| Destination: Seattle |
| Expandability 2010 will be held in Seattle, one of America’s most beautiful and historic cities. |
| Seattle’s reputation as one of the country’s most green-conscious cities is reflected in the character of The Hyatt at Olive 8, where the Expandable Users Conference is being staged. The Hyatt at Olive 8 is a Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified hotel. Seattle currently leads the US in the number of certified LEED buildings within its city limits. |
| Researchers have ranked Seattle the most literate city of America's sixty-nine largest cities. The United States Census Bureau recognizes Seattle as the most educated city in the U.S., with 52.5% of residents aged 25 and older having a bachelor's degree. |
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| Seattle has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption with coffee companies founded or based in Seattle including Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee and Tully's. There are also many more successful independent artisanal espresso roasters and cafes. |
| Seattle’s history can be summarized as a long series of booms and busts, spanning boom periods stretching back as far as the Klondike Gold Rush and as recent as the growth of the software industry. |
| The city was established in the mid 1800s as a logging town providing the source of wood for the burgeoning city of San Francisco. Because timber was plentiful and inexpensive, original Seattle buildings were made almost entirely of wood, a fact that contributed tragically to The Great Seattle Fire of 1889 that burned up most of Seattle’s first downtown. |
| After the fire the city was rebuilt within a year, literally on top of the remains of the older downtown. You can still see sections of the original downtown on the colorful Seattle Underground Tour that provides a glimpse of the bawdy early days of Seattle and its downtown Pioneer Square district. |
| Seattle’s transition from symbol of the wild west to modern metropolis has been closely aligned with the growth of aerospace giant The Boeing Company, which was incorporated in Seattle by William E. Boeing, on July 15, 1916, as "Pacific Aero Products Co." Seattle’s close association with Boeing is symbolized in the nickname “Jet City” that Seattle was known under until the 1980s. |
| Seattle's current official nickname is the "Emerald City” in reference to the lush evergreen forests of the area. |
| Seattle’s most famous landmark is the Space Needle that was finished in 1962 as the dominant central structure for that year’s Seattle World's Fair. At the time it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. The original name of the Space Needle was "The Space Cage” featuring a revolving restaurant at the top named "Eye of the Needle.” |
| In 2000, the Space Needle completed a $20 million revitalization and still features a revolving restaurant, now named the “SkyCity Restaurant." |
| Places of interest in Seattle: |
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