Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the largest city in the U.S. state of Washington, and in the Pacific Northwest. It is situated between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 108 miles (180 km) south of the Canadian border, in King County, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 563,374. Its official, but little-used, nickname is the Emerald City.

Seattle residents and people who come from Seattle are known as Seattleites.

The Space Needle (pictured) is possibly Seattle's most famous landmark, featured in the logo of the television show Frasier, and dating from the 1962 Century 21 Exposition, a World's Fair. The monorail constructed for the Exposition still runs today between Seattle Center and downtown. It will be torn down when the new, mass-transit monorail is built from Ballard through downtown to West Seattle.

Other famous landmarks include the Smith Tower, Pike Place Market (pictured), the Fremont Troll, the Experience Music Project, the new Seattle Central Library, and the Bank of America Tower, which is the fourth tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi River and the twelfth tallest in the nation. (On June 16, 2004, the 9-11 Commission reported that the original plan for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks included the Bank of America Tower as one of ten targeted buildings.)

Seattle is sometimes referred to as the "rainy city", even though it gets less rain than many other U.S. cities (see "Climate" section). It is also known as Jet City, due to the heavy influence of Boeing.

Seattle is also known as the home of grunge music, has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption, and was the site of the 1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization shut down by anti-globalist demonstrators.

Other major events in Seattle's history include the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, which destroyed the central business district (but took no lives); the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909, which is largely responsible for the current layout of the University of Washington campus; the Seattle General Strike of 1919, the first general strike in the country; and the 1990 Goodwill Games.

History

See main article History of Seattle

Founding

Most of the Denny Party, the most prominent of the area's early white settlers, arrived at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. They relocated their settlement to Elliott Bay in April, 1852. The first plats for the Town of Seattle were filed on May 23, 1853. The city was incorporated in 1869, after having existed as an incorporated town from 1865 to 1867.

Seattle was named after Noah Sealth, chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes, better known as Chief Seattle. David Swinson ("Doc") Maynard, one of the city founders, was the primary advocate for naming the city after Chief Seattle. Previously, the city had been known as Duwamps (or Duwumps)--a variation of that name is preserved in the name of Seattle's Duwamish River.

Seattle institutions

Cultural events

• Seattle International Film Festival (May-June)
• Northwest Folklife (May)
• Seafair (July-August)
• Bite of Seattle (July)
• Bumbershoot (August-September)

Museums, galleries, zoos, and aquariums

Educational institutions

Seattle is home to many institutions of higher learning, including:

Bastyr University is located in nearby Kenmore. Northwest University is located in Kirkland. City University is located in Bellevue.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 47.2% of Seattleites over the age of 25 have a bachelor's degree or higher, the highest rate in the nation.

In addition to its public school system, Seattle Public Schools, Seattle also has a number of private primary and secondary schools, including:

Media

Broadcast television

Newspapers

As of 2004, three daily newspapers are published in Seattle: The Seattle Times, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. There is also The Daily of the University of Washington, the University of Washington's school paper, published when school is in session.

Seattle is also home to several alternative newspapers, including the African American papers The Facts and the Seattle Medium; the Seattle Weekly and The Stranger, both published weekly; the Seattle Gay News; and Real Change, the biweekly paper sold by the city's homeless.

Radio

As of April 2004, some of Seattle's most popular commercial radio stations according to Arbitron ratings include:

There are also two National Public Radio member stations in the Seattle market: KUOW-FM 94.9, licensed by the University of Washington and run by Puget Sound Public Radio, and KPLU-FM 88.5, licensed by Tacoma's Pacific Lutheran University but run out of downtown Seattle.

Other public radio stations in the area include KEXP-FM 90.3--licensed by the University of Washington and supported by the Experience Music Project, it plays a variety of contemporary alternative and genre music; and KNHC-FM 89.5, owned by the Seattle Public Schools and operated by students at Nathan Hale High School.

Medical centers and hospitals

Seattle is also well served medically; hospitals in the community include:

• Swedish Medical Center (First Hill) (with campuses at the former Providence [First Hill] and Ballard General [Ballard] hospitals)
• Harborview Medical Center (First Hill), the county hospital and the only Level I trauma hospital serving Alaska, Washington, Idaho, and Montana
• The University of Washington Medical Center (University District)
• Virginia Mason Medical Center (First Hill)
• Northwest Memorial Hospital (Haller Lake)
• Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center (Laurelhurst)
• Group Health Central Hospital and Family Health Center (Capitol Hill)
• The VA Puget Sound Health Care System's Seattle Division (Beacon Hill)
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Cascade)

On June 14, 2004, a proposed merger between Swedish Medical Center and Northwest Memorial Hospital was announced.

