Steven Mastropaolo
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Statistical Area: The Emerald City
Steven Mastropaolo
Econ 395: Urban Economics
Abstract: The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan statistical area is one of the most economically diverse areas in all the United States. This is due mainly to a very unique history and geographical terrain that push it to the forefront of modern commerce and development in the nation. Home to over 3.5 million people that reside in several cities and counties, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan statistical area is a perfect example of the growing culture that is only found in the northwest corner of the United States.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) envelops three major cities in the northwest central region of Washington State. The biggest being Seattle followed by Tacoma, and Bellevue. It also spans through the following six counties; Seattle, King, Snohomish, Tacoma, Bellevue and Pierce all within the Puget sound region. The total population in the area as of the 2012 census is 3,552,157 up 3.3% from the test conducted in 2010. This many people living in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA account for more than half of Washington States total population. This particular MSA is currently the 15th largest in the United States of America, currently behind the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI MSA (4.2) and in front of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI MSA (3.3). As of 2012 the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA had a population density of 596 people per square mile. This continuously growing area in northwest America has emerged ever since the founding of Seattle to be an international hub for business and very desirable place to live for all.
Seattle lies in the coastal lowlands of the Puget Trough, more specifically the narrow strip of land in between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington. This region of Washington State is mainly dominated by two mountain ranges, the Olympic Mountains to the west and the Cascade Mountain ranges to the east. It is these two mountain ranges that cause the famous precipitation rich climate of Seattle. Seattle was first settled by white travelers in 1851 calling it New York. After a short while they moved across the Elliott Bay to where a protected deep water harbor could be utilized. This new settlement was named Seattle after a Duwamish native leader that the settlers had befriended. At this point in time Seattle’s key economic support backing came from a lumber mill that a man named Henry Yesler had built in 1853. Much of the mills production was sent to San Francisco which was rapidly growing at the time, some also stayed in the Puget Sound to aid the development of surrounding towns. Yeslers sawmill provided jobs for the settlers and natives of the Duwamish Tribe who desperately needed work. Soon after the construction of the mill coal was discovered on the banks of Lake Washington, these two growing industries greatly increased the popularity of Seattle, enough so that in 1869 Seattle was incorporated with more than 2,000 residents living within its limits.
The 1870’s brought even more development to the region along with another booming industry of the time. In the early part of the decade the Northern Pacific Railway Company chose to build its northwestern terminus in Tacoma, a city which can be found forty miles south of Seattle. A connection to Seattle was soon established in 1883 after its completion, the link made extended across the United States and made it possible for all the production in Seattle and in neighboring towns to be exported to the far reaches of the country. Development continued throughout the 1880’s with the most dominating industries still being lumber and coal, however fishing, whole sale trading, shipbuilding and the presence of the railroad contributed heavily to the prosperity felt by Seattle’s residents. Population growth also continued at this time at a rate of 1000 new residents per month until the great fire of June 6, 1889. The fire had great negative effects on Seattle’s image along with the 116 acres of land in the heart of the city that were flatted due to the blaze. Though no one perished in the fire, property damages were estimated to be in the millions. The fire of 1889 was a tragic event but it provided the opportunity for the scorched areas to be rebuilt bigger and better. Among the many municipal works that were improved was the widening of streets, reconstructed wharves, and new municipal water works. A fire department was also established to prevent other tragedies. The business sector that was burned was also rebuilt using brick and steel as a deterrent to more fire.
The 1890’s were not as prosperous as the previous decades. Apart from the Great Northern Railroad establishing yet another transcontinental link between eastern cities the whole country experienced a business depression that greatly affected the railroad and agriculture industries. The discovery of gold in the nearby Canadian Yukon and Alaskan Klondike quickly reestablished Seattle’s significance as a shipping port. By the turn of the century the links between the Canadian Yukon, Washington, Minneapolis and Wisconsin were solidified marking the Seattle region as a major connection between the Northern pacific and Asia.
