Seattle was founded in the 1850s and named after Chief Seattle, also known as Noah Sealth. As of 2005, the city had an estimated population of 573,911 and a metropolitan population of almost 3.8 million. Seattle is the hub for the Greater Puget Sound region. Its official nickname is the Emerald City, the result of a contest by a civic-minded association in the early 1980s to designate a pleasant nickname for the city Seattlest Web site [1]; the name alludes to the lush evergreen trees in the surrounding area. It is also referred to informally as the Rainy City, the Gateway to Alaska, Queen City, and Jet City, due to the local influence of Boeing. Seattle residents are known as Seattleites.
What is now Seattle has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 B.C.E.—10,000 years ago). Archaeological excavations at West Point in Discovery Park, Magnolia confirm that the Seattle area has been inhabited by humans for at least 4,000 years and probably much longer.Talberttohl-AHL-too ("herring house") and later hah-AH-poos ("where there are horse clams") at the then-mouth of the Duwamish River in what is now the Industrial District had been inhabited since the 6th entury C.E.Dailey (map with village 33, referencing his footnotes 2, 9, and 10) The Dkhw'Duw'Absh and Xachua'Bsh people (now called the Duwamish Tribe) occupied at least 17 villages in the mid-1850s,After historical epidemiology 62% losses due to introduced diseases. [Boyd] living in some 93 permanent longhouses (khwaac'ál'al) along Elliott Bay, Salmon Bay, Portage Bay, Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, and the lower Duwamish, Black, and Cedar Rivers.(1) Anderson & Green (2) Lange (15 October 2000, Essay 1660) (3) Dailey (4) (3)
Seattle was named after Chief Seattle, (si'áb Si'ahl, Noah Sealth), high-status man (appointed chief by the territorial governor) of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes.David Swinson ("Doc") Maynard, one of the city founders, was the primary advocate for naming the city after Chief Seattle. The name "Duwamish" is an Anglicization of Dkhw'Duw'Absh, "the People of the Inside", and a variation of that name is preserved in the name of the Duwamish River. Previously, the city had been known as Duwamps (or Duwumps), an earlier name settlers used for the river.(1) (47.626353, −122.333144)¹, which is a spot in the middle of the Marriott Residence Inn at 800 Fairview Avenue N, on the south end of Lake Union.
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 which is land and 152.0 km² (58.7 mi²) water. The total area is 41.16% water.
Seattle's climate is mild, with the temperature moderated by the sea and protected from winds and storms by the mountains. Despite being partially in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, the city of Seattle has a reputation for frequent rain.What Is The Olympic Rain Shadow? KOMOTV.com. Retrieved on June 12, 2006. In reality, the "rainy city" receives an unremarkable 38 inches (970 mm) of precipitation a year, less than most major Eastern Seaboard cities, such as New York City which averages 47.3 inches (1200 mm). Seattle's worldwide reputation for rain derives from the fact that it is cloudy an average of 226 days per year (vs. 132 in New York City) and the fact that most of its precipitation falls as drizzle or light rain, with snow typically falling within the city limits only once or twice a year. While not all that much rain falls in total, then, the winters are filled with days on which at least a little rain does fall, and if it doesn't rain it usually looks like it could. Average temperatures range from the mid-to-upper 30s (just above 0 °C) at night in winter to the mid/upper 70s (mid 20s °C) for summer highs. Seattle's hottest recorded temperature was 100 °F (37.7 °C) on July 20, 1994; the coldest recorded temperature was 0 °F (-17.7 °C) on January 31, 1950.
80 miles (130 km) to the west, the Hoh Rain Forest, in the Olympic National Park, records an annual average rainfall of 142 inches (3600 mm), and the state capital, Olympia, south of the rain shadow, receives 52 inches (1320 mm). Snowfall is infrequent, especially at lower altitudes, and is usually light and short-lived. On January 13, 1950, Seattle's record for snowfall was set at 20 inches (508 mm).Seattle Weather Records. KOMOTV.com. Retrieved on June 12, 2006. Sunnier and drier "California weather" typically dominates from mid-July to mid-September. An average of 0.79 inches (20 mm) of rain falls in July and an average of 1.02 inches (26 mm) falls in August.
Seattle on a treasured sunny afternoon.
