VIA GEEKWIRE BY MONICA NICKELSBURG on
Seattle is having what City Club Executive Director Diane Douglas describes as a “pregnant moment.”
The city’s population is growing at a breakneck pace due, in part, to its booming technology industry. Seattle’s left-leaning body politic is energized by the results of the November election. Plus the boom is pushing hot-button issues, like transportation and housing affordability, to the forefront of public discourse.
Those are some of the factors that make Seattle one of the most civically engaged cities in the country. In a new “Civic Health” study from the Seattle City Club, the region ranks in the top ten in 20 of 26 civic categories across 51 cities. Those findings are encouraging but there’s more work to be done. The study shows that civic engagement is very closely tied to race and socioeconomic status.
Douglas previewed the results during FullConTech, an event hosted by the Washington Technology Industry Association in Seattle on Monday. The conference brings together lawmakers, non-profit executives, and members of the technology community to discuss the role civic responsibility plays in the broader health of the community.