144-568: Crystal Pool Natatorium was a saltwater indoor swimming pool in Seattle, Washington . It was eventually adapted and became the building of the Bethel Temple Pentecostal Church. It was designed by B. Marcus Priteca and built from 1915 to 1918. The pool was covered with boards and the venue used for boxing or roller skating. The building was later demolished in 2003 and replaced with a condominium complex called Crystalla. The complex
288-725: A gross domestic product (GDP) of $ 517.8 billion in 2022, the eleventh-highest in the United States. In the same year, the Seattle area also had a GDP per capita of $ 128,316, the third-highest figure among large metropolitan areas in the United States, behind San Jose and San Francisco. As of November 2023 , the largest employment sector is professional and business services, with approximately 401,200 employees, followed by trade, transportation, and utilities (369,100), education and health services (318,400), and government (276,700). A total of 2,181,500 jobs are available in non-farm sectors in
432-636: A 2022 circulation of 11 million items. The Sno-Isle Libraries system serves most of Snohomish and Island counties and has 23 locations that circulated 7.4 million items in 2022; Sno-Isle does not serve the city of Everett, which operates the two locations of the Everett Public Library . Pierce County has a county library system with 20 locations that circulated 4.8 million items in 2022 and separate, city-run libraries in Tacoma with eight locations and Puyallup with one location. In 2016,
576-663: A central city. At the time, Seattle had the 22nd largest metropolitan district population at 239,269 people, a 195.8 percent increase from the population of the equivalent area in the 1900 census . The Seattle metropolitan district was expanded to encompass the entirety of Lake Washington in the 1930 census and also included Edmonds in Snohomish County, Des Moines in southern King County, and portions of eastern Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County. The district covered 209.9 square miles (544 km ), of which two-thirds
720-480: A designated library district. These include library districts that cover most of a county—either through direct annexation or contracted by local governments—or a department of the city government. Some cities have opted out of having library systems after voters rejected the proposed property tax to fund services. The earliest public libraries in the region were established in the late 19th century by private organizations that were later absorbed into city governments;
864-518: A four-year term. By the 2021 session, almost all legislative districts in the region were represented solely by Democrats in the Senate and House, with the exception of exurban districts. According to a 2022 marketing survey by Nielsen , the Seattle metropolitan area is tied for the eighth highest percentage of adults who favored the Democratic Party, at nearly 55 percent—an 11-point increase from
1008-611: A great frenzy among the technology companies in Seattle but the bubble ended in early 2001. In 1999, the World Trade Organization held its conference in Seattle, which was met with protest activity . The protests and police reactions to them largely overshadowed the conference itself. In 2001, the city was impacted by the Mardi Gras Riots and then by the Nisqually earthquake the following day. Another boom began as
1152-640: A large public market with more than 220 shops and restaurants, draws 10 million annual visitors and is among the most-visited tourist attractions in the world. Other major attractions in Seattle include the Space Needle , the Seattle Center Monorail , Seattle Great Wheel , the Amazon Spheres , the Seattle Underground Tour , and the historic Pioneer Square neighborhood. The city
1296-536: A majority of visitors in 2019 were from Western Washington and included a large number from within the metropolitan area. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the county's largest tourist attraction was the Future of Flight Aviation Center adjacent to Paine Field, which offered tours of the nearby Boeing Everett Factory and drew 300,000 annual visitors. Pierce County had 8.8 million visitors in 2021 and estimated that they spent
1440-405: A married couple, 8.1% included an unmarried cohabiting couple, 19.7% had a single male with no spouse or partner, and 24.4% single female with no spouse or partner. Out of all households, 29.8% had people under the age of 18 and 25.3% had people 65 years or older. Approximately 18.3% of household residents were opposite-sex spouses, while 0.3% were same-sex spouses. According to a 2022 survey by
1584-441: A number of technology companies, including Amazon , F5 Networks , RealNetworks , Nintendo of America , and T-Mobile . This success brought an influx of new residents with a population increase within city limits of almost 50,000 between 1990 and 2000, and saw Seattle's real estate become some of the most expensive in the country. Seattle in this period attracted attention as home to the companies opened operations in or around
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#17331071221281728-478: A number of theaters in the city exhibiting vaudeville acts and silent movies. He went on to become one of America's greatest theater and movie tycoons. Scottish-born architect B. Marcus Priteca designed several theaters for Pantages in Seattle, which were later demolished or converted to other uses. Seattle's surviving Paramount Theatre , on which he collaborated, was not a Pantages theater. War work again brought local prosperity during World War II , centered on
1872-484: A population of 4,018,762 as of the 2020 census , over half of Washington's total population. The area is considered part of the greater Puget Sound region , which largely overlaps with the Seattle Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The Seattle metropolitan area is home to a large tech industry and is the headquarters of several major companies, including Microsoft and Amazon . The area's geography
2016-407: A separate metropolitan area designation centered on Everett , which did not meet the population threshold of 50,000 residents. In the 1950 census, a separate metropolitan area for Tacoma was defined that encompassed all of Pierce County. Kitsap County remained part of no metropolitan area despite its connections to both Seattle and Tacoma. The Office of Management and Budget included the area in
2160-627: A similar survey conducted in 2004. The area also decides most statewide elections due to their large population, which has contributed to an unbroken line of Democratic governors since 1984. Public K–12 education is managed by local school districts that are governed by elected boards and overseen by two of the state's nine regional educational service districts . The Puget Sound Educational Service District covers 35 school districts and 416,000 students in King and Pierce counties, along with Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County, and includes 40 percent of
2304-595: A total area of 142.5 square miles (369 km ), 84 square miles (220 km ) of which is land and 58.1 square miles (150 km ) is water (41% of the total area). According to the Köppen climate classification system, Seattle has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csb ), while under the Trewartha system, it is labeled an oceanic climate ( Dobk ). It has cool, wet winters and mild, relatively dry summers, covering characteristics of both climate types. The climate
2448-578: A total of $ 1.4 billion. Mount Rainier National Park , located mostly in the county, had 2.3 million visitors in 2022—primarily between July and September. The Seattle MSA comprises three counties, nine federally recognized tribes , and 77 municipalities classified as cities or towns , each with their own governments. These include 39 municipalities in King County, 23 in Pierce County, and 20 in Snohomish County; several cities also extend beyond
2592-516: A valuation of at least $ 1 billion. The region also has a large aerospace industry that is dominated by Boeing , historically the largest employer in Washington state with 60,244 workers as of 2022 . The company has major commercial jetliner assembly plants in Everett and Renton alongside testing facilities in Seattle and smaller component manufacturers in other areas. The Boeing Everett Factory
