Chapter 4: Megalopolis

In Washington, Seattle is the largest metropolitan area in the state. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton area ranked 13 out of 276 metropolitan areas in the United States based on population in April 2000. The population count then was 3,554,760, which was a 19.7% increase compared to their count in 1990.

"Seattle is the largest city in the four-county metropolitan area known as the Puget Sound region." The Greater Seattle are is made out of 24 cities as far as north as Shoreline, which is 10 miles north of downtown Seattle, to as far south Tacoma. which is 20 miles south of downtoan Seattle. Seattle itself is located on the western coastal plain of the Cascade Mountain Range, approximately 100 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Downtown Seattle is only 3 miles wide at its narrowest point, which separates the Puget Sound from Lake Washington.



Downtown Seattle

 Lake Washington is the largest lake in the state being 18 miles long and 3 miles wide at its widest point.

 

Lake Washington

 

On a business standpoint, as of April 2005, Seattle is/was home to five Fortune 500 Companies:

1. Washington Mutual

2. Safeco Corporation

3. Nordstrom

4. Amazon.com

5. Starbucks

As of 2011, Washington Mutual was bought out and is now under Chase. The most relevant company to me would be Starbucks because I currently work there :)



Starbucks at Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA - first ever Starbucks store!

  

Sources: 

"Greater Seattle Area Information." Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.seattlechamber.com/portal/page?_pageid=33,2965&_dad=portal&_schema=portal&p_menu_id=920>.

"List of Companies Based in Seattle." WorldLingo. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/List_of_companies_based_in_Seattle>.

"The Seattle Metropolitan Area of Washington State." Northwest Travel Information including Washington State, Oregon, AndNorthern California. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.northwestplaces.com/tripsSea/Sea1001.htm>.

"US Metropolitan Area Population: 1990-2000." DEMOGRAPHIA: Demographics Development Impacts Market Research & Urban Policy. Wendell Cox Consultancy. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.demographia.com/db-usmet2000.htm>.