Seattle, WA Summary

photo by gusto

Washington’s largest city has grown over the years from a small nineteenth- century port to a cosmopolitan Pacific Rim gateway. It is noted for its cutting-edge aerospace and computer industries.

Seattle sits on Elliott Bay, on a strip of land between Puget Sound and Lake Washington. During breaks in the 38 inches of precipitation that “the Emerald City” averages annually, residents can gaze west through a modern skyline (which includes the trademark Space Needle) to Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Or they can look south to volcanic, snowcapped Mt Rainier and the Cascade Range.

The greater Seattle area has more than 2.3 million people, adding traffic congestion, suburban sprawl, and environmental problems to rapid economic growth.

The Duwamish and Suquamish Native Americans inhabited this area before European settlers landed in 1851. Seattle is named for the friendly Native American Chief Sealth. The city has undergone a number of economic surges and slumps since a steam-powered sawmill was fired up on the waterfront in 1853.

Seattle suffered a serious economic downturn when its employment mainstay, the Boeing Company, experienced no sales for a 17-month period in the early 1970s. The city began to recover in the 1980s and 1990s and became a center for finance, services, and high-technology start-ups led by Microsoft. It has grown into a major center for trade with Asia, and Asian immigrants have given the city ethnic diversity.

There is bus and trolley service run by the Seattle Metropolitan Transit System (Metro), in the city and suburbs, and the Monorail, serving the city center.

For a modest price the City Pass, good for nine days, provides access to the Space Needle, the Pacific Science Center, the Seattle Art Museum, the Seattle Aquarium, Woodland Park Zoo, and the Museum of Flight in the Red Barn, where Boeing got its start in 1916.

Also of interest are the historic Pike Place Market, and the Pioneer Square Historic District, a large area of restored historic buildings, shops, restaurants, nightclubs, and sidewalk cafès. The International District is the shopping and cultural center for many Asian- American residents and the home of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.

North-south I-5, and east-west I-90 are the primary road routes to Seattle. Air service is provided through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. There is ferry service between Seattle and a number of Puget Sound locations.