2736-478: A venue for boxing matches. Wooden planks and flooring were placed to cover the pool. Boxer Leslie Earnest "Wildcat" Carter was photographed at the Crystal Pool. A match between Tony Seeman and Abie Israel was held at Crystal Pool on December 17, 1930. Promoter Nate Druxman organized fights at the venue where he established an athletic club. Hal Hoshino fought at the venue. Ken Overlin and Paul Delaney also fought at
2880-763: A week. Seattle's oldest daily newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer , ceased print publication in 2009 and became an online-only outlet. The Seattle area also has weekly newspapers in smaller cities, including several owned by Sound Publishing or independent companies; other hyperlocal publications, primarily in Seattle neighborhoods, have largely ceased publication in the early 21st century. Other newspapers include free weeklies The Stranger and Seattle Weekly , which both ceased regular print publication by 2020; trade and industry publications Puget Sound Business Journal and Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce ; and student newspaper The Daily of
3024-516: Is a city on the West Coast of the United States . It is the seat of King County , Washington . With a 2023 population of 755,078 it is the most populous city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America , and the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The Seattle metropolitan area 's population is 4.02 million, making it the 15th-largest in
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#17331071221283168-593: Is also home to three cruise ship terminals operated by the Port of Seattle that serve excursions through the Inside Passage to Alaska. An estimated 1.8 million passengers visited Seattle on 291 departures during the 2023 summer season with an estimated economic impact of $ 900 million. The region has several convention centers that are able to host large events, such as trade shows , fan conventions , corporate meetings, and conferences. The first portion of
3312-484: Is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle , its surrounding satellites and suburbs. The United States Census Bureau defines the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area as the three most populous counties in the state : King , Pierce , and Snohomish . Seattle has the 15th largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States with
3456-506: Is hilly in some places. Like Rome, the city is said to lie on seven hills ; the lists vary but typically include Capitol Hill , First Hill , West Seattle , Beacon Hill , Queen Anne , Magnolia, and the former Denny Hill . The Wallingford , Delridge , Mount Baker , Seward Park , Washington Park , Broadmoor , Madrona , Phinney Ridge , Sunset Hill , Blue Ridge , Broadview , Laurelhurst , Hawthorne Hills , Maple Leaf , and Crown Hill neighborhoods are all located on hills. Many of
3600-453: Is home to several of the wealthiest people in the United States and the world by net worth. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos both held the title of world's richest person , as determined by Forbes , while living in the Eastside city of Medina . Another Eastside suburb, Sammamish , has a median household income of $ 201,370—the second-highest among cities in
3744-552: Is home to the head offices of truck manufacturer Paccar , telecom network T-Mobile US , and clothing retailer Eddie Bauer . Warehouse retailer Costco is headquartered in Issaquah and has more than a dozen locations in the Seattle area. The region has several large shopping centers that range from traditional enclosed malls like Alderwood Mall and Westfield Southcenter to newer outdoor designs such as University Village . While suburban areas have had few retail vacancies since
3888-490: Is noted for its technology industry , which developed in the late 20th century and grew significantly with the development of Microsoft and Amazon . The industry has 290,000 workers based in the Seattle area, ranking second nationally behind the San Francisco Bay Area , and comprises 13 percent of the regional workforce; from 2005 to 2017, Seattle was one of five metropolitan areas that had 90 percent of
4032-498: Is sold by homeless and low-income vendors with an estimated annual circulation of 550,000 copies. Several digital-only publications emerged in the 2000s and 2010s to provide local news, including Crosscut.com , tech industry publication GeekWire , and hyperlocal outlets Capitol Hill Seattle Blog and West Seattle Blog . The Seattle metropolitan area has several local public library systems that are funded primarily by property taxes that are set by voter-approved levies within
4176-491: Is sometimes characterized as a "modified Mediterranean" climate because it is cooler and wetter than a "true" Mediterranean climate, but shares the characteristic dry summer (which has a strong influence on the region's vegetation). Temperature extremes are moderated by the adjacent Puget Sound , greater Pacific Ocean , and Lake Washington . Thus extreme heat waves are rare in the Seattle area, as are very cold temperatures (below about 15 °F; −9 °C). The Seattle area
4320-557: Is the cloudiest region of the Continental United States , due in part to frequent storms and lows moving in from the adjacent Pacific Ocean. Seattle is cloudy 201 days out of the year and partly cloudy 93 days. With many more "rain days" than other major American cities, Seattle has a well-earned reputation for frequent rain: In an average year, there are 150 days in which at least 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) of precipitation falls, more days than in nearly all U.S. cities east of
4464-561: Is the largest library in the region, with 50 branches and a total circulation of nearly 18.9 million physical and digital items as of 2022 . It was established as a rural library district in 1943 and absorbed most of the city-operated systems in King County, with the exception of the Seattle Public Library , by 2012. The independent Seattle system has 27 locations, including its Central Library in Downtown Seattle, and had
Crystal Pool (Seattle) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4608-482: Is the world's largest building by volume and is the assembly site of the 747 , 767 and 777 programs, including their variants, alongside most 787s . The company was headquartered in Seattle until its move to Chicago in 2001; in subsequent years, widebody production of the 787 was moved to Charleston, South Carolina . The Seattle region is also home to several startup electric aircraft and component manufacturers, including Eviation and MagniX , who emerged in
4752-685: Is varied and includes the lowlands around Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains ; the highest peak in the metropolitan area is Mount Rainier , which has a summit elevation of 14,411 feet (4,392 m) and is one of the tallest mountains in the United States. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget , the Seattle metropolitan area is officially the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and consists of: Based on commuting patterns,
4896-876: The U.S. News & World Report , the top high schools in the metropolitan area are primarily in the Eastside region, along with specialized industry and technical schools in Tukwila and Lakewood; the highest-ranked school in Washington is the Tesla STEM High School in the Lake Washington School District. The smallest school district in the Seattle area is the Index School District , which has 19 students and no high school. The Seattle area has hundreds of registered private schools that serve over 50,000 students and offer alternative curriculums or religious education. The largest private schools in
5040-461: The 1962 World's Fair , for which the Space Needle was built. Another major local economic downturn was in the late 1960s and early 1970s, at a time when Boeing was heavily affected by the oil crises , loss of government contracts, and costs and delays associated with the Boeing 747 . Many people left the area to look for work elsewhere, and two local real estate agents put up a billboard reading "Will