The Puget Sound Convergence Zone is an important feature of the Seattle area's weather. In the convergence zone, air arriving in the area from the north meets air flowing in from the south. Both streams of air originate over the Pacific Ocean; airflow is split by the Olympic Mountains to Seattle's west, then reunited by the Cascade Mountains to the east. When the air currents meet, they are forced upward, resulting in convection. An active convergence zone results in rain at the very least (snow in the Cascades), and sometimes more severe weather such as thunderstorms and hail. Usually the zone forms north of Seattle in the Edmonds/Lynnwood area, but depending on the relative strengths of the winds it can range as far south as Pierce County or as far north as Skagit County. What is the Puget Sound Convergence Zone? KOMOTV.com. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
An exception to Seattle's dampness often occurs in El Niño years, when the marine weather systems track as far south as California and little precipitation falls in the Puget Sound area. Since the region's water comes from mountain snowpacks during the drier summer months, El Niño winters not only produce substandard skiing but can result in water rationing and a shortage of hydro-electric power the following summer.
City of Seattle Population by year Strategic Planning Office. Decennial Population. City of Seattle. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
1900
80,671
1910
237,194
1920
315,312
1930
365,583
1940
368,302
1950
467,591
1960
557,087
1970
530,831
1980
493,846
1990
516,259
2000
563,374
As of the U.S. Census of 2000, Seattle had a population of 563,374 and in all the Greater Puget Sound metropolitan area is home to almost 3.8 million people. The population today is approximately 73.40% White Americans, one of the highest percentages of whites for a major American city. The city also has one of the nation's highest percentages of multiracial ancestry: 4.70% claim ancestry from two or more races. Seattle in Focus: A Profile from Census 2000. The Brookings Institute. November 2003. Retrieved on June 12, 2006. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 13.71% of Seattleites are Asian Americans, 8.44% are African Americans, 1.10% are Native Americans, 0.50% are Pacific Islander American, and 6.84% are from other backgrounds. 5.28% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race. Seattle's robust economy and multi-cultural backgrounds has attracted immigrants from all over the world.
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.
Seattle has seen a major increase in legal and illegal immigration in recent decades. The foreign-born population increased 40% between the 1990 and 2000 censuses. Hispanics are believed to be the most rapidly growing ethnic group in Washington, with an estimated increase of 10% just in the years 2000 to 2002, though they have tended to settle outside the city, in rural areas where agricultural jobs are abundant.The Olympian. Source found dead June 12, 2006.
The statue of Vladimir Lenin in the Fremont neighborhood. The statue was brought to Fremont as an art display after the collapse of communism. The Story of the Statue of Lenin. FremontSeattle.com. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
Seattle is a charter city, with a Mayor-Council form of government, unlike many of its neighbors that use the Council-Manager form. Seattle's mayor and nine city council members are elected at large, rather than by geographic subdivisions. The only other elected office is the city attorney. All offices are non-partisan.
The city government provides more utilities than many cities â€" either by running the whole operation, such as the water, sewer, and electricity services, or by handling the billing and administration, but contracting out the rest of the operations such as trash and recycling collection. In most neighboring cities, for example, electricity is provided by either a private company such as Puget Sound Energy, or a county public utility district. See the Utilities section for more details.
As with most U.S. cities, the county judicial system (courts and jails) handles felony crimes â€" the Seattle Municipal Court deals with parking tickets, traffic infractions, and misdemeanors. Seattle does not have its own jail, contracting out inmates it convicts to either the King County Jail (which is located downtown), the Yakima County Jail, or (for short-term holdings) the Renton City Jail. In 2004, there were only 24 murders in Seattle, the fewest since 1965. Violent crime has declined by nearly 42% since 1994, to a rate of approximately seven per 1,000 people. Auto theft has increased about 44% in the same period; the Seattle Police Department has responded by nearly doubling the number of auto theft detail detectives, and is starting a "bait car" program. A Money magazine table, using 2001 statistics, ranked Seattle 18th highest in crime rate in the U.S., with 80.5 crimes per 1,000 citizens.
