Puget Sound Business Journal: Opinion: Seattle’s progress is laudable but tenuous

This column was originally published on Sunday, March 22.

By Jon Scholes

More than 1,200 civic, arts, business and nonprofit leaders gathered earlier this month at the Seattle Convention Center’s stunning Summit building for the Downtown Seattle Association’s annual State of Downtown event.

We took stock of downtown’s “box score,” the data and progress that have been made to further revitalization, as well as the challenges that remain.

Downtowns across the country and world have been through a lot these last six years, but what has always made them critical, relevant and unique places remains true today. Humans desire to be together. The vitality of urban cores defines great cities. And downtowns provide experiences you can’t get anywhere else.

There’s much to celebrate when it comes to the state of downtown Seattle.

Downtown’s residential population of 109,000 is the largest ever.

Total visitors to downtown have surpassed 2019 levels.

Violent crime in the downtown commercial core is down 33% from 2021, and police department hiring was up 100% in 2025 compared to the year prior.

We continue to make major moves to enhance and expand how people can travel to and move around downtown and the spaces they can enjoy.

The Waterfront Park is complete and $50 million of additional improvements to Myrtle Edwards and Centennial parks will soon be, as well.

A new Memorial Stadium will open in the fall of 2027. And with recently increased train frequency and a new light rail connection to Bellevue opening in a matter of days, Seattle can finally lay claim to a big-city mass transit system.

There are many proof points of progress. In the words of Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, we’re “stacking wins.” Yet our progress is tenuous.

And just like in sports, in the world of economic development and city building, mindset is fundamental. In the post-Amazon boom times in Seattle, too often we lack the competitive mindset necessary to further economic prosperity.

Over the last four years, downtown Seattle has shed an estimated 37,000 jobs and confronts a historic office vacancy rate north of 30%. Just a few miles across the lake, Bellevue is experiencing job growth and enjoys a vacancy rate of less than half that of the Emerald City.

Over this same period, the Seattle city government has saddled employers with over a billion dollars in new taxes, some of the highest labor costs in the country and countless new regulations that have added expense, complexity and unpredictability to running a business here.

Today, Seattle has some of the most expensive food, rideshares and housing in the country. It is the most expensive place to create a job in the state.

Furthermore, job losses in downtown have contributed to declining commercial office values, which shifts Seattle’s property tax burden to small businesses and residents and makes an already challenging affordability situation worse.

The result is a downtown slowdown in the office sector that doesn’t remain downtown. It reaches neighborhoods, households and small businesses across the city.

Yet despite these realities, some leaders still want to pile on more taxes, arguing Seattle needs more “progressive revenue” to fix an upside-down tax code. But Seattle has already done that. The city has layered on major new business taxes and nearly doubled its general fund over the last decade, yet the problems used to justify ever-higher taxes — homelessness, affordability and economic insecurity — remain.

At this precarious moment, Seattle doesn’t need more business taxes. It needs more businesses in Seattle to pay taxes. Measuring success by how much the government spends is like a team missing the playoffs and bragging about having the league’s highest payroll.

The success of downtowns has never been more important as we confront climate change, an epidemic of loneliness and the erosion of trust in government and major institutions. But in many ways, downtowns have never been more optional for work, entertainment and investment.

Recent comments by Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay offer some hope that Seattle can coalesce around a new, more pragmatic approach to budgeting, governance and economic development that will benefit downtown and the entire city.

At the State of Downtown, both leaders acknowledged the need to assess the effectiveness of programs and budgets, have spoken about the value of partnering with employers and the value they bring to our community, as well as the choices they have when considering where to locate and grow. They’ve brought diverse interests to the table and sought out varied perspectives.

The city has a robust set of tools to actively drive economic development — and it should be using them more aggressively. Rather than increasing business taxes, which have contributed to jobs leaving Seattle, the city should advance tax policies that attract businesses, catalyze devel

The priority should be clear: Make it easier to invest, build, and grow in Seattle.

I believe Seattle’s best days are ahead. But these blue skies are only possible if we first acknowledge the impact of current policies and fiscal decisions on our competitiveness and affordability, the importance of public/private collaboration and the choices companies have on where they locate and grow.