The Atlantic

Can Seattle Handle Its Own Growth?

The city is confronting multiple challenges that come with economic success.
Source: Jason Redmond / Reuters

SEATTLE—If it didn’t rain here so much, the city might consider adopting a new motto: The future’s so bright we have to wear shades.

Seattle exemplifies the powerful current of economic vitality that is transforming many of the nation’s largest cities as they connect more deeply to the digital economy and global markets. Over the past decade, Seattle has added 220,000 jobs, an increase of nearly 15 percent. Amazon, which employs 40,000 people here and holds about one-fifth of the city’s premier office space, has keyed that growth, but the revival has spilled

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