These relations with foreign civilizations contributed to the diversification that Seattle is famous for today. By 1909 Seattle’s population reached 240,000, much of this growth was thanks to immigrants from all over the world. Each ethnic group that moved into the city specialized in a trade position that was not previously filled. For example much of the Scandinavian people to move to the area stuck to fishing and lumber extraction, the African Americans mainly worked as railroad porters and waiters, while Japanese immigrants operated hotels and worked in other service industries. Along with these three ethnic groups there was a large amount of Italian, Jewish, Chinese and Filipino people who all came to live in the international business district of Seattle. The economic and cultural development of Seattle in the early 1900’s led to the construction of the 42 story L.C. Smith building, upon its construction in 1914 it was the tallest building in western America. It served as a living testament to the aspirations and overall image that the city of Seattle wanted to portray to the rest of the world. World War 1 completely revamped Seattle’s shipbuilding industry it was responsible for 20% of the total wartime ship tonnage. With such a large contribution being made to the war effort Seattle gained national spotlight when the workers of the shipyard went strike in 1919. This effort to maintain their once high war time wages eventually led to the Seattle general strike of February 6th through the 11th. It consisted of over 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle all of which demanded higher wages for unskilled labor. The publics overall fear of radial socialists influencing American culture helped the strike become a success along with instituting Seattle’s reputation of political radicalism.
The great depression in the 1930’s had a great effect on Seattle’s boom and bust economy. The already diminishing conditions of the shipbuilding and lumber industries continued to fall at an alarming rate. Soon the world famous “Hoovervilles” of this time period began to sprout up near the abandoned shipyards. Nearly 1000 men who once found work in the yard soon created these make shift lean to housing communities that continued to stand until the stimulus that World War 2 brought ignited the economy. With the rebirth of wartime stimulus the Boeing Company was able to increase its work force by 1,200%, which subsequently increased sales from $10 million to $600 million. However wartime spending diminished as the allies defeated the axis powers and the demand for war supplies decreased. This slump persisted well into the 1950’s until the rise of the commercial air flights provided by the Boeing Company stirred up more public optimism.
The Seattle Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1882 when a group of 26 like-minded business men sought out to beat the very prosperous San Francisco company which provided a $12,000 mailing route from San Francisco to the wilderness of Alaska. The day after the first meeting of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce the Postmaster General of the United States received a message underlining the formation of a committee overseeing mail services. Much of the chambers original proceedings were to obtain a railroad to Seattle. However their overall interest was to protect and exhibit regional business interests at the local, regional and state levels. Currently the Seattle chamber of Commerce is located in King County at 601 Union Street suite 3600, Seattle, Washington 98101. The chamber has grown exponentially since its opening in 1882 today it represents 2,200 companies and a work force of 700,000 people. The three keys the chamber actively plays a role in are; creating jobs, being responsible stewards of the environment and lastly to ensure access and opportunity for all. The current president and CEO of the chamber is Maud Daudon her commanders initiative is to have a competitive advantage for business in the Puget Sound region and Seattle MSA. The other organizations that stand for business advocacy in the region represent joint interests on public policy that promotes the flow and ability to do business within the metropolitan area. The overall modern goal is relatively simple and similar to that of other major metropolitan area authorities. It is to help lead the regional recovery of the economy and job growth, advance infrastructure, play a part in education reform and advance the priorities of the government’s approach to budgeting.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA has an extremely wide variety of businesses and job opportunities because of its international ties some of these include; transportation, manufacturing, retail trade, information services, natural resource extraction, information services and construction. Often times these industries in highly populated metropolitan statistical areas cluster together in order to promote information sharing and other means of cooperation. Examples of clustering industries in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA are; aerospace, service industries, military applications, tourism, transportation, life sciences, health care, maritime services, and philanthropies. The clustering of important industries like these in major cities allow for companies in emerging markets to form within the information sharing. As a result major corporations like Amazon, Microsoft and Boeing who all have their corporate headquarters in Seattle have been formed. Together Seattle, Tacoma, and Bellevue efficiently work as a team, all sharing information and resources so that the trio as a whole will execute the best business strategy which allows each separate economy to prosper.
