Fact: Seattle

Introduction

The largest city in the pacific northwest, Seattle is located about 96 miles from the U.S Canadian border and sits between Lake Washington and the Puget Sound. Seattle is known for being the birthplace of 90's grunge music, the home for many high-tech companies and a large population of coffee addicts.

Highlights

The Seattle Space Needle was built for the 1962 World's Fair, it hosts a 520 ft observation deck, the SkyCity restaurant at 500 ft and a gift shop. It sits in the center of Seattle Center, near downtown, and invites tourists to ascend to the top and take in the view.

Pike Place Market in downtown is the oldest continually operated pulic farmer's market in the country. People come from all over to find everything from antiques to flying fish to the original Starbucks.

The Seattle Central Library was opened in 2004, houses 1.45 millions books and 400 publicly accessible computers.

Getting Here

By plane: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA-TAC) connects Seattle to all regions of the world. It is the Alaska Airlines hub, so Alaska often has direct flights to and from Seattle somewhat cheaper fares. The airport is approximately 25 minutes from downtown. Sveral options exist to get to and from the airport:

- King Country Metro (public bus) can get you downtown for $2 on the 194 or 174 routes. The trip can take between 45 and 60 minutes.

- Taxi will go downtown for $28. This takes about 20 minutes depending on traffic.

-Rental car: rentals can be less than $12/day (plus 18% tax, hotel parketking fees, etc). Beware that taking an airport rental will add an additional 11% airport tax surcharge. Renting from a downtown location will save a considerable amount of money.

- Commercial Shuttle Buses run between $5 and $30 depending on how far you want to go. They tend to be cheaper than a taxi and faster than the public bus.

By train

Amtrack provides services to Seattle from Portland, Vancouver, and other locations to the south and to the east. The King Street Station is located south of downtown near Safeco Field.

By car

Interstate 5 (I5) runs all along the western coast, cutting right through Seattle, and the Interstate 9 (I9) runs from Seattle to Boston. Seattle has poor streets that can cause bad congestion at rush hour.

Getting Around

Most North-South streets are labeled "Avenues" and East-West streets are labeled "Streets." Also, the city is roughly split into a 3x3 grid with specific directional centers (E, SW, W, S, N, NE, & NW.) Street addresses have the center before the address (Ex. NE 45st St) while Avenue addresses write the center after the address (45th Ave NE)

By Mass Transit

King Country Metro has electric, hybrid and diesel buses that run to all parts of the city. Bus fare is usually $1.25, but during rush hours (Mon-Fri 6am-9am & 3pm-6pm) it is $1.50. Also note that when getting on in downtown you pay when you get off, and bus travel within downtown is totally free. The Trip Planner Website has accurate information to help you find out what bus to take and when.

Weather and Climate

Despite having a reputation for rain, Seattle rarely has extreme downpours. This reputation derives from an average of 226 cloudy days every year (vs. 132 for New York City.) The majority of precipitation is classified as drizzle or light rain, with only 34.3 inches of precipitation per year. The average low temperature in the winter is between 35-40F (2-4 C) and in the summer months has highs of 75-80 F (24-27 C)

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