A striking seafront city of hills surrounded by a range of snow-capped mountains, set on a huge inlet from the Pacific Ocean, Seattle has its own innate charm. It’s San Francisco with attitude. Behind its atmosphere of liberal affability and Frasier-style coffee-shop culture, it has become synonymous with the words “creative, innovative and cutting edge”.
With its old-fashioned markets and idyllic green spaces, the city may seem laid-back on the surface, but it’s not known as the home of the two big dollar Bills for nothing. Bill Boeing made his first plane here, spawning a multimillion-dollar business that put Seattle at the forefront of the aviation industry. And the other Bill – second name Gates – little knew that when he messed about on a computer as a youngster, he would come up with the world-leading IT company Microsoft.
Success has bred more success, with superlatives becoming standard in a corner of America that remains at the centre of today’s high-tech global economy. The statistics say it all – one in three jobs in the Greater Seattle area are involved in international trade, and Washington is the only US state that exports more than it imports, yet it still aims to increase international sales by 30 per cent over the next five years.
So how did it all come together for Seattle? Sam Kaplan, vice-president of Greater Seattle’s Trade Development Alliance, says: “It was a combination of things but, undoubtedly, it helped that Bill Boeing and Bill Gates were a major presence and built their mother bases here.
“With jets flying over the North Pole, the city is equidistant between Europe and Asia, being eight to nine hours from both. The transformation from a manufacturing to service-based economy meant Seattle could play a major role in the global economy. You can now decide where you want to set up and live and not be tied to natural resources or huge centres of population.”
He adds: “The lifestyle attractions of the city, with its sea and mountains, and its open, liberal disposition, meant that a great talent migration began pouring into the area. Then there was the explosive growth of the Asian and Pacific economies, with Seattle ideally placed to trade with Japan, China and the other Asian economies [Greater Seattle’s biggest trading partner is now China, having overtaken Japan a year ago].
“In turn, it became a cosmopolitan and diverse area socially – 20 years ago, the Belle Vue area of the city was a ‘white bread’ [predominantly white] suburb. Now, 30 per cent are immigrants, and many cultures have been blended together.” All of this makes Seattle a vibrant and relaxed place to be, but there’s also intellectual rigour and hard-edged business thinking beneath the surface.
The best way to get an overview of the city is to take a trip up the 198-metre-tall Space Needle (see main picture), to the slowly revolving restaurant. Then head to the observation deck and take in the city, Mount Rainier and Mount Baker, and the whole of Elliott Bay and its surrounding islands. Speedy elevators get you up this 1962 World Fair structure in only 43 seconds. While you’re up there, look down at the expansive waterfront, the starting point for much of the Alaskan gold rush of the late-19th century. Looking around the heavily wooded mountain slopes, it’s not difficult to see why timber was big business from the beginning, with shipbuilding booms during both World Wars.
From its rough and ready pioneering days, Seattle has evolved into the second-most literate city in the US after Washington DC, according to research by Central Connecticut State University in 2010. It also has the highest percentage of college graduates among major American cities, with nearly 54 per cent of its residents aged 25 or over having a bachelor degree or higher qualification (US Census Bureau, 2008).
Greater Seattle’s economy reflects this, with Boeing having its two major plants in the area, manufacturing commercial jetliners and systems for defence, space and security. Conducted tours of the Everett plant, 40km north of Downtown (coach trips are available from hotels), illustrate the scale of production, alongside an interesting visit to the nearby Future of Flight Learning Centre.
Inside the world’s largest building by volume, you can watch the construction of Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner, which is lighter and more fuel-efficient than the 767. The project has been blighted with supply delays but, three years late, the 787 is due to fly commercially this autumn (the inaugural will be an ANA chartered flight on October 26), with more than 800 firm orders in place worldwide.
On the high-tech front, the rise of stock value in Microsoft’s 1986 initial public offering reputedly made four billionaires and 12,000 millionaires from the firm’s employees. Both Gates and co-founder Paul Allen have since moved on, but their impact is still huge in their home city. Gates and his wife Melinda run their foundation to help eradicate world poverty and disease from Seattle, and Allen has invested in developing the city’s sporting infrastructure, as well as the Experience Music Project, a tourist attraction that celebrates homegrown legends such as Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana (the grunge scene of the 1990s had its roots in Seattle).