5184-608: The Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition of 1909, which is largely responsible for the layout of today's University of Washington campus. A shipbuilding boom in the early part of the 20th century became massive during World War I , making Seattle somewhat of a company town. The subsequent retrenchment led to the Seattle General Strike of 1919 , an early general strike in the country. A 1912 city development plan by Virgil Bogue went largely unused. Seattle
5328-538: The COVID-19 pandemic , Downtown Seattle has had a slower recovery with a vacancy rate of nearly 14 percent as of late 2023. In the retail grocery sector, the most popular supermarket chains in the region are owned by Kroger ( Fred Meyer and QFC ) and the Albertsons Companies (Albertsons, Safeway ), alongside warehouse retailers like Costco. The Seattle area is a tourist destination, especially during
5472-535: The Indian reservations that were established in the region. The reservations were created through treaties with the federal government that were not consistently honored and often combined several tribes together; they were also open to settlement by non-Indians. The Puget Sound region has approximately 83,705 U.S. Department of Defense personnel, including active duty members of the military and civilian workers at United States Armed Forces bases. Major facilities in
5616-641: The Lake Washington Ship Canal (consisting of two man-made canals, Lake Union , and the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks at Salmon Bay , ending in Shilshole Bay on Puget Sound). The sea, rivers, forests, lakes, and fields surrounding Seattle were once rich enough to support one of the world's few sedentary hunter-gatherer societies. In modern times the surrounding area lends itself well to sailing, skiing, bicycling, camping, and hiking year-round. The city
5760-768: The Pacific Ring of Fire , Seattle is in a major earthquake zone . On February 28, 2001, the magnitude 6.8 Nisqually earthquake did significant architectural damage, especially in the Pioneer Square area (built on reclaimed land , as are the Industrial District and part of the city center), and caused one fatality. Other strong earthquakes occurred on January 26, 1700 (estimated at 9 magnitude), December 14, 1872 (7.3 or 7.4), April 13, 1949 (7.1), and April 29, 1965 (6.5). The 1965 quake caused three deaths in Seattle directly and one more by heart failure. Although
5904-475: The Pew Research Center 's 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study, the Seattle metropolitan area's religious affiliation is as follows: The cost of living in the Seattle area ranks among the highest in the United States among urban areas, particularly for housing, services, and retail goods. In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that median household income for residents of the Seattle metropolitan area
Crystal Pool (Seattle) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6048-658: The Port of Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2021 . The Seattle area has been inhabited by Native Americans (such as the Duwamish , who had at least 17 villages around Elliot Bay) for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party , arrived from Illinois via Portland, Oregon , on
6192-642: The Portland metropolitan area , which had been expanded to cover four counties in Oregon and southwestern Washington. The Bureau of the Budget (now Office of Management and Budget) added Snohomish County to its definition of the Seattle metropolitan area in 1959. The definition had previously only encompassed King County; local leaders had sought to also include Pierce and Kitsap counties in a "Puget Sound metropolitan area". Snohomish County had protested its inclusion and had sought
6336-578: The Puget Sound 's Elliott Bay . The 260,000 gallon pool was heated. It was in the Belltown District . In 1918, the pool's adjoining energy plant was converted from burning oil to burning a form of powdered coal. A contemporaneous article in Electrical World magazine reported that it was to become the first of its kind (a small plant isolated from others) to transition to powdered coal. It received
6480-752: The Rocky Mountains . However, because it often has merely a light drizzle falling from the sky for many days, Seattle actually receives significantly less rainfall (or other precipitation) overall than many other major U.S. cities like New York City , Miami , or Houston . According to the 2012–2016 American Community Survey (ACS), the racial makeup of the city was 65.7% White Non-Hispanic , 16.9% Asian , 6.8% Black or African American , 6.6% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 0.4% Native American , 0.9% Pacific Islander , 0.2% other races, and 5.6% two or more races . Seattle's population historically has been predominantly white. The 2010 census showed that Seattle
6624-576: The Seattle Convention Center (formerly the Washington State Convention Center) was built over Interstate 5 and opened in 1988; it expanded to a second building in 2023 to meet growing demand for event space in Downtown Seattle. The convention center can hold simultaneous events and has over 1.5 million square feet (140,000 m ) of exhibition and meeting space. Its largest annual events include PAX West (formerly
6768-513: The Seattle Fault passes just south of the city center, neither it nor the Cascadia subduction zone has caused an earthquake since the city's founding. The Cascadia subduction zone poses the threat of an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or greater, capable of seriously damaging the city and collapsing many buildings, especially in zones built on fill. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the city has
6912-512: The University of Washington negatively. As schools across Washington lost funding and attendance, the university actually prospered during the time period as they focused on growing their student enrollment. While Seattle public schools were influenced by Washington's superintendent Worth McClure, they still struggled to pay teachers and maintain attendance. Seattle was the home base of impresario Alexander Pantages who, starting in 1902, opened
7056-507: The Wenatchee metropolitan area . As of 2021 , it is the 12th largest television market and 11th largest radio market in the United States by population. King County has the majority of the region's television and radio antenna towers , which are concentrated on Seattle's hills or on Cougar Mountain and Tiger Mountain in the Issaquah Alps . In addition to over-the-air television ,
7200-544: The anti-Chinese riots of 1885–1886 . This violence originated with unemployed whites who were determined to drive the Chinese from Seattle; anti-Chinese riots also occurred in Tacoma . Seattle had achieved sufficient economic success when the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed the central business district. However, a far grander city center rapidly emerged in its place. Finance company Washington Mutual , for example,
7344-428: The schooner Exact at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. The settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay in 1852 and named "Seattle" in honor of Chief Seattle , a prominent 19th-century leader of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Seattle currently has high populations of Native Americans alongside Americans with strong Asian, African, European, and Scandinavian ancestry, and, as of 2015, hosts
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#17331071221287488-478: The 1980s, the Seattle area developed into a technology center ; Microsoft established its headquarters in the region. In 1994, Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle, and Alaska Airlines is based in SeaTac, Washington , serving Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , Seattle's international airport. The stream of new software, biotechnology , and Internet companies led to an economic revival, which increased
7632-586: The 2010s. The decade also saw the establishment of several space technology companies in the area, including Kent-based Blue Origin , Vulcan Aerospace , Kuiper Systems , and satellite offices for SpaceX ; the industry has 13,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region as of 2022 , a two-fold increase since 2018. The region is a major hub for international trade and handles most of Washington's exports, which totaled $ 78 billion in 2018, through three major seaports on Puget Sound . The Northwest Seaport Alliance