Seattle's politics lean famously to the left compared to the U.S. as a whole, although there is a small libertarian movement. Only two precincts in Seattleâ€"one located in the famously exclusive Broadmoor community, and one encompassing condos within neighboring Madison Parkâ€"voted for RepublicanGeorge W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election. Bush won the Broadmoor precinct by a moderate margin, although much smaller than in the 2000 presidential election. Madison Park was very close, also much closer than in 2000. The remaining precincts carried by Bush in 2000 all went for Kerry in 2004. In partisan elections, such as for the State Legislature and U.S. Congress, most elections are won by Democrats, with Greens getting more votes than in many other cities. Seattle dominates Washington's 7th congressional district, in which Representative Jim McDermott routinely wins by a large margin.
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." "Queen City" had been devised by real estate promoters and used since 1869, but was also the nickname of: Cincinnati; Denver; Toronto; Buffalo; Bangor, Maine; Helena, Montana; Burlington, Vermont and Charlotte, North Carolina. The winner of this contest, 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 has also been known in the past as "the Jet City"—though this nickname, related to Boeing, was entirely unofficial. (This nickname is the origin of the title of the song "Jet City Woman" by Seattle progressive metal band Queensrÿche.)
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. The official bird of Seattle is the Great Blue Heron, named by the City Council in 2003.
Seattle mayors of note
Seattle's current mayor is Greg Nickels, who took office in 2002.
Among Seattle's notable past politicians is Bertha Knight Landes, mayor from 1926 to 1928. She was the first woman mayor of a major American city.
Bailey Gatzert was mayor from 1875 to 1876. He was the first Jewish mayor of Seattle, and narrowly missed being the first Jewish mayor of a major American city (Moses Bloom became mayor of Iowa City, Iowa in 1873). He has been the only Jewish mayor of Seattle to date.
Seattle is internationally partnered with a number of sister cities to promote global cooperation, cultural exchange and economic collaboration. See List of Seattle sister cities for a complete list.
Five companies on the 2006 Fortune 500 list of the United States' largest companies, based on total revenue, are currently headquartered in Seattle: financial services company Washington Mutual (#99), Internet retailer Amazon.com (#272), department store Nordstrom (#293), coffee chain Starbucks (#338), and insurance company Safeco Corporation (#339). Just shy of making the list is global logistics firm Expeditors International (#506).Fortune 500 list for Washington, Fortune Magazine, April 17, 2006, retrieved on June 10, 2006 Other Fortune 500 companies popularly associated with Seattle are based in nearby Puget Sound cities. Warehouse club chain Costco Wholesale Corp. (#28), the largest company in Washington, is based in Issaquah. Microsoft (#48), the American Division of Nintendo, Nintendo of America, and cellular telephone pioneer McCaw Cellular, prior to being bought out by AT&T Wireless in 1994 and then merging with Cingular in 2004, are all located in Redmond. Weyerhaeuser, the forest products company (#90), is based in Federal Way. Finally, Bellevue is home to truck manufacturer PACCAR (#157) and international mobile telephony giant T-Mobile's U.S. subsidiary T-Mobile USA.
Prior to moving its headquarters to Chicago, aerospace manufacturer Boeing (#26) was the largest company based in Seattle. Its largest division is still headquartered in Bellevue, and the company has large aircraft manufacturing plants in Everett and Renton, so it remains one of the largest private employers in the Seattle metropolitan area.
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has announced a desire to spark 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 city, joining current biotech companies Corixa (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline), Immunex (now part of Amgen), and ZymoGenetics. The effort has public support and some financial backing from Paul Allen (whose contribution has resulted in some calling the neighborhood "Allentown").
In 2005 Forbes magazine ranked Seattle as the most expensive city in the US for buying a house based on the local income levels. Clemence, Sara, Most Overpriced Places In The U.S. 2005, Forbes magazine online, 14 July 2005. Retrieved 11 Nov 2005. In 2006 however, it did not make the top ten list.
Seattle has an educated population: of Seattle's population over the age of 25, 47.2% (vs. a national average of 24%) hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 93% (vs. 80% nationally) have a high school diploma or . In fact, United States Census Bureau survey showed that Seattle has the highest percentage of college graduates of any major U.S. city. In addition to the obvious institutions of education, there are significant adult literacy programs and considerable homeschooling. Seattle is also the most literate city in the United States based on a study done by Central Connecticut State University.
Like most urban American public school systems, Seattle Public Schools have been subject to numerous controversies. Seattle's schools desegregated without a court order, but continue to struggle to achieve racial balance in a demographically divided city (the south part of town being much more ethnically diverse than the north). The schools have maintained high enough educational standards to keep white flight (and middle-class flight in general) to a minimum, but some of the area's suburban public school systems â€" not all of them in wealthy suburbs â€" have consistently higher test scores. Notably, Seattle schools seem to be failing their minority students, as high academic standards are not realized uniformly by all racial groups in many of the city's secondary schools.