Tourism is big business, too, representing the fourth-largest business sector in Washington, worth US$15 billion last year, and US$6 billion to Seattle, the gateway city for nine million visitors to the US per year. Ironically, the state no longer has a budget for tourism as a consequence of cuts designed to ease the state’s US$5.5 billion budget deficit.
Even so, Tom Norwalk, chief executive of the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau, remains upbeat. “Maybe we’ve not been ‘political’ enough in the past, projecting the importance of tourism business,” he says. “We’re now making sure the powers-that-be realise how critical it actually is for business.
“We’re part of that West Coast target destination for tourists, from British Columbia down to California. We have direct links to Europe and now Asia, which is one of our priority targets. Overseas travel to Seattle was up 33 per cent in 2010 compared with the previous year, with the bulk of the increase coming from Asia. Chinese visa restrictions are a problem but we’re working on that. In the next few years, the Chinese will be the largest travelling population in the world. That’s why Delta and Hainan Airlines are investing in direct flights from Seattle to China.”
Norwalk also points out that Seattle’s convention business is big, and growing – the number of delegates booked so far this year at Washington State Convention Centre is 146,965, compared with 128,786 in 2010. The number of room nights booked at hotels is 269,081 compared with last year’s total of 234,303. This amounts to an economic impact of US$273 million for the city, up from US$234 million last year. Medical and health, along with computing and software, accounts for more than 50 per cent of convention trade.
It goes with the territory that Seattle’s responsible citizens are into sustainability. The city is a hotbed of green technology, with a declared policy to become North America’s first climate-neutral city, reaching zero net per capita greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
This mission to make things eco also extends to the Port of Seattle, the “Green Gateway” that operates the city’s huge international cargo terminal and docks, sustaining 200,000 jobs. It also runs Seattle’s Sea-Tac airport, which transports 31 million passengers a year, and a shipping terminal that has six cruise line operations plying the Pacific waters to Alaska, while also accommodating the North Pacific fishing fleet. Its 200 cruise vessels generate US$400 million in business revenue a year.
Tay Yoshitani, chief executive of the Port of Seattle, says: “The maxim used to be ‘faster, better, cheaper’. Now ‘greener’ is the next one. Adopting sustainable practices is not only the right thing to do but it also gives us a competitive edge.”
Seattle’s successes don’t stop here. Nordstrom clothing stores began here, as did the message and logistics firm UPS. Nintendo and Chinese shipping operation Cosco have US bases here, and the biomedical business is growing fast. The state’s top three earners are aerospace, computers/electronics and agriculture, with wheat at a premium and wine worth more than US$3 billion a year to the economy.
And, of course, Starbucks is so Seattle. You can still sip a cappuccino in the original Starbucks outlet near Pike Place Market – it’s just as it was in 1971. The 3.6-hectare market has stalls selling everything imaginable – and the fish throwing is something to behold. Downtown is accessible by foot, taxi or tour bus.
Any drawbacks? The overcast weather – PR firms hate the “Rain City” tag but, though it happens, showers don’t last long. And while traffic is a major headache, there are express bus routes and a rapidly expanding railway system. Altogether, it’s a vibrant and energetic place to visit, to do business in and to live.
Continental Airlines flies daily from London Heathrow and Manchester to Seattle via New York Newark. Visit continental.com
Where to stay
EDGEWATER HOTEL A top-of-the-bill iconic property right on the water. Back in Beatlemania days, the Fab Four fished out of their bedroom window; the resulting photo went down in history. There are 223 rooms, half with seafront views, and 930 sqm of meeting space. The ambience is of a cosy Scottish hunting or fishing lodge, with timber, stone and tartan in abundance. Bedrooms have a similar feel, with antique baths and picturesque views. Six Seven restaurant serves Pacific Northwest cuisine (such as game and seafood dishes).The Edgewater has a fitness centre and is in walking distance of main attractions. Wifi costs US$10 for 24 hours.- 2,411 Alaskan Way, Pier 67; tel +1 206 7287 000; edgewaterhotel.com
- Rooms from US$242
- 86 Pine Street; tel +1 206 4433 600; innatthemarket.com
- Rooms from US$202
- 900 Madison Street; tel +1 206 6226 400; hotelsorrento.com
- Rooms from US$190
- 1,400 Sixth Avenue; tel +1 206 6219 000; sheraton.com/seattle
- Rooms from US$168
- 411 University Street; tel +1 206 6211 700; fairmont.com/seattle
- Rooms from US$230
