Where do you live? City/State/country? Welcome to Seattle, Washington!
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Prominent language spoken? Other languages/dialects? English, but we have a large non-English-speaking Asian population, as well.
Is this rural or urban? Rough size? Urban. Rough estimate of population: 572,600 as of 2004, and it has grown.
What do you like most/least about where you live? I love the fact that it's such a cultural melting pot. And I hate the traffic.
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Most historically significant points about your town/country? Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides. It was home to the 1962 World's Fair. Grey's Anatomy is set there.
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Climate? RAIN, RAIN, RAIN. We actually have all four seasons, but it rains a lot.
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Type of government? Name of current leader? The mayor of Seattle is Greg Nickels. The governor of Washington is Christine Gregoire, who won in the closest gubernatorial race in state history, by less than 100 votes, in 2004. The state is led by Democrats. Seattle as a city is generally very liberal. The conservatives are in the suburbs.
What are the major industries? Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, Expedia. Lots of tech, we're getting into a lot of biotech, as well. We have the biggest children's hospital in the Northwest, and one of the leading cancer-research institutes in the world. We also have the Port of Seattle, which is one of the largest ports in the country for freight.
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Major religion? Seattle continues to grow as a city without deep religious roots. However, I would say the majority of those who are religious are Christian.
Diversity of education? Do most people graduate high school? College? We have one very large college here (the University of Washington), as well as two private colleges (Seattle Pacific University and Seattle University), and a lot of community colleges. The Seattle School District is in somewhat of a state of disarray, and the number of kids who graduate and go onto college seems to be falling. However, the graduation rates are a lot higher in the suburbs; one of the best-ranked high schools in the country is about 10 miles away across the lake.
Most popular sport? Football. We have the Seattle Seahawks and then the University of Washington Huskies. The city is still on a high from the Seahawks going to the Superbowl in 2006.
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Most popular trend at the moment? Being pissed off at our NBA team, the Seattle Sonics, for being sold to a group from Oklahoma City, which plans to break the lease with the team's arena and move the team to Oklahoma.
Most popular food? Coffee! We're Starbucks USA! (That pic is the very first one, by Pike Place Market.) We also are known for our salmon and the city has really become entrenched in the organics movement.
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What do you feel is the most interesting/exciting thing about where you live? The fabulous newspapers. No, really, it's that Washington has a little of everything. We have mountains and plains and a rainforest and urban areas and the ocean ... it's a real variety.
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Are there any urban legends associated with your town/state/country? (My son's enquiring mind wants to know!) We have had some famous killers come from here. Yeah, I know that sounds great.
Clark: "You don't even know the meaning of the word 'humility,' do you?"
No, really, it's that Washington has a little of everything. We have mountains and plains and a rainforest and urban areas and the ocean ... it's a real variety.
