Seattle Jumps to 18th on List of Biggest U.S. Cities; Population Growth was 11th Fastest According to Census

GeekWire | Kurt Schlosser | May 19

“New U.S. Census Bureau data released on Thursday backs up what the housing crunch and traffic slowdowns have already forecast for Seattle — the city is growing rapidly and is now the 18th largest in the country. With a 2015 population of 684,451, Seattle moved up two spots on the list of the top 20 most populous U.S. cities. By adding 15,339 residents between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2015, Seattle ranked 11th among 15 cities with the largest numeric increase…According to further Census data, Seattle’s estimated population has jumped by about 70,000 residents since 2010 — a little more than what it takes to fill CenturyLink Field for a Seahawks game.” Read more.

These Are the Best U.S. Cities for Jobs

Bloomberg | Julie Verhage | May 18

“Glassdoor Inc., a career website, compiled a list of 25 cities that have the highest rankings, weighing all of those considerations equally…The tech community dominates the workplace satisfaction leaderboard, with San Francisco and San Jose in the top two spots. “This demonstrates why so many people are looking to move to the San Francisco Bay area: Job satisfaction, work-life balance, and hiring opportunities are unparalleled compared to anywhere else in the country,” said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor…”It’s not a surprise to see cities like Seattle and Austin at the top since they all have rising technology communities, great institutions for higher education and research, as well as affordable neighborhoods,” Chamberlain added.” Read more.

You can see the list here

New Software to Help Seattle Streets Respond to Traffic

Seattle Times | Mike Lindblom | May 17

“The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and technology firm Siemens say they’ve reached a deal for traffic-light software that will help the city react to freeway backups, a viaduct crash, or crowds leaving a baseball game. The new system, called Concert, should be running by July, said Annie Satow, a Siemens spokeswoman. It will be installed at the city’s traffic-control center on the 37th floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower…For the first time, the city will be able to import external data, such as highway vehicle volumes from the Washington State Department of Transportation, and Concert will react by giving longer green lights to city streets near highway exits.” Read more.

Seattle Ranks near Top for People from All Over the Map

Seattle Times | Gene Balk | May 14

“You probably already know that Seattle isn’t the most racially diverse place, at least when compared with other big U.S. cities. But there’s more than one way to look at diversity — and when it comes to the geographic diversity of its residents, Seattle presents a vastly different profile. Among the 50 biggest U.S. cities, Seattle ranks No. 3 on the “geographic diversity index” with a score of 79.3 Here’s what that means: If you were to compare any two Seattleites at random, there’s about a 79 percent chance they were born in different areas of the country or the world.” Read more.

Believe It or Not, Zillow Says Seattle is a Better Bicycling Town than Portland

Puget Sound Business Journal | Marc Stiles | May 13

“Many bicyclists in Seattle won’t buy it, but Zillow ranks the Emerald City as the No. 1 bike town in the United States. Zillow (Nasdaq: Z, ZG) used housing and Census data to come up with the rankings. The company looked at the percentage of commuters who bike to work, how long it takes to get to work on a bike, the number of Zillow rental listings that mention bicycle storage, and the miles of protected bike lanes in each city. Portland was ranked second ahead of San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis.” Read more.