Seattle Area Ranks among Top in Nation for Volunteerism

Seattle Times | Ron Judd | April 21

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-volunteers-give-the-precious-gift-of-time-a-lot-of-it/

“The Seattle region (in a study area that includes Bellevue, Tacoma and environs) has long ranked in the top five metro areas in the country in volunteer time given, measured by bodies and hours. In the most recent rankings, in 2014, Seattle was seventh, but the region has recently ranked as high as fourth…Statewide numbers are similarly impressive. Washington ranks 11th among the 50 states, with 1.61 million volunteers working 28.2 hours per capita, providing 155 million hours of service worth $3.6 billion.”

Renderings: Plan Move Ahead for New Downtown Ferry Dock

Seattle PI | Daniel Demay | April 21

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/transportation/article/Design-out-plans-move-ahead-for-new-downtown-7287785.php

“Washington State Ferries has revealed early designs for the new downtown ferry dock that show what it will look like after a major overhaul, set to begin next year. The five-year plan to rebuild Colman Dock, which will replace much of the aging structure to make it more seismically sound and efficient for ferry traffic, is estimated to cost $320 million, according to the latest estimates from WSF. Once work is complete, the dock will include a new terminal building, shifted out to the water’s edge; a reconfigured layout of the vehicle holding area; and a new entry building as well as a new facility for the Elliott Bay water taxi, according to plans. With an average of more than 26,000 passengers taking ferries or the water taxi from Colman Dock each day last year, work to rebuild about 50 percent of the existing dock will definitely cause more than a few headaches, said Genevieve Rucki, Seattle program manager for terminal engineering with WSF.”

3 Seattle-Area Tech Firms Make List of Highest-Paying Companies

Seattle Times | Rachel Lerman | April 20

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/3-seattle-area-tech-firms-make-glassdoors-list-of-highest-paying-companies/

“Three Seattle-area companies are among the 25 highest-paying firms in the U.S., according to a list released Wednesday by employer-review site Glassdoor. Microsoft, F5 Networks and a division of Amazon.com made the list. All have a median salary of more than $120,000, according to anonymous employee entries on Glassdoor’s site. The Amazon division, Amazon Lab126, which has offices in Seattle; Cupertino, Calif.; Boston; and Sunnyvale, Calif., was No. 7. The division, which handles research and development of Amazon devices, has a median salary of $138,700, according to Glassdoor.”

See the list here

In Silicon Seattle, High Home Prices

Wall Street Journal | Anya Martin | April 20

http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-silicon-seattle-high-home-prices-1461163535

“In terms of high home prices, low inventory and heated bidding wars, Seattle is the new San Francisco. In the metro Seattle area, home-sale prices rose 9.5% from 2014 to 2015, putting the median home value at $385,300, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s below the limit for government-backed loans for the area, which currently is $540,500. ..Seattle still lags behind San Francisco, where the median home value is $781,600, but buyers in both cities—many in the tech industry—are competing for a limited pool of properties.”

Seattle Mayor Calls for Protection of Tenants Using Rent Control

Seattle Times | Daniel Beekman | April 19

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-mayor-calls-for-protection-of-tenants-using-rent-subsidies/

“Seattle Mayor Ed Murray wants the City Council to extend civil-rights protections to people paying rent with government subsidies and other non-wage sources of income. The mayor sent the council a proposed ordinance Tuesday that would make it illegal for landlords in the city to discriminate against tenants and prospective tenants based on their use of subsidies or other alternative but lawful sources of income. Seattle already prohibits discrimination against people using federal Section 8 housing vouchers. The new ordinance would extend various protections to people using other verifiable non-wage sources of income, such as Social Security benefits, veteran’s benefits and child-support payments, according to Murray.”

The Unexpected Place in Seattle where 30-Story Office Towers Could Rise

Puget Sound Business Journal | Marc Stiles | April 18

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2016/04/18/the-unexpected-place-in-seattle-where-30-story.html

“The rows of low-income housing across the street from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle is where few people would expect high-rise office buildings to be built. Developers, however, have been circling the site that is for sale on East side of Interstate 5, though none has bought it yet. Now, the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) has sweetened the opportunity by agreeing to let whoever buys the property build a total of up to 350 multifamily housing units on the site. This is in addition to 1 million square feet of commercial space that SHA has been trying to entice developers to build there.”