Seattle’s ascent? What is its proper tier? (best, cost, state)
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A spin-off from a couple of threads, I noticed this side discussion involving the place of Seattle:
Will Seattle leap frog metros like Atlanta, Boston, Philly and Miami in cultural and economic importance.
My answer is half and half. I think Atlanta and Boston will remain ahead on these metrics, but it will soon surpass Philly... and may out compete Miami current day wrt to the two criterions.
Culture is subjective so you really can't rank that
Seattle has already passed Miami in GDP & will sail past Atlanta in that area as well within the decade.
Boston & Philly still have a +$50 Billion GDP lead on Seattle and are by no means stagnant in growth. Eds & Meds are still the cream of the crop in Boston while Philly is a sleeping giant and poised to boom itself right now. Can it it, yes... but it wouldn't be for another decade or two at best.
Who said it would in cultural importance? No way that will happen.
In economic importance it's hard to say. I dont think one will dominate the other in this arena, atleast not within the coming decade. They will likely be fairly close with one having a slight edge over the other as it currently is right now. They're running almost neck and neck currently but Seattle seems to be more efficient at doing so given it's doing this with only half the amount of fortune 500/1000 companies and 33% less people. In terms of efficiency I'd say it surpasses Atlanta. They're able to keep up with it despite of having far less usable land, being distant from over 80% of the U.S. population. I personally think that is noteworthy.
Now one thing I do say about Seattle is it would be massacred if someone like Amazon left. It would hurt Seattle alot more than say if Home Depot left Atlanta. I could use Delta as a reference but the odds of that happening are none. Atlanta is clearly the more well rounded city overall however in terms of economy.
It's already overtaken Miami everywhere besides Miami's outsized cultural influence. I dont think it's a stretch to say it is at the very least of equal importance with Miami right now...
The other cities, nah, not there yet and won't be fir quite awhile, I believe!
Culture is subjective so you really can't rank that
Seattle has already passed Miami in GDP & will sail past Atlanta in that area as well within the decade.
Boston & Philly still have a +$50 Billion GDP lead on Seattle and are by no means stagnant in growth. Eds & Meds are still the cream of the crop in Boston while Philly is a sleeping giant and poised to boom itself right now. Can it it, yes... but it wouldn't be for another decade or two at best.
There was more than a $50b gap between Seattle and Atlanta at the start of last decade if I recall correctly and Atlanta wasn’t “stagnant”. Unless disruption occurs, Seattle is only going up, and quickly.
Who said it would in cultural importance? No way that will happen.
In economic importance it's hard to say. I dont think one will dominate the other in this arena, atleast not within the coming decade. They will likely be fairly close with one having a slight edge over the other as it currently is right now. They're running almost neck and neck currently but Seattle seems to be more efficient at doing so given it's doing this with only half the amount of fortune 500/1000 companies and 33% less people. In terms of efficiency I'd say it surpasses Atlanta. They're able to keep up with it despite of having far less usable land, being distant from over 80% of the U.S. population. I personally think that is noteworthy.
Now one thing I do say about Seattle is it would be massacred if someone like Amazon left. It would hurt Seattle alot more than say if Home Depot left Atlanta. I could use Delta as a reference but the odds of that happening are none. Atlanta is clearly the more well rounded city overall however in terms of economy.
Not that I would ever want that situation to happen, but that’s a dangerous position to be in. Especially given the high COL and relative geographic isolation.
I am so very thankful Amazon didn’t come to Georgia! I was excited initially but that quickly changed when I found out the circumstances surrounding its possible move.
Boston is booming in MSA and CSA GDP growth, city population growth, GDP/capita, and large scale construction (office, lab, residential). Not so much on this board, but in many independent reports its growth and stature as a global city continue to rise. In many areas it already outpaces larger metros like Dallas and Houston and is well ahead of Philly. An interesting question is can Boston pass Chicago in GDP at the CSA level?
There was more than a $50b gap between Seattle and Atlanta at the start of last decade if I recall correctly and Atlanta wasn’t “stagnant”. Unless disruption occurs, Seattle is only going up, and quickly.
Philly & Boston aren't Atlanta though. There metro populations have always been in the general same tier but their economies have always been substantially stronger due to their costal locations and the sheer population/demographics they have access to.
Being keystone cities in the Bos-Washington corridor has it's perks, economically speaking
Now one thing I do say about Seattle is it would be massacred if someone like Amazon left. It would hurt Seattle alot more than say if Home Depot left Atlanta. I could use Delta as a reference but the odds of that happening are none. Atlanta is clearly the more well rounded city overall however in terms of economy.
I think that's a fair point. Seattle's fortunes more than pretty much every other Top 15 metro seems to be very tied to just a handful of very large companies. Cities/metros like Boston, Philadelphia, and to a lesser extent, Atlanta and Miami, are much more mature and diversified.
In particular, Seattle's corporate sector is very tied to retail trends, which certainly aren't the most stable/predictable.
A spin-off from a couple of threads, I noticed this side discussion involving the place of Seattle:
Will Seattle leap frog metros like Atlanta, Boston, Philly and Miami in cultural and economic importance.
My answer is half and half. I think Atlanta and Boston will remain ahead on these metrics, but it will soon surpass Philly... and may out compete Miami current day wrt to the two criterions.
What do you think?
Seattle will not surpass Boston or Philly anytime soon. It's best prospect is Miami.
It's easy to get caught up in the hysteria of the Seattle's recent growth, but the region is historically a major boom-bust economy. I also think its prominence is over-reliant on major companies (Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, Costco, Starbucks, etc.)
Many of these are so successful because they currently lack significant competition, domestically and/or globally. Don't expect them to dominate their industries forever. Japan and China are committed to starting a domestic airplane industry. Amazon will/should be broken up and it will face competition from foreign retailers. It's been a good run, but I think a lot of Seattle's prominent companies have peaked or will peak soon. Maybe the region will produce the next company to continue the legacy...Microsoft > Amazon > ?
Cultural importance is hard to measure, but I don't see Seattle having significant impact or recognition at a national level. There was that brief grunge period (nearly 4 decades ago ), but other than that the region has no identifiable or unique culture that would be known by outsiders. Coffee and outdoors/hiking is what I most associate with Seattle culture, but that's not super special compared to the U.S. or western states.
Given the cultural/demographic trajectory of the country, I don't think Seattle will have any influence. Rather, I'd expect southern cities (Texas in particular) to have a growing cultural influence.
Last edited by newgensandiego; 01-04-2020 at 10:57 AM..
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), but other than that the region has no identifiable or unique culture that would be known by outsiders. Coffee and outdoors/hiking is what I most associate with Seattle culture, but that's not super special compared to the U.S. or western states. 
