Economy
The Secret to Seattle's Booming Downtown
The recession didn't skip Seattle, but the city stuck by its downtown and reaped the rewards.
The recession certainly didn't bypass downtown Seattle. The city's urban core lost a whopping 12 percent of jobs between 2000 and 2010 (the rest of the country only saw a 4 percent decline), thanks in part to Washington Mutual's collapse. Between 2008 and 2011, 20,000 jobs disappeared.
But the area is in the midst of a true renaissance. As Jon Talton wrote earlier this week in the Seattle Times, downtown Seattle has not only recovered from its slump, it's thriving. Amazon's new headquarters could bring as many as 12,000 high-paid jobs to the area. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is opening a new campus. Even Boeing is leasing office space downtown.