This city is changing—and fast: Seattle’s population is growing at unprecedented rates; the city continues to hold the largest number of construction cranes in the U.S. to accommodate the endless construction demands; the region’s property values are continuing to shatter record highs in an increasingly unaffordable housing market.
As I read the local news just this past week, I looked at my home in a different light. Google Virtual Reality employee Ricardo Martin-Brualla recently shared a time-lapse video that condenses the past three years of road closures and gentrification into minutes of massive vertical expansion. Earlier this week, The Seattle Times published a webpage outlining the dizzying myriad of transportation and infrastructure projects over the next 20 years as outlined in the One Center City plan—it is as extensive as it is daunting.
I have lived here for just over two years, and already parts of this city have transformed beyond recognition. Looking ahead, I don’t believe this trend will change anytime soon. The city that I am making my home for now will continue to look and feel different, for better or for worse.
This city is a chrysalis: an urban metropolis in the midst of its messy transcendental transformation. There’s tension and angst and anticipation about what Seattle will become in the next five, ten, and 20 years, and I feel all of that. Perhaps the evolution is exciting, or perhaps the change is disorienting. Either way, we’re in for a ride for the foreseeable future.