Great job making it to the end of another work week! Finish it out strong with this week’s Seattle in Spotlight, with headlines surrounding the Seattle tech community, including: State-of-the-Art Esports Arena Powers Up at Univ. of Washington, New Shuttle Service Brings Transit Customers to South Seattle Light Rail Stations, Seattle Ranks 9th in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Cities to Live, and more.

‘More Than Just Playing a Game’: State-of-the-Art Esports Arena Powers Up at Univ. of Washington

GeekWire | Kurt Schlosser | April 18

“Game on at the University of Washington.

A state-of-the-art Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge at the UW’s Husky Union Building is up and running after an official ribbon cutting on Thursday and a week of events that helped usher in a new era of competition and learning at the university in Seattle. The 1,000-square-foot gaming center makes the UW the largest public, higher education institution in the nation to have such a dedicated facility and the first university in the state of Washington to have such a space. Aimed at casual and competitive gamers, and funded in part by the Student Technology Fee, the arena provides access to 40 high-end gaming computers, two VR systems, a casting station for live streaming to Twitch and popular, unlocked PC games.”

New Shuttle Service Brings Transit Customers to South Seattle Light Rail Stations

Seattle PI | Natalie Guevara | April 18

“It’s now easier than ever to take transit into downtown from southeast Seattle and Tukwila. This week, a new on-demand shuttle service called Via was launched to bring customers within a certain service area (defined in the map above) to and from five Link light rail stations. Customers can pay with their ORCA card, and their fare will automatically apply as a transfer toward a trip on a bus or train. Transit GO mobile tickets will also be accepted.”

Seattle Ranks 9th in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Cities to Live

Seattle PI | Zosha Millman | April 15

“Being within the top 10 of any sort of (positive) ranking is pretty good. Even ninth place isn’t so bad — though it doesn’t feel great to be trailing Portland. According to U.S. News and World Report that’s where Seattle places in this year’s round up of the best places to live in the U.S. After analyzing 125 metro areas in the country to find the best place to live based on metrics like quality of life, the job market, value of living there, and people’s desire to live there, Seattle clocked in at ninth, with an overall score of 7.2.”

For a Seattle Enclave, Isolation May Be Its Salvation

New York Times | Mike Seley | April 12

“South Park, one of Seattle’s dwindling blue-collar pockets, is on the rise. Yet the scruffy, geographically isolated enclave has managed to transform itself without losing its soul to gentrification, causing outsiders — including other Seattleites — to take notice. Situated on the western shore of the Duwamish River in a hard-to-reach corner of the city, South Park has turned its relative remoteness and affordability into an advantage, attracting creative entrepreneurs who otherwise might not be able to set up shop in one of the nation’s fastest growing cities. (Rents are cheaper here.) A hip wine shop, a brewery and a handful of new restaurants and bars greet interlopers who cross the neighborhood’s main artery to mainland Seattle, the South Park Bridge.”