The Seattle government was designed as a charter city to operate using a mayor-council system. Under this method the cities government acts as a self-governing body with the mayor acting as a CEO and a council of nine individuals with the power to create city policies, public regulations, and budgets in the form of ordinances. Together these two authorities carry out the fundamental principles that they think is in the best interest of the people. There are three ways that Washington State collects tax revenue through sales tax, business and operations tax and finally utility taxes. Washington does not actively enforce income taxes which is another way it attracts people to make Washington their new home. Conversely the revenue that is forsaken by not collecting a state income tax has to be made up somewhere else. Consequently the state has raised the sales tax to almost 50% more than the national average. Though this makes buying products more expensive consumers within the state lines have more money to spend with the coming of each paycheck.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA encloses a total of 5,873 square miles with 437 additional square miles covering water. Seattle is located on the vertical strip of land between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Tacoma is located 32 miles southwest of Seattle on the Puget Sound. Bellevue is located on the western side of Lake Washington opposite from Seattle, It being the smallest of the three cities with the least amount of metropolitan areas it is often referred to as the suburb of Seattle. The geographical advantage of Seattle’s location makes it the ideal place to be a major port city for international along with domestic import and exporting. The Seattle-Tacoma- Bellevue MSA operates in the Pacific GMT time zone and has 206, 253, 360, and 425 as its area codes.
The average temperature of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA is 51.8 degrees with about 50 inches of annual rainfall however the weather varies greatly with the seasons. The overall cooler temperature goes along well with the endless possibilities that are provided by the land. The beautiful nature that surrounds the dense heavily populated cities makes the Seattle area a very popular travel destination for outdoor enthusiasts. The Tacoma area lies in the southern region of the Puget Sound and partially on the shore of Lake Washington. This access to water makes it a hotbed for marine activities along with businesses that rely on the water. These areas along with Seattle alone have more than seventeen state parks open to the public. Bellevue is home to perhaps the most popular natural attraction. The Cascade mountain range which spans through most of the central part of Washington State, Mount Rainier is the highest peak in Washington standing tall at 14,410 feet. Most of the summits are extinct volcanoes that range from California up to Oregon, Washington and into British Columbia. The combined amount of wilderness settings and water systems make the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA a top vacation stop for the lovers of the outdoors, however not all the attractions lie outside the cities. Seattle is home to the landmark of the Pacific Northwest, the Space Needle. Built in 1962 in the cities center for the World’s Fair the beacon reaches 605 feet in the air and the observation deck is equip with a full service restaurant. The Space Needle draws around 2.3 million tourists annually, roughly 20,000 people a day pay to travel to the top. It is also the most structurally sound architectural monuments of its kind being able to withstand wind speeds up to 200 miles per hour and earthquakes up to a magnitude of 9.1. These are just a fraction of the many reasons why one would want to visit this great city. Most of its wealth lies in the cultural diversity that is found on the streets of the cities. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA is one of the most ethnically diverse areas in all of America. The diversity percentages are as follows; 67.1 % White, 12.8% Asian, 9.3% Hispanic, 5.5% African American, 4.4% two or more races, and .9% American Indian or Alaskan native. The median age for residents is 37 years old suggesting that most of the citizens are young in between 20 and 40. Of the population 9.7% are veterans of World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War or wars in the Gulf.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA is fast growing on all levels in 1969 the population was estimated to be 1,810,753 43 years later in 2012 the population was said to have grown by 96.2% to 3,552,157. Today the population estimate is around 3.7 million people living in the MSA. The population divisions are; 652,405 in Seattle, 203,446 in Tacoma, and 133,992 in Bellevue as of 2013. In 2010 there were 1.9 million people in the Seattle and the Puget Sound region labor force by 2020 it is estimated to increase to 2.5 million people. With such a sustained increase in population the expectation is to see a higher rate of unemployment, but it is right where we would all hope to see it at 5.8% this specific statistic is one of the key reasons that seems so inviting to people around the world. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA is home to 1,357,475 households and more than 845,966 families. The average number of people per household is 2.5 with a median income per household of $65,677 and per capita income of $34,370. Though these numbers seem very optimistic about the standards of living in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue there is two percentages that are not so friendly. The level of poverty is 11.7% and the cost of living is 28.30% higher than the national average, ultimately these two numbers mean is that if you can afford to stay in the city you should and if you can find a job be thankful for your good fortune.
