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Seattle is a city of many great attractions. Nestled between Lake Washington and
Puget Sound with a chain of picturesque islands off its
western shore. There’s the verdant landscape that has earned it the
title “The Emerald City,” and there is the abundance of overcast
and drizzly days, which have earned it another designation, “The Rainy
City.” Add in names like “Gateway to Alaska,"
"Queen City,"
"The City of Goodwill," and " Jet
City " (the last due to the
heavy influence of Boeing) and the many faces of this sprawling metropolitan
region — the largest in the Pacific Northwest
with a population approaching 4 million — become clear.
Seattle is
the place Tom Hanks couldn’t get a good night’s sleep until Meg
Ryan bumbled along and is known
as the birthplace of alternative rock genre of music known as Grunge.
As the headquarters of Starbucks Coffee Co., Seattle is where great cup of coffee is
never more than half a city block away, and where the internet revolution
took hold and prospered.
Home of online bookstore Amazon.com and software giant Microsoft, the Seattle
region
blossomed under economic change. Residents boast of nearby bountiful natural
settings, recreational activities and a burgeoning performing arts scene.
Mount Rainier provides a majestic backdrop to Seattle's sparkling downtown skyscrapers,
expansive waterfront and thriving open-air market.
Along with the beauty comes as hefty cost of living.
King County's median home price of $380,000 for a single-family house of 2,000 to 2,500
square feet with two or three bedrooms has become a challenge to many
first-time homebuyers. Fixer-uppers under $200,000 have become quite rare,
while rents have also hit new highs in all neighborhoods.
Seattle
has evolved from a sleepy backwater town to a lively and well-caffeinated city.
We've selected four neighborhoods to reflect this evolution — the
sophisticated enclave of Queen Anne; the increasingly trendy Ballard;
Redmond, the home of powerhouse Microsoft; and Bainbridge Island, an artsy
rural community across Puget Sound.
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