7776-448: The 2023–24 school year, a 9 percent decrease from its 2019 peak of 56,000 students. The district has 106 schools and over 6,000 staff members; most students attend their closest neighborhood schools, while option schools are able to enroll students from across the city. Other large districts with more than 20,000 enrolled students include Lake Washington , Tacoma , Kent , Northshore , Puyallup , and Federal Way . According to
7920-516: The Boeing Everett Factory. Other maritime industries in the area include shipbuilding and commercial fishing , particularly boat fleets based in Seattle that travel annually to the northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea near Alaska . The city has a major coffee retail industry that developed in the 1970s and 1980s and spawned several chains that remain headquartered in Seattle, including Starbucks and Tully's Coffee . Seattle had
8064-614: The Denny Party. Members of the Denny Party claimed land on Alki Point on September 28, 1851. The rest of the Denny Party set sail on the schooner Exact from Portland , Oregon, stopping in Astoria , and landed at Alki Point during a rainstorm on November 13, 1851. After a difficult winter, most of the Denny Party relocated across Elliott Bay and claimed land a second time at the site of present-day Pioneer Square , naming this new settlement Duwamps . Charles Terry and John Low remained at
8208-539: The January 2023 survey; of them, 594 were in shelters and 691 were unsheltered. Approximately 1,500 students in the Everett School District , the county's largest school system, were identified as homeless in 2022. The county has 683 year-round shelter beds and increases capacity during inclement weather; the county government purchased two former motels in 2022 to provide an additional 130 rooms. The region had
8352-558: The Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle with a board of trustees managing the city. The Town of Seattle was disincorporated on January 18, 1867, and remained a mere precinct of King County until late 1869, when a new petition was filed and the city was re-incorporated December 2, 1869, with a mayor–council government . The corporate seal of the City of Seattle carries
8496-715: The Pacific Ocean) to the west and Lake Washington to the east. The city's chief harbor, Elliott Bay , is part of Puget Sound, making the city an oceanic port. To the west, beyond Puget Sound, are the Kitsap Peninsula and Olympic Mountains on the Olympic Peninsula ; to the east, beyond Lake Washington and the Eastside suburbs, are Lake Sammamish and the Cascade Range . Lake Washington's waters flow to Puget Sound through
8640-812: The Penny Arcade Expo), Emerald City Comic Con , Sakura-Con , and the Northwest Flower and Garden Show , which each attract over 10,000 attendees. Smaller convention centers in the area include the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, the Lynnwood Event Center , and the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center . The areas outside of Seattle proper attract fewer tourists and draw largely from local and regional visitors. In Snohomish County,
8784-422: The Puget Sound region is home to two-thirds of Washington's population. The Seattle CSA is the 14th largest in the United States and the 13th largest primary census statistical area in the country. The additional metropolitan and micropolitan areas included are: The Census Bureau adopted metropolitan districts in the 1910 census to create a standard definition for urban areas with industrial activity around
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#17331071221288928-408: The Puget Sound region, which includes a large population of retirees. As of the 2020 census , there were 4,018,762 people in the three counties that form the Seattle metropolitan area, which comprises 52 percent of Washington 's population. It is the 15th largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and among the fastest-growing in the country. The overall population density
9072-525: The Seattle area and has been open to all residents of Washington since 2002. On March 20, 1970, twenty-eight people were killed when the Ozark Hotel was burned by an unknown arsonist. The Wah Mee massacre in 1983 resulted in the killing of 13 people in an illegal gambling club in the Seattle Chinatown-International District . Prosperity began to return in the 1980s beginning with Microsoft 's 1979 move from Albuquerque, New Mexico , to nearby Bellevue, Washington . Seattle and its suburbs became home to
9216-458: The Seattle area by listenership are primarily music stations , including several owned by national network iHeart Radio , and talk stations with local ownership. The first radio broadcasters in Seattle emerged in 1922, including the still-operating KJR , and grew through the decade; several radio broadcasters later established their own television stations following the first local broadcast in Seattle by KING predecessor KRSC-TV in 1948. Among
9360-416: The Seattle area during his 1791–1795 expedition for the Royal Navy , which sought to chart the Pacific Northwest for the British. In 1851, a large party of American pioneers led by Luther Collins made a location on land at the mouth of the Duwamish River ; they formally claimed it on September 14, 1851. Thirteen days later, members of the Collins Party on the way to their claim passed three scouts of
9504-425: The Seattle metropolitan area; the unemployment rate was 3.5% in November 2022 and 4.0% in November 2023. The average weekly wage was $ 1,868 across the metropolitan area in mid-2023, compared to $ 1,332 nationally; the region has some of the highest hourly minimum wages in the United States, ranging from the state minimum of $ 16.28 to $ 19.97 in Seattle for large employers and $ 20.29 in Tukwila as of 2024 . Seattle
9648-461: The Seattle–Tacoma standard consolidated statistical area in 1981; it was replaced in 1983 by the Seattle–Tacoma consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA). The CMSA was expanded to include Bremerton and Olympia after the 1990 census and was the 12th largest in the country at the time. The Office of Management and Budget restructured its classification system in 2003 and created the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan statistical area to cover
9792-408: The U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 17 percent of adult residents in the Seattle metropolitan area identified as LGBTQ . The region has one of the highest percentages of same-sex couples in the United States at 1.3 percent of households in the metropolitan area. King County is the largest of the three counties in the metropolitan area with 2,269,675 people in 2020, or 56 percent of
9936-463: The U.S. national public broadcaster : KCTS in Seattle and KBTC in Tacoma. The region's largest Spanish-language television station, KUNS , lost its Univision affiliation in 2023 and was replaced by Bellingham -based KVOS , which did not produce local news content. National news television network MSNBC was launched jointly by Microsoft and NBC in 1996; its online news operations were based in Redmond until 2012. The largest radio stations in
10080-534: The United States. According to the ACS 1-year estimates, in 2018, the median income of a city household was $ 93,481, and the median income for a family was $ 130,656. 11.0% of the population and 6.6% of families were below the poverty line. Of people living in poverty, 11.4% were under the age of 18 and 10.9% were 65 or older. According to a 2024 study by Henley & Partners , the city of Seattle has an estimated 54,200 millionaires and 11 billionaires. Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area
10224-422: The United States. According to a 2024 study by Henley & Partners , the city of Seattle has an estimated 54,200 millionaires—ranking seventh in the United States by number of millionaires—and 11 billionaires. The Seattle area has a housing shortage that has contributed to affordability issues in the early 21st century, particularly due to demand outpacing construction of new units. The metropolitan area had
