simple. In Seattle, about 99% of the time "Streets" run east-west, and "Avenues" run north-south. Often (but far less predictably) windy or diagonal routes are "Road" or "Way."
SeattleBrad, you should fix your example. "NE 65th Ave" does not exist in Seattle; it is NE 65th St.
The city is roughly broken up into a big 3x3 tic-tac-toe board. Streets in the upper left corner get a "NW" prefix (avenues get a "NW" suffix). Streets in the lower middle box get "S" and so on. Streets in the central box don't have any prefix or suffix.
The dividing lines for the tic-tac-toe board are... top: ship canal - Denny - ship canal bottom: Yesler way left: Greenwood ave/Queen Anne ave right: (approximately) I-5
Bonus facts SW: West Seattle SE: Mercer Island (or Bellevue)
In King County addressing, anything east of 100th Ave is a NE/SE address -- Mercer Island is the exception to the rule, though I couldn't explain why that is. Yesler is the dividing line for the county between N and S addressing.
And thanks for clearing up the Avenue/Street directional thing. I was going to, but you beat me to it!
It's a 3x4 grid, actually, Ross. 3 sections E-W by 4 N-S, with 2 sections missing (SE, and directly west of downtown). The 3rd dividing line is the ship canal.
Observe: Montlake (south of ship canal, north of Denny) uses the E direction on streets and avenues. The University District (north of the ship canal) uses NE. Similarly with Magnolia (W) and Ballard (NW).
The fact you may not have noticed (and it took me years) is that there is a part of town (north of Denny, south of the ship canal, east of Queen Anne Ave and W of Eastlake) where Avenues have the 'N' designation, but streets have no directional designation. So, for example, the QFC near Seattle Center is at 5th Ave N and Mercer St (*not* N Mercer St.)
The Belltown mnemonic I learned starts at the north and misses the two shortest streets: "Cedar Vine climbs up the Wall", "Battery, Bell, Blanchard" (the 3 B's, in alphabetical order), and the similar-sounding "Lenora - Virginia". Take that for what it's worth.
The first time I came to Seattle, I was at E Pine St and Broadway and had no idea I had to walk NORTH to get to Broadway East! If I remember my history, this has something to do with a dispute between Mr. Denny and Mr. Yesler over the laying out the street pattern. Wonder why no one has fixed it?
And sorry but I find pure memorization easier than these nmenomics. They're fun though!
Another bit of trivia -- the "E" avenues north of Denny and east of I-5 used to be "N" back in the 1930s -- an octagenarian neighbor of mine thinks it was switched in the 1950s. So, for example, 25th Avenue E used to be 25th Avenue N.
This didn't pass the censor at the belltowner blog. It appeared then it disappeared. Jeez, I guess you can't say "Satan" in Belltown. I'm in Belltown. Satan, Satan, Satan.
Satan's Vespa Loiters Behind Belltown Bars While Vehicles Circle Condo Blocks.
This doesn't cover all the streets you mentioned, but I always think of the business card showing the name, party affiliation and law firm name. It would read: