A Warm Seattle Welcome By Edward B. Murray, Mayor of Seattle
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GETTING STARTED
S MAYOR, I WELCOME YOU TO SEATTLE AND THE GREATER SEATTLE INFOGUIDE!
Seattle is the cultural and economic center of the Pacific Northwest. It’s a world-class metropolis, home to Fortune 500 companies and premier academic institutions, offering the best of urban lifestyle while embracing the rugged outdoors. Seattle is a city of 650,000 residents with strong civic, cultural and economic relationships abroad. As a major port for trans-Pacific trade, Seattle is home to the fifth largest container port in the United States and the 25th largest in the world. Seattle is home to well-known global brands, including Microsoft, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Amazon.com, and Starbucks. The University of Washington, located within Seattle, is a premier academic research institution that draws students from around the world. When Boeing introduced the 707 jet airliner in the late 1950s, it ushered in the jet age and a new economic boom for the city. In 1962, Seattle sponsored the futuristic Century 21 Exposition, leaving a permanent legacy in the world-famous Space Needle and the Seattle Center campus, featuring performance, sports, and entertainment halls, as well as the Pacific Science Center.
Often recognized as one of the best walking cities in the U.S., Seattle has a compact downtown neighborhood that allows visitors to easily explore the city’s well-known attractions, including Pike Place Market—the oldest continuously operated farmers’ market in the U.S. A walk through the market reveals Seattle’s culinary bounty: wild salmon, crab, fresh produce, strong coffee, craft beers, and a wide selection of internationally acclaimed Washington wines. The city features an array of sophisticated restaurants run by creative and sometimes daring chefs.
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GREATER SEAT TLE INFOGUIDE • 2016-17
Downtown at Night
Photo: by 4nadia
Seattle’s location on Puget Sound, surrounded by the Cascade and Olympic mountains, ensures year-round outdoor activities, including skiing, sailing, and hiking. From downtown, you can take a guided sea kayaking tour or go “flight seeing” by floatplane. Day trips via catamaran are available to British Columbia and the popular San Juan Islands. The Port of Seattle offers luxury cruises to Alaska’s Inside Passage. Three national parks lie within a two-hour drive of Seattle. Mt. Rainier National Park features the snow-capped mountain, backdrop to the city’s skyline. Olympic National Park offers the only temperate rain forests in the continental U.S. and the North Cascades National Park offers stunning views of jagged peaks and glacial lakes.
