Seattle tourist information

Public Transportation
The first streetcars appeared in 1889 and were instrumental in the creation of a relatively well-defined downtown and strong neighborhoods at the end of their lines. Unfortunately, the advent of the automobile proved to be the death knell for rail in Seattle. Tacoma-Seattle railway service ended in 1929 and the Everett-Seattle service came to an end in 1939, replaced by inexpensive automobiles running on the recently developed highway system. With the removal or paving over of the rails on city streets and the arrival of trolleybuses, 1941 brought the end of streetcars in Seattle. This left only an extensive network of buses to provide mass transit within the city and throughout the region.

Transit Authorities
Seattle is serviced by three transit authorities. King County Metro provides frequent stop bus service within the city and surrounding county, of which about fifteen of its bus routes serving are hybrid buses using a combination of diesel fuel when outside the downtown area and overhead electrical wires while in the downtown area. Like Vancouver, British Columbia and San Francisco, California, Seattle is one of the few cities in North America that use electric trolleybuses.

The second transit authority that services Seattle is Sound Transit, which provides express bus service between the suburbs and downtown Seattle. Beginning September 18, 2000, Sound Transit began operating "Sounder", a commuter rail system that connects Seattle to Tacoma and another of other suburbs to the south and Everett other suburbs to the north. Sound Transit also began construction on the 15.7 mile Central Link Light Rail in November 2003 that will connect downtown Seattle to SeaTac Airport. Ultimately the Link Light Rail system will connect downtown to University of Washington (already funded) and Northgate Mall to the north, Bellevue and Redmond to the east, and Federal Way, Des Moines, and possibly as far south as Tacoma.

The third, and possibly most interesting, transit authority is the largest network of ferries in the United States, third largest in the world, that connects Seattle to Bainbridge Island and Vashon Island in Puget Sound and Bremerton and Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula. This ferry system is operated by Washington State Ferries and consists of 10 routes (4 servicing Seattle), 20 terminals (2 in Seattle), and 28 vessels (8 servicing Seattle).

Monorail
A monorail line constructed for the 1962 Exposition still exists today between Seattle Center and downtown Seattle and is used by tourists and by commuters from the north, who often find it cheaper to park at Seattle Center and take the 1 mile route to work rather than taking their car downtown. On November 26, 2005 the monorail's two trains collided on a curve near Westlake Center where a design flaw made it impossible to pass safely. Both trains are currently being repaired at an estimated cost of $3-4 million and are not expected to be in operation until summer 2006.

In the 1990s the city proposed building a longer monorail as a real commuter service replacing the existing tourist attraction, but nothing came of two voter approved initiatives in the 90s. Ultimately Seattle voters approved the creation of the 14 mile Green Line connecting West Seattle and Ballard to downtown in November 2002. Controversy over scope, governance, financial difficulties, and other issues led to two additional votes with the final vote, November 2005, bringing the Green Line to an end.

The South Lake Union line of the Seattle Streetcar passed full City Council on June 27, 2005. The streetcar is "on track" to be built and operating by 2007. The 2.6 mile (4.2 km) streetcar line will run between Westlake Center in downtown Seattle and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Property owners along the right-of-way will pay about $25 million of the $45 million total capital cost through a local improvement district.

Major Highways
While Seattle has its share of interstates, I-5 and I-90, and state routes, SR 99, SR 509, SR 520, SR 522, and SR 523, the most interesting features of its roadway system are the floating bridges. Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, and Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge are the 1st, 2nd, and 5th longest floating bridges in the world and connect Seattle to Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Kirkland across Lake Washington. Another interesting feature is a double decked elevated structure called the Alaskan Way Viaduct that runs along the Seattle waterfront between the football and baseball stadiums to the south and the Battery Street Tunnel to the north.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Seattle's commercial airport is Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, locally known as Sea-Tac Airport and located in the city of SeaTac, which is named for the airport. It is operated by the Port of Seattle and provides service to many destinations throughout North America, Europe, and East Asia. The airport is a hub for Alaska Airlines and its regional subsidiary Horizon Air. Seattle is also a focus city for United Airlines.

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Seattle's general-aviation airport is Boeing Field. Southwest Airlines recently requested permission to move its services from Sea-Tac to Boeing Field but did not receive permission.

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What is now Seattle has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 B.C.E.—10,000 years ago). Archaeological excavations at what is now called West Point in Discovery Park, Magnolia confirm that the Seattle area has been inhabited by humans for at least 4,000 years and probably much longer.

Great Seattle Fire, Gold and More
Major events in Seattle's history include the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, which destroyed the central business district (but took no lives); the Klondike gold rush, which made Seattle a major transportation center; the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909, which is largely responsible for the current layout of the University of Washington campus; the Seattle General Strike of 1919, the first general strike in the country; the 1962 Century 21 Exposition, a World's Fair; the 1990 Goodwill Games; and the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, marked by street protests and a series of riots.

Nisqually Earthquake
On February 28, 2001, a state of emergency was declared after the Nisqually Earthquake, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, rocked the region. Damage was moderate, but served as a reminder that the coastal Pacific Northwest — and the area around the Seattle Fault, in particular — is under a constant threat of earthquakes.

Boom and Bust
Seattle has a history of boom and bust, or at least boom and quiescence. Seattle has been sent into precipitous decline by the aftermaths of its worst periods as a company town, but has typically used those periods to successfully rebuild infrastructure.

The first such boom, covering the early years of the city, was fueled by the lumber industry. (It was during this period that the road now known as Yesler Way was nicknamed "Skid Road" after the timber skidding down the street to Henry Yesler's sawmill. The term later entered the wider American vocabulary as Skid Row.) This boom was followed by the construction of an Olmsted-designed park system.

The second, and largest boom, was the direct result of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896. This gold rush ended the nation's depression, which had begun with the Panic of 1893. On July 14, 1897 when the S.S. Portland docked with its famed "ton of gold", Seattle became the main transport and supply point for those heading north. Seattle literally became a household word, overnight. The boom lasted well into the early part of the 20th century and funded the start-up of many new companies and products; some, such as Nordstrom, exist to this day.

Next came the shipbuilding boom in the early part of the 20th century, followed by the unused city development plan of Virgil Bogue.

Seattle was the major point of departure during World War II for troops heading to the north Pacific, and Boeing manufactured many of the fighters and bombers.

Boeing
After the war, the local economy was marked by the expansion of Boeing, fueled by the growth of the commercial aviation industry. When this particular cycle went into a major downturn in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many left the area to look for work elsewhere, and two local real estate agents put up a billboard reading "Will the last person leaving Seattle — Turn out the lights."

Seattle remained the corporate headquarters of Boeing until 2001, when the company announced a desire to separate its headquarters from its major production facilities. Following a bidding war in which several cities offered huge tax breaks, Boeing moved its corporate headquarters to Chicago. The Seattle area is still home to Boeing's Renton narrow-body plant (where the 707, 720, 727, and 757 were assembled, and the 737 is assembled today), and Everett wide-body plant (where the 747, 767, and 777 are assembled, and the upcoming 787 Dreamliner will be assembled); and BECU, formerly the Boeing Employees Credit Union.

The most recent boom centered on Microsoft and other software, Internet, telecommunications companies (such as Amazon.com, RealNetworks, McCaw Communications (later acquired by AT&T and renamed AT&T Wireless), and VoiceStream (later acquired by Deutsche Telekom and renamed T-Mobile USA), and biomedical corporations such as Philips, Boston Scientific, and ZymoGenetics. Even locally-headquartered Starbucks held investments in numerous Internet and software interests. Although some of these companies remain relatively strong, the frenzied boom years had ended by early 2001.