Microsoft, Oregon, and B.C. Kick in $750K for New Study of High-Speed Rail in the Pacific Northwest

GeekWire | Monica Nickelsburg | July 26
https://www.geekwire.com/2018/microsoft-oregon-b-c-kick-750k-continue-studying-high-speed-rail-pacific-northwest/

“The effort to build a high-speed rail connecting Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, B.C. just got a fresh cash infusion. Microsoft, the Province of British Columbia, and the Oregon Department of Transportation are putting $750,000 in new funding toward a deeper study of the business opportunity the project presents. The rail line under consideration would connect Seattle to Vancouver in under an hour. The new funding is on top of $750,000 contributed by Washington state earlier this year, bringing the total funding for the new study to $1.5 million.”

Ignition’s John Connors: Seattle is Becoming the Most Important Tech Market behind Silicon Valley

GeekWire | Taylor Soper | July 25
https://www.geekwire.com/2018/ignitions-john-connors-seattle-important-tech-market-behind-silicon-valley/

“Seattle’s tech scene has a lot of mojo going on right now. That’s the word from John Connors, managing partner at Ignition Partners who was previously Microsoft’s chief financial officer before taking on his current role at the Seattle-area venture capital firm. “Seattle is becoming, pretty indisputably, the second-most important market behind Silicon Valley,” Connors said in an interview with GeekWire this week. The firm is now betting big on Seattle, and it has promoted two principals at the firm — Preeti Rathi and Kellen Carter — to the role of partner, in part to scout for even more deals.”

‘Brain Gain’ Helps Seattle Land Title of Second Best North American Tech Market

GeekWire | Nat Levy | July 24
https://www.geekwire.com/2018/brain-gain-helps-seattle-land-title-second-best-north-american-tech-market/

“Seattle is the second strongest tech market in the U.S. and Canada, thanks to its growing population of young, brainy geeks, according to a new study. Real estate firm CBRE released its annual Scoring Tech Talent report Tuesday, which ranks the top 50 markets based on 13 metrics like number of tech employees, population trends, wages, education levels, housing and business costs. Seattle led the way in terms of the highest percentage of people with a college degree — 63 percent — as well as the greatest population growth of 20 somethings since 2011 at close to 23 percent. Seattle trailed only San Francisco in the overall rankings and finished ahead of Washington, D.C., Toronto and New York to round out the top five.”

Seattle Ranked Best Big City to Live in

KING 5 | Mega Yoder | July 23
https://www.king5.com/article/news/nation-world/seattle-ranked-best-big-city-to-live-in/281-576782134

“The award for the best big city to live in this year goes to Seattle, according to a study conducted by WalletHub. The annual study ranks the 62 largest U.S. cities by comparing factors like affordability, health, safety and education. Each city got a total score out of 100. After being the runner-up in 2017, Seattle topped this year’s list with a score of 63.63. It gained top scores for economy and education/health, according to the credit score website.”

An Early Look at the Bellevue Light-Rail Tunnel

Seattle Times | Mike Siegel | July 20
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/digging-is-finished-on-bellevue-light-rail-tunnel/

“Employees and machines from Atkinson Construction finished digging Sound Transit’s future light-rail tunnel in Bellevue this week from East Main Street to Bellevue Downtown Station next to City Hall. They scoured and reinforced in 4-foot-long sections, advancing 2,000 feet over 15 months — five months ahead of schedule. This tunneling method differs from the usual boring machines that drill twin tubes for the trains…Train service along a $3.7 billion route from International District/Chinatown Station to Mercer Island, Bellevue and Overlake is on track to begin June 2023.”