Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the largest city in the state of Washington, and in the northwestern United States. It is situated between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 108 miles (180 km) south of the Canadian border, in King County, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 563,374. The first white settlers arrived in 1851 at Alki Point, and the first plats for the Town of Seattle were filed in 1853. The city was incorporated in 1869, after having existed as an incorporated town from 1865 to 1867.
Seattle is named after Noah Sealth, chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes, better known as Chief Seattle. David Swinson ("Doc") Maynard, one of the city founders, was the primary advocate for naming the city after Chief Seattle. Previously, the city had been known as Duwamps (or Duwumps).
The Space Needle is possibly Seattle's most famous landmark, featured in the logo of the television show Frasier, and dating from the 1962 Century 21 Exposition, a World's fair. The monorail constructed for the Exposition still runs today between Seattle Center and downtown. It will be torn down when the new, mass-transit monorail is built from Ballard through downtown to West Seattle.
Other famous landmarks include the Smith Tower, Pike Place Market (pictured), and the Experience Music Project.
In 1981, Seattle held a contest to come up with a new official nickname. The winner, selected in 1982, was the Emerald City, a slogan submitted by Californian Sarah Sterling-Franklin. From 1869 to 1982, Seattle's official nickname was the Queen City.
Seattle is sometimes referred to as the "rainy city." Although it gets less rain than many other US cities (it averages 38 inches of rainfall per year, compared to 47.3 inches in New York City, Seattle has more cloudy (294 days per year on average vs. 259 in New York City) and rainy days, with few heavy downpours. It is also known as Jet City, due to the heavy influence of Boeing.
Seattle is known as the home of grunge music, has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption, and was the site of the 1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization shut down by anti-globalist demonstrators.
Seattle's First Hill is also known as "Pill Hill" because, in addition to being the current home of Harborview, Swedish, and Virginia Mason, it was also once the location of the Maynard, Seattle General, and Doctors Hospitals (now merged into Swedish), as well as Cabrini Hospital.
Claims to fame: landmarks, character, and notable events
Seattle's Pike Place MarketSeattle Institutions
Cultural events
Museums and galleries
Educational institutions
Seattle is home to many institutions of higher learning, including:
Newspapers
As of 2003, two major daily newspapers and several weekly papers are published in Seattle:
Medical centers and hospitals
Seattle is also well served medically; hospitals in the community include:
In addition, Seattle was a pioneer in the development of modern paramedic services with the establishment of Medic One in 1970. A 60 Minutes story on the success of Medic One that aired in 1974 called Seattle "the best place in the world to have a heart attack." Some accounts report that Puyallup, Washington, an area south of Seattle, was the first place west of the Mississippi to have 911 emergency telelphone service.Sports teams
Seattle is home to the following professional sports teams:
Companies
Until 2001, Seattle was home to Boeing. Following a bidding war in which several cities offered huge tax breaks, Boeing moved its corporate headquarters to Chicago. The Seattle area is still home to Boeing's commercial airplanes division and several Boeing plants. Major companies whose headquarters still remain in the Seattle area include:
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Bertha Knight Landes was mayor from 1926 to 1928. She was the first woman mayor of a major American city.
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 it is land and 152.0 km² (58.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 41.16% water.
Bodies of water: Lake Washington, Union Bay, Montlake Cut, Portage Bay, Lake Union, Fremont Cut, Salmon Bay, Shilshole Bay, Lake Washington Ship Canal, Puget Sound, Elliott Bay, Duwamish River, Green Lake, Haller Lake, Bitter Lake, University Slough, Ravenna Creek, Thornton Creek, Piper's Creek, Arboretum Creek, Longfellow Creek, Fauntleroy Creek, Smith Cove
There are 258,499 households out of which 17.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.7% are married couples living together, 8.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 56.1% are non-families. 40.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.08 and the average family size is 2.87.
In the city the population is spread out with 15.6% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 38.6% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.8 males.
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.
The Seattle metro area is made up of some or all of the following counties:
Government
(as of the November 2003 elections)
Mayor:
Greg Nickels
City Council:
Jean Godden, Richard Conlin, Peter Steinbrueck, Jan Drago, Tom Rasmussen, Nick Licata, David Della, Richard McIver, Jim ComptonGeography
Seattle is located at 47°37'35" North, 122°19'59" West (47.626353, -122.333144)1.Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 563,374 people, 258,499 households, and 113,481 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,593.5/km² (6,717.0/mi²). There are 270,524 housing units at an average density of 1,245.4/km² (3,225.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 70.09% White, 8.44% African American, 1.00% Native American, 13.12% Asian, 0.50% Pacific Islander, 2.38% from other races, and 4.46% from two or more races. 5.28% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.Official Flower, Slogan, and Song
Annexed Towns
The City's Neighborhoods
Annexation dates follow each name, unless the neighborhood was part of the area of first incorporation.
Seattle Metro Area
Complete listings of the cities in the immediate area are above. The following list is a subset of the full list:Major Highways
Airports
See also
External Links
Other uses of the term "Seattle" include: Chief Seattle