The public school system is supplemented by a moderate number of private schools: five of the high schools are Catholic, one is Lutheran, and six are secular.
The Space Needle is Seattle's most recognizable landmark, having been featured in the logo of the television show Frasier and the backgrounds of the television series Grey's Anatomy, not to mention countless films. The Needle dates from the 1962 Century 21 Exposition. Contrary to popular belief, the Space Needle is neither the tallest structure in Seattle nor is it in Downtown. This misconception results from the Space Needle often being photographed from Queen Anne Hill, where it is closer to the viewer than are the downtown skyscrapers. The fairgrounds surrounding the Needle have been converted into Seattle Center, which remains the site of many local civic and cultural events, such as Bumbershoot, Folklife, and the Bite of Seattle.
Starbucks Coffee has been at Pike Place Market since the coffee company was founded there in 1971. The first store is still operating a block south of its original location.Original Starbucks. City of Seattle. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
Several dozen Seattle neighborhoods have one or more annual street fairs, and many have an annual parade or foot race. The largest of the street fairs feature hundreds of craft and food booths and multiple stages with live entertainment, and draw more than 100,000 people over the course of a weekend; the smallest are strictly neighborhood affairs with a few dozen craft and food booths, barely distinguishable from more prominent neighborhoods' weekly farmers' markets.
Green Lake Park, popular among runners, contains a 2.7 mile trail circling the lake.
As in most large cities, there are numerous other annual events of more limited interest, ranging from book fairs; the premier anime convention in the Pacific Northwest, Sakura-Con; and specialized film festivals to a two-day, 8,000-rider Seattle-to-Portlandbicycle ride and a Gay Pride parade and celebration. In the past, the Gay Pride parade and celebration activities have been centered on Capitol Hill. Since 2006, festivities have been held city-wide.
Performing arts
Seattle is a significant center for the performing arts. The century-old Seattle Symphony Orchestra is among the world's most recorded orchestras Recordings and Broadcasts. Seattle Symphony. Retrieved on June 12, 2006. and performs primarily at Benaroya Hall. The Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet, which perform at McCaw Hall (which opened 2003 on the site of the former Seattle Opera House at Seattle Center), are comparably distinguished, with the Opera being particularly known for its performances of the works of Richard Wagner and the PNB School (founded in 1974) ranking as one of the top three ballet training institutions in the United States.About the School. Pacific Northwest Ballet. Retrieved on June 12, 2006. The Seattle Youth Symphony is the largest symphonic youth organization in the United States, and among the most distinguished.
The historic 5th Avenue Theatre, built in 1926 has continued to stage Broadway quality musical performances featuring both local talent and international stars. The theater's "Chinese Timber Architecture" is based upon The Forbidden City's Imperial and Summer Palaces. In addition, Seattle has about twenty other live theater venues, a slim majority of them being associated with fringe theater. It has a strong local scene for poetry slams and other performance poetry, and several venues that routinely present public lectures or readings. The largest of these is Seattle's 900-seat, Romanesque RevivalTown Hall on First Hill.
Earlier Seattle-based popular music acts include the collegiate folk group The Brothers Four; The Wailers, a 1960s garage band; the Allies and the Heaters (later "the Heats"), 1980s teen-pop bands; from that same era, the more sophisticated pop of the short-lived Visible Targets and the still-performing Young Fresh Fellows and Posies; and the pop-punk of The Fastbacks and the outright punk of the Fartz (later Ten Minute Warning), The Gits, and Seven Year Bitch.
Spoken word and poetry are also staples of the Seattle arts scene, paralleling the explosion of the indie scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Seattle's performance poetry scene blossomed with the importation of the poetry slam from Chicago (its origin) by transplant Paul Granert. This and the proliferation of weekly readings/open mics and poetry-friendly club venues like the Weathered Wall, the OK Hotel, and the Ditto Tavern (all now defunct), allowed spoken-word/performance poetry to take off in a big way. The Seattle Poetry Festival (launched first as the Poetry Circus in 1997) has featured local, regional, national, and international names in poetry such as Michael McClure, Anne Waldman, Ted Jones, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ismael Reed, Seku Sundiata, and many others. Regionally famed poets like Bart Baxter, Tess Gallagher, and Rebecca Brown have also been featured at the Poetry Festival, as well as numerous other events such as the world-famous Bumbershoot Arts Festival.
