Weird things unique to Seattle:
History: First setled in 1851. Incorporated in 1869. Suffered sever fire in 1889. Played prominent role in Alaskan Gold rush, 1897. Heavy growth followed the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. Has been a center of American Aircraft Industry since World War II. Also close to the town of Redmond, where computer giant Microsoft makes their headquarters.
Web sites: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us http://www.seattlechamber.com
Seattle has a reputation for getting a lot of rain, but that depends on how you look at it. In inches, it doesn't get any more than most cities. However, there are a lot of days where it rains just a little, and even when it's not raining, it's often overcast. On the plus side, it hardly ever snows.
For some reason Seattle has become a catch phrase for people interested in the whole WTO and free trade versus fair trade issue. Maybe it had something to do with the riots. They were interesting to watch on TV, lots of policemen in black riot armor looking like Darth Vader, but I wouldn't want to have been tear gassed.
The most interesting neighborhood in Seattle is probably Fremont, which has a life-size statue of a troll clutching a real VW bug (under a bridge, of course), a statue of Lenin imported from the ex-Soviet Union, and a rocket ship. Other tourist attractions are the Space Needle and the Pike Place Market, where you can watch them throw fish.
Seattle is definitely the most beautiful city in the world.
Puget Sound ♦ Lake Washington ♦ Olympic Mountains ♦ Mount Rainier
Northgate ♦ Ballard ♦ Wallingford ♦ University District ♦ Fremont ♦ Queen Anne ♦ Belltown ♦ Capitol Hill ♦ Downtown ♦ Pioneer Square ♦ International District ♦ Ranier Valley ♦ West Seattle
University of Washington ♦ Seattle Pacific University ♦ Seattle University ♦ Cornish College of the Arts ♦ Art Institute Of Seattle
The Battle of Seattle ♦ Seattle Mardi Gras ♦ Seattle's Best Coffee ♦ Seattle Bands ♦ Bumbershoot ♦ Space Needle ♦ Seattle Center ♦ Seattle Monorail
The cost of living keeps getting higher and higher and Gridlock is the third worst in the nation. (its best not to enter a car between the hours of 7am-11am and 3:30-8 pm.)
Panhandling is legal and the panhandlers lurk on the fringes of any highly public area. But the various neighborhoods are pretty safe at all hours. Very inviting for those late night walks essential to helping one get over the loss of a love or any promising prospect.
The current Mayor is a complete dufus, the crowds are overly-rowdy and politcally passionate and billionaire Paul Allen owns a large amount of the city...those amounts growing by the month(bye-bye KCMU). But due to the UW many parts of the city cater to The college age. That includes yuppies, freak, geeks, and musicians (throw a rock and youll hit a musician) and whatever else you can think of. For the most part, theres always something to do.
But I love Seattle. Seattle is my home.
Seattle, Washington is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest.
The first settlement that is was considered Seattle was at Alki Point in 1851 by a group of settlers headed by a New Yorker named David Denny. They'd taken the Oregon Trail looking to settle in the Puget Sound area because of its potential as a seaport. A rough winter prompted them to move the settlement to Elliott Bay where the settlement was renamed "Seattle" after Sealth, a Duwamish chief who was friends of a merchant. The new town was laid out in 1853 and became a sawmill area mostly populated by bachelors. Early in its history it withstood a number of riots and attacks, including an Indian attack in 1856 and anti-Chinese riots in the 1880s. One of the founding residents traveled back east on two trips to encourage young unmarried women to come to Seattle and a total of 57 came to marry area residents.
The Great Fire of 1889 burned over 50 blocks of wooden city in a day, but even that couldn't slow Seattle's growth. The city was rebuilt centered on what is now Pioneer Square in brick and iron and the coming of the Great Northern Railway in 1893 gave the area the boost it needed. Seattle has a naturally landlocked harbor which is at the end of the inside passage to Alaska and the gold rushes in the Yukon and Alaska made the area a major supply depot, starting in 1897 when the Portland docked with two tons of gold from the Yukon. It only took a few weeks for the city to be flooded with aspiring millionaires on their way up north and the city's nightlife industry flourished. In order to both expand the harbor and flatten parts of the area in the early 1900s a re-grading project took place in downtown. In just five years (1905-1910) Seattle annexed 10 of the surrounding cities and town, including Ballard, and the city's population grew to 237,194.
Its harbor continued to drive the city's development with opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 shortening the sea route from the east coast and the Lake Washington Ship Canal's completion in 1916 joining the outer harbor with Lake Washington. World War II brought the demand for the area's lumber and fed money into the growing aviation industry in the area and the city had the honor of hosting the 1962 World's Fair (for which the city's symbol, the Space Needle, was built). Even today the area's economy is based on trade and technology. Boeing's headquarters were in the area until 2001 and Seattle is still the site of Boeing's plant. The software giant Microsoft, coffee giant Starbucks and the dot com Amazon are practically synonymous with Seattle's tech industry, but while they still are making profit many jobs in the area were cut when the crash came.
Seattle is known across the country for its rain, but in actuality it receives less rain than major metropolitan areas like Boston or New York. In winter it is almost perpetually cloudy and instead of snow the warm ocean air brings light rain and mist to the region in cold months, while summers are fairly dry and sunny.
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Sources: "Seattle." Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 16 June 2004 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=68216>. "Seattle.gov" City of Seattle. 16 June 2004 <http://www.seattle.gov>. "Seattle History" Lonely Planet World Guide. 16 June 2004 <http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/north_america/seattle/history.htm>.
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