10368-512: The United States. Its growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 made it one of the country's fastest-growing large cities. Seattle is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound , an inlet of the Pacific Ocean , and Lake Washington . It is the northernmost major city in the United States, located about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canadian border . A gateway for trade with East Asia ,
10512-509: The United States. This includes a high number of out-of-state adults who reside in the metropolitan area; according to a 2015 Brookings Institution study, 48% of out-of-state adults had a bachelor's degree or higher compared to 35% of in-state adults. The oldest and largest public university in the state is University of Washington (UW), which was founded in 1861 and has over 60,000 total students in nearly 500 programs at its three campuses. The 342-acre (138 ha) main campus in Seattle
10656-689: The University of Washington . The region also has publications in English and other languages for ethnic communities. These include Asian-American publications International Examiner , Northwest Asian Weekly , and the Seattle Chinese Post ; and the Seattle Medium and The Facts , both catered towards the Black community. Real Change , a weekly street newspaper , has been published since 1994 and
10800-461: The adjacent metropolitan areas of Olympia , Bremerton , and Mount Vernon , along with a few smaller satellite urban areas, are grouped together in a wider labor market region known as the Seattle–Tacoma combined statistical area (CSA), which encompasses most of the Puget Sound region . The population of this wider region was 4,953,389 at the 2020 census and estimated to be 4,993,725 in 2023;
10944-449: The area are Cedar Park Christian School and King's Schools , both Christian programs. Since a state referendum in 2012, charter schools have been approved to operate in the area using using public funding while remaining privately-run. These non-district schools are also overseen by the educational service district of their respective region; they are also allowed to participate in the same athletics competitions as public schools under
11088-717: The area include Joint Base Lewis–McChord in Pierce County, the largest military base on the West Coast with over 25,000 active duty soldiers; Naval Station Everett in Snohomish County; and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Island County. The Kitsap Peninsula—part of the Seattle CSA—is home to Naval Base Kitsap , which includes the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton and Naval Submarine Base Bangor , site of
11232-523: The area; during severe weather events such as heat waves and cold snaps, local governments open additional shelter spaces, but these often reach capacity. In 2021, a total of $ 123 million was spent on homelessness services by local governments in King County, including cities and the regional authority. The regional authority's five-year plan, released in 2023, estimates that $ 8 billion in capital costs would be required to build and staff 18,205 new units of temporary and transitional housing to address
11376-480: The assessor, clerk, coroner and medical examiner, prosecuting attorney, and treasurer. These duties include organization of elections and voter registration, enforcement of land use regulations, management of vital records, property assessment, tax collection, public health, and building inspections. The counties also manage the criminal justice system, including the superior and district courts, public defenders , and jails. The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC),
11520-617: The bigger West Coast city. Seattle had building contracts that rivaled New York City and Chicago , but also lost to Los Angeles. Seattle's eastern farm land faded due to Oregon 's and the Midwest 's, forcing people into town. Hooverville arose during the Depression, leading to Seattle's growing homeless population. Stationed outside Seattle, the Hooverville housed thousands of men but very few children and no women. With work projects close to
11664-571: The borders of a single county. Approximately 71 percent of Puget Sound region residents live in an incorporated city or town; the rest are in unincorporated areas under the direct jurisdiction of counties, which act as the local government. These developed unincorporated areas generally lie within the urban growth areas for existing cities that could annex them or in county-designated areas that would allow communities to vote for incorporation . The incorporated city and town governments vary between mayor–council and council–manager systems,
11808-486: The city emerged from the Great Recession , commencing when Amazon moved its headquarters from North Beacon Hill to South Lake Union . The move initiated a historic construction boom which resulted in the completion of almost 10,000 apartments in Seattle in 2017, more than any previous year and nearly twice as many as were built in 2016. From 2010 to 2015, Seattle gained an average of 14,511 residents per year, with
11952-488: The city's population by almost 50,000 in the decade between 1990 and 2000. The culture of Seattle is heavily defined by its significant musical history . Between 1918 and 1951, nearly 24 jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District to the Central District . The jazz scene nurtured the early careers of Ernestine Anderson , Ray Charles , Quincy Jones , and others. In
12096-616: The city, Hooverville grew and the WPA settled into the city. A movement of women arose from Seattle during the Great Depression , fueled in part by Eleanor Roosevelt 's 1933 book It's Up to the Women ; women pushed for recognition, not just as housewives, but as the backbone to family. Using newspapers and journals Working Woman and The Woman Today , women pushed to be seen as equal and receive some recognition. The Great Depression did not impact
12240-535: The city. In 1990, the Goodwill Games were held in the city. Three years later, in 1993, the APEC leaders was hosted in Seattle. The 1990s also witnessed a growing popularity in grunge music, a sound that was largely developed in Seattle's independent music scene. In 1993, the movie Sleepless in Seattle brought the city further national attention, as did the television sitcom Frasier . The dot-com boom caused
12384-636: The coal by truck, and was described as not having a "slag pit" for its byproducts. In February 1923 the Young Men's Republican Club of King County organized a Lincoln Banquet at the Crystal Pool Auditorium. In March 23, 1923 the Ku Klux Klan held a rally at the venue. At the time, Seattle was segregated with covenants to restrict where minorities could live and sundown restrictions kept them out of white neighborhoods after working hours. The Klan event
12528-511: The date "1869" and a likeness of Chief Seattle in left profile. That same year, Seattle acquired the epithet of the "Queen City", a designation officially changed in 1982 to the "Emerald City". Seattle has a history of boom-and-bust cycles, like many other cities near areas of extensive natural and mineral resources. Seattle has risen several times economically, then gone into precipitous decline, but it has typically used those periods to rebuild solid infrastructure. The first such boom, covering
12672-527: The designated metropolitan planning organization for the Seattle MSA and Kitsap County, has voluntary membership from 82 municipalities, four tribes, four public ports, and six public transit operators. It maintains a long-range plan for population growth, economic development, and regional transportation that is overseen by an executive board and general assembly of all members. The organization also distributes state and federal funding for projects within
12816-579: The early part of the 20th century, and funded many new Seattle companies and products. In 1907, 19-year-old James E. Casey borrowed $ 100 from a friend and founded the American Messenger Company (later UPS ). Other Seattle companies founded during this period include Nordstrom and Eddie Bauer . Seattle brought in the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm to design a system of parks and boulevards. The Gold Rush era culminated in