In addition, Seattle has a thriving artist-run gallery scene, including 10 year veteran Soil Art Gallery, and the newer Crawl Space Gallery.
Other attractions
The Woodland Park Zoo, opened as a private zoo in 1889, is the oldest on the West Coast, and has been a leader in innovations in naturalistic zoo exhibits. The Seattle Aquarium has been open on the downtown waterfront since 1977. The Seattle Underground Tour, visiting places that existed before the Great Fire, is also popular. There are also many community centers for recreation, including Rainier Beach, Van Asselt, Rainier, and Jefferson south of the Ship Canal and Green Lake, Laurelhurst, and Loyal Heights north of the Canal.
The most prominent weeklies are the Seattle Weekly and the Stranger. Both of these consider themselves "alternative" papers; the famously irreverent Stranger has a reputation for carrying a younger and hipper readership and carries an adult dating section in the back that is commonly used for entertainment purposes, while the more staid Weekly has a longstanding reputation for in-depth coverage of arts and local politics. There are also several ethnic newspapers and numerous neighborhood newspapers.
Leading radio stations include NPR affiliates KUOW-FM 94.9 and KPLU-FM 88.5 (Tacoma). Other notable stations include KEXP-FM 90.3 (affiliated with EMP), 91.3FM (affiliated with Bellevue Community College), and KNHC-FM 89.5, which broadcasts an electronic-music format and is owned by the public school system and operated by students of Nathan Hale High School. Many Seattle radio stations are also available through internet radio, with KUOW, KNHC, and KEXP being notable web radio innovators. Popular commercial radio stations in Seattle include KUBE 93.3, KMPS 94.1, KNDD 107.7, KVI-AM 570, KIRO-AM 710 and KOMO-AM 1000. Seattle is also home to KING-FM, one of the last classical music stations in the United States.
Seattle's mild climate helps a huge proportion of its population engage in outdoor recreation, including walking, bicycling, hiking, and swimming, among others. The downtown REI is that chain's flagship store, and carries gear for all those activities. In town many people walk around Green Lake or along Alki Beach. Hikes in the nearby Cascade Mountains or Olympics are also popular.
* The Columbia Center is the tallest building in Seattle and the fourth tallest building by height west of the Mississippi river. (the tallest building in the picture) * The Space Needle is a defining symbol of the Seattle skyline. (not included in the picture) * The Smith Tower, the oldest skyscraper in Seattle, was the tallest building on the West Coast from its completion in 1914 until the Space Needle overtook it in 1962. (in the picture the Smith Tower is the smaller building furthest on the right)
Transportation
Even though Seattle is old enough that railways and streetcars once dominated its transportation system, the city is now largely dominated by automobiles. Seattle is also serviced by an extensive network of bus routes and two commuter rail routes connecting it to many of its suburbs.
Public transportation
The first streetcars appeared in 1889 and were instrumental in the creation of a relatively well-defined downtown and strong neighborhoods at the end of their lines. Unfortunately, the advent of the automobile proved to be the death knell for rail in Seattle. Tacoma-Seattle railway service ended in 1929 and the Everett-Seattle service came to an end in 1939, replaced by inexpensive automobiles running on the recently developed highway system. With the removal or paving over of the rails on city streets and the arrival of trolleybuses, 1941 brought the end of streetcars in Seattle. This left only an extensive network of buses to provide mass transit within the city and throughout the region.Crowley, Walt. Interurban Rail Transit in King County and the Puget Sound Region -- A Snapshot History. HistoryLink.org. September 19, 2000. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
Seattle is serviced by three transit authorities. King County Metro provides frequent stop bus service within the city and surrounding county, of which about fifteen of its bus routes serving are hybrid buses using a combination of diesel fuel when outside the downtown area and overhead electrical wires while in the downtown area. Like Vancouver, British Columbia and San Francisco, California, Seattle is one of the few cities in North America that use electric trolleybuses.
