Compilation of a 100-year record of landslide locations allows testing of a processbased model for shallow landslide initiation in the City of Seattle, Washington. The model is based on coupling a topographically-driven model for shallow throughflow with the infinite-slope stability model. Three digital elevation models (DEMs) were used to generate predicted patterns of potentially unstable ground: the standard US Geological Survey (USGS) 30 m DEM; a 10 m DEM created from USGS 7.5' topographic contours; and a 1.5 m DEM created from Seattle Engineering Department contours. Model performance varied with DEM grid size, but areas identified as high risk occupy less than 1% of the area of the City. The map of historic landslide locations corresponds well to areas predicted to be at risk for shallow landslide initiation in spite of the extensive hydrologic modifications typical of urban environments and the strong influence of glacial stratigraphy and groundwater flow on landslide processes in Seattle. The unique long-term record of landslide locations indicates that areas predicted to be potentially unstable but that have not yet failed should be interpreted as at risk of failure, as approximately half of the area of potentially unstable ground is associated with known landslides over the period of record. Our analysis indicates that landslide hazards in Seattle are associated with a small but dispersed area of the City that can be objectively identified using simple process models in spite of the hydrologic complexity of the urban environment.