“Man never dies, nor is he ever born;
bodies die, but he never dies.”
-Swami Vivekananda
-Swami Vivekananda
Day 43 of Mentor on Road, USA started with a drive from Portland to Seattle which is the 5th of the 18th cities of leg 2 and the 21st of the 34 cities in total of this road trip of 9600 miles (15600 kilometres) across USA.
Seattle is a seaport city on the
west coast of the United States and the seat of King County, Washington. With an estimated
704,352 residents as of 2016, Seattle is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America.
The city is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an inlet of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canada–United States border.
The Seattle area was previously inhabited by Native Americans for
at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers, Arthur A.
Denny and his group of travellers, subsequently known as
the Denny Party,
arrived from Illinois via Portland, Oregon, on the schooner Exact' at Alki Point on November
13, 1851. The settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay and
named "Seattle" in 1852, after Chief Si'ahl of
the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes.
Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century, the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing.
The Seattle area developed as a technology center beginning in the 1980s, with companies like Microsoft becoming established in the region. Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle in 1994. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, which increased the city's population by almost 50,000 between 1990 and 2000.
Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century, the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing.
The Seattle area developed as a technology center beginning in the 1980s, with companies like Microsoft becoming established in the region. Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle in 1994. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, which increased the city's population by almost 50,000 between 1990 and 2000.
Seattle's economy is driven by a mix of older industrial companies, and "new economy" Internet and technology companies, service, design and clean technology companies. The Port of Seattle, which also operates Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, is a major gateway for trade with Asia and cruises to Alaska, and is the 8th largest port in the United States in terms of container capacity; its maritime cargo operations merged with the Port of Tacoma in 2015 to form the Northwest Seaport Alliance.
Though it was affected by the Great Recession, Seattle has retained a comparatively strong economy, and remains a hotbed for start-up businesses, especially in green building and clean technologies: it was ranked as America's No. 1 "smarter city" based on its government policies and green economy.
Five companies on the Fortune 500 list of the United States' largest companies, based on total revenue, are headquartered in Seattle:
- Internet retailer Amazon.com
- Coffee chain Starbucks
- Department store Nordstrom
- Freight forwarder Expeditors International of Washington
- Weyerhaeuser, the forest products company
Other
Fortune 500 companies popularly associated with Seattle are based in nearby
Puget Sound cities. Warehouse club chain Costco the largest
retail company in Washington, is based in Issaquah. Microsoft is located in Redmond. Finally, Bellevue
is home to truck manufacturer Paccar. Other major
companies in the area include Nintendo of America in Redmond, T-Mobile US in Bellevue, Expedia Inc. in Bellevue
and Providence Health & Services — the state's largest health care system and fifth
largest employer — in Renton.
The city has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption: coffee companies founded or based in Seattle include Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Tully's. There are also many successful independent artisanal espresso roasters and cafés.
In the evening, Mentor on Road headed to a meeting with the Indian diaspora in Seattle. We discussed briefly on the opportunities present in New India 3.0 and presented the concept of smart village adoption. We were glad to note that a lot of them had agreed to adopt their villages. Many interesting questions were raised which we were successfully able to answer.
Overall, the discussion held was very interactive and we have also identified the next steps to be initiated. Mentor on Road would soon start working on them.
The city has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption: coffee companies founded or based in Seattle include Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Tully's. There are also many successful independent artisanal espresso roasters and cafés.
In the evening, Mentor on Road headed to a meeting with the Indian diaspora in Seattle. We discussed briefly on the opportunities present in New India 3.0 and presented the concept of smart village adoption. We were glad to note that a lot of them had agreed to adopt their villages. Many interesting questions were raised which we were successfully able to answer.
Overall, the discussion held was very interactive and we have also identified the next steps to be initiated. Mentor on Road would soon start working on them.
Hoping to have an eventful journey ahead.
Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)