In addition, Seattle was a pioneer in the development of modern paramedic services with the establishment of Medic One in 1970. A 60 Minutes story on the success of Medic One that aired in 1974 called Seattle "the best place in the world to have a heart attack." Some accounts report that Puyallup, a city south of Seattle, was the first place west of the Mississippi River to have 911 emergency telephone service.

Seattle's First Hill is also known as "Pill Hill" because, in addition to being the current home of Harborview, Swedish, and Virginia Mason, it was also once the location of the Maynard, Seattle General, and Doctors Hospitals (now merged into Swedish), as well as Cabrini Hospital.

Sports teams

Seattle is home to the following professional sports teams:

• Seattle Mariners (Major League Baseball) at Safeco Field
• Seattle Seahawks (National Football League) at Qwest Field
• Seattle Sounders (A-League Soccer [men's] and W-League Soccer [women's]) at Qwest Field
• Seattle Storm (Women's National Basketball Association) at KeyArena
• Seattle SuperSonics (National Basketball Association) at KeyArena
• Seattle Thunderbirds (Western Hockey League) at KeyArena

Government

As of the November 2003 elections, the mayor of Seattle is Greg Nickels, and the members of the Seattle City Council are Jean Godden, Richard Conlin, Peter Steinbrueck, Jan Drago, Tom Rasmussen, Nick Licata, David Della, Richard McIver, and Jim Compton.

Bertha Knight Landes was mayor from 1926 to 1928. She was the first woman mayor of a major American city.

Newspaper publisher Paul Jacob Alexander was a City Councilman from 1956 to 1969.

See List of mayors of Seattle for a list of Seattle's mayors going back to 1869.

Business in Seattle

Economic history

Seattle has a history of boom and bust, or at least boom and quiescence. Seattle has almost been sent into permanent decline by the aftermaths of its worst periods as a company town, but has typically used those periods to successfully rebuild infrastructure.

The first such boom was the lumber-industry boom, followed by the construction of an Olmsted-designed park system. Arguably the Klondike gold rush constituted a separate, shorter boom.

Next came the shipbuilding boom, followed by the unused city development plan of Virgil Bogue.

The Boeing boom, followed by general infrastructure building. Seattle was home to Boeing until 2001, when the company announced a desire to separate its headquarters from its major production facilities. Following a bidding war in which several cities offered huge tax breaks, Boeing moved its corporate headquarters to Chicago, Illinois. The Seattle area is still home to Boeing's commercial airplanes division, several Boeing plants, and the Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU).

Most recently, the boom centered around Microsoft and other software, Internet, and telecommunications companies, such as Amazon.com, RealNetworks, and AT&T Wireless. Although some of these companies remain relatively strong, the boom definitely ended in 2000.

Mayor Greg Nickels has announced a desire to start a new economic boom driven by the biotechnology industry. Major redevelopment of the South Lake Union neighborhood is underway in an effort to attract new and established biotech companies to the region, joining current biotech companies such as Corixa, Immunex (now part of Amgen), and ZymoGenetics. The effort has public support and some financial backing from Paul Allen.

Companies

Five companies on the 2003 Fortune 500 list of the United States' largest companies, based on total revenue, are currently headquartered in Seattle: Washington Mutual (#103), Safeco Corporation (#267), Nordstrom (#286), Amazon.com (#342) and Starbucks (#425). Boeing was the largest company based in the city before its 2001 move to Chicago.

Well-known interstate or international companies headquartered in Seattle include:

Other companies popularly associated with Seattle are actually based in other Puget Sound cities:

Geography

Seattle is located between Puget Sound and Lake Washington. West beyond the Sound, Seattle faces the Olympic Mountains; across Lake Washington beyond the Eastside suburbs are the Issaquah Alps and the Cascade Range.

The city itself is hilly, though not uniformly so. Some of the hilliest areas are quite near the center, and Downtown rises rather dramatically away from the water. The geography of Downtown and its immediate environs has been significantly altered by regrading projects, a seawall, and the construction of a man-made island, Harbor Island, at the mouth of the city's industrial Duwamish Waterway.