12960-486: The early years of the city, rode on the lumber industry. During this period the road now known as Yesler Way won the nickname "Skid Road", supposedly after the timber skidding down the hill to Henry Yesler 's sawmill. The later dereliction of the area may be a possible origin for the term which later entered the wider American lexicon as Skid Row . Like much of the U.S. West , Seattle experienced conflicts between labor and management and ethnic tensions that culminated in
13104-629: The establishment of KNKX under independent ownership. The region has three major newspapers based in the largest cities of each county: The Seattle Times , the most-circulated newspaper in the Pacific Northwest, is a daily newspaper based in Seattle and had over 75,000 subscribers in 2022; The News Tribune in Tacoma has approximately 54,000 subscribers and switched to a three-day publication schedule in 2024; and The Daily Herald in Everett has 33,500 subscribers as of 2022 and prints six editions
13248-464: The fifth-largest LGBT community in the U.S. Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush . The city grew after World War II , partly due to the local company Boeing , which established Seattle as a center for its manufacturing of aircraft. Beginning in
13392-589: The first was in Steilacoom in 1858 and was followed by a Seattle organization in 1868. Several city libraries and local branches were constructed across the metropolitan area with grants from industrialist Andrew Carnegie beginning in 1901. In addition to public libraries, the region also has informal public bookcases (part of the Little Free Library movement) and neighborhood tool libraries that lend tools and materials. The King County Library System
13536-468: The founders of Duwamps, was the primary advocate to name the settlement Seattle after Chief Seattle ( Lushootseed : siʔaɫ , anglicized as "Seattle"), chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The name "Seattle" appears on official Washington Territory papers dated May 23, 1853, when the first plats for the village were filed. In 1855, nominal land settlements were established. On January 14, 1865,
13680-467: The four-county area. Other inter-county organizations include special districts and regional authorities for conservation, transit, libraries, and firefighting ; as of 2007 , there are over 220 special purpose districts in the Seattle metropolitan area. Tax rates are set by local governments and can vary due to contributions to special districts; the combined sales tax ranges from 8.1% in parts of Pierce County to 10.6% in several Snohomish County cities,
13824-411: The growth strongly skewed toward the center of the city, and unemployment dropped from roughly 9 percent to 3.6 percent. The city has found itself "bursting at the seams", with over 45,000 households spending more than half their income on housing and at least 2,800 people homeless , and with the country's sixth-worst rush-hour traffic. Seattle is located between the saltwater Puget Sound (an arm of
13968-501: The highest rate in the state. The Seattle MSA is part of seven congressional districts (the 1st , 2nd , 6th , 7th , 8th , 9th , and 10th ) that each elect a member of the United States House of Representatives . The boundaries are redrawn every 10 years by the state's independent redistricting commission based on the results of the decennial census. The 8th district is the only one to span all three counties, taking
14112-401: The hilliest areas are near the city center, with Capitol Hill, First Hill, and Beacon Hill collectively constituting something of a ridge along an isthmus between Elliott Bay and Lake Washington. The break in the ridge between First Hill and Beacon Hill is man-made, a result of two of the many regrading projects that reshaped the topography of the city center. The topography of the city center
14256-592: The homelessness crisis. The January 2023 point-in-time survey conducted in Pierce County identified 2,148 people who were experiencing homelessness, of whom 59 percent were in shelters and 21 percent were unsheltered—either outdoors or in vehicles. The city of Tacoma has 1,225 shelter beds and 137 permanent housing units as of 2022 ; the city government plans to temporarily increase shelter capacity while transitioning to more permanent and long-term housing for homeless people. In Snohomish County, 1,285 homeless individuals in 1,028 households were identified in
14400-418: The last person leaving Seattle – Turn out the lights." Seattle remained the corporate headquarters of Boeing until 2001, when the company separated its headquarters from its major production facilities; the headquarters were moved to Chicago. The Seattle area is still home to Boeing's Renton narrow-body plant and Everett wide-body plant . The company's credit union for employees, BECU , remains based in
14544-425: The late 19th and early 20th centuries were almost entirely from Guangdong Province . The Seattle area is also home to a large Vietnamese population of more than 55,000 residents, as well as over 30,000 Somali immigrants. The Seattle-Tacoma area is also home to one of the largest Cambodian communities in the United States, numbering about 19,000 Cambodian Americans, and one of the largest Samoan communities in
14688-408: The late 2000s, the area has also become home to satellite offices for Silicon Valley companies such as Google , Meta , and Salesforce . Seattle has historically had few venture capital firms to invest in startups until the 2010s with the advent of new companies founded by alumni of older tech companies in the area; in the early 2020s, several Seattle-area startups were labeled unicorns with
14832-456: The late 20th and early 21st century, the city also was the origin of several rock bands, including Foo Fighters , Heart , and Jimi Hendrix , and the subgenre of grunge and its pioneering bands, including Alice in Chains , Nirvana , Pearl Jam , Soundgarden , and others. Archaeological excavations suggest that Native Americans have inhabited the Seattle area for at least 4,000 years. By
14976-592: The latter using a council-appointed city manager to handle administration. All three counties have a home rule charter and are led by an elected county executive and a county council with members representing geographic districts. The elections for the county executive and council, along with other major offices, are held in even-numbered years for Pierce County and odd-numbered years in King and Snohomish counties. The county governments are responsible for various duties for all residents that are generally delegated to other elected and appointed officials, including
15120-483: The mainland U.S., with over 15,000 people having Samoan ancestry. Additionally, the Seattle area had the highest percentage of self-identified mixed-race people of any large metropolitan area in the United States, according to the 2000 United States Census Bureau. According to a 2012 HistoryLink study, Seattle's 98118 ZIP code (in the Columbia City neighborhood) was one of the most diverse ZIP Code Tabulation Areas in
15264-658: The management of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association . The Seattle area has several universities and colleges that provide post-secondary education and are run by public or private institutions. According to the National Center for Education Statistics , approximately 45 percent of people in the Seattle–Tacoma–Olympia combined statistical area in 2019 had a bachelor's degree or higher—the tenth-highest rate in
15408-581: The median price for a single-family home was $ 722,000 and the median rent for a one-bedroom unit is $ 1,505 across the metropolitan area. In King County, an estimated 309,000 new units are needed by 2044 to handle anticipated growth. As of the 2020 census, the Seattle metropolitan area had 1,650,246 total housing units, of which 94.8% were occupied. Of the 85,814 vacant units, 41.1% were for rent, 4.4% were rented but not occupied, 10.1% were for sale, 5.1% had been sold but not yet occupied, and 16.9% were designated for seasonal or recreational use. King County has
