Seattle ranks best city to live in US – even as tech leaders threaten to ditch taxes
It feels like every few days I stop in my tracks somewhere in Seattle and find myself wondering why on earth I want to live anywhere else.
It seems like every few days I read – on GeekWire – about the next young inventor ditching Seattle for San Francisco to chase AI riches. Or about the capitalist who thinks that city taxes or the threat of new ones from the government are reason enough to pack up and tie up.
Do any of these people realize how good we have it the best place to live in the US?
Don’t choke on your latte while you consider your next argument about the “millionaire tax.” That is not my only request. Travel & Leisure magazine made that statement, thanks to a study by digital entertainment platform JB, which also found Seattle to be one of the top 10 cities in the world, along with dream destinations like Zurich, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and so on.
The study analyzed 45 cities around the world, evaluating each of six key factors: overall quality of life, safety, access to health care, air pollution levels, unemployment rates, and monthly income. Boston was the only other US city to make the top 10.
IT&L reports that Seattle’s high ranking reflects a combination of “high-quality health care, high quality of life, and second-highest income in the top 10,” which ultimately helped Seattle outperform larger, more expensive metropolitan areas.
Don’t forget how our easy access to the outdoors benefits mental and physical health, or how an economy focused on technology, health care, and education “provides stability and supports long-term investments in health care and environmental standards,” T&L said.
But for months I’ve been learning how to quit if I’m a rich person, a tech giant, a startup founder, an AI dreamer or anyone else who opposes new taxes.
Just this week, tech leaders again warned how a new tax proposal could halt the region’s push for artificial intelligence. There is a growing fear of damage to the creative economy! Higher taxes on high earners will create an existential threat to the startup economy! People will go!
And what, move to Florida?
Many, many people in Seattle are from somewhere else, including me. And there are certainly many desirable places to live in the US and beyond, for a variety of reasons, whether you can’t handle the rain or the taxes here.
And Seattle has plenty of problems that will make residents and visitors alike scoff.
But it’s a level like this that should at least be looked at when Microsoft or Amazon or any other company or their leaders beat the drum about how they might leave rather than pay more to be here.
Where do you go when you leave the best place to live?
