London, New York, Paris, and Rome have wielded their share of influence over the years, but now it’s Seattle, the city of Starbucks, Microsoft and Amazon.com, that keeps the modern world spinning on track. How hundreds of millions of people work, shop and get caffeinated owes it all to the entrepreneurial ingenuity of the Emerald City.
The nice thing is that Seattle hasn’t let any of this go to its head. While there are more skyscrapers, $40 million lakefront mansions and traffic than there used to be, visitors can still see Mt. Rainier on a clear day, find heaps of the world’s best oysters, salmon and crab at Pike Place Market and, of course, ride to the top of the Space Needle, no less of a crowd-pleasing curiosity today than it was at the 1962 World’s Fair.
If anything, the presence of famous global companies—and the billionaires who spawned them—have made the city a better place than ever to visit or hold a meeting, says Don Welsh, president and CEO of Seattle’s CVB.
“The tremendous wealth created by these companies and the philanthropic nature of their CEOs has really benefited the city,” he says, referring to such attractions as the Experience Music Project, largely the pet project of tech mogul Paul Allen, and the new Olympic Sculpture Park, a nine-acre waterfront park filled with sculptures by major artists that was heavily financed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former Microsoft President Jon Shirley.
With upcoming events such as the 2010 Winter Olympics in nearby Vancouver, B.C., and the annual PCMA convention scheduled for Seattle in January, Welsh says the city is sure to benefit from even more exposure.
“About 20 to 30 percent of the PCMA attendees have never been here before, so that will be an opportunity for us to show them what we’re all about,” he says. “People really love the walkability of Seattle. Just minutes from the convention center are over 200 restaurants and clubs, plus the hotels are all nearby. There’s no need to arrange transportation.”
Along with a pedestrian-friendly downtown, Seattle’s allure has a lot to do with its distinctive neighborhoods, most of them just a short taxi or bus ride from the city center.
“South Lake Union has become a hot destination, with its houseboat community, the new Pan Pacific hotel, restaurants, taverns, and float planes flying in,” Welsh says. “Ballard, which goes way back to the old fishing days, is another good place to check out. And there’s Fremont, a funky, artistic neighborhood. Neighborhoods are part of our culture here. We’ve got high tech, low tech and everything in between.”
