Seattle – Coastal Seaport

Seattle, a coastal seaport city is located on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound, which is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean and Lake Washington, around 100 miles south of the Canada-United States, bordered by the snow-capped Olympic and volcanic Cascade Mountains. The city had an estimate of around 652,405 people as per the 2013 census and is the largest city in the Pacific North-western region of North America. With around 3.6 million inhabitants in Seattle metropolitan area, it is the 14th largest metropolitan area in the United States. It is also the fastest growing major gateway for trade with Asia, the eighth largest port in the United States and the 9th largest in North America with regards to container handling. It offers a wealth of outdoor adventure from kayaking to the climbing of rocks and is a home to innovative companies which includes Amazon.com together with Microsoft and is also supportive to world class cultural institutions like the Seattle symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Opera, and award winning theatre troupes. The area of Seattle was earlier inhabited by the Native Americans for around 4,000 years before the first permanent European.

Commercial & Shipbuilding Centre – Klondike Gold Rush, 1897

Arthur A, Denny along with his group of travellers known as Denny Party had arrived on November 13, 1851 at Alki Point where the settlement moved to its current site and was named Seattle in 1853 after Chief Si’ahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Seattle’s first major industry was logging, but the city had turned into a commercial and ship-building centre by late 19th century, as a gateway to Alaska at the time of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. Towards 1910, Seattle became one of the largest 25 cities but the Great Depression hampered the city’s economy drastically. During and after the World War II, the city developed gradually, due to the local Boeing Company which was established as a centre for aircraft manufacturing and developed as a technology centre towards 1980s. New software biotechnology together with Internet companied was the outcome of economic revival which led to the city’s population by 50,000 between 1990 and 2000. Thereafter, Seattle became the hub for green industry as well as a model for sustainable development.

History of Boom and Bust Cycles

The Emerald City has diverse attractions with distinctive neighbourhoods on seven hills, from Old West saloons together with high tech hotels to trendy boutiques as well as a 100 year old public farmer’s market. Seattle offers a magnificent setting with its modern skyline of glass skyscrapers accompanied with friendly charm mingled with lots of fun filled restaurants, coffeehouses and active clubs. It has an amazing musical history and from 1918 to 1951, there were almost two dozen jazz nightclubs along Jackson Street from the present Chinatown/International district to the Central district where the jazz scene developed the early career of Quincy Jones, Ray Charles and the rest. It is also the birthplace of Jimi Hendrix the rock musician as well as the alternative rock style grunge. Moreover, Seattle has a history of boom and bust cycles with areas of extensive mineral and natural resources and has risen many times economically and then gone into deep decline but has been rebuilt on solid infrastructure.