The second transit authority that services Seattle is Sound Transit, which provides express bus service between the suburbs and downtown Seattle. Beginning September 18, 2000, Sound Transit began operating "Sounder", a commuter rail system that connects Seattle to Tacoma and another of other suburbs to the south and Everett other suburbs to the north.Sounder Commuter Rail Map of Service. SoundTransit. Retrieved on June 12, 2006. Sound Transit also began construction on the 15.7 mile Central Link Light Rail in November 2003 that will connect downtown Seattle to SeaTac Airport. Ultimately the Link Light Rail system will connect downtown to University of Washington (already funded) and Northgate Mall to the north, Bellevue and Redmond to the east, and Federal Way, Des Moines, and possibly as far south as Tacoma.2005 Long Range Plan. SoundTransit. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
The third, and possibly most interesting, transit authority is the largest network of ferries in the United States, third largest in the world, that connects Seattle to Bainbridge Island and Vashon Island in Puget Sound and Bremerton and Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula. This ferry system is operated by Washington State Ferries and consists of 10 routes (4 servicing Seattle), 20 terminals (2 in Seattle), and 28 vessels (8 servicing Seattle).History. Washington State Department of Transit. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
A monorail line constructed for the 1962 Exposition still exists today between Seattle Center and downtown and is used by tourists and by commuters from the north, who often find it cheaper to park at Seattle Center and take the 1 mile route to work rather than taking their car downtown. On November 26, 2005 the monorail's two trains collided on a curve near Westlake Center where a design flaw made it impossible to pass safely. Both trains are currently being repaired at an estimated cost of $3-4 million and are not expected to be in operation until summer 2006.Rider Alert. Seattle Center Monorail. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
In the 1990s the city proposed building a longer monorail as a real commuter service replacing the existing tourist attraction, but nothing came of two voter approved initiatives in the 90s. Ultimately Seattle voters approved the creation of the 14 mile Green Line connecting West Seattle and Ballard to downtown in November 2002. Controversy over scope, governance, financial difficulties, and other issues led to two additional votes with the final vote, November 2005, bringing the Green Line to an end.Elevated.org. Seattle Monorail Project. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
The South Lake Union line of the Seattle Streetcar passed full City Council on June 27, 2005. The streetcar is "on track" to be built and operating by 2007. The 2.6 mile (4.2 km) streetcar line will run between Westlake Center in downtown Seattle and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Property owners along the right-of-way will pay about $25 million of the $45 million total capital cost through a local improvement district.The South Lake Union Streetcar. Seattle Department of Transportation. Retrieved on June 12, 2006.
Seattle's general-aviation airport is Boeing Field. Southwest Airlines recently requested permission to move its services from Sea-Tac to Boeing Field but did not receive permission.
Street layout
Seattle's streets are laid out in a cardinal-directiongrid pattern, except in the central business district: early city leaders Arthur Denny and Carson Boren insisted on orienting their plats relative to the shoreline rather than to true North, so streets meet at unusual angles where Denny's plat meets "Doc" Maynard's to the south and Boren's to the north. This inconsistency creates frequent confusion for visitors and newcomers when they attempt to navigate the streets at the edges of the business district. Largely as a result of Seattle's topography, only one street, one highway, and one freeway run uninterrupted entirely through the city.
See Seattle neighborhoods for articles on individual neighborhoods, including information on major thoroughfares.
Group Health Cooperative was one of the pioneers of managed care in the United States, the University of Washington is consistently ranked among the country's top ten leading institutions in medical research, and Seattle was a pioneer in the development of modern paramedic services with the establishment of Medic One in 1970.Cobb honored as one of "Resuscitation Greats". UW School of Medicine Online News. August 16, 2002. Retrieved on June 12, 2006. In 1974, a 60 Minutes story on the success of the then four-year-old Medic One paramedic system called Seattle "the best place in the world to have a heart attack".
Image:PikeStreetHillclimbTop.jpg|Looking down the Pike Street HillclimbImage:PikePlaceMarketCrowd.jpg|Pike Place Market, main arcadeImage:August_002.jpg|The Seattle skyline, as seen from Lake UnionImage:SeattleSkylineSuperPanorama.jpeg|A big Seattle skyline panorama viewImage:SpaceNeedleFerry.jpg|Two Seattle icons: The Space Needle and a ferry
* Speidel provides a substantial bibliography with extensive primary sources. Speidel provides a substantial bibliography with extensive primary sources.
