Greetings, Seattle Metro Chamber Members,
As Mayor Bruce Harrell gave his 2024 State of the City address, I was rewinding the tape in my head back to his 2023 address. At the time, I was thrilled to hear his focus on the two most important issues facing Seattle: public safety and downtown recovery. Following his lead, much progress has been made, and now is a great time to both reflect on our community’s successes and recommit ourselves to making even more progress on both of those goals. And with new leaders on the Seattle City Council who are already demonstrating their commitment to this community – and their determination to make progress and get results – I am feeling optimistic and confident in our direction.
Public Safety
The last few years have been turbulent ones for public safety in Seattle – we know from The Index that public safety is a top concern and that voters believe that addressing violent crime, helping businesses deal with public safety concerns, and curbing retail theft would improve quality of life here. It takes a lot to do that, and Mayor Harrell shared some of the markers that show we’re on a path forward:
- Monthly applications for police officers reached the highest rate in three years and the entire hiring process has been overhauled for the first time in decades.
- The newly created CARE department has already responded to over 250 incidents with police involvement in only 3 of them.
- The new drug ordinance went into effect, balancing enforcement with expanded systems of care and treatment.
- Seattle police seized an estimated 2 million fentanyl pills and helped divert over 150 people to case workers and service providers.
Public safety is the result of a lot of factors coming together to shape our environment and it can take time for them to manifest. That said, what’s important is that we’re hitting the right milestones and on a path toward long-term improvement.
Downtown Revitalization
Downtown is the economic engine of our region and I agree with my friends Matt Griffin and Gerry Johnson that it’s far from “done.” I was ecstatic to hear a continued focus on downtown’s recovery, including mention of initiatives that the Chamber has supported and celebrated:
- The Office of Economic Development has expanded access to capital for nearly 300 businesses.
- The Liberty Project is taking steps to support BIPOC businesses.
- We shattered the summer record for downtown visitors with 11 million, including the most hotel rooms booked since 2019.
- King County’s new arts measures will invest $90 million to revive the creative economy.
Much like with public safety, 2023 was marking and meeting the milestones for activating the downtown ecosystem and building what we need to showcase our region on the world stage with the 2026 FIFA World Cup – an event that is the equivalent of six Super Bowls! With hundreds of thousands of people from around the world coming to our downtown, I’m confident that 2024 will see us rising to the occasion and showing the world how great Seattle and the Puget Sound region really are.
Lastly, as Mayor Harrell stressed in his State of the City, we should never give up on getting the NBA and our SuperSonics back where they belong. We’d love to welcome back Kevin Durant, and have him become a Chamber member!
2023 was an amazing year for Seattle, getting back to the basics and putting the pieces in place so that in 2024 and beyond we can pull Seattle upward together.
With unstoppable excitement,
Rachel
Rachel Smith
President and CEO
Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce