Seattle, What Just Happened? Our 2018 Year in Review
Congratulations, you made it through another crazy year
By Gwendolyn Elliott, Beau Iverson, Maggie Kerr, John Levesque, Chelsea Lin, Linda Morgan, Niki Stojnic and Alanna Wight December 5, 2018
This article originally appeared in the December 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the December 2018 issue, as part of the Year in Review feature. Click here to subscribe.
It’s hard not to feel dazed and confused after a look in the rearview mirror at 2018. The city is growing at a breakneck pace while trying to tackle tough issues such as ever-increasing homelessness, threats to historic venues and whiplash waffling by our mayor.
We said goodbye to Paul Allen, one of Seattle’s most giving philanthropists and a city shaper, prepared for a looming traffic-ocalypse called the “period of maximum constraint” and grappled with #MeToo. Yet 2018 was the year our community came together in a multitude of ways—to resist, to gather courage and to celebrate art, culture and life. So, here’s some hindsight from 2018; glean from it what you can and buckle up for what’s to come.
Seattle Civility on Trial
Seattle Environment News by the Numbers
Seattle Supports the Arts
The Waffling Ways of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan
Seattle Big Businesses Make Power Moves
Seattle’s Homelessness Epidemic Grows
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson Has Been Busy
Seattle’s Growing Pains
Seattle’s Highs and Lows
Seattle’s Bike-Share Program Is Having “A Year”
Seattle’s Sports Get Poetic
Readers’ Choice Poll Winners
Follow Us
Barnes & Noble Is Coming Back to Downtown Seattle
The bookseller will open a new flagship at 520 Pike, marking the largest retail lease in downtown Seattle since 2020.
Barnes & Noble is returning to downtown Seattle for the first time since early 2020. The national bookseller has signed a 10-year lease for a new flagship at 520 Pike Street, a 29-story tower, taking over 17,538 square feet on the corner of Pike and 6th Avenue. The store is expected to open in the…
Le Petit Chef Makes a Big Splash in Seattle
The immersive, whimsical dining experience debuts at the Kimpton Palladian Hotel.
At a recent dinner, I sat across from a friend, smiling as a tiny orange-and-black butterfly landed on my empty plate. Just inches away, a small figure in chef whites and red boots strolled out of a greenhouse with a rake perched over his shoulder. He then proceeded to work a patch of dirt, plant…
A Citywide Toast to Sockeye
40 Seattle-area restaurants are teaming up for the fourth annual Bristol Bay Salmon Week.
Seattle’s fishing culture is something to be proud of. Drive over the Ballard Bridge on any given day and you’ll see the fleet docked below. The weathered, working boats stacked with gear, waiting for their next trip north, are striking, aren’t they? It’s hard, dangerous work, and there’s something so compelling and fierce about the…
Restaurant Roundup: Halal Bagels and Mario Party
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
OK, we’ll say it—we love Seattle Restaurant Week, but it also gives us a little bit of anxiety and a lot of FOMO. There are just so many choices. Hundreds of restaurants, food carts, cafes, and bars can be a tad overwhelming, but 10? That’s a much more manageable number. Thankfully, Secret Seattle put together…