Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/946983
34 WAC Magazine | wac.net ere's no better place to take in Seattle's growth than from the roof of the WAC. In every direction, change scratches the skyline. A simple photo comparison shows how far our city has come since the Club opened its doors in 1930, with the most recent decade standing as one of the brightest. at said, the next ten years could prove even more vital. "Right now, we're literally rebuild- ing our city," says Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, a longtime WAC member. Almost every Seattle neighborhood has changed significantly in the past decade. With this boom, housing afford- ability, gentrification, and homelessness have emerged as critical considerations. "Our biggest challenges have come with our growth," Durkan says. On average, Seattle added a new resident—whether by birth or migra- tion—every 53 minutes during the last ten years, feeding a population leap of 100,000 people. To understand why 2008 marked modern Seattle's low point, recall the collapse of Washington Mutual (the larg- est bank failure in U.S. history) and the loss of the SuperSonics (an immeasur- able blow to city pride). Both occurred that year. On average, Seattle added a new resident—whether by birth or migration—every 53 minutes during the last ten years, feeding a population leap of 100,000 people. WaMu's closure created an exodus from a major Seattle skyscraper. "We definitely felt that with our member- ship," says WAC Vice President Mem- bership & Marketing Michelle Pinson. "People's lives were upended. We also knew that Seattle was resilient and would bounce back, and sure enough that's what's happening." Even as the pain of Washington Mutual lingered, another Seattle giant was eyeing a move that would funda- mentally alter our metropolis. The Amazon effect By 2011, Amazon, the Internet giant (née online bookseller), le its old head- quarters on Beacon Hill and accelerated the then-budding metamorphosis of South Lake Union. Today, Amazon is the world's fourth most valuable company. Amazon's success has fueled Seat- tle's growth more than any other single factor during the past decade. At the WAC, applications for membership from Amazon employees quadrupled between 2014 and 2017. Amazon's physical expansion took a new leap forward when it committed to lease all 722,000 square feet of office space in the yet-unbuilt Rainier Square, just one block from the WAC. at tow- er will soon climb 59 stories above the corner of Fih and Union and top out as the city's second-tallest building. "We were looking to do something that was awe-inspiring and unique and really kind of re-centered downtown," says WAC member Walt Ingram, exec- utive vice president and chief financial officer for Wright Runstad & Co., the real estate development firm managing the Rainier Square project. "Where Seattle has been for probably the last six to eight years is right at the top of the list in terms of where people want to be investing their money," he says. "ere are clearly cycles. And this particular cycle right now is probably running a little bit longer than a lot of us had maybe expected." It would be easy to think Seattle has never experienced a boom like this before. In reality, our city saw popula- tion gains of around 100,000 people in the 1940s and 1950s, decades that also brought increases to the city's landmass. u The Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections keeps a great online map of current projects. This site is a must for anyone interested in Seattle growth and construction. wac.net/seattle-growth u Take a closer look at who is in your neigh- borhood. This map breaks down our city's population: wac.net/seattle-population "People want to live, work, shop and play here. Our challenges—congestion, housing affordability, etcetera—are largely a result of our successes." — Jon Scholes, President and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association B R I A N F R A N C I S