There are many different transportation options linking each city through the MSA including air travel, busses, heavy rail, and light rail. The airports in the region are; Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Boeing Field, Paine Field, Renton Municipal Airport, Harvey Airfield. The wide selection of air travel hubs makes the Seattle area a highly traveled to destination. Another commonly used form of transit for intercity travel is the mass transit systems offered by the Seattle Department of transportation. These options are offered throughout the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA in a variety of counties, some specific to the region. Light rail and travel via buses is available in the Puget Sound area, it is called the Sound Transit. Community Transit is available to the public in the form of a fleet of buses in Snohomish County. There are also other transit options throughout the MSA these include the Pierce Transit, Everett Transit, Intercity Transit, and Mason Transit. Mass transit is certainly available all over the region but like most Americans the most popular and convenient way to travel is by the way of an automobile. For this reason there is a complex system of highways that make it easy for any driver to quickly get to where they need to go. U.S. routes 2 and 101 run horizontally from west to east and east to west through Seattle making it a very traveled scenic path through Washington State. Interstate highways; 5, 90, and 405 run into and around inner city Seattle making traffic patterns even less congested. State Routes 7, 9, 16, 18, 99, 202, 520, and 522 enhance the connectivity between all other major highways in the region. This intricate web of roadways is a valuable asset for the MSA because the census conducted in 2012 showed that 49% of people drive to work individually while only 8% of people carpooled. Unfortunately only about 20% of people use the so many forms of public mass transit, however 4% ride bikes and 10% walk. The rest work from home or use other means for transportation.
Though a good percentage of the population is educated and the unemployment rate is relatively low the crime rate is above the national average. When calculating the crime index for a city the amount of murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, larceny, grand theft auto, and arson. In 2013 the most frequent crime was theft. This fact is not surprising because areas with diverse levels of income often experience high levels of theft. Criminals temped by the wealthy parts of the city habitually feel that they can quickly take advantage of those who have more than them. Seattle’s crime index score is 2,832.33 this score is above the national average of 1,696.36. To the south in Tacoma the crime index score is much higher at 3,913.03, these two cities account for almost all of the crime in the MSA mainly because of the high population density and urban setting. In Bellevue the crime index score is drastically lower at 1,270.62, much lower than the national average this is due to fact that most of the Bellevue area is seen as the suburbs where crime is less frequent. The diversity of ethnicities, varying incomes and subsequently, the different standards of living create the high consistent levels of crime in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA has an outstanding reputation when it comes to education. There are a total of 449 school districts, 999 public schools, 310 private schools and 127 public libraries. Higher education is also available from over 450 universities and colleges. The average class size is 20 students and about $4,659 per student is spend annually. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA is very educated places with only about 8% of people do not have any kind of degree. 91.8% earned a high school degree, 22% did not. The area is a popular place to earn a degree of some form of higher education it also has a high percentage of people who graduated from college, 24%. More than 15% of people have continued their education beyond an undergraduate degree. With most of the population having some sort of degree the labor force is very skilled in most industries ranging from janitorial services to aerospace engineering.
There are two major professional sports teams in the Seattle area they are the Seattle Mariners of the American League of Major League Baseball, the other is the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. The overall pride and love for all things Seattle has greatly contributed to the long term success of these two teams, everyday native Seattleites pack into stadiums and cheer on the home team. This brings in a ton of additional revenue for the city. There was a National Basketball Association team in Seattle but in 2008 the team was relocated to Oklahoma City. Besides the big three money maker sports there are two hockey teams that belong to the Canadian Hockey League, a professional indoor lacrosse team apart of the NLL (National Lacrosse League) and finally the Seattle Sounders a professional soccer team in the MLS (Major League Soccer).
The majority of the population being under 40 years old has influenced the night life culture to be very active. Seattle is regularly associated with the term “hipster” a word that is used when describing men and women millennials that highly value independent progressive thinking. In 2012 Travel and Leisure conducted a study that resulting in Seattle being the number one city in America for hipsters. The State wide progressive liberal thinking was confirmed as a start of a glorified movement when in 2012 along with Colorado Washington were the first two states to legalize the recreational use of the cannabis plant for people at least 21 years. Something that has been a controversial subject since its ban in the early 1900’s this move that some see as radical is projected to raise over 190 million dollars of tax revenue the first four years of legalization starting in 2015.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Statistical Area is a place in the famous northwestern corner of the United States of America that provides everything that is required to be a fast pace, growing MSA. The Geographical assets of its location make it a very popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts. Its advanced technical sector also makes it a hotbed for businesses and jobs. Ultimately the authorities that preside over the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA have the best interest of what the average citizen needs to live comfortably, this in short draws in more people from every ethnic background. The cities within the MSA are fully modernized and are at the forefront of all progressive movements. So for your next leisurely vacation, plan a trip to Washington State you may just learn something along the way.
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