The future’s bright, and so is the cover of Seattle magazine’s March/April issue! Featuring a mural by local artist (and 2023 Most Influential pick) Stevie Shao, the colorful cover is a snap from Woodinville, one of the six “Best Places to Live” featured inside. While we usually focus on Seattle neighborhoods, this year we expanded our horizons and took a look at cities outside ours to see what’s drawing people to the suburbs—and beyond. We also tapped some of the region’s real estate experts to get a closer read on what’s happening with the market, and what you should do if you’re looking to buy or sell.

Closer to home, we feature a case study in thinking outside the box, reviewing a multi-family design project in Phinney Ridge that provided its tenant-owners with luxury interiors and shared amenities they couldn’t have afforded on their own. Speaking of design, Mithun is one of the oldest and most respected architecture and design firms in the city—look almost anywhere in the city and you will see its thumbprint, with more work on the books for the coming years, including the highly anticipated Associated Students of University of Washington Shell House renovation, which you can read all about in our features section.

With spring just around the corner, so is a new crop of artistic endeavors. Don’t worry, we’ve got your creative curiosities covered with our Spring Arts Guide, which includes everything from film festivals (May is packed with ‘em) to contemporary dance performances, and, of course, visual art. If food’s more your thing, we dive deep into the current wave of Vietnamese coffee shops springing up around the city, dish on the region’s newly opened restaurants, and take a trip to the Hood Canal to see where many of our favorite, slurp-worthy oysters are sourced. We’ll lift a glass to that, and to everyone featured in the issue, from athletes and entrepreneurs to artists and architects. We love featuring the people and places that make this city great, and we hope you love reading about them.

Magazines are hitting newsstands now, so be sure to snag your copy soon.