The rivers, forests, lakes, and fields were once rich enough to support one of the world's few sedentary hunter-gatherer societies. Today, a ship canal passes through the city, incorporating Lake Union near the heart of the city and several other natural bodies of water, and connecting Puget Sound to Lake Washington. Opportunities for sailing, skiing, bicycling, camping, and hiking are close by and accessible almost all of the year.

An active geological fault, the Seattle Fault, runs under the city. It has not been the source of an earthquake during Seattle's existence; however, the city has been hit by four major earthquakes since its founding: December 14, 1872 (magnitude 7.3); April 13, 1949 (7.1); April 29, 1965 (6.5); and February 28, 2001 (6.8). See also Nisqually Earthquake.

Seattle is located at 47°37'35" North, 122°19'59" West (47.626353, -122.333144)¹.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 369.2 km² (142.5 mi²). 217.2 km² (83.9 mi²) of it is land and 152.0 km² (58.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 41.16% water.

Street layout

See main article Street layout of Seattle

Seattle's streets are laid out in a cardinal-direction grid pattern, except in the central business district, where the grid from Yesler Way north to Stewart Street is oriented 32 degrees west of north, and from Stewart Stewart north to Denny Way, 49 degrees west of north. Only one street, Madison Street, runs uninterrupted from the salt water of Puget Sound in the west to the fresh water of Lake Washington in the east. No street, excluding Interstate 5 and Washington State Route 99--both freeways in whole or in part--runs without interruption from the northern to the southern city limits. This is largely the result of Seattle's topography. Split by the Duwamish River and the Lake Washington Ship Canal, containing four lakes within the city limits, and boasting deep ravines and at least seven hills , there are few more-or-less straight routes where such a road could reasonably be built, even allowing for the short bridge or two.

Bodies of water

Climate

Seattle's climate is mild, with the temperature moderated by the sea and protected from winds and storms by the mountains. As previously noted, it is sometimes referred to as the "rainy city", but the rain the city is famous for is actually unremarkable; at 35-38 inches of precipitation a year, it's less than most major Eastern Seaboard cities and many other US cities. (For comparison, New York City averages 47.3 inches.)

What makes Seattle seem so wet is the cloudiness that predominates from about late October well into spring, sometimes clear into July, and that most precipitation falls as light rain, not snow or heavy storms. Seattle has more cloudy days (294 days per year on average vs. 259 in New York City) and rainy days, with few heavy downpours.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 563,374 people, 258,499 households, and 113,481 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,593.5/km² (6,717.0/mi²). There are 270,524 housing units at an average density of 1,245.4/km² (3,225.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 70.09% Caucasian, 8.44% African American, 1.00% Native American, 13.12% Asian, 0.50% Pacific Islander, 2.38% from other races, and 4.46% from two or more races. 5.28% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 258,499 households out of which 17.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.7% are married couples living together, 8.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 56.1% are non-families. 40.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.08 and the average family size is 2.87.

In the city the population is spread out with 15.6% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 38.6% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $45,736, and the median income for a family is $62,195. Males have a median income of $40,929 versus $35,134 for females. The per capita income for the city is $30,306. 11.8% of the population and 6.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 13.8% are under the age of 18 and 10.2% are 65 or older.

Official nickname, flower, slogan, and song

In 1981, Seattle held a contest to come up with a new official nickname to replace "the Queen City," which it had been since 1869. The winner, selected in 1982, was "the Emerald City." Submitted by Californian Sarah Sterling-Franklin, it referred to the lush surroundings of Seattle that were the result of frequent rain.

Seattle's official flower has been the dahlia since 1913. Its official song has been "Seattle the Peerless City" since 1909. In 1942, its official slogan was "The City of Flowers"; 48 years later, in 1990, it was "The City of Goodwill," for the Goodwill Games held that year in Seattle.

Annexed towns

• South Seattle, 1905-1905
• Ballard, 1890-1907
• Columbia City, 1893-1907
• West Seattle, 1902-1907
• South Park, 1905-1907
• Ravenna, 1906-1907
• Southeast Seattle, 1906-1907
• Georgetown, 1904-1910

The city's neighborhoods

Annexation dates follow each name, unless the neighborhood was part of the area of first incorporation.

