Arena or Amazon: Does Seattle know what's important?

[mhays]

Can you be more specific?

We have a bad economy like everyone, with unemployment in the 8s and massive state budget problems, but you'd hardly know it walking around. Much of the metro is seeing very little construction, but greater Downtown is in a construction boom despite some sectors doing nothing, relying on housing and tranportation, with a little office, museum, and laboratory thrown in. Amazon is booming. Boeing is booming. Paccar (Kenworth & Peterbilt), Nordstrom, Starbucks, and Costco are seeing their best sales volumes ever. The Gates Foundation is pouring money into research organizations. The military, which is huge on the metro edges in three directions, is solid as ever and a big construction sector. The University of Washington is as busy as always with construction from a previous budget cycle, even while not starting new stuff except for dorms which finance themselves, and labs which also partially finance themselves.

We're lucky to have a lot of companies that pull money in from elsewhere rather than mostly cycling it through locally. If you're valued by companies like that, then you're probably doing well.

[Gordo]

I know it's fashionable to dismiss Microsoft as a has-been at this point, but it should be noted that they're still setting total revenue and profit records nearly every quarter. All of the employees (40,000+ in the Seattle area) received an across the board ~10% raise last year to bring the company more "in line" with other tech companies (read: stop folks from jumping to Amazon or heading to the Bay Area), which has to have had a positive impact on the local economy. This is just anecdotal, but it seems to me that offers from MS are trending up this year as well.

As someone who employs 30+ people in the Seattle area in internet/software consulting, there is a very real shortage of good tech talent in the Seattle area, which is leading to salary increases at least similar to those in the Bay Area (not at that level yet, but it's getting there). The common story in Seattle among tech folks is that everyone young wants to go work their ass off at Amazon for relatively low pay (because it looks great on the resume - for the industry their pay and hours are terrible, but a three year stint at Amazon can lead to some great job offers from elsewhere), and everyone 30+ wants a cushy higher-paying job at Microsoft.

[mhays]

True. Any city would kill to have a company with 1/4 their local impact.

[JiminyCricket II]

Yeah, $23 billion in profits is hardly a has been. In fact that is nearly what Apple profited despite Microsoft pulling in less than half the revenue.

Google is also continuing to expand in the Seattle area as well.

[AJphx]

lol...what sort of tech talent cares about sports?

[bnk]

Originally Posted by Fiat Lux

4.1 million in metro Seattle, and growing. That's more people than metro New Orleans, metro Memphis, and metro Oklahoma City combined!

.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines the metropolitan area as the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, with an estimated population of 3,344,813 (just under half of Washington's population),[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_metropolitan_area

Take your case to the census bureau than. Anyway like 10023 said, whites don't play basketball.

Originally Posted by Doady

10023 is right. Basketball is a black sport. An NBA team cannot survive in a city with so few black people.

[JiminyCricket II]

Originally Posted by bnk

Take your case to the census bureau than. Anyway like 10023 said, whites don't play basketball.

Sure thing, let's take it up with the census bureau: CSA is almost 4.2 million in 2010 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washing...tistical_areas), and in line with what's important in this discussion: media market. Whites do play basketball, but that has nothing to do with the NBA in Seattle at any rate.

Why the hell is everybody bringing race into this thread?

[Jasonhouse]

If Seatte doesn't build an arena, the NBA will move to OKC and the world will end!

oh wait. That already happened and the world didn't end.

Here's my advice to Seattle. Wake up, see reality for what it is and JUST SAY NO to corporate welfare for sports teams. If they can't afford their own facilities, then they shouldn't be in business.

[Fiat Lux]

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

Here's my advice to Seattle. Wake up, see reality for what it is and JUST SAY NO to corporate welfare for sports teams. If they can't afford their own facilities, then they shouldn't be in business.

As mentioned numerous times in this thread, the arena will be privately funded.

[Fiat Lux]

Originally Posted by bnk

Take your case to the census bureau than. Anyway like 10023 said, whites don't play basketball.

