“To some extent, Seattle remains a frontier metropolis, a place where people can experiment with their lives, and change and grow and make things happen”

 

Tom Robbins, Novelist

  

The City of Seattle has been on our bucket list for years, so when I had a chance to attend an investment conference in the city, I had a chance to knock off two birds with one stone as they say.

 

Seattle is located on the spectacular Puget Sound in the State of Washington. It is surrounded by beautiful water, evergreen forests, mountains, and thousands of acres of parkland. It is the state’s largest city with approximately 725,000 residents (metropolitan about 3.9 million), and ranks as the 15^th largest city in the United States.

Seattle is where well-known names like Starbucks, Amazon, and Microsoft were born, but you can add names like Boeing, UPS, Cutter & Buck, Eddie Bauer, Zillow (online real estate), Safeco, Tableau Software (data), Tommy Bahama, and Jones Soda were born. An impressive list. 

 

Located about 100 miles (160km) south of Canada, Seattle can be described as “Vancouver with an edge”. It is easy to see how the rock “grunge” movement in the 1980’s had Seattle as an epicenter. More on that later.

 

Seattle has had several reincarnations since its founding in 1853, after being inhabited solely by Native Americans for about 4000 years prior to. Logging became Seattle’s first major industry, but by the 19^th century Seattle became a major commercial and shipbuilding center. In 1889 The Great Seattle Fire destroyed the bulk of the central business district, and Seattle soon after became a gateway to Alaska for the Klondike Gold Rush that kicked in during the 1890’s.

 

After World War II, growth was spurred by aircraft manufacturing, mainly led by Boeing. From the 1980’s onwards, the Seattle and surrounding area developed into a technology center as Microsoft exploded onto the scene. Bill Gates is a Seattleite (yes, learned that one!) by birth. The birth of Amazon in 1994 and its internet retail domination solidified the technology claim, but in addition new software, biotech, and other internet companies, led to a huge economic revival. You see the signs of a booming tech sector everywhere.

 

Physically, the city seems very spread out, and covers almost 85 square miles. One tidbit I learned while there: Seattle is the most Northern city in the United States with greater than 500,000 in population, and is actually further “North” than the Canadian cities of Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Another item no one told me, but Seattle is a very hilly city. Not to the extent of San Francisco, but a close second. Like Rome, it was built on seven hills.

 

There’s something about cities on the water to me, and Seattle is no different. To the West is Puget Sound and then the Pacific Ocean. To the East, Lake Washington. If one loves the outdoors, this is your place. To the West, Mt. St. Helen. To the North, East, and South, there is miles and miles of spectacular forests of giant redwoods, evergreens, and allegedly… Bigfoot.

 

Weather wise, Seattle is known for its rain. From 1981 to 2010, the average annual precipitation was almost 40 inches (1000mm). In the month of November, Seattle averages more rainfall than any other US city with greater than 250,000 people (so from what I was told when planning a trip, you want to avoid November to about April).

 

Next thing people associate with Seattle after the rain is coffee. Thanks to Starbucks, people know Seattle’s coffee but often forgotten are names like Tully’s, Seattle’s Best, Peet’s, and Caffe Vita, all Seattle-based. It doesn’t seem like a coffee shop on each corner, it seems like several coffee shops on each corner.

 

Culturally, from 1869 to 1982, Seattle was known as the “Queen City”. Their official nickname is the “Emerald City”, in reference to its lush evergreen forests surrounding the city. Seattle was one of the first cities to jump their minimum wage to $15/hour, and the results were devastating right off the bat. Those coffee shops mentioned above? Yep, were hit hard, and it reflected in the jobs as seen in this chart:
 

(Source: Carpe Diem AEI)

 

Washington became the first state in the US to legalize marijuana in 2012. And if this is what Canada will look like in five years, I have some concerns.

 

The amount of homeless on the streets of Seattle were similar to San Francisco: there were a lot of them. The smell of marijuana in the air is common.

 

But the homeless situation has not hit everyone. The City of Seattle is one of the top cities in the United States with the number of $1 million homes.

 

 

One of the issues which I think is going to get worse is the growing disparity between rich and poor. You really see it in Seattle with the tech money on one side, and then the other. I don’t believe this is isolated to just Seattle, I think this will be a growing issue everywhere.

 

Seattle and Washington State have historically been Democratic bastions (80%). The last time the state voted Republican for President was 1984 for Ronald Reagan. Needless to say, they have zero time for President Trump. Right now, the city is hopping, so much several locals joked they were changing the state bird to the “crane”.

 

From a lifestyle standpoint, there are lots of parks in Seattle – most are full of foosball tables, large chess pieces, Jenga games, bean bag tosses, basketball courts and lots of interesting statues.

 

Speaking of statues, in the Fremont neighbourhood to the North, which has a Greenwich Village type vibe, it’s known for its famous Troll under the bridge. And remember when I mentioned Seattle leaned hard left of centre? While in Fremont you will find another statue many will recognize. Yep… Russia’s very own communist comrade Lenin.

 

Supposedly Seattle has the 3^rd worst drivers in the United States (not sure if that is measurable, but just quoting the tour guide), but one rarely hears a honking horn. You also rarely see Jaywalking in downtown Seattle, and we are told they enforce levying fines for Jaywalking more than most.

 

So given my vice for music, Seattle is a great music town. With roots in the early 1900’s to 1950’s with many jazz clubs, to the early 1960’s with the “garage” rock like the Fleetwoods, The Sonics, and The Ventures. Seattle is considered home of grunge music, having produced Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Mudhoney, all which became huge international acts in the late 1980’s, early 1990’s.

Besides “grunge”, add jazz’s Glenn Crytzer, hip hop artist Macklemore, smooth saxophonist Kenny G, classic rockers (and my favourite sisters!) Heart, and alternative bands like Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters, The Posies, Modest Mouse, and Fleet Foxes as all having a Seattle influence.

 

Last but certainly not least, perhaps the greatest Seattleite in my opinion: Jimi Hendrix. Here’s me paying homage to Jimi’s famous white Strat from Woodstock, now at the museum of Pop
History:

      

Tourism is huge in Seattle. Famous sites include the Seattle Great Ferris Wheel, the Seattle Aquarium, The Underground Tour, The Seattle Museum of Art, The University of Washington, among others, but Seattle is best known for its Pike Market. It has been in operation since 1907, one of the oldest and continuously operated public farmers market in the United States. Add the Chihuly Glass Garden and you have a good start.

 

Other Seattle tidbits I learned:

• Was first major US city to elect a female mayor (1926)
• 16% of the city label themselves Agnostic or Atheists
• 12% of the population lives below the poverty line
• Seattle has a large LGBT community (13%), second highest proportion of any major  US city, behind San Francisco
• Seattle has applied for a new NHL expansion hockey team for 2020 season
• In July 2012 they banned plastic shopping bags, one of the first to do so

So knock Seattle off the bucket list, another one down. If you haven’t been there, it’s worth at least a look, but no hurry to return in the near future, too many other cities to still see.

 

As always, please feel free to share with friends and family of whom you believe would enjoy the read.

 

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Stay tuned,

 

Vito Finucci, B.COMM, CIM, FCSIVice President and Director, Portfolio Manager
 

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