Downtown Comparison

Seattle is the “top-rated office buy market” - Urban Land Institute/PricewaterhouseCoopers, November 2006 The most educated city in the U.S., with more than half of the population over age 25 holding at least a bachelor’s degree. - MSN Encarta, based on 2005 (est.) US Census data #1 in environmental innovation for purchasing programs, green building incentives, carpool coordination and car sharing. - SustainLane’s 2006 US City Sustainability Ranking Considered the safest city in the nation to live in or visit. - Gallup Poll, October 2006 Home to the Seattle International Film Festival, the largest film festival in the United States. - Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau; 2006 The center of most arts related businesses and organizations per capita in the country in 2005. - Puget Sound Regional Council, October 2006 One of twelve city centers designated a “Best Workplaces for Commuters District”. - US Environmental Protection Agency, 2006

The west coast cities of Portland, OR, Vancouver, B.C. and Denver, CO, provide good benchmarks for Seattle. These cities have populations similar in size to Seattle and are also the prime economic centers of their respective state or province.

  2005 Population

* Effective in 2005 - Seattle, Vancouver and Denver all expanded their Downtown boundaries. The aboved data reflects their new and expanded “Center City” boundaries.

Downtown Comparison: Retail & Office Space

Downtown verses Regional comparison

• Vancouver has the highest proportion of downtown to regional office space (56%) followed by Portland (49%), Seattle (45%) and Denver (24%).
  
  
• Vancouver has the highest concentration of downtown retail space (17%) to total regional retail space located in its downtown, followed by Denver (11%), Seattle (9%) and Portland (3%) 

Source: Seattle, Portland and Vancouver 2005 Office Data: CB Richard Ellis
Denver 2005 Offiec Data: Progressive Urban Management Associates, Inc.

Source: Portland and Vancouver 2005 Office Data: CB Richard Ellis
Seattle: OfficeSpace.com. Denver 2005 Retail Data: Progressive Urban Management Associates, Inc.

Further economic information may be attained on the above cities at the following sites:

CB Richard Ellis: www.cbre.com
Vancouver, B.C.: www.city.vancouver.bc.ca
Portland, OR: www.portlandonline.com
Denver, CO: www.denvergov.org

Sources: Seattle population: U.S. Census 2000 - 2005 American Community Survey. Vancouver, B.C. City population: Ministry of Home, Government of British Columbia,B.C. Stats 2005. Denver population: Downtown Denver Partnership. Portland population: CB Richard Ellis: Downtown Portland Demographic Report. Portland, Vancouver, B.C. Retail: CB Richard Ellis. Seattle Retail: OfficeSpace.com. Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, B.C. Office: CB Richard Ellis. Denver 2005 Retail and Office Data: Progressive Urban Management Associates, Inc.

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