this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
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Been here 15 years now... By comparison to 2008, Seattle is a wreck. The turning point was around 2015 when Amazon decided to make it their permanent HQ. Pre vs post 2015 rent prices are insane. I had a top-floor waterfront place on Lake Washington for $850 until 2015.
I wouldn't necessarily put that on Amazon coming in. That's been the trend in all cities over the past 10 years. Even suburban areas are feeling it. Hopefully remote work pushes up populations in smaller towns so other non-remote growth can occur in more affordable areas.
Our population increased by tens of thousands in the first year as a result of the announcement by Amazon that Seattle would be the permanent HQ. Following that, tons of cheaply made, overpriced housing was put up all over the city. Businesses were priced out and knocked down to make way for the shitty people-boxes.
Seattle is a geographically constrained area that was already at capacity. Blue collar workers and service industry folk were priced out and pushed into surrounding areas. Traffic and congestion increased. Homelessness skyrocketed.
I would agree that the issue is widespread, but in this case, correlation and causation line up.
Sold.
It's rough everywhere, I know. Shit like this article discusses doesn't help. Austin, TX was also reeling from the use of software like this. I'm sure other places are as well.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/new-lawsuit-alleges-price-fixing-at-seattle-area-apartment-buildings/