15552-552: The miners in Alaska and the Yukon . Few of those working men found lasting wealth. However, it was Seattle's business of clothing the miners and feeding them salmon that panned out in the long run. Along with Seattle, other cities like Everett , Tacoma , Port Townsend , Bremerton , and Olympia , all in the Puget Sound region, became competitors for exchange, rather than mother lodes for extraction, of precious metals. The boom lasted into
15696-429: The most popular modern stations is KEXP-FM , a non-profit music station that has a worldwide following due to its early use of internet broadcasting. The Seattle area has two NPR -affiliated public radio stations: KUOW-FM , founded at the University of Washington in 1952; and KNKX-FM , founded at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma as KPLU. An attempted takeover of KPLU by KUOW in 2016 resulted in public outcry and
15840-469: The new technology jobs created in the United States. Amazon is the largest private employer in the region, having grown from fewer than 5,000 local employees in 2009 to approximately 60,000 in 2020; Microsoft, the second-largest tech employer in the region with 57,000 employees as of 2021 , has several subsidiary video game studios in the region. The Eastside is also home to game developers and distributors Valve , Bungie , and Nintendo of America . Since
15984-433: The number of people seeking services and estimated that 53,532 people in the county had been homeless at some point in 2022. According to a survey collected by service providers for the county government, 68.5 percent of respondents said they last had stable housing in King County and 10.8 percent had lived elsewhere in the state. Approximately 57 percent of the homeless population counted by HUD in King County
16128-469: The original landing location, reestablished their old land claim and called it "New York", but renamed "New York Alki" in April 1853, from a Chinook word meaning, roughly, "by and by" or "someday". For the next few years, New York Alki and Duwamps competed for dominance, but in time Alki was abandoned and its residents moved across the bay to join the rest of the settlers. David Swinson "Doc" Maynard , one of
16272-485: The population of the Seattle area. The Seattle metropolitan area has one of the largest populations of people in the United States who identify as nonreligious. A 2024 Household Pulse Survey from the United States Census Bureau estimated that 64 percent of adults in the area do not attend religious services more than once a year, the highest percentage among large U.S. metropolitan areas. According to
16416-411: The population, Spanish was spoken by 4.5% of the population, speakers of other Indo-European languages made up 3.9%, and speakers of other languages made up 2.5%. Seattle's foreign-born population grew 40% between the 1990 and 2000 censuses. The Chinese population in the Seattle area has origins in mainland China , Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan . The earliest Chinese-Americans that came in
16560-434: The population. From 2010 to 2020, the non-Hispanic White population of the Seattle metropolitan area declined from 68 percent to 58 percent—the largest decline in the U.S. The region also has a large Asian American population that was among the fastest-growing in the country between 2010 and 2020. There were 1,564,432 total households in the metropolitan area at the time of the 2020 census, of which 47.8% included
16704-567: The production of Boeing aircraft. The war dispersed the city's numerous Japanese-American businessmen due to the Japanese American internment . After the World War II, however, the local economy dipped. It rose again with Boeing's growing dominance in the commercial airliner market. Seattle celebrated its restored prosperity and made a bid for world recognition with the Century 21 Exposition ,
16848-429: The region is also served by cable and satellite providers, the largest of which is Comcast Xfinity and Wave Broadband . All major national television networks have affiliates in the region who also produce local news broadcasts and other programming; these include KOMO 4 ( ABC ), KING 5 ( NBC ), KIRO 7 ( CBS ), and KCPQ 13 ( Fox ). The Seattle area has two non-profit stations that are members of PBS ,
16992-460: The region's lowlands. To the west of the metropolitan area is Puget Sound , which forms the second-largest saltwater estuary in the United States and is part of the Salish Sea . The Seattle metropolitan area is home to nine federally recognized tribes that belong to the indigenous Coast Salish peoples: The tribes have sovereign governments that have authority over their enrolled members and
17136-470: The rural eastern portions and including areas east of the Cascade Mountains. According to the 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index , six of the congressional districts lean towards Democratic candidates while the 8th district is even between both major parties. In the state legislature , the metropolitan area is part of 28 districts that each elect two House members to a two-year term and one senator to
17280-478: The seventh highest number of new units built among large cities in 2016, of which 63 percent were in multifamily buildings . The state legislature passed a new housing law in 2023 that allows for medium-density units in areas of all cities that supersede local zoning regulations; the new law could allow for 75,000 to 150,000 new units in the region, but exempts certain pre-existing homeowner associations and other contract-based communities. As of April 2023 ,
17424-788: The state is Bellevue College , which has nearly 9,000 full-time students; other colleges with more than 5,000 enrolled students include Pierce College , Green River College , and Highline College . The three community colleges in Seattle proper form the Seattle Colleges District , which has over 12,000 total students as of 2021 . The area also has several private four-year and two-year institutions that focus on religious or liberal arts programs. These include Seattle University , Seattle Pacific University , Pacific Lutheran University , and University of Puget Sound . The Seattle–Tacoma Designated Market Area , as defined by Nielsen Media Research , includes most of Western Washington and
17568-450: The state's student population. The Northwest Educational Service District encompasses 35 school districts in northwestern Washington, including all 14 in Snohomish County. The public school districts are primarily funded by allocations from the state government and local property tax levies that are approved by voters. The largest school district in the metropolitan area is Seattle Public Schools , which has 51,000 students enrolled for
17712-419: The summer months, for domestic and international visitors. The metropolitan area's tourism industry employed 209,000 residents in early 2020, later reduced to 181,000 by 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, an estimated 33.9 million visitors in Seattle and King County spent $ 7.4 billion; the region had reached a peak of 41.9 million visitors in 2019. Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle,
17856-484: The third largest population of homeless or unsheltered people in the United States according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The agency's January 2023 report, based on the point-in-time count system, estimates 14,149 people in the county have experienced homelessness; the King County Regional Homelessness Authority adopted a different methodology based on
18000-449: The third-largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world with more than 1,100 warheads for submarines. The region also has several major companies that serve as defense contractors for the U.S. military, comprising most of Washington's $ 6.9 billion awarded in fiscal year 2022. The largest contractors in the Seattle area include Boeing, PacMed , and Microsoft. The Veterans Health Administration has 110,000 enrolled patients in
18144-400: The third-most coffee shops per capita in 2019 among U.S. cities, including independent shops and other roasters. The city proper serves as the headquarters for other major companies in various industries, including online travel agency Expedia and wood producer Weyerhaeuser . National retailers REI and Nordstrom were also founded in Seattle and remain headquartered in the area. Bellevue
