Seattle
King County Again Busts Tourism Record
Visitor count in 2018 reached nearly 41 million
Visitors descended on King County at record rates for the ninth consecutive year, according to statistics released at Visit Seattles annual meeting today. Preliminary estimates indicate that 40.9 million visitors came to King County last year, up 2.5 percent from 2017. Visitors last year spent $7.8 billion, a hike of 5.8 percent from two years…
The 10 Amazon HQ2 Gimmicks and Pitches Worth Your Attention
Amazon's deadline for HQ2 proposals has come and gone. So which cities are making bids worthy of a closer look?
Time is officially up for every North American city that has put together a proposals to bring Amazons coveted, $5 billion, 50,000-employee HQ2. At this point, its anyones guess where the second headquarters might land. No, really; everyone is guessing. And now Amazon has more than 100 cities to choose from as it sorts through…
Ranked: Best Value Colleges in Washington State
See which Washington state college provide the best return on investment.
Smartasset, a New York startup providing personal finance information and guidance, ranked colleges across the nation on how much bang a student gets for the bucks invested. It weighed tuition, average financial aid and student living costs against student retention rates and the average starting salaries of graduates. Heres how 16 Washington schools ranked. State…
King County Again Busts Tourism Record
Visitor count in 2018 reached nearly 41 million
Visitors descended on King County at record rates for the ninth consecutive year, according to statistics released at Visit Seattles annual meeting today. Preliminary estimates indicate that 40.9 million visitors came to King County last year, up 2.5 percent from 2017. Visitors last year spent $7.8 billion, a hike of 5.8 percent from two years…
The 10 Amazon HQ2 Gimmicks and Pitches Worth Your Attention
Amazon's deadline for HQ2 proposals has come and gone. So which cities are making bids worthy of a closer look?
Time is officially up for every North American city that has put together a proposals to bring Amazons coveted, $5 billion, 50,000-employee HQ2. At this point, its anyones guess where the second headquarters might land. No, really; everyone is guessing. And now Amazon has more than 100 cities to choose from as it sorts through…
Ranked: Best Value Colleges in Washington State
See which Washington state college provide the best return on investment.
Smartasset, a New York startup providing personal finance information and guidance, ranked colleges across the nation on how much bang a student gets for the bucks invested. It weighed tuition, average financial aid and student living costs against student retention rates and the average starting salaries of graduates. Heres how 16 Washington schools ranked. State…
Expedias New CEO Eyes 2020 for Seattle Move
Mark Okerstrom updates the timeline for the company's planned move from Bellevue to the former Amgen campus overlooking Elliott Bay in Seattle.
Editor’s Note: Read a longer version of this interview with Mark Okerstrom that was published in the December 2017 issue of Seattle Business magazine. The goalposts for Expedias move from Bellevue to Seattle have now shifted several times, but plans could be clearing up, according to its new chief executive officer. The worlds largest online…
Washington Unemployment Rate Hits Record Low of 4.6%
State added 1,200 new jobs in April; unemployment rate matches historic low reached in June 2007.
OLYMPIA Washingtons added 1,200 new jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell from 4.7 to 4.6 percent matching the states historic low for unemployment last reached in June 2007, according to the state Employment Security Department. While job growth was more subdued in April, Washingtons economy continues to trend positively, said Paul Turek, economist…
Northwest Housing Prices Continue Sharp Rise
The Northwest Multiple Listing Service says the lack of homes on the market has depressed sales while increasing the number of multiple offers.
This interesting news is from the Northwest Multiple LIsting Service:KIRKLAND, Washington (May 4, 2017) Frustrating is how brokers are summarizing the mood of buyers, brokers and industry professionals during the current housing market frenzy. New statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service show declines in inventory and sales, while prices continue their upward trajectory, but those…
A Carbon Tax Makes Sense
For our environment, our economy and our state's budget.
Theres a growing bipartisan consensus that a carbon tax just makes sense. A group of national Republican leaders with the Climate Leadership Council, including James Baker and Hank Paulson, recently released a climate plan advocating for a carbon tax. Initiative 732, a carbon tax plan that went to Washington voters on last year’s ballot, was…
Commentary: A City for All
To avoid creating a Seattle of haves and have-nots, business owners must lead.
The secret is out that Seattle is a great place to live. We have water, mountains, coffee and no shortage of innovation. Thats led to a milestone: For the first time, weve joined the ranks of the 10 most densely populated big cities in the United States. All these newcomers, many of them highly paid…
Rental Market May Finally Be Cooling Down in Greater Seattle. Still Hot in Tacoma.
With new units on the market and occupancy down, rents are growing more slowly.
In a sign of what could be the beginning of the end for the hot rental market, average rents are no longer growing at a torrid pace. While average monthly rents increased by 5.6 percent to $1,777 in the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area in September from the year before, average rents actually declined slightly from the previous…
Creating an Affordable, Inclusive Puget Sound
Making room for our growing population will require more density in urban areas as well as innovation in transportation and office use.
Seattle has an enviable problem. More and more people are moving to the Puget Sound, so many that, by some estimates, the regions population could increase by one million residents by 2040. At the same time, Seattle is constrained geographically by water and hills. Our topography is scenic and beautiful, but it also makes it…