Do the math (numbers are from 2010 Census):

Seattle metro:

4,199,312 people


Oklahoma City metro (1,322,429) + Memphis metro (1,316,100) + New Orleans metro (1,214,932):

3,853,461 people

4,199,312 > 3,853,461


The Seattle area has multiple people playing currently in the NBA who are white. White people don't play basketball? Racists are ignorant.

[AJphx]

Seattle would be an even more attractive city if it didn't have any professional sports. :nod:

[JiminyCricket II]

Attempting to deadpan on the internet... bound for failure.

[BevoLJ]

Originally Posted by AJphx

Seattle would be an even more attractive city if it didn't have any professional sports. :nod:

This

I hope we never ever have one in Austin.

Seattle has a great school with a beautiful campus and sports venues that have views that are out of this world. It has always been a dream of mine to see a game at Husky Stadium.

That news about Amazon in the Denny Triangle is really awesome to hear! Can't wait to see what all they have planned. Very exciting.

[Cashville]

Anybody that is trying to argue that Seattle is a poor NBA city has not followed basketball for the last 50 years. Im sure the NBA and David Stern would love for this arena to be built so they can get the Hornets out of New Orleans asap and move them to Seattle.

If any thing 'black' metros do a poor job of supporting teams. New Orelans and Memphis play in empty arenas, Atlanta has always underachieved with the Hawks, and I doubt most people in Charlotte even realize the Bobcats exist. And while Im sure they are making money since they are located in DC, the Wizards have terrible fan support in recent years.

The NBA generally does better out West, which is home to the lowest percentage og black population. Portland and Salt Lake always perform well for small market teams, the Lakers and now Clippers are huge in LA, the Suns do great in Phoenix. If Seattle would have built an arena 5 years ago and had this Thunder team playing in the metro they would be top 5 or 6 in profitability in the league.

Seattle and Las Vegas are probably the top 2 markets the NBA needs to relocate teams into to have solid local fanbases and not have to worry about a franchise losing money. Hopefully they got their shit together this last collective bargaining agreement and fixed a lot of the problems they had with teams losing money, but that remains to be seen.

[min-chi-cbus]

Originally Posted by Fiat Lux

That's very closed minded, and even racist?. Seattle is a great basketball city. Top 10 in the USA, easily.

Nate Robinson
Jamal Crawford
Jason Terry
Rodney Stuckey
Terrence Williams
Brian Scalabrine
Spencer Hawes
Martel Webster
Jon Brockman
Avery Bradley
Marvin Williams
Isaiah Thomas

That's an NBA roster amount of current NBA players from the Seattle area. Brandon Roy and Aaron Brooks were both 18+ points a game scorers in the NBA in recent seasons, both from Seattle. Luke Ridnour, another NBA player is from an hour and a half north of Seattle and Steve Nash is from a 75 mile ferry ride away in Victoria, BC.

Seattle has hosted 5 NCAA Final Fours. Led the NBA in total attendance multiple times. Was the first city to average over 20,000 fans a game over an entire NBA season.

Great great basketball city.

Isaiah Thomas is from Chicago, not Seattle.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by min-chi-cbus

Isaiah Thomas is from Chicago, not Seattle.

Isaiah Thomas and Isiah Thomas are not the same person.

[10023]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Isaiah Thomas and Isiah Thomas are not the same person.

Last pick in the draft... impressive.

[JiminyCricket II]

Originally Posted by 10023

Last pick in the draft... impressive.

Hey, not all of Seattle's talent can be picked in the lottery... only Roy, Hawes, M. Williams, T. Williams, Webster, Terry, Crawford in recent years.

[pesto]

Didn't Stern say that the Kings are staying in Sacto. and the Hornets in Nawlins? Who's left? The Grizz?

[Fiat Lux]

Originally Posted by 10023

Last pick in the draft... impressive.

Starting rookie PG, which is impressive. Check out his stats since becoming a starter. Check out his box score vs. Kyrie Irving, the #1 pick, from a few weeks back.