It’s been over a year since Amazon first announced it was expanding into a second headquarters location and now the wait is finally over. The list of finalists announced in January has been narrowed down to not one, but two locations: Long Island City in New York and Crystal City in Virginia. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the e-commerce giant has indicated they’ll split operations evenly between the two locations, “with as many as 25,000 employees in each” area.
Read MoreIn early August, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced the formation of the Innovation Advisory Council (IAC), a collective of representatives from the region’s top technology companies aimed to assist “with the development of data-driven and technological approaches to address our city’s most urgent issues, including homelessness and transportation mobility.” As a statement released by the mayor’s office outlines, there are over 60,000 software developers in the region, representing the largest employment sector in the region.
Read MoreWithin the past few years, the inventory of housing for sale in western Washington has done a 180, returning to degrees of shortage not seen since the year 2005. The low housing inventory is most visible in the Greater Seattle area of King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. Since January 2015, this region of central Puget Sound has remained a seller’s market. Housing inventories remained below four months for nearly the entire year.
Read MoreThe Tech Boom’s impact on the economy and housing market in the Seattle area is receiving increasing recognition, as national news outlets are now weighing in on what the Emerald City’s future may hold. Most recently, Nick Wingfield of The New York Times reported that “Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul,” saying that Seattle leaders are no longer looking at San Francisco as a model to live up to, but as a “cautionary tale” to avoid.
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