Seattle's Growth Patterns Buck Century-Long Trend

Although Seattle's population increased steadily since the 1990s and 2000s, recovering from a period of contraction in the 1960s and 1970s, its surrounding suburbs in King County were still growing faster than the city, according to a recent article by Gene Balk.

After the city and its suburbs matched growth from 2010 to 2010, the city completely changed the narrative: "Between 2011 and 2012, Seattle’s population grew at a rate 25 percent faster than that of surrounding King County. During this period, Seattle’s growth rate was 67 percent faster than Bellevue’s," writes Balk.

"Signs of Seattle’s success are not difficult to spot. Everywhere you look there seems to be a new apartment building under construction. As reported in The Seattle Times, more apartments were opened in 2013 than in any of the previous 20 years."