More About Seattle
Seattle, city in west central Washington and seat of King County is located between Puget Sound and Lake Washington. The most populous city in the state, Seattle is built on a series of hills and is noted for its fine scenery. Curved around the shore of Elliott Bay, with Lake Washington behind and the snowy peak of Mount Rainier hovering faintly in the distance, Seattle has a magnificent setting.
Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the prosperity that Boeing and more recent success stories such as Microsoft and internet shopping site Amazon.com have brought the city is obvious, reflected in a restored old center, a nationally acclaimed arts scene with vibrant movie and music industries, and a flood of coffee houses and excellent seafood restaurants. No longer overshadowed by the two big California metropolises, Seattle now regularly tops magazine surveys of desirable places to live, attracting migrants across the social and economic spectrum, which has led to both exponential growth and increasing traffic jams.
Pike Place Market, originally a farmers market and now a lively mix of food and crafts shops, and Pioneer Square, a center for nightlife, are located in downtown Seattle. The Kingdome, a domed stadium used for concerts and trade shows, is also the home of the Seattle Mariners, a major-league baseball team, and the Seattle Seahawks, a professional football team. Seattle is the site of numerous festivals throughout the year, including the Northwest Folk life Festival, Bumbershoot Arts Festival, Seattle Film Festival, summer street fairs, Bon Odori, Bite of Seattle, Sea fair, Sundiata African American Festival, and the Christmas Parade of Ships.
Downtown Seattle's main attractions are the busy stalls and cafés of Pike Place Market and the restored nineteenth-century Pioneer Square, lined with restaurants and taverns. A stroll along the touristier waterfront lets you enjoy fabulous views of Elliott Bay. At the Seattle Center in the north, the Space Needle presides over cultural institutions and carnival rides, as well as the city's latest draw, the Experience Music Project. Several outlying districts are often livelier than downtown: Capitol Hill 's cafés and bars are the heart of the city's hipster and gay scene, and the University District is a student area with inexpensive cafés and up tempo nightlife.
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