18288-503: The three counties; King County is the largest county at over 2,115 square miles (5,480 km ), followed by Snohomish and Pierce counties. The region includes portions of the Cascade Range and several active volcanoes, including Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak , which can generate lahars that reach populated areas. The summit of Mount Rainier is the tallest point in Washington at 14,411 feet (4,392 m) above mean sea level ; it has 26 glaciers that are visible from much of
18432-465: The time the first European settlers arrived, the Duwamish people occupied at least 17 villages in the areas around Elliott Bay . The name for the modern city of Seattle in Lushootseed , dᶻidᶻəlal̓ič , meaning "little crossing-over place", comes from one of these villages, which was located at the present-day King Street Station . In May 1792, George Vancouver was the first European to visit
18576-794: The tri-county region. A new Seattle–Tacoma–Olympia combined statistical area (CSA) replaced the CMSA and expanded to cover Island and Mason counties. The Mount Vernon–Anacortes metropolitan area was created in 2003 to encompass Skagit County and added to the Seattle CSA in 2006; the CSA was extended further south to Lewis County through the addition of the Centralia micropolitan area in 2013. The Seattle metropolitan area covers 6,309 square miles (16,340 km ) of land and water in Western Washington divided between
18720-617: The venue. The building was razed in June 2003, and replaced with a 24-story condominium complex called Crystalla. Most of the original terracotta façade was preserved and rebuilt in place. A small glass dome calling back to the original one lost during the building's time as Bethel Temple was placed over the current building's corner entrance. 47°36′44″N 122°20′35″W / 47.61222°N 122.34306°W / 47.61222; -122.34306 Seattle, Washington Seattle ( / s i ˈ æ t əl / see- AT -əl )
18864-417: Was $ 101,700, an 8.2 percent increase from 2019. It is the fourth-highest figure for any metropolitan area in the United States, behind San Jose , San Francisco , and Washington, D.C. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated that the per-capita income of a Seattle metropolitan area resident was $ 92,113 in 2022; the previous year, the region ranked tenth in the U.S. for per-capita income. The area
19008-438: Was 685 inhabitants per square mile (264.5/km ). The population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female with a median age of 37.2 years old. The racial makeup of the metropolitan area was 60.1% White , 15.4% Asian , 6.1% Black , 1.1% Native American or Alaska Native , 1.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander , 11.0% from two or more races, and 5.3% from other races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race formed 11.2% of
19152-731: Was also changed by the construction of a seawall and the artificial Harbor Island (completed 1909) at the mouth of the city's industrial Duwamish Waterway , the terminus of the Green River . The highest point within city limits is at High Point in West Seattle, which is located near 35th Ave SW and SW Myrtle St. North of the city center, the Lake Washington Ship Canal connects Puget Sound to Lake Washington. It incorporates four natural bodies of water: Lake Union , Salmon Bay , Portage Bay , and Union Bay . Due to its location in
19296-505: Was classified as unsheltered, either living in vehicles, encampments in public spaces, or other places. The number of unsheltered individuals increased significantly in the late 2010s, leading to clearing of encampments and other structures by local governments. The county has 5,115 emergency shelter beds and tiny house villages, of which 67 percent are in the city of Seattle. Additional shelters, parking lots, and encampment sites are operated by charity organizations and churches in
19440-516: Was designed for C. D. Stimson by Marcus Priteca . Upon its debut, the Italian Renaissance architecture facility was described as having outdone the Baths of Rome . The total cost of its construction was approximately $ 200,000 (equivalent to $ 5,600,000 in 2023). It had arched steel trusses and a glass roof. Its facade included terracotta features and it had a dome. Water was pumped in from
19584-508: Was established in 1895 after moving from Downtown Seattle ; it was joined in 1990 by branch institutions in Bothell and Tacoma that later built permanent campuses in the late 1990s and early 2000s. UW is also a major research university with an annual budget of $ 10.4 billion and one of the largest employers in the metropolitan area. The state's second-largest institution, Washington State University , has an Everett branch campus that
19728-401: Was established in 2011 after plans for a UW branch campus were shelved amid the Great Recession . The area has 17 community colleges and technical colleges that offer two-year degrees and other programs, including transfers to local four-year universities. Each college is assigned a specific district that also conforms to county boundaries. As of 2023 , the largest community college in
19872-456: Was formed in 2015 to enable cooperation between the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma , rival public ports situated 32 miles (51 km) apart. The two ports combine to form the seventh-largest container port in the United States and has the second-largest concentration of warehouse space on the West Coast. The independent Port of Everett is a smaller port but handles exports of a similar value to Seattle and Tacoma due to its proximity to
20016-474: Was founded in the immediate wake of the fire. The Panic of 1893 hit Seattle hard. The second and most dramatic boom resulted from the Klondike Gold Rush , which ended the depression that had begun with the Panic of 1893 . In a short time, Seattle became a major transportation center. On July 14, 1897, the S.S. Portland docked with its famed "ton of gold", and Seattle became the main transport and supply point for
20160-705: Was mildly prosperous in the 1920s but was particularly hard hit in the Great Depression, experiencing some of the country's harshest labor strife in that era. Violence during the Maritime Strike of 1934 cost Seattle much of its maritime traffic, which was rerouted to the Port of Los Angeles . The Great Depression in Seattle affected many minority groups, one being the Asian Pacific Americans; they were subject to racism, loss of property, and failed claims of unemployment due to citizenship status. Seattle
20304-411: Was one of several held around Washington in 1923 and 1924. In 1924, U. S. Navy swimmers from the battleships USS California and USS New Mexico competed at the pool. William H. Offler bought the building in 1944 and converted it into Bethel Temple, permanently covering the pool with flooring. The entrance was on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Lenora Street. Crystal Pool was also used as
20448-485: Was one of the major cities that benefited from programs such as the Works Progress Administration , CCC , Public Works Administration , and others. The workers, mostly men, built roads, parks, dams, schools, railroads, bridges, docks, and even historical and archival record sites and buildings. Seattle faced significant unemployment, loss of lumber and construction industries as Los Angeles prevailed as
20592-448: Was one of the whitest big cities in the country, although its proportion of white residents has been gradually declining. In 1960, whites constituted 91.6% of the city's population, while in 2010 they constituted 69.5%. According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey , approximately 78.9% of residents over the age of five spoke only English at home. Those who spoke Asian languages other than Indo-European languages made up 10.2% of
20736-466: Was outside of Seattle proper, and counted a population of 420,663. The Seattle metropolitan area, successor to the metropolitan district, was expanded in 1949 to encompass all of King County but lose its portions in Kitsap and Snohomish counties. The local chamber of commerce and other leaders had lobbied for a definition that also included all of Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties in a manner similar to
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