• Alki, 1907
• Ballard, 1907
• Beacon Hill
• Belltown
• Bitter Lake, 1954
• Blue Ridge, 1953
• Broadview, 1953
• Crown Hill, 1907
• Capitol Hill
• Cascade
• Central District
• Chinatown/International District, original, plus tide lands platted 1895
• Columbia City, 1907
• Denny Regrade
• Denny-Blaine
• Downtown
• Eastlake, 1886 and 1891
• First Hill
• Fremont, 1891
• Georgetown, 1910
• Green Lake, 1891
• Greenwood, 1891 and 1953
• Haller Lake, 1954
• Industrial District, tide lands platted 1895
• Lake City, 1953
• Laurelhurst, 1910
• Leschi
• Madison Park, 1891
• Madison Valley
• Madrona
• Magnolia, 1891
• Montlake, 1891
• Maple Leaf, 1891, 1907, 1941, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953
• Mount Baker
• Northgate, 1952 and 1953
• Phinney Ridge, 1891
• Pioneer Square, original, plus tide lands platted 1895
• Queen Anne, original, plus 1896 and 1891
• Rainier Beach, 1907
• Rainier Valley, original, plus 1907
• Ravenna, 1907, 1910, 1943, 1945
• Roosevelt, 1891
• Sand Point, 1910, 1942, 1953
• Seward Park, 1907
• Sodo, tide lands platted 1895
• South Park, 1907
• University District, 1891
• Uptown
• Wallingford, 1891
• Washington Park
• West Seattle, tide lands platted 1895, plus 1907, 1950, 1954, 1955
• White Center, 1907, 1946, 1948
• Windermere, 1910

Southern expansion

In April 2004, the City Council voted to defer a decision on Mayor Nickels' proposal that Seattle designate the West Hill and North Highline neighborhoods, part of unincorporated King County, as potential annexation areas (PAAs), for at least a year. Because of the tax revolt that took place in Washington in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the county's budget has been shrinking, and the county has said it is unlikely to be able to maintain adequate levels of funding for urban services in unincorporated areas.

North Highline, which abuts SeaTac, Burien, and Tukwila in addition to Seattle, consists of the Boulevard Park neighborhood and part of White Center. West Hill, which abuts Tukwila and Renton in addition to Seattle, consists of Skyway, Bryn Mawr, Lakeridge, and Earlington. None of the adjacent cities has yet claimed any of these neighborhoods as PAAs.

Major highways

• Interstate 5 (north to Everett, Bellingham, and Vancouver, British Columbia; south to Tacoma, Olympia, and Portland, Oregon)
• Interstate 90 (includes two of the few fixed, concrete, floating bridges in the world) (east to Ellensburg, Spokane, and Billings, Montana)
• Washington State Route 520 (includes the longest floating bridge in the world) (east to Bellevue and Redmond)
• Washington State Route 99 (formerly U.S. Highway 99) (remaining portion north to Everett)
• Washington State Route 522 (northeast to Bothell and Monroe)

Airports

• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, located in SeaTac, Washington and serving Seattle and Tacoma, Washington
• Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport, located on the east side of the Duwamish River south of Georgetown, partially in Seattle and partially in Tukwila, Washington

Sister cities

• Beersheba, Israel
• Bergen, Norway
• Cebu City, Philippines
• Chongqing, China
• Christchurch, New Zealand
• Daejeon, Korea
• Galway, Ireland
• Gdynia, Poland
• Haiphong, Vietnam
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan
• Kobe, Japan
• Limbe, Cameroon
• Mazatlán, Mexico
• Mombasa, Kenya
• Nantes, France
• Pécs, Hungary
• Perugia, Italy
• Preah Seihanu, Cambodia
• Reykjavík, Iceland
• Surabaya, Indonesia
• Tashkent, Uzbekistan

See also

• History of Seattle
• List of famous Seattleites
• Music of Washington, especially grunge music
• Seattle metropolitan area
• Sleepless in Seattle (movie)

External links

• City of Seattle website
• Seattle Datasheet (in several languages)
• History of Seattle/King County
• Seattle Crisis Resource Directory
• Open Directory Project: Seattle
• Seattle travel guide at Wikitravel
• SeattleWiki.org - a Seattle community wiki
• seattle.craigslist.org - Craig's List Seattle